Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1918-01-25
GERMAN PRISON CAMP AS SEEN BY An AMERICAN

WV Win Ho Cll;lnce Tor their lives. |
whenever the Moewe sighted another
vessel, has been told by others, and !
smiths narrative of that need not be
repeated. lie arrived with the rest
at hlei, Germany, on March q, and
next day, with all the Moewe's pris-
oners, was sent to Duelnen, Westpha-
ia, town about ten miles from the :
Holland border.
Captors "On Leave" :
I'VE were sent down there in third
class cars" Smith said, with one
guard TO each ten men. The guards
were all middle-aged Germans who
had been at the front and who we're
nome on furlough. They complained
bitterly because when they got a leave
1t wasn't really leave at all. They
had to do guard duty or work in a !
factory or on farm. This trip last
Ed all night but we didn't get scrap
of food till we had breakfast at Duel !,
men in the morning.
1.-The camp consisted of lot of low,
wooden, implanted shacks, with plain
board floors. Around the walls ran
hunks, one above another Each bunk
had bag of straw for mattress, and
two medium weight blankets. There
were four of these shacks in each in
closure at Duelmen. Each Enclosure
held about 1000 prisoners, and had
2 l2-fOOt barbed wire fence around it,
. with the wire at the top bent inward
e so you couldn't get over. How many
Of these Enclosures there were-each
with its four shacks-I don't know,
z but l was told there were $4,000 pris-
4 Oners.
). "Then there was another barbed
n wire fence. higher and thicker, on the
= outside of roadway which ran around
r the entire camp. Every 200 feet
A. around this barrier was a sentry boz
and sentry. Inside Of each smaller
At Enclosure there We're two armed
N guards, marching back and forth.
n NationaIities Separated.
IN "The nationalities were all separat
n ed. The French prisoners were KEEP
by themselves. They seemed to &c
q. the worst treatment. The Russian
M were by themselves and we American
tn were kept with the English. Nobod
in got what you'd call good treatment.
- For breakfast every morning we 60
- piece of bread an inch and a hal
on thick and about four inches square an
,st one lineup of what they called coffee
IN but I'd call good water spoiled. l don
A. know what they made it out of, but
arg was rotten, bitter stuff and not eve
very hot.
MO For dinner and supper we had tt
mt same thing every day-turnip sou
or with mighty few turnips in it.
ON never had anything else. No meat, I
vas potatoes, no bread. even, except
emf breakfast You could take the turn
not soup or starve. 1t was just abo
ers enough to keep you alive. Some Of Il
ldi- fellows got SO weak they'd have to
carried to the hospital. There the!
get nourishing food for few da!
the but as soon as they were a lit
han stronger they'd be chucked out of t
Re hospital There wasn't much of VIII
,ers you'd call real suffering at Duelman
hes and the guards were decent enough
red but it wasn't much of a life
hes. Sent t., Brandenburg.
enc On April 3 Smith and his fell
captives of the MOewe were sent IT.
with Duelman to the notorious camp
ok" Brandenburg, which is on the Ha
say: river, between Berlin and Magdebu
eat Again they had an all-night trip WI
'thly out food and crowded into MARI
arv wooden benches in the worst sort
on cars.
"Here we had Prussians for guar
Nv s1S,S ~
ton, went on. "The camp was the 81
uary sort of place as Duelman,
"a barbed wire inner Enclosures, and t
l his roadway circling the whole ca
Es- and barred on the outside with Wir
&c in .At Duelman they would turn us
and and count us only twice day, bu
her Rrandenburg they gave us the 'rau
It adj dozen times. They'd keep Us stant
t the barefoot in the snow for hours I
,yage some major would come up and We
the final count BY this time our 81
be- had worn out, and most of us octu
~~'~c were barefoot.
"The Prussians hauled and sh'
us around like cattle, although l l
say / didn't see any one strucl
- stabbed who didn't have 1T comm
him.
"At Brandenburg we got the
old food-turnip soup, with new
change. They made the stronges
us work on farms outside the i
sure, clearing the ground for the 81
e. planting; but we got no better
S$# than the rest.
l]3@} 1--WE nearly froze to death at
B #6$S$ denhurg. There were small stow
83 the huts. but they didn't begin to '
a8&a them. The blankets-yOu could
through them! We were oil III
8$ insects and had to have our CT
# fumigated everv two weeks, but
49, couple O :aT~ we'd be as bad as
I$ Gets Job on Docks.
$&2 III ...aS ahnut ready to take 2