Omaha daily bee., 1915-12-06
WOUNDED SOLDIERS
BURNED TO DEATH
DR., J. Rudis Jioinsky, Speaking at
Tel Jed Sokol Hall, Says He
Saw the Bodies.
TELLS OF CLEANING SERBIA


'Twenty-six wounded Serbian sol
diers were burned to death by Bull
garians at Strumnltza, Serbia. | saw
the bodies and have photographs to
prove my assertions"
So spoke Or. J. Rudis Jicinsky,
noted physician and surgeon OF Chi
cago, a former Omaha man and once
a student at Creighton college, in an
address last evening ct Tel Jed Sokol
hall. He showed $50 pictures taken
in the war zone.
DR.. Jioinsky headed an American
hospital unit which was fitted out
and sent by John w. Flotingham. a
New York millionaire. The physi-
clans under DR.. Jicinsky on this mis-
sion were DR.. ]. M. Kara of Chicago
and DR.. M. Guca. He took alsn four
men nurses, four women nurses and
one druggist, together with an i'm
mense supply of medicines, bandages,
surgical appliances and clothing.
Two of Party Die.
DR.. Kara and the wife of DIR. Guca died
OF typhus i'm Serbia during the one ter
rible year that the party spent there,
year in which there were 5000 deaths il
Serbia from the typhus scourge before the
American doctors and American hospital
methods overcame it DR., Jlcinsky him
self discovered the bacillus Of typhus Mt
the same time as Il WAS discovered by n
Serbian scientist and by a Russian.
I'VE arrived" said the doctor. "at
Dzevdzelia, Serbia. and there I estab
lished one-half OF my unit, going on with
the other half to Uskup There ! changed
the engineering barracks into an Amerl-
can hospital established two pavilions.
one for infectious diseases and the other
for surgical cases.
'The atrocities by the Bulgars IN which
they burned wounded soldiers occurred
Just after we landed. force OF BulRars
attacked the Serbians long before war
was declared. They defeated the Serbs
and $50 were killed. These they gathered
together with twenty-six wounded satu-
rated them with petroleum and set them
aflre.
Proof of the Atrocity.
81 was asked afterward how / knew
was proved concusively on the half
burned bodies. Great water biisters
showed on these bodies Water blisters
do not form when dead bodies are
scorched."
DIR. Jicinsky took photographs and
when the time comes he Ia going TO ex-
hibit them to any international commits
sion that may be formed TO pass -upon
the atrocities OF the great war
In his hospital at Uskup, Or. Jicinsky
had l.60o beds. He established a school
for nurses and recruited his ranks from
the Serbian men and women.
Cleaned Up Serbia.
But everything in connection with the
sanitary methods and so on was Ameri-
can he said, 'and history has recorded
how we cleaned up Serbia and stamped
out typhoid and typhus. That was the
great American victory. greater than any
victory that. can be gained in killing
men,"
The American physicians were engaged
Tor Just one year. About the time the
year expired they received information
that they would remain in the war zone
at their own risk. They left the hospital
at Uskup so well established that the
work continues. DIR. Jicinsky and his
surviving helpers left Serbia by the Greek
ship Constantine In October. The ship
carefully skirted the north coast of
Africa, passed Gibraltar and arrived
safely at New York.
During our year there we had in our
hospital S.H2 surgical cases and 1e,O62
other cases" said Dr. Jicinslty.
Though DR.. Jiclnsky is of Bohemian
birth, and though Bohemia is a part of
Austria, his sympathies are all with
Serbia and the allies.
The Bulgars are savage tyrants," he
said. Nine to ten thousand men, women
and children are killed daily In Serbia
alone. / saw the Vardar river red with
human blood and full OF floating human
bodies 1t is butchery and nothing less"