Evening star., 1942-08-26
Nuzi Deserters Join Chetniks,
Miss Mitchell Reveals
Stories of German
Atrocities Are True,
She Declares

serving with Serbian Chetniks, Miss
Ruth Mitchell, writer sister OF the
late Gen. Billy" Mitchell said here
yesterday in an interview.
This information came to me
while I was in prison in Belgrade"
Miss Mitchell said. "It came from
Serbians in underground informa-
tion. They had seen the Nazis, and
exchanged their knowledge with
other prisoners. 1t was confirmed
from many sources"
She saw Serbian women led out
to firing squads. They died rather
than reveal the whereabouts of their
warrior men.
They asked me to help feed their
children, to tell the story of German
horrors to America" Miss Mitchell
said. They seemed comforted by
my assurance that I would dedicate
my life to that cause, through the
proceeds Of writing and lecturing.
Their dauntless courage kept me sus-
tanned"
Food From Red Cross.
She attributed her rescue from
starvation, and restoration to free
dom, to two factors: Food parcels
sent by the American Red Cross and
the ceaseless work of her daughter,
Mrs. Albert K. Yohn of Silver Mine,
Conn.,, and Mrs. Carveth Wells, lee
turer, and wife of the noted writer.
lecturer.
Early in the oday she presented
President Roosevelt basket made
from pieces Of string from British
Red Cross parcels by British women
war prisoners in a German intern
ment camp at Liebenau, Germany.
She urged sending food supplies
to 100000 Serbian prisoners and
some 10000 British soldiers held by
the Germans to help sustain them
The Germans permit these packages
to reach war prisoners because this
outside aid helps conserve German
held food stocks to that extent, she
said.
Serb Spirit Unbroken.
Miss Mitchell, whose married
name is Mrs. Stanley Knowles, said
Nazi guards, in delivering Red Cross
food packages to British wal
prisoners, would dangle them before
Serb prisoners and remark: "Lool
how your allies treat you"
Even though Serbian prisoners
are starving, the spirit of that prouo
people has not been broken, she
| said.
She did not know that her onl,
son, a pilot officer in the RAF, hae
been killed in action in Libya unit
she reached New York two months
ago on the Drottningholm, diplo
matte exchange ship bringing Amer
leans back from European wa
zones.
She Acst 40 pounds while prison
er in German camps. Asked how sh
survived, she replied: Food sent il
by the British Red Cross, plus
throwback to my old pioneer ances
tors, I guess"
Asked If atrocities laid at the doc
of the Nazis are true, she said:
"No propaganda could exaggerat
the behavior of the Germans. The
killed $4,000 civilians In bombin
Belgrade, an open city They ha'
maps showing the location OF ever
AFRAID shelter"
Example of German Culture.
There was an old man, the sole
Of whose feet had been badly burne
by his captors. He wouldn't tall
They killed him as little girl stoo
near him singing.
Women hostages were taken OF
every night to be shot. To add to tn
! frightfulness. the German guard
screamed, but not the Serbian WON
en-.
"An elderly man, pointing to bod
les strung from lamp posts in Bel
grade, told his young son: This
f German culture: never forget it, H
was overheard by Nazi and lie
S away to his doom"
f Not all the Nazis were brutes, sh
r said, adding that after a regimen
= Of German deserters had joined tn
C Serbian guerrillas. the Nazis poste
= signs threatening to inflict the deaf
/. penalty on all persons giving civilia
k clothing to German deserters. Mo-
a of the Germans, however, still thin
they are the master race, she al
r serted. Fear of reprisals holds tt
d Germans together, she said.
d AS a dispatch rider for the Che
: niks, she was liaison between tt
c guerrilla fighters and the Britis
e When she joined the secret grou
= the only foreign woman ever TAKE
: into the Chetniks. she was given
phial of poison. MY life" she sal
was forfeited to Serbian liberty"
When captured by the German
she was interned in IL differel
camps before getting her release.