Milford chronicle., 1945-05-07

What dihc''n'" lew short months hay" maG'
in tn" lives ot the German prisoners OF war who have
been housed throughout the state ot Delaware
Last June. shortly after the arrival of the first
group ot German prisoners in the State of Delaware
prisoners who were requested to perform work
many fields because free Labor available
and tn" "ar Manpowrr Commission certified the
need t0r prisoner ol war Labor to the United States
Army We paid visit to the stockadc at Fort du-
POnt.
Fort DUPONT is the base camp or nearly 5000
prisoners OF war throughout tn" state and there.
only ten months ago, truthiuy say that
thought the prisoners being 'coddlcd" in tact
We mentioned to quite few OF the men in charge of
that inspection tour That the German prisoners were
getting items of food which were 50 scarce that ci-
villains were unable to obtain them.
Rnt and the p. O ". officers directing the camp
declared that they were only living up to the ,2u-
!allons of the Geneva Convention in regard to the
treatment OF prisoners of saw no reason
why there should be plenty of sugar each table in
the prisoners mess hall bottle catsup ON every
t"hi' plenty OF butter choice meats fruits and vegc
tables in The ice boxes.
We were told then that America if America
only would abide by the regulations of the Geneva
Convention. but then the officers felt that Gcrmanv
and Italy all would stick those regulations Since
that time. We have learned differently We have learn
ed the horrible. barbarous treatment Of American
captlVes soldier and civilian alike. by all of the enemy
nations.
We have learned OF the starving of Americans
IN the Jap prison camps and the brutality the little
Drown men, we nave read only recently of the
murder ana determinations of the camps such
lnchcnWald in Germany: and have heard from
ON returned prisoners of the treatment to which
they have been subjected.
All of this has created in the minds of Americans
that we are still coddng the Germans, Italians and
laps who have been captured by armed forces
lut the officers of our Army. who charged with
the responsibility of the prisoners in camps here
particularly throughout Delaware feel that they are
Just III their treatment of the prisoners.
They see no reason why should subject the
prisoners to the same treatment our people have
ceived- because fighting just that kind of hru-
tahty trying to wipe out treatment such as this with
our aim to eliminate Nazism and Facism. But these
officers have. and this is what mean by the change
OF the prisoners lives in the last months chang
ed their tactics and now are holding only to the letter
of the law far the Geneva Convention rcgula-
tionS are concerned
No longer arc these German prisoners OF war
given all the good foods. There's no more catsup
there arc none of the high rationcd fruits and vcge
tables for them; they DO NOT get any cigarettes
only the maklnGs and very little of this
beef and very little OF any kinds of fresh meats:
sugar they set only in minute quantities and there
NO BCTTER, only margarine
In regards to the tobacco for making cigarettes
in regards to other items for personal use such as
shaving cream and lotions. soaps. writing Materials
tooth paste. soap powders for washing their Clothes
needles for mcndinS them and such items the pris
nncrs purchase them with canccn coupunS at their
own CantCcn The tobacco arrives once each week
and is rationed to the prisoners by the lead
prs
As iar as the food they do receive it WAS cX-
planned tand we saw it in several places that the
German prisoners are doing mans job when they
are sent out from the camps to work and they must
be fed mans meal However. their food consists
OF several staple articles and they have rotating
menu OF 81 different varieties. arranged monthly
This has been set up that the German prisoners
food costs the Army II cents per day Our own sol
diers are fed at the rate of 90 cents per day.
The prisoners set daily dict which adds up to
approximately $500 caorcs per day the same as
s a $
none of the raoncdi foods, which do so to our own
men The p. O. w. officers. in sticking to the Geneva
onNentlon regulations. furnish food equal in guam
ty and quality to the troops at the base camp. but
no longer do the officers provide identical food for
the prisoners.
Lieutenant Colonel John j. Harris. who had taken
charge of the prisoners of war in Delaware only a
few short days before visit last June directed a
tour of the prisoner of camps for a group of
newspaper writer's. from Delaware and Pcnnsylva-
MA. last week. 1t that tour that we learned
OF the elimination of the foods which would have
given. and rightly the impression that these prs-
onCrS were being "cOddlcd."
In directing the tour Colonel Harris took the
group To three of the branch camps housing the prs-
oncrs and into two plants where the prisoners of
war were at work And if the civilians the United
States feel that these prisoners of are being
c0ddlcd al the Jobs they performing. we'll adj
vance the opinion that there isn't one who would
trade his own job, no matter how menial. for the
ones which the prisoners are performing in most
Scalord Delaware II true that there are civilian
workers dolnG the same types of jobs. but most of
them are women. Here the prisoners werc plucking
clckcnS from their COOpS. sticking their leg (thC
chlckensl into c0nvcyOr belt hooks and starting them
on tho way to processing It's an easy task but
further along the line. the POWs had other Jobs
helping to dress the chickens which are mainly
going tor Army
Al packaginG plant in Laurel. there WAS a large
group OF prisoners at work in various jobs. They
, handled the logs which cut for use in making
baskets to handle fruits and other produce They
work in the saw mill they tend the pits in which the
logs are steamed. they operating stapng ma
chimes aud other jobs of manual labor For this il
readily can be seen that the meals they are served
! which consist mainly of boiled potatoes lettuce
bread, apple c0bhcr and plenty of cabbage and
saucr kraut. are needed to keep them in good con
dition.
We too. know that in addition 10 the work
which We saw them perform at these two plants
that IN" prisoners have many other tasks that are
hard jobs. 1t is true that they are out of the wa.
ont of danger and probably doing work that is bctcI