Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-08-02
.PLEASANTRIES
DEVISED FOR
THE BELCIANS
ASSOCIATED Press Correspondent

4
Havre, France. July -.-"Torture of
the post" punishment in the tank
pretended execution by a firing squad
or exposure to storms without being
properly clothed, are some of the meth
DDS Systematically used by the Ger
mans to compel deported Belgian
civilians to labor for the German army.
according to evidence which has been
received by the Belgium government.
Another method is to apply corporal
punishment often with the butt of a
rifle or to force the Belgians who re-
fuse to work for Germany to run for
two hours or less without stopping,
menaced all the time with a bayonet.
According to the government an
nouncement this evidence accords in
all details and shows that deported
Belgian civilians are Systematically
subjected to mistreatment in order to
compel them to work. Under this
treatment many of the deportees sue
cunb while a larger portion are so
weakened that they become incapable
OF physical effort.
The torture of the post" is des-
cribed as one of the principal measures
resorted to by the Germans. Stoutly
tettered to posts, the men are exposed
to heat, or cold according to the sea
son, for days together during which
sthe food rations are reduced until they
reach the proportions of a half ration
only for two days subsistence ;
The punishment in the tank" is a
| severe application of the Turkish bath
Several witnesses have confirmed this
feat, among them the son of a manu-
facturer of the region of Antwerp, who
with several OF his comrades was shut
up In a small room heated to a very
high temperature. There was only
room in the place for them to stand
erect close together and scarcely able
to turn. They were left there "a
hours.
Then they were led to a factory in
the neighborhood where they were
asked If they would go to work. Upon
their refusal. they were taken to a
( field under military escort, Invested by
| force of their overcoats, shoes, scarfs
| and hats or caps. and exposed in a
snowstorm an entire day and an entire
night, with nothing to eat or drink and
Under the absolute prohibition to make
afe slightest movement. Some OF
| them lost consciousness after a few
hours of this exposure, and all of them
were taken to the hospital the follow
ing day.
The son of the Antwerp manufac-
( turer. stout, robust man at the time
! OF the deportation, was sent home a
/ complete physical wreck a short time
afterward and since has died from the
ant Ia tol< = L;
TO the physician who treated him. and
me heislan government is in posses
sion of the evidence as given to the
doctor.
Two soldiers from Havre, the Lebris
, brothers, who escaped from GERMANY
confirms this review regarding the
Turkish bath form of punishment.
number of witnesses call attention
to the fact that frequently groups of
deported men have been the object Of
simulated execution, sometimes by .
11rlng squad, sometimes with machine
guns, in order to overcome their re-
s1stenec and impress their comrades
There is also another means of con
stralnt used upon the deported in the
FORM of punishment camps, where the
regime is still more severe than in the
! other informed camps and where the
deported are forced to work In the
marshes, often in most excessively cold
weather, dressed in nothing but trous-
ers shirt. and wooden shoes, without
lcod during an entire day.
Some of the deported are sent to
agricultural centers whence. according
TO the evidence of a man from Yer
V1ers who escaped from Germany. most
or the victims return so enfaebled that
IT Is impossible for them to keep on
their feet.
Corporal punishment IS frenuent,v
employed, such as blows with the bntt
OF a rifle or forced running for periods
up to two hours without stopping IN
DER menace of the bayonet. The evil
dence shows that the mortality among
men subjected to these different forms
OF mistreatment is alarming. Evidence
regarding the camp of deported Bel
Eians of Soltau shows that the mon
are badly lodged, underfed. lily clothed
hrutalized. soquestered, deprived of all
diversion and distraction, and refused
any kind of spiritual consolation.