Evening star., 1939-10-22
Spies Disrupted Polish Army
Before 1t Fought, Says Refugee
Coptoin Declares All Was Confusion as Phone
Lines Were Cut and False Orders Sent
BY TOM and HARLE DANMANN.

BY TOM and HARLE DAMMANN
BUDAPEST. Hungary-In the Of
nee Of the Polish Hungarian So
ciety In Budapest one gets . vivid
picture Of war-ravaged Poland and
the flight Of hundreds of thousands
Of Poles into Hungary and Rumania
It's an old. old story, the tragic tale
OF homeless refugees from q war
raped land, but somehow the tales
Of the Poles are different, every
thing happened so incredibly fast
From Budapest up to the Polish
frontier In Ruthenia we saw them
by the thousands. Mostly men they
were, men in mud-spattered Ameri-
can lmousines, buses, post ONCE de-
livery trucks, peasant carts, In every
available conveyance. GrizZled and
much in need of rest, some of them
slept soundly while holding horses
reins in their hands. Others hung
over barrels Of huge field cannon
dead asleep and looking like sacks
6f meal.
Back in the capital at the refugee
headquarters bewildered children
straggle in at all hours, looking fol
lost parents. Tired mothers seek
warm clothing for little ones for
whom they have only managed to
rescue . shirt and trousers. Men
and women drop into chairs, usually
staring vacantly ahead, but some
times conversing in low voices. Con-
fusion is the keynote of 1t all-but
not depressed spirits, oddly enough
Nazis Barbarians, Says Major.
In q corner sits an ashen- faced
major of the famous Uhlan regi-
ment. He smokes nervously and
methodically twists a blue silk hand
kerchief in his free hand.
DO you speak French, monsieur"
we ask.
"Oui msieur," he replies. He is
tired. but his eyes are quick and
intelligent. We introduce ourselves
You are Americana" he asks
May I see your passports?"
Please excuse me-" he explains
handing back our credentials. I'VE
must be so careful. There are SO
many German spies among us
What do you wish from me?"
We explain that we only wish te
hear his story. He tells us that
he was with the army near Lwow
most of the time.
What will you do now?"
"First, I should like to get some
news of my wife and three daugh-
ters," he says. Il left Warsaw the
day before the Germans advanced
into our country. I have only heard
from them once since. and then !
received a letter addressed to head
quarters and asking about my death
The German spies send many of our
wives kilograms saying that we have
been killed in action"
He Offers Evidence.
He pauses and lights another Gig
arctic.
But then I must get to France
The important thing for us Poles
is to fight the Germans. Barbarians
they are, m 'sieur."
We look at him questioningly.
"Oh, if you had seen what have
seen you would not doubt me. The
German barbarian has spared nc
one. has missed no means In his
barbaric conquest. Why. only the
day We left Lwow, I saw three Ger
man fighter planes swoop down and
kill four peasant women and their
cows in a field. Just watching the
cows, they were, when along came
the palnes and cut them to pieces
with machine gun bullets. And then
they circled around to be sure they
were dead. Humane, I suppose Hit.
Ter would call it.
"Yes, We must fight them, these
barbarians! We must get to France!'
He excused himself to talk with
a friend.
A little man with a stub leg ther
exploded upon us. He had a large
slice Of bread covered with IAN
which he had taken from the pile
of sandwiches on the large table ir
the center of the room His lapels
were decorated with three crosses
identifying him as a member of the
famous Pilsudski Legion. Between
juicy munchings of his bread anc
jam he delivered fiery monologue
You Americans, what will yo,
do? You will not be so stupid as tt
let this crazy barbarian Hitler ane
his cruel apes conquer Europe
Ach, Hitler!"
"A Fighter 1 AM"
He put the bread down and placet
one hand upon the table. With tn,
other he struck the table as If h,
were cutting it up into little pieces
That's what I shall do, II eve
get my hands on him: slice him I'll
into tiny pieces from fingers to toes
You laugh because I am old, yes
But, I can fight; I have fought il
two wars besides this one. Look,
was wounded five times-three IL
the last war with the Germans ane
two in the war with the Bolsheviki.
He pointed proudly to scars or
MS bald head and his stub leg, anc
drew from his pocket an envelop,
packed with worn credentials.
Il have three sons on the Warsaw
front. Maybe they are dead, Goo
bless them. cannot wait to learn
I must go to France. Surely they
can use a fighter, even If he is old. ;
Every one has story of horror
and terrorism, Of determination Il