Evening star., 1917-09-16
GERMANS TORTURE
PR|SONERS0F WAR
Escaped Russian Tells Of Ter
ribIe CrueIties Inflicted
to Compel Work.
is GIVEN OUT OFFICIALLY

Tortures inflicted on prisoners of war
by the Germans in an effort to make
them work are described in the story
OF Il Russian prisoner of war who re-
Gently escaped through Belgium from
the occupied portion of northern
France, The statement was issued by
the State Department here
There was insufficient food, he said.
For every four men two and n half
pounds of bread We're allowed d day
The only other thing they received to
eat was turnip soup, which sometimes
had meat in it from some injured horse
that had been killed.
Labor battalions which started out
with 1000 men each. he said, were re-
duced to less than soc through starva-
ton, accidents, exposure, unmerciful
beatings and death. Those left were
total physical wrecks and barely hung
to life.
Like. Men From Graves.
The sick the injured and those utter
ly worn out and unfit are never sent
back to Germany to their original
camps, according to the statement OF
the prisoner but were kept just behind
the front, there to die. The officials, he
said are afraid of the effect on their
own people OF the horrible sight these
men present They are like men who
stalk out of their graves. animated
skeletons, bones covered with skin.
eyes.
Tho informant, according to the de
partmentS statement. was sergeant
and resisted to the end all German at
temptS to compel him to work. The
latter part of November he was given
the choice to work or to be starved TO
death. He accepted the latter For six
days he was stood at attention in an
open field from 6 am. till noon. After
eating his soup at noon he and thirty
other non-comnlissioned officers were
locked up In a wet cellar until morning.
This went on for six days.
Three to Be Shot.
They were then told that three of
the thirty OF them would be picked
out by lot and would be shot unless
they consented to work They were lea
out. In the party were three sentrles
q German officer and 4 doctor The
threat was repeated once more. The
Polish non-commissioned officers weak
ened and consented to work, others fol-
lowed suit and signed a paper to the
effect that they volunteered" to work
The informant and ten others persisted
in their refusal and begged the officer
TO have them shot. They were led to
one side. their arms were twisted be-
hind their backs, wrists were tied with
a rope and they were then led each to
post and backed against it: wooden
blocks were brought on which they
were made to stand while their hands
were tied TO the post as high as pos
sible. The blocks were then kicked out
from under them. and they We're left
suspended by their wrists with their
feet off the ground, the upper part of
their body taking dropping position.
They remained thus suspended two
hours. The next day the process was
repeated and one man broke down and
consented to work. Hanging of the re-
mainder continued. and was followed
by beatings with rifle butts. then fol-
lowed four moro hours OF hanging.
when consciousness left them. They
were carried into the cellar and were
thrown on wet stones. The men weak
ened and volunteered" to work. The
informant still held out.
Altogether he hung twelve hours on
that post. People came to look at him,
French civilians took pictures of him.
German soldiers standing in the vicin-