The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-09-18
IS MAGIC TO THEM
Everything Russian Cannot Un-
derstand Is "BIack Art"
Soldiers Of the Gar Are STEPPED In
Superstition = Dlstrust officers
They See Using One Of the
General Staff Charts.
BY HUGO BETTAUER.

AAANG NhbAtAh ANtNR - NiNNHF
R~eicbenberg, Bohemia.-With an
officer of the Austrian ambulance serv-
ice | visited the prison camp that has
been established near here. The camp
is really a large city of wooden bar
racks with electric lights, paved
streets, sidewalks, waterworks, public
baths and a small library. Surround
ed on all sides by green hills the bar
racks and other buildings cover the
beautiful valley for miles.
In this primitive town more than
forty thousand Russian soldiers are
waiting for the time when the war
will end and they shall be sent home.
Each day the population of the camp
grows, as long railroad trains con-
stantly bring more prisoners, and new
barracks have to be built. Every
race of the cars endless empire is
represented.
The prisoners are a queer lot, and
furnish unlimited opportunity for eth
biological studies. AS they speak a
dozen different languages and many
do not understand Russian, they have
formed clans which keep entirely to
themselves.
The real Russian, for instance, will
have nothing to do with the Cossack,
and the German from Courland or Liv-
land considers it below his dignity to
associate with a "mujik'' from the
plains of the Volga.
AS a rule, the different clans get
along pretty well together, and quar-
rels and fights seldom occur. The
small detachment OF landsturm troops,
which guards the camp, really has lit
tie to do.
For visitors the prisoners have lit
tie use, and it is hard to get them to
talk. All strangers are "niemtsi'
(Germans) to them, and only the more
educated have heard of the "austriji'
(Austrians).
The Germans they consider the in
carnation of all evil, and they firmly
believe that every "niemtsi" is the
servant and agent of the devil. Their
general ignorance is only surpassed
by their superstition.
While we walked through the
camp we came upon an old Russian
first sergeant, who gravely was try
ing to explain the causes of the war
to about fifty of the prisoners,
THE short-jackets brought on this
bloody conflict" he said. The war
came as the world is sinful and inn
moral. God hates the s~hort-jackets;
they are indecent. The French, Eng
lish and Serbians are no better than
the 'niemtsi.' They also wear the
hellish jackets and offend the Lord
by their frivolity."
Most of the listeners nodded approx
ingly, and only one, a rather intelli-
~gent-looking young fellow, dared to
contradict the argument" of the old
man.
Il believe that a nan can be moral
eve in a short jacket" the young sol
der said, but he stopped quickly when
he saw that nobody shared his toler-
ant views.
For the defeats of the Russian arm
les the prisoners blame the black
art" of the German generals. They
are firmly convinced that Hindenburg
and Mackensen have sold their souls
to the devil. Hindenburg they all
know, and they consider him the rep
resentative of Satan on earth.
Military maps, in their eyes, are the
work of hell, and they distrust their
officers if they see one of them
with a general STAFF chart.
A general who does not hide the
fact that he uses maps and plans loses
all confidence and popularity, and is
hated as n imitator of the Germans
and an infdel. Seventy per cen OF
the soldiers of the car see in the
maps nothing but German swindle"
and BLACK art"
Still more superstitious than their
comrades are the Cossacks. To them
everything that they cannot under
stand is magic" Next to the Ger
mans the Cossack hates nothing more
than the real Russians. These he
calls murderers, crooks, oppressors,
etc. and he will not even talk to
them.
Most of the prisoners are good.na-
tured and behave well. They willing
ly obey all orders of the guards and
work without a murmur from morn
ing till night, If they are commanded
to do SO. Their appetite is enormous.
They are always hungry and devour
incredible quantities of food. AS to
quality, they do not care, and they are
perfectly contented with a kettle Of
soup, a piece of bacon or fat mutton
and a couple of dozen potatoes.
One of the weaknesses of the pris-
oners, and of the Russian soldiers in
general, is their d~isrespect for the
property of others. To express it
more plainly, they steal whatever they
a lay their hands on, like all print.
tive races. Even high officers are
not free from this trait.