New-York tribune., 1919-07-01
Mrs. Margaret Thurman
Reaches New York After
Terrible Experience in
Her Husbands Country
Doomed to Death as Spy
Prayed to Retain Reason
Amid Scenes of Inde-
cribable Horror, She Says

Captured as q spy by Germans. SEN
fenced to be shot, finally imprisoned in
a penltentiary where scores Of women
died about her and living conditions
were indescribable, such is the story
told By Mrs Margaret Fuhrman upon
her return from Germany yesterday.
The daughter Of a Chicago publish
er, Mrs Fuhrman went to Europe to
study art In Germany she met the
man she afterward married
But when the war broke ont he was
German first; my husband after
ward said Mrs. Fuhrman, as she
told her story to The Tribune ycster-
day This woman, who has suffered
cruelty at the hands OF the Germans,
talked vividly of her experiences ana
the indignities she had undergone in
the penitentiary.
When relations became strained be-
tween husband and wife as a result
or their differing sympathies on the
war, Mrs Thurman sought divorc
She did not secure it until she was
released from prison. and then it was
given her on the ground that being an
American she was not not fit to live
with q worthy German citizen.
Germans Ignore Defeat
left Germany only two weeks
age. and let me tell YOU the Germans
don't feel that they have been licked"
declared Mrs. Thurman 81 have lived
in Prussia and | know the sort of
spirit they have 1t is too bad that
the arnistice was signed al Coblenz
l shou.j like to have seen the Allied
which is the hotbed of all trouble in
Germany"
Soon after the war broke out Mrs
Thurman started to do war work The
German government engaged her to
take charge of the English censorial
department in q German camp near
Berlin Here she mad an opportunity
to help English and American prison
crs get their mail through, and was
BE to be kind to them in many ways.
Through an agent Mr. Fuhrman de-
cidsd to make a bid for her freedom
Along with three other prisoners she
got as far as Hamburg, but one Of
her esco1-rs happened 10 b. a German
american, and right within sigh. of
the Stars and Stripes waving on an
American boat az the port. she was
arrested manaclel and taken through
the Streets first to Hamburg, then
10 Berlin branded as q SPY and
arch criminal"
Sentenced To Be Shot
Her prosecutors found among her
possessions a letter from her father in
Amf!ica and maps and plans which
she had kept n the discharge Of her
duties az censor She was prolnptly Y
court martaled and sentenced to DC
shot This was in May, 1917. For a
explaining to high German officials
that prominent fellow countrymer Of
theirs were using the same means of
comm unication with the outs de world,
her sentence was changed TO a years
imprisonment For TWO months she
lay in military prisons, where she re-
celved fairly decent treatment Then
she was thrown into 4 pcnitentiary,
along with 800 of the viest women
criminals IT Germany This vas when
her reign Of hardship began
Not only vas l starved,r related
Mrs Thurman, but the women war
dens were absolute devils We were
not allowed TO speak. and we had TO
work eleven hours day, mendine
gunny sacks, getting two pfennigs for
our labors- We were given forty grams
Of black bread in the morning and
a pint Of some beverage made Of
for coffee. Then, later in the day, we
got some half-decayed salt fish that we
had 10 pick the nlaggots out Of
Prayed to Keep Reason
81 have seen women go insane under
this treatment l have seen their
wrists eaten with gangrene under their
manaclea For myself I could just put
my hands to my head and pray: Cod.
Just let me keep my reason
"When l lay Ill with influenza a
doctor came and when he found out
! was an American he said: why
don't you turn her TO the wall and
shoot her like a dog?
M,s. Fuhrman was liberated Decern-
Der f5 and il took three months of red
tape to secure passport back to
America She came out Of the peni-
Tertiary weighing sevcnty-fve pounds,
although ordinarily WILL built and OF