South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-09-05
SERBIAN SOLDIER
TELLS OF HORRORS
BulgarianS' Cruelty to Captur-
ed Prisoners and Civilians
Described in Letter.

by Serbian patriot who barely es-
capped hanging by the Bulgarians.
lie describes in some detail the in
surrections in Serbia in April last.
the fate that they met and uuspeak-
able cruelties visited upon the in
surrectionists by the Bulgarians.
His letter. the original is at PIES
ent In the Serbian archives but can
be seen at any time, is written with
his own blood from his hiding place
in the Serbian mountains and Isl
addressed 10 his friend. "a Serbian
captain. serving with the Saloniki
forces. The captain fell into captiv-
ity not long after receipt of the mis-
sive buc succeeded in smuggling il
out by means OF a Serbian sentry.
The letter frankly advises all Ser
bians 10 kill themselves rather than
submit 70 capture; il tells Of the
forcible deportation Of thousands Of
children TO Constantinople: Of the
frightfUl fortunes inflicted upon pris-
Oners before they are executed by
the Bulgarians. such as hanging by
the tongue; Of gibbets erected every
where TO dispose Of Serbian pris-
oners Of war, especially OF insurrec-
tiOnists.
Name OF Soldier Suppressed.
The names Of both sender and re-
cipient have been suppressed for
obvious reasons, but both are on file
with the original OF the letter, which
runs as follows:
eaTTara 4 IN, voorntaFv
is. actually, my sad residence / es-
capped on April % from the Bull
garian prison where / was incar-
cerated with 90 comrades after hav-
ing been surrounded and captured
In the revolt near. There had
been $4,000 of us insurgents: we
had moreover fought with "A Ger
man division that defeated us and
drove US 10 flight Then we had been
attacked by two Bulgarian divisions
armed with cannon and machine
guns. 1 was taken, put in prison and
condemned 20 be hanged. but dur
ing the night, my friend - ar
rived with q band of Profouplie.
killed the sentinels and rescued me.
IN consequence ] was able 10 reach
the mountains There are more than
c. 900 Of us insurgents Nearly all OF
the other mountains are filed with
Insurgents.
The Bulgarians had summoned
all The male population between the
ages Of 16 and 60 in order To incor-
porate them I'm the army and send
them Immediately TO the front. At
the same time they had gathered
together ali the young people be-
tween % and rs and had sent them
to Constantinople. To was this vandal
process Of these monstrous MongOls
that provoked the revolt The unfOr-
tunate mothers: eNasperated by the
cries OF their children as they were
carried off by force attacked the
Bulgarians with stones. This was n
genuine revolt. TO which the Bull
earians replied with gibbets TO
which they hanged women and chill
dren Finally the people. exhausted
and revolving. threw themselves up
on the Bulgarian depots. Men and
women carried off arms and am
nutrition first 20 ProkoupIe. then
10 Leskovatz. Leblanc. Nrania. Was
sotiutze. Zayetchar. Kniagevatz,
Poiarevatz and the VILLAGES
Fight German Division.
.Tt was agreed that the insurgents
of Zayetchar and its suburbs should
march on Nish. that the rest of us,
from Prokouplie. Leskovatz and
Nranic. should do the same and re-
united. should take possession Of
the CITY Unfortunately those from
ZNetchar were late. we got ahead
Of them and had. alone, 10 withstand
an attack from German division.
We beat them and took away two
batteries and 500 soldiers The bat
lie took place near Gitoradia. From
there we carried Leblanc. Leskovatz
and ProkoupUe Of which we made
ourselves masters Then we attack
ed Nish. carrying the depots and
half OF the city.
Meanwhile two Bulgarians di-
visions arrived. and a bloody battle
developed: we should have been able
60 defeat the Bulgarians as we had
defeated the Germans If they had
no. used cowardly strategy 10 pre-
vent us from attacking them they
forced the women and the children
20 m1FNn in IfNuI OF lut4l ldih@.
Unable 90 fire upon our own people.
we withdrew as FAR as Eorvinerad.
where "a new battle began and where
the Hunparians attacked MS from
behind We made an opening and
took refuge ir the mountains. Since
was dead from fatigue 7 was taken
prisoner and with q dozen other in
surgents was condemned 20 he hang
cd Waiting while the Sihbet was
prepared. we were incarCerated i'm
the prison of ProkOuplie. hut one OF
our bands killed the garrison and
rescued rs
$50 here am In the mountain Of
10 may Doe that when YOU
read these lines 7 shall no longer
De amouS the Twins. hut the insur-
rection cannot he -nuGed ont SO
easily. for the BulEarians are pro-
ceeding systematically 90 eNtermin-
ate cur nation Ou the 25th of April
they placed aboard trains az Belo-
tintze 5000 children between the
ages Of 10 and 10. bound Tor Con-
stantinople Many OF the children