Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-07-08
50 great has been the terror instilled

So great has been the terror instilled
into them BY the Germans.
An 0mcer told me Of seeing two
little children standing against q wall
In the town Of Maissin, in the north
OF France, one day in August, 1914.
Across the road was g burning house.
When the French officer asked them
why they were waiting to patiently,
they replied that q German had shut
their father and mother up in that
house and had told them to wait
there until they came back to fetch
them.
The treatment Of children during
rible. Little tots Of a and 5. and
children on up to the ages Of Is and
IA, were forced to work all day for
their %enslavers. They were taken in
to the fields at five in the morning
and were not allowed to come back
until seven in the evening. During
all that time they were given only
potatoes. cut away the barbed wire
entanglements, and pick up unex-
ploded shells. The food they ate was
SO poor that 1t vas a miracle that
they lived. After the Germans went
away there was no milk to be got
because all the cows had either been
killed or driven away. In one dis
SASS "0AS WV WIN
existed for months without a single
drop Of milk. I met one little girl
who had been kept for 20 days on a
diet consisting of nothing but bread
and soup, the latter being watery
and scarcely 1t all nourishing.
Il The destruction of the school
houses has made it impossible for the
1t is no strange thing to encounter
a boy or girl Of II who can neither
read o write. In their hideous thor
oughness. the Germans destroyed
books, pencils. desks, and all. Not
thing was left. After the American
relief workers came into the devas-
|tated regions, they established schools
and built little wooden buildings in
which to carry on the work.
At one school they told a story Of
q little girl who was brought in with
the other children to learn to read.
As soon a she discovered an old
chair in n of the corners, she i'm
mediately got into it and curled up
IN utter enjoyment and relaxation:
Of that chair. The teacher inquired
why she was so pleased with the
chair ~and,learned that the household
in which the child lived had not
boosted a single chair since the first
invasion of the Germans.
The separation Of the children
from their parents is another very
years before they are reunited, the
children grow and change so that
they are not recognizable to their
parents when they meet again. Some
Of them, to be sure, wear on a chain
about their necks little gold bap-
tismal gifts on which their names. are
inscribed. But their is exceptional.
~ ~ Nro ~ tho N4nfaocoa c~hornoo ~
the Germans to divide and scatter
families as much as possible.
My heart bleeds for the children Of
France! oh, that they should suffer
this unmerited abuse and tribulation!
The deportation Of young girls has
been systematically practised. A
family to assemble outside on the
doorstep. Then he picks. at random,
a number Of the younger women Of
the family. Il will take you .
and you and you!" he says, in
dicating the chosen ones with his
forefinger. At this summons, they
must leave their homes at once.
belongings nor to carry much bag
gage. They are permitted only SO
much Is they can carry wrapped in
a handkerchief.
After hey are taken into Germany.
they are put to work cultivating the
fields, doing the hardest and most
mental kind Of labor. They are
forced to live with the soldiers, and
are rudely treated by them. They
can send no word to their families.
and it is almost as though they were
dead
districts has been tireless. Great
credit is due to the American Com
mittee for Devastated France. organ
lied by Miss Anne Morgan. Over
1000 children have been turned over
to this committee to be cared for
One of its most useful works has been
in assisting the stricken people to
leave their homes so long as there is
danger from the Germans in the vi
| cinity. Pitiful stories are told of the