Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-10-07
Escaped Prisoner
Writes of Period
He Spent in Camp
(By an Escaped PrisonerD

&
was a prisoner in a German prison
camp. At the end of that time |
was fortunate enough to escape.
Although l am a Russian, the peace
of Brest-Litovsk did not give me my
freedom Like the enemy subjects
who were in the same camp, had
to wait my chance to make a peril
Gus dash for liberty.
Although much has already been
written in the press of all countries
about the treatment of war prison
ers in Germany, nevertheless l be
lieye that l have had experiences
which are, to a certain extent,
unique and worth relating. The
camp in which l was confined is
Camp HolZminden, on the Weser.
At this place a great number OF
civilians who have in no way par
ticipated in the war are held cap
tive. 1t is not a camp for military
prisoners; it is a camp for enemy
civilians.
The regime at HOlZminden was
fairly mild until the beginning of
1917. But when General Haehnich.
haTbarOus old despCt, was named
general of the Tenth army corps, to
which district HOlzminden belongs,
the camp conditions were utterly
changed at once. In the place of
the former commanding officer,
General Pflugradt, who had treated
the prisoners with deCencv and
certain amount of consideration,
Colonel Gallus was appointed, a
half crazy individual. with years Of
experience as a prison director.
With the help of a group of his IN
derlings, more ruthless than him
self, the colonel very soon succeed
ed in establishing a German prison
regime at Holzminden.
This regime involved forcing the
prisoners to do the heaviest sort Of
labor Every day they were re
quired to break up and haul stone,
build roads, and work in the fields.
The road building was at a dis
lance OF from five to six k.lOmeters
from the camp. Work in the fac
tories Of HoiZminden was also look
ed upon as a camp duty. Because
Of the fact that the prisoners were
for the most part students. engi-
ueers, merchants. and so on. who
were unused 10 physical labor of
This sort, the tasks were particu-
larly oue-Ous. Furthermore. the
guards were instructed to keen nag
ging at the prisoners constantly, to
make them work faster.
The manner of these guards is
quite indescribable They received
from the colonel himself orders Of
the most outrageous sort. To speed
H. 90
told To strike them with their fists
and with clubs. If 4 guard was so
~ash as to be friyH " with one Of
the captives, Re vas severely pun
jsEeI To make the guards more
Jealous in their work, Colonel Cal
Ius informed them that all Of the
civilians fncarCerated al HOlzmiu-
den were pirates and criminals. de
serving Of the most violent treat
ment. The result is inevitable.
There were almost daily cases of
physical mistreatment while I was
a Holzminden. Some Of the poor
fellows were so badly handled that
they had to be taken to the hospi-
tai
The days program was a dTeary
one At 400 we were awakened
that is. al 4.3O by German summer
time, which is in reality at $50. At
> we went to work Often we could
not return 10 the barracks at noon
because we were working in a
place several kil0mete~s from the
camp. and we were Obliged to re
main out Of doors In the wet and
rain until 7.30 in the evening Al
9 p. m. when il WAS still light. we
were locked IN in the barracks. We
had not sufficient time FOR sleep,
rest, or even for meals
In spite 81 the constant activity
demanded Of the prisoners. the food
was poor and contained little n0ur-
fshment We did have sort ~
ccmmissary- committee. composed
OF three prisoners. But II Il for q
single time ventured TO complain Of
the soup AZ unsatisfactory" the
most disaPrecabIe things ALWAYS
happened Mail was frequently
held up. by way OF retaliation for
alleged misdeeds Mail was not al
lowed 20 be kept beyond eight days
and II q postcard older than that
was found upOn the person Of a
prisoner he was always vigorously
punished There was not enough
to make one comfortable.
As we had 10 work out OF doors re-
gardIess Of weather or season, our
was often wet through. and
the next morning We had 10 put Il