Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-05-30

60 fAbbnA ~ Ds ILL.,
'Q.-What followed? A---Two sol
alers of the Twenty-second regiment
infantry remained with him; the 9TH
ers left.
"Q.-Did officers say anything be-
fore leaving? A.-Some words in
German he did not understand. And
spat on the floor near his feet.
Q.-What next? A.--Before leav-
ing another officer threw him rag
about six feet long and two feet wide
and he wrapped his bleeding ears
nose and mouth in It,
Q.--How did the soldiers treat him
when alone with them? A.---They
looked fiercely at him. but said and
did nothing.
"Q.-What next? A.-Then anoth-
er officer and two soldiers took him
down narrow street They hurried
MIN and one struck him In the back
WIN the butt of a rifle. IIe pretended
TO be hurt and staggered a few steps
then finding a fence on his left he
Jumped 1t, because he knew there was
a wood in that direction. He ran into
another fence and climbed that and
ran to the woods. lie heard the sol
diers take the bayonets off their rifles
and heard them fire Just before he
reached the woods. He did not hear
the bullets whistle.
"Q-Iiow far from first fence to
WOods2 A.-About a hundred yards
Q.-What next? Ale walked
about the woods all night. In the
morning squad of German cavalry
caught him. They asked him what
had happened. He replied Russian
shell had exploded near his hut and
h.. t.,f. 4 III
of his children. He told them he
was going through the Russian lines
to live more quietly They asked his
nationality. He said Polish They
asked if he had seen any Russians.
.He replied he had not. They told him
to go to the right; but he went in an
other direction to the village Of Lipa.
In the Lomsha government. He trav-
elled all day and then found Russian
soldiers
"Q-Of what regiment were the
cavalry scouts? Ale does not
know.
"Q.--Describe the man who cut
your ear. A.-Lieutenant, medium
height, stout, small mustache, reddish
mustache, reddish hair"
! can confirm that | stated the
plain truth
tsgnedD PORFIRI PANAsUK.
20 Api1l, 1915.
Such is the story of Panasuk told /
to me by the one-eared hero standing
in the respectful attitude of Russian
non-commissioned officer before his (
superiors.
My Interrogation was carried on
through interpreters. and of course !
could not understand his words. but
eyed him narrowly to detect any eX-
expression of boastfulness or deceit, |
and | changed the sequence of my
over in different form as
The affidavit shows-in my best en-
deavor to expose falsehood If any
there was.
The manner of the witness was SIM |
pie and painstaking. He illustrated J
the way in which his hands were
held and his ear was cut, and when !
after his examination 1 had people /
present ;mpersonate his prosecutors /
his demonstration was exactly the
same as before.
Informed by Grand Duke.
| first learned of this unfortunate /
individual from the Grand Duke Mich
olas Nicholaievitch in his private car |
at the general staff headquarters. He |
asked me to go to the hospital in !
Warsaw where Panasuk had recently |
arrived and examine him. ! went |
there. and on the same day Panasuk |
had been sent to Tsarskoe Selo to be |
presented to the emperor
From there | went to the corps
Headquarters to which he had been
brought Immediately after his. escape
aud saw bis original affidavit in Rus
sian, of which | have forwarded the
attested translation into French.
The peasant Panasuk was q spy and
his life was forfeit to his captors ac-
cording TO the laws of war but the
torture of a helpless prisoner Is a
hideous crime against the civilized
world, and | for one hope that his
tOrturers may survive the
dangers of battle to be hanged in a
felons prison.
In this connection | am glad to re-
member the principle of war estab-
Iished by cur army that peace creates
no bar and the statute of limitations
does not run against crimes contrary
to the laws Of war.
Affidavits by Officers.
(The affidavit of the officers of the
bureau of inquiry translated from the
French MS forwarded by Mr. McCor-
mick, follows:
We, the undersigned, the chief of
The bureau of inquiry of the army
staff, Lieut. Col Pecchanoff his as
sistant, Captain Chapochinikoff; the
surgeon of the grand battalion,
Bramson; the interpreter of the bu-
reau of inquiry, Captain Popoff, and
Lieutenant Deterle of the German
army (Ninth regiment campaign NOR
.ars), do attest to having seen the
peasant, Ioorfiri Panasuk, Of the prov
nee of Fourgai and village of Voslie- n
sienskoe, who was arrested on March L
! by German troops. between Myehi- Ii
1etz and Horgele. We attest that
l portion of his right ear had been
severed oy some sort Of weapon in
such a manner that only the small
part next to the head remains.
According to Panasuk's testimony,
ne was conducted under escort March
I to Rosiog, on the following day be-
ng questioned by an officer with No,
! on his shoulder straps. After vaiiily
attempting to force him to speak and
also to induce him to enter into Ger
service, the said officer. seiz-il
ng a pair of shears, began to sniff
lff his ear in small sections. Then
panasuk was ordered under arrest X
on the 9Th he was again summoned
o appear, a soldier of the sanitary
,orps with a Red Cross and NO. 80
IN his straps went through the same
operation with the shears as on the
previous occasion Throwing dirty
-ag at him with the comment OF DO
ng his own bandaging' of the mu-
Hated ear, this officer had him taken
@ the guardhouse.
Profiting by the small numbers OF
lis escort, Panasuk succeeded IN es-
III H., forest. Az