Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1917-11-16

This / have seen. could not
believe it unless / had seen it
through and through. For several
weeks 1 lived with it; I went all L
about it and back Of it; inside and
out Of 1t was shown to me-until
finally came to realize that the
incredible was true. 1t is mon
strous, it is unthinkable, but 1t
exists. It is the Prussian system.
A year ago I went to Poland to learn
its facts concerning the remnant OF
people that had been decimated by
war. The country had been twice
devastated. First the Russian army
swept through it and then the Ger
mans. Along the roadside from War
saw to Pinsk, the present firing line
23O miles, near half million people
had died Of hunger and cold. Inc
way was strewn with their bones pick
ed clean by the crows. with thelr
usual thrift, the Germans were collect
ing the larger bones to be milled into
fertiliser, but finger and toe bones lay
on the ground with the mud covered
and rain soaked clothing.
Wicker baskets were scattered along
, the way-the basket in which the BABY
swings from the rafter in every peas
ant home Every mile there were
scores of them, each one telling
| death. 1 started to count, but after
+, a little had to give it up, there were
30 many.
That is the desOlatiOn one saw along
the great road from Warsaw to Pinsk,
mile after mile, more than two hun
dred miles. They told me a million
people were made homeless in six
weeks Of the German drive in August
and September, 1916 They told me
four hundred thousand died on the
way. The rest, scarcely half alive got
through with the Russian army. Many
Of these have been sent to Siberia il
, is these people whom the Paderewsk
, committee is trying to relieve.
In the refugee camps, 100000 sur
vivors of the fight were gathered b.
, the Germans, members of broken fam
lilies. They were lodged in jerry bull
barracks, scarcely waterproof, un
l lighted, unwarmed in the dead of win
1 ter. Their clothes, where the button
were lost, were sewed on. There wer
mo cOnveniences, they had not evel
been able to wash for weeks. Filtl
> and infection from vermin were spread
ing. They were famished, their dali
{ ration a cup Of soup and piece O
c bread as big as my fist.
= In Warsaw, which had not bee
destroyed, city Of one million inhabit
I ants. one Of the most prosperous cite
4 of Europe before the war, the street
. were lined with people in the pangs 0
starvation. Famished and rain-soaB
), ed, they squatted there, with thei
}. Ielbows on their knees or leanin
= lagainst the buildings, too feeble to lif
a hand for a bit of money or a morse
of bread if one offered it. perishing O
=, hunger and cold. Charity did what
could. The rich gave all that the
had, the poor shared their last crlls
Hundreds of thousands were perishins
+ Day and night the picture is befor
my eyes-a people starving, a natiol
dying.
> In that situation, the German com
mander issued a proclamation Ever
E able-bodied Pole was hidden to Ger
1 many to work. If any refused, let n
other Pole give him to eat, not so nue.
as a mouthful, under penalty of Ger
? man military law.
This is the choice the German gov
eminent gives to the conquered Pole
to the husband and father Of starvin,
, family: Leave your family to die o.
survive as the case may be. Leav,
your country which is destroyed, t.
work in Germany for its further de
| struction. If you are obstinate, W.
shall see that you surely starye.
Staying with his folk, he is doomed
and they are not saved the father ant
husband can do nothing for them, he
only adds to their risk and suffering
Leaving them, he will be cut off from
his family, they may never hear from
,
will set him to work that German
workman may be released to figh,
against his own land and people. He
shall be lodged in barracks behind
barbed wire entanglements, under
armed guard. He shall sleep on the
bare ground with a single thin blanket
He shall be scantily fed and his earn
ings shall be taken from him to pay
for his food
That il the choice which the German
Government offers to a proud, sensi-
tive, high strung people. Death or
|slavery.
When Pole gave me that procla-
nation, I was boiling. But 1 had to
restrain myself. l was practically the
Ionly foreign civilian in the country and
wanted to get food to the people.
That was what l was there for and l
must not for any cause jeopardize the
undertaking. 1 asked Governor Cen
eral Won Beseler, Can this be true?"
| Really, l cannot say" he replied.
Il have signed so many proclamations
ask General Won Kries."
So asked General Won Kries.
General, this is civilized people.
Can this be trueY
Yes" he said. sit is true"-with an
air Of adding, Why not?
l dared not trust myself to speak
l turned to go. Wait" he said. And
he explained to me how Germany, Of
fetal Germany, regards the state of
subject peoples.
Even now find it hard to describe
in comprehensive terms the mind Of