Evening star., 1943-03-03

birth rate, attributed to starva ton
diet and slave labor conditions. ONLY
200 hospital beds at first were avail
able for the entire civil popula ton
and patients were then required
somehow to provide their own food
Later the Germans modified the
ruling, supplying patients 100 grams
OF millet bread, soup. wheat husks
and an occasional piece of horse
meat, the doctor said.
Ten of the l6 polyclinics were
subsequently reopened. but charges
were established for every service.
There was no such thing as spe-
cialized treatment for civilians
What requirement previously existed
had been sent away, presumably to
Germany. Nine nurseries were re-
opened. but these, the doctor said,
were chiefly children of parents sent
to work in the Reich. Meanwhile
several of the city's most prominent
doctors and surgeons had disap-
peared.
Schools Destroyed.
Many Of these institutions and
schools were among the buildings
destroyed by the retreating Ger
mans. Kharkov once had 1877 10
grade educational institutions. Ele-
mentary classes were conducted two
hours daily in unheated buildings
and then only for period of 10
weeks during the entire occupation,
one teacher said.
For children, for groWnupS, for
housewives. for those who tried to
work, there were special problems,
to-5 curfeW and terror-denuncia
ton, brutal beatings, arbitrary shoot
ing, or hanging, which the Nazis
seem to have favored here.
One l4-year-old boy, in a curious
crowd that gathered around us
strangers. told with tears of his
fathers Sunday visit" to Gestapo
time. There was no one, wherever
we went, who had not something
to add to this collection of horrors.
Obtaining accurate figures still is
almost impossible. The Soviet au-
thorities themselves are trying to
piece together all that happened in
KharkOv. There was, for example,
the final roundup of skilled work.
ers, particularly railroad men. in
the vicinity of the station by S. S.
troops in the last days of the Ger
man control. How many were
killed. taken away or escaped is not
known. 1t may never accurately be
established.
The best available estimates in
dicate that Kharkov's prewar popu-
lation of 900 900 had expanded con-
siderably as refugees streamed east
from the Nasi invaders, then fell
to about 900 900 during the weeks
the Red Army fought on the city's
approaches, while much heavy in
dustry. and some light, was evacu-
ated with workers to distant Ka-
zakhstan and Kirghizia.
10000 Labor Slaves.
Since then. according to Soviet
estimates, about 10000, forcibly
and otherwise, were shipped to
Germany as laborers. Starvation
accounted for 10000 more. The rest
presumably were either killed or
escaped to the surrounding coun-
try. A few at time. these are
making their way back already.
Inhabitants are beginning to suggest,
with eager hopefulness, that the
number may run into many thou
sands" So will the dead.
Kharkov's people show strain. It
could not be otherwise. The miracle
is that they do not show more
Some of the essential services are
already being restored. Thirty-two
schools have reopened Teachers are
being located as rapidly as possible.
Many German signs, grim reminders
OF the very near past, have been
torn down. Six hundred orphans
have been placed in homes, three
bakeries are operating although
Kharkov's peacetime requirements,
in comparison, were 300 tons of
bread daily. Attention is being di-
rected to health and one Of the fret