The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-09-09
(By an Escaped Prisoner.)

For three and one-half years I was a prisoner in 9 German prison camp. At the end of that time I was forum ate enough to escape. Although l am Russian, the peace of Brest- Litovsk did not give me my freedom. Like the enemy subjects who were in the same camp, I had to wait my chance to make a perilous dash for liberty.
 Although much has already been written in the press of all countries about the treatment of war prisoners in Germany, nevertheless I believe that I have had experiences which are, to a certain extent, unique and worth relating. The camp in which l was confined is Camp Holminden, on the Weser. At this place a great number of civilians who have in no way participated in the war are held captive. It is not camp for mill tary prisoners; it is camp for enemy civilians.
 The regime at Holminden was fairly mild until the beginning of 1917. But when General Hoehnisch, barbarous old despot, was named general of the 10th Army Corps, 70 which district Holzminden belongs, the camp conditions were utterly changed at once. In the place of the former commanding officer, General Pfugradt, who had treated the pris- oners with decency and certain amount of consideration, Colonel Gal Jus was appointed, a half crazy indi- vidual, with years of experience as a prison director. With the help of 2 group of his underlings, more ruth less than himself, the colonel very soon succeeded in establishing a Ger man prison regime at Holzminden. Heaviest Work Required. 1 This regime involved forcing the ! prisoners to do the heaviest sort 0. 1 labor. Every day they were requir ed to break up and haul stone, bullt roads, and work in the fields. Int
 road building was at a distance O 1 from five to six kilometres from tht camp. Work in the factories of Holz
 minden was also looked upon as ; camp duty. Because of the fact tha ] the prisoners were for the most par
 students, engineers, merchants, anC i so on, who were unused to physica i labor of this sort, the tasks were par ticulariy onerOus. Furthermore, tn guards were instructed to keep nag ging at the prisoners constantly t
 make them work faster.
 The manner of these guards is quit
 is quite indescribable.- They receivet h orda n
 the most outrageous sort. To speet
 the wrk of the prisoners, they wer told to strike them with their fist
 and with clubs. At the most trivia | offense they were instructed to shoot
 If a guard was so rash as to b
 friendly with one of the captives, h
 was severely punished. To make tn
 guards more jealous in their work Colonel Gallus informed them that al
 of the civilians incarcerated at Holz
 minden were pirates and criminals
 deserving of the most violent treat Il ment. The result is inevitable. Ther
 were almost daily cases of physica
 mistreatment while I was at Holzmin
 den. Some of the poor fellows wer
 so badly handled that they had to b
 taken to the hospital.
 , A Dreary Day.
 The days program was a drear one. At 4:3O we were awakened , that it, at 430 by German time, whic is in reality at 3:3O. At we went t work. Often we could not return t the barracks at noon because we wer . working in a place several kilometre > from the camp. and we were oblige
 to remain out of doors in the wet an
 the rain until 7:30 in the evening" A p. m., when it was still light, W were locked up in the barracks. w
 had not sufficient time for sleep, res
 or even for meals