New-York tribune., 1917-06-11
French Girl Tells
How Field Slaves
Toll in Germany
Whipped by Officers and
Forced to Sleep in Chicken
Coop, She Says
U.S.Relief Food Stolen
Teutons Used Belgian Rations
Given Nine Francs for
Six Months Work
U.S.Relief Food Stolen
Bv FRED B. PlTNEl

paris. May S0.-I have just been
r..eninc TO the story Of a young glrl
.,or, lille. who has been repatriated
-s..- tbirtv-two months under German
~,,s This girl, who is twenty years
"A belongs to one Of the Lille fam
n;.s that were wealthy before the war
y..,rallv. she was not brought up TO
- labor. On the contrary, she had
.~.rvtbinr that wealth usually brings
"a Young girl. The part Of her story
.bs. I purpose to tell is that which
ii, with the six months she spent as
Geld laborer for the Germans. IL
Ill set the seal of lies on much the
c.-mans have said about whom they
-, from the French population 10
.ork in their fields and how tne sIase'
-a +reated. 1t will also tell AMER
49, yrbat became of a large part OF
% %eSH rood they sent 20 feed the BEL
gsns. orriro of April
q. Tors guard of ten German sol
- Lrocked at my fathers door IN
T;Iie The sergeant major IN command
"a +bo+ the commander OF Lille hau
5ar1anded a certain number OF young
80 N work in the fields OF the AT,
sa,,es hut not enough had presented
.ssr,selves. and he had ordered
..aC,,;sition' Among the houses TO De
sss~cbed was my fathers, and l was OH
the list % 60 with them.
The girl tainted and was carrleo
.rav in a fainting condition by the
cs~1,an soldiers. while her father ana
ro,ber could only look on and SOD
usr narents were not even allowed 10
90 70 the railroad station with her.
Herded in Filthy Cattle Car
~ was put in a cattle car with thirty
o.her girls" she continued. ne car
Rad not been cleaned out since IL hau
carried its last load of cattle, ana we
Rad 20 push the filth outside oe1ore we
eor,d fnd a place TO sit on the floor;
there were five hundred men ana
women on the train, all in cattle cars,
srd in nearly all the cars the men ana
women were mixed together Nnen we
reached our destination the men anu
women had TO live together promlscu-
ously, sleeping in the same, room or
stable. or wherever II might be.
81 slept in a chicken house with nan
dozen other girls and as many men
To one Of the girls who complslheu
German lieutenant said:
"'MademOiselle, you should be PROUD.
You belong now TO the famous otn
Corps. which is commanded by the
Crown Prince Rupprecht Of Bavaria.
@I1 fact. our papers of IDENTIFY
showed that We were attached 10 the
9Th Corps.
~Ten times during the journey we
had TO undergo medical examinations:
The examinations were of the most
minute kind. We had 70 strip for them
They seemed 70 be made for the pleas
ure of the examining officers. There
could be no other reason for doing II
ten times.
"Our destination was Auvillers-les-
FORCES, and we were kept there SIX
months. Our work was gathering IN
the grain, thrashing it and digging po-
tatoes. We worked from in the morn
ing until sunset. We were told that we
would be paid for our work, and when l
got back 70 Lille | was given francs
and IS centimes for my Labor.
Had Not Enough to Eat
"Not only did 1 sleep in chicken
house. but we did not have enough 70
eat All the food we had was taken
from that supplied by the Belgian Re
lief Committee. We were gathering
the harvest for Germany and the Ger
man soldiers. but our food was stolen
from that sent by America 10 the Bel
gians. There was one period when the
supplies ceased 20 arrive at our village,
and during twelve days lived on green
fruit that I picked from the trees and
on roots. But I had TO work in the
fields just the same.
"The discipline was iron. We
marched % the fields and back at night
in ranks like soldiers. The least in
fraction was punished by prison sen
tence with bread and water, and for
what were considered more serious OF
fences we were whipped. The German
officers themselves whipped the young
girls with their riding whips.
There were many cases Of sickness,
and several Of the girls died from NAL
nutrition. One girl who died had her
funeral service read by the officer who
had whipped her with his riding whip
enly a few days before.
Il was sent back 20 Lille on October
10, and few days ago | arrived in
Paris by way Of Switzerland. There
Will be little left OF Lille when the
Germans get through with IT,"