Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-11-16
GERMANS PUT
PRISONERS UP
BEFORE GUNS

deliberate exposure Jof
prisoners Of war to the fire
Of their own and their Allies artillery
on the. part (of the Germans, while
employing. these prisoners 1t forced
labor close behind the western front.
the Committee On Treatment. BY the
Enemy Of British Prisoners Of War"
made public here today through tho
British information bureau.
Not content with this brutality,
with ite involved mental torture, the
Germans also kept these prisoners
on ratiohs less than half those all
lowed German soldiers, deprived
them of mail from home, including
food parcels: struck them. whipped,
them and generally treated them so
badly that even some Germans were
ashamed OF the conduct Of those in
charge.
Publication Of the report, called
forth by the recent address Of Sir
George Cave. home secretary. in the
house of commons, saying that all
British prisoners must be liberated az
q prerequisite tor any armistice be-
ing granted to Germany. brings to
light an appalling record Of inhuman-
.lineation Of trickery and double.deal-
ing which has come to be expected
in any afKAirs in which the German
government figures.
Evidence in the hands Of the com
mittee forces it to the conclusion that.
az early at the latest, as the month
Of August, 1915, the German com-
mand' were systematically employing
their British as we'll q other prison.
ers in forced labor close behind tho
western firing line thereby, deliber-
Afoyv e. SNSiof hi en- SafA nvnAAfn0
them to the fire OF the guns Of their
own and Allied armies" Later than
this, the report says, on January a..
1917, to be exact, the German gov
eminent in "a note verbale, alleged
that German prisoners were employed
behind the British lines in France
and threatened reprisals, to- begin
threat was made. the threatened
measures already were in force, the
report shows.
In an appendix the report gives
both the TEXT OF the note verba1e and
extracts OF statements made by es-
capped prisoners showing the German
statement to be false.
The report shows in detail, backing
up the showing. with documentary
report the names Of prisoners DETAIL
Led in labor camps near the front
Hines, as required by international law
for all prisoners, thereby causing
needless anxiety on the part of their
families and friepds. cat some prison
camps the British were allowed to
write letters and postcards home but,
as. one escaped prisoner said, we
week had elapsed from the time we
wrote our letter or card it returned
to us with the information that the
address to which a reply should be
sent had altered. This happened
week after week, until we got tired
Of writing letters"
As for mail addressed to the sol
diers. another prisoner says: Tive
cells. A great many were broken and
lying on the floor. Most Of them
were addressed to Canadian soldiers
OF the men in labor camps neal
the front lines, the report says, the
work the me were forced to do, or
insufficient food, poorly clothed, ex'
posed to the weather, was not only
forbidden by the laws Of wal but wa.
excessively hard" 1t continues:
evidence Of men who weighed Il
stone when captured. Ono was sent
back from the firing line t6o weak
to walk, Weighing 8 stone only; the
other escaped to the British lines
weighing no more. Another man los'
two stone in six weeks. Such was
their hunger that we hear Of then,
picking up food potato peelings tina,
had BEEN tfampled under foot. One
instance is given Of an Australian
private who, starving. had fallen OUT
to pick up a piece Of bread left On
the roadside by Belgian women fol
the prisoners. He was shot and
killed by the guard for SO doing"
Extracts from the afidavits Of two
escaped prisoners. continue: The
prisoners quarters were so crowded
it was impossible for them to lie on
their backs. No soap, blankets OF
g~reatcoats were provided.
"At Ervillers the rain leaked
through. the prisoners hut. AL.
though there was ? stove in the hut
they were not allowed to light it
The u~nterofizier was seen on two &C.
casions to strike men with a trans
port-drtver's whip
Every phrase Of an annex to The
Hague convention concerning prison.
ers .ofs war, to which Germany was q
party, Is shown by the evidence at.
taohed to the report to have been
broken.
BANK CONDITIONS.
New York, Nov. 1s.-The aetna,
condition OF clearing house banks and