New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1918-05-23
saw 0UTRAGES ON
WOMEN IN POLAND
Mrs. Reilly Describes PrusSian
Brutality in Red Cross Appeal


OF Traut q Hines might hear in their
native tongue the purpose Of the Red
. Cross campaign, the officials of that
factory invited Mrs Arthur E. J.
Reilly to address the Poles this noon.
Mrs. Reilly spoke to the EMPLOYEES II,
Polish at 1 o'clock. In translation,
her remarks we're as follows;
My dear countrymen and women:
am proud and happy that I can
speak to you today about the Red
Cross. Proud, because they have sent
me here though I have been an
American citizen but two years;
happy, that 7 can talk to you in our
fatherlands tongue and bring you q
message from Your old country. In
asmuch as my husba nd was the
American vice consul in Warsaw for
about two years. I had ample op-
portunlty to observe how glad and
willing Americans have always been
to help OUr old fatherland Here is
but one exam pie out of many. When
hundreds of Polish babies were on
the point of starvation, owing to the
lack OF milk. America, through the
Rockefeller Foundation, sent 10 car
loads of condensed milk to Warsaw
to be distributed gratis among the
children of the poor. Think how
many infants were saved through this
generous action! If there are mothers
among you, you will understand the
feelings of those Polish mothers in
Warsaw when they heard their babies
crying and had no milk to give them.
How thankful they were to America
when help came.
You have no idea what it meant to
live two years as I did under German
occupation What atrocities the
Prussian soldiers committed! They
separated families, and sent women
and men as slaves to work in the
fields of Prussia. They killed Polish
lads and outra ged Polish girls. They
called the countryfolk together under
the pretense of holding a meeting and
then arrested all the men and drove
the into Germany where they must
work until the end Of the war, and
even offered them premiums if they
would live with German women and
propagate the Teuton race. They
shot down hundreds of, men and boys
against whom they trumped up
charges of espionage. They deprived
your rountrymen Of foo3stuffs, stole
their crops and reQuisitioned all their
~
removing bells from the church
towers to melt them down into bull
lets. And after all these outrages,
they have the audacity to claim that
they are freeing Poland No, my
countrymen, that is not freedom.
But we Poles here in America know
the meaning Of the word freedom.
have been here only about four
m onths but I realize fully the free
dom we enjoy, and see evidences of it
every day. And just because we en-
JOY and appreciate this freedom we
must be ready and willing to safe
guard it. and with our whole hearts
and lives, if necessary. If you have
not the privilege Of fighting for the
freedom Of this new land of ours, all
the more are you obliged to help pro-
vide for those who are fighting for
us and to see that they do not ask
i'll vain for those little comforts which !.
mean so much to them.
1T is the idea of the Red Cross to !
furnish just these things to our
brave soldiers, but in order to do |
this the Red Gross needs your money |
and you must help to provide this |
money, SO that the soldiers may have i
all the bandages and other things they |
need. Having worked myself in the |
Polish Red Cross before the Pru ssian |
came to Poland I know only too we'll |
how necessary all these things are. |
So 7 beseech you, il you love your !
new country TO go to the Red Cross
solicitors today and give what you |
can Give more than YOU can! And |
when you give, think Of your suffer-
ing countrynen who are facing star !
walton and 2, hundred cruelties far
worse than death on account of these
same Prussians against whom the |
american soldiers are now fighting. |
You young men who smoke two
cigars q day smoke only one and give
the money for the second cigar to the
Red Cross. IF you buy two boxes of
a day, buy only one this
week, and give your money thus
saved to the Red Cross. And you
women and girls, put off buying that
new dress or that new hat until this
campaign is over and contribute
SOM thing toward this splendid cause.
Every cert, remember, is very i'm
portant to the Red Cross. Our peo-
ple in Poland believe In you, and if
you can't help them directly you can
at least help our soldiers who ar
fighting to help them.
"Our president has said Poland
must be free" and he has never said
anything vet which he didn't mean.
IF we are to have freedom in Poland,
only America can give it to us, so
let us show the president that we are
grateful by responding to his appeal |
for the Red Cross. Show him that
we can give something more than
cheers. Show him that we are proud
and glad to be able to give our money.
as well. Every cent you give to the
Red Cross is a foundation stone which