The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-09-24
Tortures Inflicted by Ger
man Officers on Prisoners
Refusing to Work.
SICK ARE KEPT AT
THE FRONT TO DIE
Officials Are Afraid of the Effect on
Their Own People of the Horrible
from Posts.

HUN OSIos
The following information, secured |
from a Russian prisoner Of war, recently !
escaped through Belgium from the occu-
pied portion of northern France, is pub
lshed in the official bulletin of the United
States government:
After - days of travel from his place
of imprisonment he arrived at the cleo
tric fence near the Antwerp Rosendaal
line. He dug his way out under the
fence with a long knife, with which he
had been provided, on a stormy night
when the sentries were under cover.
He belonged to labor battalion which
worked at the rear Of the firing line dis
mantllng manufacturing plants and rail
ways There were other battalons COM
I posed of Belgians, French, English, Ital-
\ iaus and Rumanans He was not in con-
tact with them and could give no infor-
nation concerning them He stated that
the work OF these battalions was directed
\ 10y German soldiers In 1915 and 1916
these soldiers worked we'll themselves and
were very hard on the prisoners. This
Year and especially lately they had slack
ened very much in their efforts. Insult
ticient food of bad quality had brought on
a condition of physical debility and they
were unable to work well He was told
that number OF them had deserted, and
others who were given leave had crossed
over into Holland. The prevailing spirit
among them was one of apathy.
Small Bread Allowance.
The prisoners allowance OF bread was
one loaf of two and one-half pounds day
for four men. Iurnip soup was the only
other thing they got to eat. Occasionally
there was meat in il from some injured
horse that had been killed A labor bat
talon on the western front originally con
= sisted of 1900 men, but the process OF
starvation, accidents, exposure, unmercI
, tu beatngs, and death have reduced il
, to about 500 men and sometimes to much
less. The same process OF dlsntegratlor
/. was going on in all the battalons
> Those men who cheated the graveyard
!. were either distributed among the other
II 'battalioHs, sent to hospitals behind th'
front, or were assigned to individual com
d mands. They We're total physical wrecks
: and barely hung on to life. Some OF then
had broken arms or legs and tingerles
!. hands-in a word, men with every injur,
:, and deformity the human frame can en-
n dure and still hold life.
e Sick Kept at Front to Die.
The sick, the injured and those utterl
x worn ont and unfit are never sent bac
ce To Germany to their original camps, bu
m are kept behind the front there to di,
7. The officials are afraid of the effect o
- their own people of the horrible sigl
s- these men present. They are like me
. who stalk ont OF their graves, animate
40 skeletons, bones covered with skin, cheel
VS. without flesh. deeply sunken eyes
8t- The informant was a sergeant and +
u. sisted to the end all German attempts
&c; compel him to work The latter part
November he was given the choice
90 work or TO be starved to death. He a
rk. cepted the latter. For six days he W
ne. stood at attention in an open field fro
- 6 a. m. till noon After eating his son
g. at noon he and 30 other noncommission
=. officers were locked up in a wet cellar Il
W. TIL morning. This went on for six days
an. Suspended from Posts.
mt. They were then told that three of t
- 30 of them would be picked out by lot al
on would be shot unless they consented
- work. They were led out In the par
ii. were three sentries, a German officer al
D. q doctor. The threat was repeated on
nts more. The Polish noneommissioned
. ticers weakened and consented to wol
ora others followed suit and signed a paper
- the effect that they ''vounteered''
work The informant and 10 others y
.w sisted in their refusal and begged the
hcer to have them shot They were
av. to one side, their arms were twisted
hind their backs, wrists were tied with
w. rope and they were then led to post a
act backed against it; wooden blocks W,
= brought on which they were made to sta
tail while their hands were tied to the D
lam as high as possible The blocks were II
- kicked out from under them and they w
lett suspended by their wrists with tn
. feet off the ground, the upper part of ii
-. body taking a dropping position. II
remained thus suspended two hours. 7
next day the process was repeated and
*