Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-29
FRENCH GIRL. TAKEN BY GERMANS. :
TELLS OFHARROWZNG EXPERIENCE

when he was more tranquil l de-
manded to know by what right I was
being abducted. He glanced at my
identity card. favored me with an In
sulting leer and said: I can do moth
ing for you whatever and turned
away.
Apprehensive Of Worst Fate.
lat s o'clock we were put into the
train. presumably headed for the Ar
dennes. With mock obseauiousness
Capt T. waved me and the three girls
with whom I was grouped into cattle
car on which was marked in chalk.
Eighteen women There were no steps
into the car. so we were hoisted up into
1t roughly by soldiers, who packed
twenty-four of US, including four men
for there were men among the de-
portees-into space insufficient for the
eighteen for which II was INTENDED:
Three soldiers of the Gath mounted
guard over us. and one of them. who
understood a little French translated
our remarks to his curious comrades
When one of the younger girls began
to sob he said: We couldn't do other
wise: it's orders. Don't cry; things are
worse in Germany.
Il am thirty years old and not child
Therefore. sooner than my younger
fellow prisoners, I realized the kind OF
dangers to which we were exposed. IL
wasn't long before all our thoughts
began to be concentrated on these
perils, and suddenly one cried: They
say it's not really to work in the helds
that they have taken u.s.. l determined
to be ready for death in preference to
a worse fate
A medical Inspection
Mile. Yvonne then describes the ar
rival of the train at a village in the
Ardennes at the next morning. The
captives had had nothing to eat or drink
save what they had brought with them
since leaving their homes twenty-four
hours before. German officers, come IN
automobiles from Vervins, separated
the women on the train from the hand
full Of men, the latter being sent Off to
work in a nearby factory. The women
were left standing in the road outside
the station, surrounded by curious
group Of peasants and German soldiers.
none of whom seemed to have any IDEA
Of what was going on.
Hours passed, and still we waited.
My God. but I was weary! Suddenly
there came frightful rumor. There
was to be a medical inspection. By brib-
ing soldiers we learned the details we
were to be taken. one by one, completely
Invested Of clothing. before a German
surgeon! The purpose of this couldn't
ascertain, but the most CHASTITY theories
were advanced. l spoke to the French
man who was acting mayor of the viii
lage.
as there no way of escaping this
shameful indignity?'
He made gesture Of powerlessness
and replied: The Germans are masters
here, Mademoiselle. Whatever their will
may be, we must submit
Il was overcome. For the first time
since my departure from home I wept
Then L pulled myself together. and with
my three comrades questioned one of the
women who had already undergone the
inspection. She said it was terrible, that
the excuse was VIE Sho3.1 have to sleep
two in bed and that two individuals
had already been marked as medically
suspect.
Deserted as "of Evil Life.''
1.-The outcries of the captives were such
that the surgeon was obliged to modify
the brutality of his examination. My
turn came toward the end at about noon,
and by that time it was no longer neces-
sary to completely divest oneself of ones
clothing. 1t was, nevertheless, revolt
Ing performance, as barbarous as any
thing the Germans have conceived, l be-
lieve."
Mile Yvonne and her companions were
eventually sent to a neighboring village,
where they arrived late in the afternoon,
after sleepless night, very scant rations
and no opportunity to wash themselves
after their piInful journey. They We're
assigned to a cottage unoccupied for two
years and full of dirt and dust The resi-
dents of the village gave them a cold re-
ception. 1t wasn't until several days later
that they learned the reason for this.
The Germans, "by refinement of malice,
had said, These are women of evil life. -
A woman in the village, Nine. D., finally
agreed to supply the captives with food.
She also volunteered to go to the kon-
nandanter to learn what they were sup
posed to do. There she was informed
that the commandant was away and that
there was no need of the girls until his
return.
The villagers were quite capable of
doing all the work necessary in the
community" the diary continues ut
was evidence that in their deporta-
tions of young girls the Germans were
not impelled by necessity. They mere
ly sought to impose a new calvary on
the civil population: they hoped to
foment a revolt which they would have
brutally suppressed. The Lillois will
never forget this phrase. so often heard
uttered by German officers. What
must we do to drive them to despera-
tom"
Dragged From Sick Bed.
Mile Yvonne describes as follows
the arrival of other captives from
Lille:
Regardless of the state in which
they found themselves, they were
treated in the most outrag eous man
ner by the Germans. One young girl
was in bed gravely ill. She was drag
Sed into the street, bed and all. put
aboard the train on her he'd. Now, she
is at deaths door. In Lille terror
reigns. Parents have gone insane over
the loss of their daughters. There was
one girl who was suddenly driven
mad and fled through the streets in
her nightgown, pursued by German
soldiery.
Il have heard only one humorous
note. At the station a peddler cried,
Buy the official account of the great
Lille victory: 1,500 prisoners without
the loss of a single man"
"Our nerves were constantly on
edge" Mile. Yvonne says of her stay
in the village. That is easily explain
able. At our door the Germans posted
a placard reading, Six women Thus