Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-12-26
Experiences
In Warsaw Ordeal
Form Drab Story
Not q Spot Of Green
Left in City, She Says;
Noise Persistent
(Thirty-Eighth of a Series. }
By WILLIAM L. WHITE.

BY WILLIAM L. WHITE.
BERLIN (By AirmaiD You will
never forget it If you hear 1t told
by girl.
"On! on! on! on! From the 18th
till the 21st, when I finally got out,
it never stopped. My mother would
not leave. She stayed with her
husband, who is Pole. But it went
on day and night.
"Sleep? You could not think Of
sleep. And along with the lombard
ment air raids day and night. Toward
the end 1t was one continuous air
raid. The artillery was not so bad.
"At first they were only field guns,
and a shell would 60 through two
maybe three walls, before 1t would
explode, and then it would probably
blow the end out of only one room.
Yet the walls looked like lace with
all those holes in them Toward the
end they brought up the heavy siege
guns, and then where whole house
had been there would be great
hole.
1.-THE second day we noticed what
we thought was gas. 1t was a heavy
red haze in the air and made us
cough. But it was only brick dust
and mortar dust churned up by the
guns. And at night it looked like
q red fog over. all Warsaw, lit by the
fires of burning houses. And then
the graves.
Always Noise.
I'm all Warsaw there is not a spot
of green left-everywhere graves
either men or women or horses, be-
cause they had to be buried too:
26 people are buried in the garden
behind our villa. We don't know
who they are-nobody knows who
they are-the police just told us they
would have to do it.
and always, always, always
noise! Great laundering bangs and
the noise Of falling bricks and peo-
pie screaming. Or you could hear
them caught in timbers and groan-
ing for hours and you were so glad
when you could not hear them groan
any more.
people went mad with it. They
would run through the streets
screaming.
II saw one young boy doing that
running into buildings or lamp posts
as though he were blind and then
getting up and running on, and
then saw the policeman shoot him
They had to do everything to keep
down panic in the populace. And
always noise, even wnen you were
living in the cellar you could no,
rest because the earth would shake
Sometimes they went mad very
slowly and you could watch it come
on hour by hour Sometimes they
would break quick, like that!
Radio Brings Good News.
THE worst of all was the babe:
and children. The police would
bring them in of the streets, will
only a tag saying Found by such
and-such policeman at such al
hour on such day. tied arount
their wrists. I worked in one such
place, and that was the only place
where you could not hear the she'll
because in that room the httl'
| things screamed so loud
Then on the 2lst we just hap
pened to hear over the radio tina
the Germans had promised to stol
Smelling for five hours so that neu
trails could leave.
II said I would go, but my siste1
would not go. She was terribl.
frightened and said she would rath
er stay in her corner Of the celia
than 60 out into the street. Whel
we got through the lines the Ger
mans were really marvellous to u
and gave us bread and sausages ant
took us on by train to Koenigsberg.
Now this is the story of the cir
in the Adlon bar 1t may be true
and it may be plant, to max
Americans very glad they are a lon
way from the war, and to max
them want to stay that way.
But if it is plant, it is yer,
good plant, and having had a mum
Der of stories planted on me in m,
day, I offer it to you as curiosit,
and one of the best of the breed.