The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-07-12
BELG|ANS BEATEN,
STARVED, PERISH
APPALLING TREATMENT BY GER
MAN COMMANDERS AND TROOPS
is GIVEN CIVILIANS.

Havre, June 20-(Correspondenc of
Associated Pressl-The Belgian govern
ment has received from various sources
evidence which accOrds in every detail
proving that deported Belgian civilians
are subjected systematically to mistreat.
ment to bring them to forced labor for
the German army.
This evidence exposes insufficient
nourishment, cruel punishment, brutal
intimidation and hard conditions of la
Dor, under which a great many of the
deported civilians succumb while a lar.
ger proportion return to reduced and
weakened that they are incapable of
physical efforts
This is the regime of the camp of
Soltau described by one Of the men who
had been interned there and who sue
ceeded in escaping:
In the morning a third of a litre of
beverage resembling coffee but seeming
to have been made Of acorns; at noon
half litre Of soup generally made of
beets but sometimes Of potatoes in the
evening a fifth Of a litre of porridge
made of corn meal or barley; the ration
of bread is about half pound per day:
1t Is made of mixture of corn meal
and rye. The interned are never given
meat, fish or cheese. In certain camps
the evening meal was suppressed alto
gethar and even the other meagre re-
pasts were reduced for those who re-
fused to work for the Germans.
Tied to Posts.
Besides hunger, the principal meas.
ures resorted to I'm order to bring the
deported men to submission were the
''supplice of the post" stoutly fettered
TO posts, the men are exposed to heat or
cold, according to the season, for days
together, during which the food rations
are reduced systematically until they
reach the proportions of a half ration
only for two days subsistence.
Another cruelty practiced upon the
deported to force them to work is the
'supplice of the tank" or a severe ap.
plication of the Turkish bath. Several
witnesses have confirmed this fact
among them the son of a manufacturer
Of the region of Antwerp, who, with
several Of his comrades i'm camp, was
shut up in small room heated to a
high temperature There was only room
in the place for them to stand erect and
so crowded they were scarcely able to
turn. They were left there hours.
Beaten With Rifles.
The son of the manufacturer of An.
twerp, very stout. robust fellow, at
the time Of the deportation, was sent
a ~ q
terwards. He has since died from the
mistreatment
Corporal punishment is frequently EN-.
ployed, such as blows at the butt of a
rifle, forced running for periods up to
two hours, without stopping under men
ace Of the bayonet. in addition to the
practice OF tying men to the post
From all the evidence, II appears Ger.
tain that the mortality among men sub.
jected to these different forms of mis-.
treatment is alarming. The death Of a
great many OF the deported men Is
known In these occupied regions OF Bel.
gium. The evidence regarding the camp
OF Sultus shows that the men are badly
lodged, underfed, particularly in the
working detachment lily clother. bru.
talized, sequestered, deprived OF all di.
version and also refused any kind OF
spiritual consolation. A Belgian patriot
who officiated at the hospital there in
February, 1917, under the guard OF a
sentinel, was never able to see the in.
termed.
Many Deaths esult
At this camp at the end OF February
this year there were so cases in the in.
firmary shed. most OF them suffering
from geenra debility. a hundred about
in the other sheds. and among those
considerable number Of men affected
with dysentery, while In the hospital
there were more than 200 bad cases
coming from the different detachments
and from the camp. In four months
after the creation OF the camp in No.
vember. 1916. the deaths numbered i99
The causes were generally tuberculosis,
pneumonia, heart weakness and anala.
gous diseases.