The Washington times., 1935-09-30
CELLS
TO FREEZING
IN CAMPS
By GEORGE KITCHIN
Chapter Thirteen


Chapter Thirteen
The road back to camp
seemed endless. Only then I felt
my fatigue in full degree and,
strange as it may seem, noticed
that I had lost considerable
weight during the one day. The
moon shone brightly and light
ed up the road. The foreman
had put out his lantern and
walked ahead. We crawled
along behind him, tired and be.
numbed. The guard closed
the procession. The axes and
saws which we carried glls-
tened in the moonlight. My
drenched oxfords and stockings
were covered with a crust OF
ice.
Every moment seemed to in
crease the difficulty Of going
onward. We were so COM
pletelv exhausted. Turning the
corner we saw lights Of the
camp about half a mile ahead
of us. oh, how I wished to get
back to the barracks! At the
oates our number was checked
with the list carried by the
guard and we were let in.
It was quiet in the barracks
Everybody was asleep and
there was a lot of empty space
on the shelves, as half the prls-
onerg were still out in the for.
est though it was already hal1
past ten. We had missed the
dinner call, but nobody thought
of food anymore; we wanted
only to sleep.
7 scraped the snow from my
stockings and shoes, climbed INTO
4he first available space, stretcheo
C,,t Cnt NV NV drenched feet and in
stantlv fell asleep. My head restea
On some kind of a box my tesC ',C
were showed under SOMEBODY >
bundle. A doghouse Wou1o nave
been better. -,,-o n
INV nIace. kindly clear it."
The tired angry face OF tne
owner of the place a.I = oen' o.; 0'ef A'0'
."It is already after two ana
we have Just returned damn
these torturers," he answered.
FEET FREEZING
r GOT no, My whole body was
N main NV feet were entirely be,
n1,mbed n with cold and ached
friqhtfully. Everywhere around
me- sleeping bodies covered the
floor and every available 1901 OF
space was taken. What coulo l
do? I walked over to my ounole
and sat down on my basket. Dear
Lord, when will these suf1erlngS
end?
I recalled the common cell OF
the Butirsky prison. What para.
disc that was compared with my
present life! My aching feet olo
not allow me to sit still, so from
time to time I had to get up ana
stretch them. walked about the
barracks, trying not to step on tne
sleepers. After walk I would SIT
down again, then walk again. IN
this way the night finally passed
Towards morning I began suffer
ing sharp pangs of hunger. Bit
by bit I swallowed my lard, which
had thawed during the night. It
was sticky and rancid. AT last
the porridge was brought in. Stick
ing the remnants of my bread into
my pockets I again took adVan'
tage of the doctors written permit
and left the barracks.
A large sled stood at the hos
pital door. Somebody's bare feet
were sticking out from under a
covering of burlap. Was it an
other case of folding up?
The tired doctor informed me
that it was Filka, the boy who
had suuealed on the bread thieves.
He was killed in the forest by a
falling tree trunk. The piercing
shrek which we had heard in the
forest the night before was his
last cry. The vengeance OF his
fellow gangsterS was obvious, but
the authorities preferred to re-
gard the case as an accident, and
the doctor, having attested to the
death, sent the body to the
morgue.
Everybody in Filka'S detachment
was questioned, but they all testi-
fled that he was killed quite acci-
dentally during the guards alb
sence, not having been quick
enough to jump aside when the
tree fell on him.
WE'RE SLACKERS'
At 7 o'clock in the morning we
were all driven out into the yard.
There we saw some 40 prisoners
formed in a small square. These
men were from two Of our forest
detachments which had not COM
pleted their assignment and who
had only just now been brought
back to the camp. They were or
dered to stand there and shout out
in chorus, for the edification OF
the rest Of us:
eve are lazy lOuts! We are
wIn