Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-16
Nine. de WieniaWska Says 3
Million Are Starving in
German Prisons.
WILL DIE IF OUTSIDE AID
DOES NOT REACH THEM
Declares They Have Missed Elk
ternal Assistance, Which British
and French Get Literally.
Copyright. 1851
BY HERBERT COREY.

BY HERBERT COREY.
PARIS, July 4.-This is not the
usual sort of prison camp story. 1t
:. will not contain stories of prisoners
logged for trifing disobediences or
men denied the commonest medical at
tendance, though there are enough
stories of the sort to tell. 1t is simply
demonstration why the 100000 Rus
sian prisoners of war in Germany must
have help from the United States.
Nine. de Wienawska is one of the
principals in the Society for the Re-
lief of Russian Prisoners of War.
which has it's headquarters at 10 Place
de la Concorde. Paris. Many people in
the United States know her as the
daughter of NJ. de Mouromtseff. the
first president of the first duma and one
of the great men of Russia.
Every British and French prisoner
Of war in Germany is in regular re-
ceipt of some sort of a package from
home" explained Nine. de Wienawska.
Urgent Needs Shown in Reports.
The great need of such aid has been
sufficiently shown by the formal reports
: made by attaches of the United States
ambassadors Office in Berlin and
through other responsible sources.
These men are fortunate. Our poor
Russians receive almost no aid. At the
very most one man in six gets pack
age sometimes. The others are forgot
ten and suffer"
In England various societies have taken
: in charge the sending of packages to their
mea at regular intervals. The work has
| been systematized there. In France
somewhat different system has been fol-
! lowed Each department has been held
| responsible for the we'll being of the men
! from that department, and now in Ger
man pri=on. in addition to the societies
f; for benevolence which have been organ
; lied by the public, the prisoners have
been organized in each camp. SO that
F.; those who receive regular aid from home
F., are given a lesser share of the packages
, sent to the camps by the different agen- |
cIes. Very little has been done for the |
I'VE hardly knew of their condition.
eaid Mime. de Wienawska. Most of our
Information has been gained from French
prisoners who have been exchanged or
across the lines. OF the latter We have at
least one thousand in France"
Russian Censorship Is Marrow.
:. 1t is not remarkable that this cendi-
ton of ignorance should exist. Russia
is cut of from the rest of the world.
Her censorship has been somewhat
more ignorant and narrow aQd unin-
spired than the censorships of the other
fighting nations, which is according the
Russian censorship high praise in
competition of folly. The vast distance
which separates her from her allies has
fcd IN mr. the of all
news except that adjudged of vital po-
lttical importance.
Russian interests in Germany have
been looked after by the Spanish am
bassador There is no suggestion that
he has not done all that he could do.
but his reports have gone to Spain. and
little news leaks out from Spain. All
the other countries, have their own pre-
occupations. 1t is not surprising that
they have forgotten a million stupid
and voiceless moujiks. locked in the
German prison camps The Russian
millions have been kept in ignorance
by governmental policy. The prisoners
cannot write, and II they could their
friends at home could not read.
Our women have only known that
their men have gone to the war" said
Nine. de Wienawska. They could only
pray for them to return.
5000, Goo Francs Needed Monthly.
Assuming that the prisoners of all
nations have been treated by the Ger
mans upon a parity. it seems well
established that the Russians have
missed that external aid which has
been adjudged so necessary for the
good of all and which the French and
British prisoners have received rather
! literally. Nine. de Wienawska esti-
mates that the various agencies which
have interested themselves in the well
: o. 81 ~ Irsco TO- ,@114 Iaao 49,,
= 100000 francs per month
We should have FIVE million francs
per month. said she. That is the
least possible for effective service. 1t
would only give five francs per man per
month or just enough to give each
some little package once a week. Under
the present system we think that not
more than one man in six receives any
outside aid"
What do the Russian prisoners
most need ?" j asked.
Bread" said she. Food
There are scores of stories in circu-
lation of the brutality with which the
Russian prisoners are treated. do
not propose to repeat those / have
! heard. for they come from exchanged
prisoners or from escaped prisoners
In neither case can ii be expected the
! man who tells the story will be free
from bias
Difficult to Send Packages.
Nine de Wienawska and the Society
for the Relief OF the Russian Prison
ers OF War only wish to call attention
to the fact that while the needs of
the Russian prisoners are as great as
those Of any other nation. those needs
have not been met 1t has been diff
cult to send packages from Russia
to the German prison camps They
must OF necessity pass by way OF Den
mark. involving long and risky jour-
ney. There has been no effective or
ganfzation in Russia for the relief of
the prisoners. following the Russian
rule not TO organize effectively for
anything. What help 10 given must be
forwarded from France or England.
we are doing all in our power"
eaid she. Perhaps the United States
will help"
Nine de wienawska.s suggestion is
that either an independent organiza-
ton be formed IN the United States
or that the organization now IN ex-
istence be aided. All packages sent
/ to prisoners In Germany are delivered