East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1918-08-10
EIGHT ITALIANS
! ESCAPE AUSTRIAN
PRISON CAMPS
Thrilling Tale Told of Long
Suffering and Flight
Through Russia.

Especial Correspondence OF the ltal-
ian American News Bureau, Chicago-l
LONDON, July 10.-The most
thrilling escape of prisoners since the
great war began was effected without
doubt by eight Italians now in Lon
don. who got away from an Austrian
concentration camp after eighteen
months oDssuffering. They were Cor
poral Giovani Castellani. and Privates
stefano vannR Giovanni Armando'
Iicurgo Tezzit &lYio Ricci, Gugliel-
mo Nanuelo, Tkke Aris and Evaris-
to PARENT. FNH
met them s0on after their arriv-
al in London in a small restaurant
where they were guests of the pro-
prietor Danni told me in French
how they had reached London after
ninety days of travel, partly afoot and
partly by rail. He said life in the
camp was iRtolerable from the first,
and they lost no time in plotting an
escape
We decided death would he pref
cradle to life in such circumstances,
Danni asserted. "and agreed to COM
nit suicide or burst our hearts If we
lacked the weapons necessary.
I'VE were kept like cattle, with
damp straw for bedding and rats for
company at night. Our working
hours were sixteen for each of the
seven DAYS our food was the poor
est black bread and a nauseating sub
stItute for coffee. Only excrutiatine
hunger ad thirst enabled us to par
take of either.
Whipped When They Jagged.
every soldier had his own allot-
ted task. Each one was watched by
soldien with a whip. ready to ap-
ply it at teh slightest provocation. and
wanting that he used 1t as diaboll-
cal amusement. The Austrian Off
GERS descended to the level of splitting
on the Italians, kicking them with
their heavy boots. and laughing at
their groans or protests
Once an italian soldier after be-
ing subjected to all these tortoures and
practical jokes, struck the officer a
heavy blow in the face which sent
him reeling to the ground senseless.
The chastisement of the soldier was
horrible. He was triced up for three
days so that he could not move. but
that was the least of it. When he
was freed he fell helples like log,
but blows soon restored him.
"'It was marvellous that we sue
ceeded in escaping the vigilance of
the sentineIs close to the camp and
spread around it for a long distace.
We walked across Bessarabia, the
province of Podalia, and Volynia to
Minsk: that is $50 miles.
AT Minsk our sheos we're whipped
out and our feet benumbed with cold.
Every step was torture, but we only
thought of freedom. Not knowing
where we were. we kept pushing OF
rapidly. We dug under the snow and
found radishes which were our food.
Russian Peasants, HOspitable.
when at last we knew we were in
Russia" Danni continued, 1--WE asked
the peasants for food and found them
hospitable but their supplies were
scant. One day. however. an aged
man offered us some vodka which he
/ kept hidden away in his cabin. We
shall remember him gratefully fer
that to our dying day.
There were trains enough from
/ Minsk to Petrograd. They moved
slowly, however, and for the greater
part were filled with soldiers. Just
outside Minsk we eight fugitives
leaped aboard the first one passing as
! best we could. The Russian soldiers
welcomed us cheerily. and listened to
our story. 1t developed that two Of
the Italians We're on the trucks OF
the last car. All were two days with
out food.
Fifty days after we left the Aus
trian camp we reached PetrOgrad.