Evening star., 1919-04-16
1000 MASSACRED
BY THE BOLSHEV|K!
Red Cross Officials Report
UnthinkabIe Atrocities IN
Reoccupied Russ Areas. :.

OMSK, Saturday, April (by the
Associated Press).-Indsputab evi-
dence OF the massacre by the bolshe-
Wiki of more than 1000 civilians in
and near the town of Osa has been
obtained by Messrs. Simmons and
Emerson and DR.. Rudolph Teusler of
the ,American Red Cross. who have
Just returned from Perm, Osa and
other occupied Russian territory.
Approximately 500 persons were
killed at Osa and 1900 in the sur
rounding districts.
Osa, which had population of
10000, was so denuded of males by
the bolsheviki that Gen. Cazagrande.
upon the occupation of the town, was
obliged to telegraph to Yewaterin-
burg for men to administer civic af-
fairs.
Witness Exhuming of Victims.
In addition to securing verbal and
documentary evidence the American
Red Cross officials witnessed the ex-
huming of scores of victims from
trenches, where they were buried.
sometimes several deep. in graves re-
Vealed by the digging of dogs. The
murders were without provocation
and the victims were largely of the
thrifty and intelligent classes of serv-
ants of the church, which latter it
was the announced intention of the
bolsheviki to exterminate.
The evidence discloses almost un-
thinkable atrocities. A blacksmith,
by economies. had obtained a shop.
He was required to pay 5000 rubles;
because he could not he was shot. a
man was shot because he lived in a
were killed, and doctors. whose serv-
ices were not required for the mo-
ment, were disposed of In similar
manner.
A woman whose husband and two
sons had been seized applied to the
commissar for information as to their
fate. She was told they had been
taken to Perm. After repeating her
visit several times she was informed
that if she bothered the commissar
again she would be shot, as they had
been.
Wife of General Slain.
The body of a woman was exhumed
Americans as the wife of a general
through jewels sewed in the lining of
her clothing, of which relatives were
aware. Another woman was compelled
to fetch a lamp and gaze upon her
murdered sons for the amusement of
the slayers.
A wife, required to pay a thousand
rubles for the release of her husband
borrowed 500 and paid it over: later
she returned with the remainder, and
then was informed that her husband
had been shot. There were scores of
similar cases. All were killed without
form of trial.
The soviet called a meeting and
prepared lists of those to die. The
houses prescribed were visited by
squads, the doors were smashed in
and the victims dragged to the edge
of the town and forced to dig their
own graves. Those resisting were
shot in the streets.
A survivor testified that he had
seen men thrown into a pit and
buried alive. This testimony has
been confirmed by bodies exhumed,
the clenched hands of which were
clinging to the mud at the bottom of
the pit.
The only spark of humanity discov-
erable was that in condscating the
belongings of the residents, in some
instances. where there was a family
t.. srsH children, the family was per-
mitted to retain one cow out of sew
sral. Occasionally a peasant was al
u Sseo mis- worst horse.
The bolshevik attitude toward the
church was uncompromising. Priests
were hunted numerically. The evil
dence showed that men were slain
whose only offense was that they
worked as sections or caretakers of
churches. At Osa a priest was spared
on the pleading of the peasants. but
the church was looted At one place
four out of five priests escaped by
hiding In the woods.