The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-02-19
SERBIAN PRIESTS
WERE SLAUGHTERED
Confrmatory Evidence Given by Pastor
of Church at Prot, Serbia, Who Es-
capped Similar Fate by Feign-
ing Death After He Had
Been Shot.

Prot, Serbia Feb. IS Correspondence
of the Associated Press) .-Confrmatory
evidence of the slaughter OF Serbian
priests by Bulgarians during the war,
was given to a representative OF the As
ISOLATED Press by Rev. Miliya. 1ont-
schiteh, pastor of one of the churches
here, who personally witnessed the mas
sacre of 20 of his colleagues and one
Serbian officer All, he says, were shot
and many were burned alive.
Father Yontschitch escaped similar
fate only by feigning death after he had
been shot. He. exhibited to the Asso-
ciated Press correspondent two bullet
wounds in his left shoulder. Another
priest, Rev, Thomas Popovitch Of Prot,
escaped by fleeing across the mountain
road
The murder of the priests took place
Nov. rs, 1915, in the village of Kremaen-
cia about IS miles east of Nish, accord
ing to the story of Father Yontschitch,
which follows:
Father Yontschiteh, in company with
% other Serbian priests, was taken by
Bulgarians from Prot to Nish, where
they were thrown into a cell and forced
to live for five days without food or wa
ter. After his release he and his com
panions, who included Lieutenant Tasa
Gorgevitch of the Serbian army were
marched by their captors for Is hours to
Bella Palanka, 80 miles east of Nish, an
armed guard walking behind each.
About two hours walk from Bella Pa.
lanka, the priests came to a halt and
were ordered to turn off the road into a
very small valley to the right, 1t was
after midnight and half moon gave the
only illumination to the lonely noun
tain roads and valleys The priests had
not gone far when the guards shot them
in their backs
Father Yontschitch dragged himself in
the darkness behind large rock, whence
he could see, the whole scene of murder
being enacted by the Bulgars,
He saw his colleagues dragged some
dead, some half alive, to pyres which
had been prepared for them, and their
bodies thrown to the flames.
Many of the men. said Father Yont-
schitch, were still alive when the Bull
gas saturated their bodies with gasoline
and set them afre. Flames spread about
them and they pleaded piteously for
mercy but their pleas were met with
sneers. After the flames had spent them
selves, said Father Yontschitch, the
charred bodies of q victims were thrown
into two holes, Arms, legs, heads, he
said, were left protruding, exposed to
the rayages of dogs and wolves that in
fest the mountains in the neighborhood.
The Bulgars left the scene before day
break. Father Yontschitch made his
way on foot to the village of Ponor, and
eventually to Prot, his home From
that time, 81 months he concealed him
self from the Bulgars under the floor Of
the house. He lived almost like a rat,
food being lowered to him through hole
in the floor The Associated Press CORE
spondent visited this place and saw the
wretched conditions under which Yont-
schitch lived When the priest emerged
from his self-imposed confinement, his
appearance had so changed that his
friends failed to recognize him. He was
later seized by the Bulgars and sent to a
prison camp at Eski Djuma, near the
Rumanian frontier, where for three
months his only food was a slice of bread
and few pieces of leek each day. When
the war ceased, Father Yontschiteh and
$50 other Serbian priests were returned
home
To confirm the priests story, the cor
respondent visited the spot where the
victims of the massacre were buried.
The place is obscured on all sides by
mountains. Many bones, skulls and parts
of the priests vestments were scattered
about in confusion. The correspondent
found near the bones a number Of empty
cartridges of Bulgarian manufacture.
Little candles had been placed in the
ground by local peasants who came each
day to say prayers over the graves after
the Bulgarian evacuation.
An international investigating com
mission is expected soon to examine the
scene.