Arizona republican., 1917-09-11
XXXVIII In Prisoners Camp at the Mercy of Fever and DoQs

Undoubtedly the worst prison camp which 1 visited in Germany was that of Wittenberg. Wittenberg is the an- cient town where Luther lived and nailed his theses to the church door. The camp was situated just outside the city in a very unattractive spot next to the railway. An outbreak of typhus fever prevented us from visit ing the camp, although Mir. Jackson conversed with some of the prisoners from outside the barrier of barbed wire.
 When the typhus was finally driven out, MT. Lithgow Osborne visited the camp and his report of conditions there was such that l visited it myself. in the meantime holding up his report until l had verified it.
 With MT. Charles H. Russell Jr., I visited the camp. Typhus fever seems to be continually present in Russia. It is carried by the body louse, and it is transmitted from one person to an
 other. Russian soldiers seem to carry this disease with them without ap- parently suffering much from it them selves. The Russian soldiers arriving at Wittenberg were not properly dis infected, and in cosequence typhus fever broke out in camp.
 Several British medical officars were there with the prisoners, be- cause, by the provisions of the Hague conventions, captured medical officers may, be kept with the troops of their nation, if prisoners have need of their services. These medical officers pro- tested with the camp commander against the herding together of the French and British prisoners with the Russians, who, as l have said, were suffering from typhus fever. But the amp commander said, You will have to know your Allies" And he kept all of his prisoners together, and thus IS surely condemned to death num- | Der of French and British prisoners of war as though he had stood them | against the wall and ordered them l shot by a firing squad
 Frightfui Conditions of Wittenberg Conditions in the camp during the l period of this epidemic were fright | lul. The camp was virtually deserted by the Germans, and 1 understand | that the German doctor did not make IS many visits to the camp as the l situation required.
 l At the time 1 visited the camp the | typhus epidemic, of course, had been | stamped out. The Germans employed | q large number of police dogs in this l camp, ana tHtSe uOSS not Ol1ly were l used in watching the outside of the
 amp in order to prevent the escape l of prisoners, but were used within the
 camp. Many complaints were made to me by prisoners concerning these dogs, prisoners stating that men had
 been bitten by the dogs. It seemed
 undoubtedly true that the prisoners
 there had been knocked about and
 beaten in a terrible manner by their
 guards, and one guard went so fal
 as to strike one of the British medica | officers in the camp.
 l There were about thirty seven civ
 ilian prisoners in the camp who had
 been there all through the typhus
 epidemic. 1 secured the removal o1
 these civilian prisoners to the genera
 civilian camp at Ruhleben, and the
 conditions at Wittenberg may be
 judged by the fact that when it was
 announced to these civilians that they
 were to be taken from Wittenberg tc
 another camp, one of them was SC
 excited by the news of release that he
 fell dead upon the spot
 In talking over conditions at Wit