The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1945-05-10
Il. A. Fraser
Writes About
Camp Visit
Describes Horrible Sight.
That are Result of the
German Atrocities.
BELIEVES NOTHING
CAN BE TOO SEVERE

After visiting one of the German
concentration camps, 1t. Austin
Fraser feels that any punishment
melted out to the responsible ones,
will be too good for them. 1t.
Fraser writes his mother, Mrs. Nina
Fraser from a 65th Field Hospital
in Germany. He says:
Dear Nom:
/ suppose you have been wonder
ing what has become of me and |
know | should be ashamed for not
having written oftener As / have
told you SO many times, am still
moving around lot and never
seem to get settled long enough to
catch up on all of my correspon-
dence.
At the present time, we are up
in the German mountains and liv-
ing in very ritzy hotel. 1t is a
place that only the rich could af-
ford before the war and there is
everything here to enable one to
enjoy life if it were not for the
work that has to be done. There
are deer in the surrounding woods
and I'm going to get one as soon
as / can get out. There is golf
course and a ski jump too, and
hope to play round or two before
/ leave here We have Italian and
French walters and maids to clean
up the place. | could really enjoy
this place if it were not for the
fact that there is still war going
on very near to us.
| am sending home box Of junk
that | have picked up in my ira
vels and which is worth almost
nothing. However, / may be able
to use. some of it in my house
somaday, it I ever have house
of my own. If you open the box
be very careful, as much of the
stuff is glassware and could easily
be broken. used pair of my gals
pajamas to help pack the stuff and
| hope you will take care of these
for me SO / can return them to
her someday Some of this stuff
may be broken by the time it
reaches home but / hope you will
save whatever is left of it.
From time to time, | will be send
ing stuff home that / pick up over
here. Some of the stuff is given to
me and some of it | have found in
bombed and abandoned buildings
None of it is worth anything ex-
cept as souvenirs.
/ saw something yesterday that
really was a sight and / wish ev-
eryone in the States could see it.
/ went out to see one of these con-
centration camps, where the Ger
mans have imprisoned civilians
from surrounding countries. It was
a camp about the sizesO of one of our
CCC camps but where our camps
hold few hundred men, there
were $1,000 in this one and thou
sands of them had died before the
Americans went in. They are still
dying at a rate of about 200 a day
but they are getting food and med
ical care and most of them will
survive. The ones that are left look
like hell but they are happy to be
free again with chance of get
ting home in short time.
The fellow who took me around
the camp was a Hollander, who had
been there about three months. He
lived more than another week ii
the Americans had not come. He
took me to a chamber where they
put dead men and the place still
contained about so men that, had
been dead about week. There
was another pile of about 200 corps
es that they were waiting to dis
pose of. All of these men looked
like they had been beaten and they
were nothing but skin and bones
/ think there was some disease II
the camp but / think most of then
died of starvation. They had large
furnaces where they disposed O.
the bodies and in these furnaces
YOU could SEE the bones and skull
Of many that had not been com
pletely burned to ashes.
That was some sight, mother. !
! is something I am glad / saw bu
would not care to see again. 1t !
something that would not hav
believed if | had not seen it wit
my own eyes. How atrocities sue
as those can go on in civilize
world is something that is beyon
my understanding. If the Germa
people are responsible for thes
things, then whatever punishmer
they get as a result of this war
too good for them.
So much for the dark side.
We are no longer operating as
field hospital but are now clearin
all German hospitals of America
and Allied prisoners Of war. Thes
soldiers are evacuated to America
hospitals and then the German no
pitals are taken over and operate
by our medical officers until the
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