Evening star., 1943-06-04
Axis Prisoners Rule
Camp Themselves i.
On Tunisian Front a
Germans and ItuIiuns
Are Kept Apart by
Rood at Bivouuc
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Staff CORRESPONDENT.


TUNISIAN FRONT (By Maill.-.
Basking in the morning sun, stripped
to the waists, eating their own cap
tured British rations, most of which
were packed in the United States.
Trading cameras for few packs, Of
cigarettes. Kicking because they
were not given fresh green vege-
tables. Restrained by only few
strands of barbed wire and a few.
guards with rifles. For the most
part running the camp under their
own officers. Such was the picture
of about 10000 German and Italian
prisoners in a temporary bivolac'
here couple of days after their
surrender.
The Germans were on one side, OF
the road, the Italians on the other.
About the only restraint necessary
was to keep them from mixing for
fear they would start fights among
themselves.
The Germans seemed to fall, natu-
rally into two groups, once they
were free to associate as they liked.
The older men congregated to-
gether-Weary, Respondent, eager to
talk, looking for sympathy. In other
groups were the youngsters" be-
tween 18 to 25-proud, silent, con-
temptuous, snarling-bearers of the
tradition of the super race" ~
Had American Canned Food.
All visitors were impressed with
the excellence of the German
equipment and, by and large, with
the high Nuality of their rations.
Among the men herded here were
members of the 10th and 18th
Panzer Divisions who formed the
spearhead of the advance into
France in 1940
They had large quantities of
grapefruit juice bearing the trade.
/ mark of Chicago packer and of
/. sardlnes packed in Maine.
| The men were moved out of this
| camp as rapidly as possible, but
| throughout the time they were kept
here there was not a single attempt
to escape, even on the part of the
contemptuous "jungen."
Even they seemed pretty we'll salts
! he'd that the war was over. so far
as they were concerned, and that
they were in the hands of men at
whom they could snarl to the hearts
! content without being beaten up
! for it.
The scene was very much like
that of the bonus marcher camp
! on the Anacostia flats in the sum-
mer OF 1882, except that both the
surroundings and the men were
much cleaner.
A Game of Skill.
/ The prisoners spent much of their
time playing cards with decks which
evidently had seen hard service.
The most common game they called
scat" which seemed to be a Ger
man variation of 'rummy." 1t is.
the prisoners insisted, "a game OF
skill
The chief concern of the prison.
ers, other than that of securing
cigarettes. was to find out how they
could inform their families in Ger
many that they were prisoners and
t'thaC there was no further need to
worry over them. This, it ap-
peared, might be rather compli-
! Gated procedure and, at the best.
would take month or more. The
paper work involved is enormous
and records are naturally somewhat
| confused with such a mass of pris-
oners talking tongue few Amer
lcan soldiers understand. All such
notlflcatlons must go through the
International Red Cross at Geneva
The prisoners seemed to think
they were being treated unjustly. 1t
would have been done much better
IN Germany, the rather contemptu-
GUS colonels aide who acted as
Interpreter insisted