Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1917-05-02
STORIES OF THE WAR
The ExiIed Beleians.

Several BelgianS who were depOrted
into Germany recently escaped across
the frontier into Holland. y statement
telling of their experiences while in
Germany has been prepared for the
Belgian Government at HaVre. y
condensation of the statement was
sent to James A. Whiteley, the Bel
gian Consul General in Baltimore. AS
given out by Mr.. Whiteley, the docu-
ment reads:
The Belgian government has re
, ceiyed further news concerning the
trea tment of the Belgian deporLees in
Germany. The report was received
from number of men who escape
from Germany and who made the fol-
lowing declaration to the Belgian au
thorities:
to IS years of age We're ordered at rhe
sound of the drum to appear on Dec.
), 1915, before the local military con
troll at F1orenville, (Belgian Luxem-
light pack with them, twenty marks
of money, and enough food for TWEEN
ty-four hours. Those who did not
come would be seized by force.
About 200 Of US gathered at Floren-
vile on the appointed day. The Sc
lection was made without regard
whatever to age, trade, profession,
physical strength or social class, but
the few men who had consented 10
work for the enemy in Belgium were
once urged to sign an engagement. As
we all refused we were led to the
station between two rows of soldiers
and Uhlans- The crowd-mostly wo
men and children-Was ruthlessly
pushed back and we had not even the
comfort of seeing our wives and chill
dren before we left.
From Florenviile to Muenster the
journey lasted twenty eight hours. BY
then some other deporters had got
into our train, that we We're nearly
500 when we arrived. They left us
an hour standing on the platform at
Muenster. where the crowd Knocked us
and insulted us then they marched us
between soldiers to the camp of Muen-
sterlager, where we arrived at s
o'clock at night. There they gave us
blankets. (The rutabaga is a kind of
beetroot only used for cattle feed be-
fore the war and which has, to a
great extent, replaced the potato in
Belgiunl.) At Muensterager the de-
portees got a cup of coffee in the
morning, a ration of rutabaga soup at
midday, and in the evening a piece of
bad bread and some more soup.
we met in the camp a great num-
her of deportees from Mons and the
surrounding district They had ar
rived six weeks before and were in
most Pitiful condition. Two of them
died before our eyes in one day. Strong
men of twenty to thirty were abso-
men with bent backs and shutting
feet. They had undergone terrible ex-
perienoes. Having refused to work
for the enemy, they had been taken to
a punishment camp, (strafIager,)
where they had been compelled to
work in the marshes during forty-two
days in the coolest weather with only
their shirt and trousers on, without
food during the whole day. One day
a patrol trained a machine-gun on
them, and as they still refused to sign
an enga cement they were fired at
with blank cartridges. Another day,
soldiers threatened them with rifles
ster part of those who survived this
treatment. The same story was told
us by all those who had been to the
straflager, SO that we can guarantee
it's authenticity.
There was in the camp a labor bu-
reau visited by all the employers of
the surrounding towns. Some of us,
unable to stand the regime of the
camp any longer and hoping to be
able to escape more easily if we were
vision, consented to work in the Man
nesmann munition factory at Gelsen-
lzirchen. A daily salary of to II
marks so pfennings would be taken
for our board aud lodging. We were
to be allowed to correspond with our
re.atives in Belgium, and to receive
parcels from them Leave after two
promised with definite release after