Evening star., 1945-04-29
BuchenwoId Symbol of Nozi Indecency
CONTINUED From First Page. }

Weimar, in normal times a city
of some $4,000, is the approximate
geographical center of Germany.
It's name long has been associated
with the best in German culture, in
music and literature. It was the
home of the founder and the BIRTH
Eplace of the movement which re-
suited in the establishment of the
first German republic. 1t lies in
beautiful countryside of perfectly
tended farms and parklike forests
It's own appearance and the appear
ance of it's clean, well-fed and we'll
clothed people indicate all that
stands for decency, self-respect and
comfortable prosperity.
Groups of displaced Persons"
We reached there by plane from
Paris in time for lunch. The air.
port was stacked high with supplies
for the front and crowded with lib
Grated American and British pris-
oners of war. and slightly wounded
soldiers awaiting evacuation by
endless fleets of transport planes.
On the road to Weimar we passed
groups of displaced persons
Germans, Poles, Russians, French,
Italian, men, women and children
plodding along in both directions
toward home, wherever home might
be. We lunched in Weimar at the
Elephant House, a spotless, modern
hotel, run by it's German staff un-
der supervision of the occupying
Americans. We had taste of food
and of service by impeccable wait
ers which dimly recalled days which
no longer exist in America.
And after lunch we went to Bu-
chenwald. The camp is situated
about six miles from Weimar. En-
tering it one passes well-built, per-
manent barracks erected for the
SIS troops. In sharp contrast are
the rows Of temporary. single-story
buildings-very much like the train
ing camp installations at home
where the prisoners were housed.
The camp area was surrounded by
the usual barbed wire fences and
sentinel towers and still occupied
by thousands of prisoners, staying
on because there was no place else
to go. Our first stop was at the
building previously used as house
Of prostitution for favored prison.
ers. The women, it is said. were
brought there under guise Of see
ing their relatives and then i'm
priSoned. Another account was that
they were professionals. The build
ing has now been converted to use
as hospital, and lying about on
blankets were scores of the victims
of malnutrition and disease, staring
at us with blank, uncomprehend-
ing eyes. more like animals than
men. According to Brig. Gen. Frank
A. Allen, jr., of SHAEF Press Re-
lations, who accompanied us, 80 or
40 people still are dying each day,
in spite Of plentiful food and medi-
cal care, and during our visit
corpse was lifted from the floor
and carried out.
Can official report says the re-
cent death rate was about 200 per
day. Five thousand seven hundred
died in February: $500 in March:
1000 the first 10 days of ApriD
Guide a Political Prisoner.
Our guide was political prisoner,
"a former Austrian Army officer,
with proper dueling scar on his
cheek, who told me he had spent
four years at Buchenwald His name
is Kurt Satnor and he said he had
commanded the bodyguard of for
mer Premier Schussnigg of Aus
tria. He said that since the camp
was founded. in 1888, more than
$4,000 prisoners had died there,
from disease or execution: more
than 1000 since January. He said
that when he came to the camp
conditions were not so bad among
the 10000 or so inmates, but be-
ginning in 1910, when the camp was
crowded with fresh prisoners from
Poland, Russia, France and other
camps in Germany, its population
reached about $1,000. Some $4,000
were there the week before the
Americans came, he said, but the
Americans found about 10000. as
follows: 1900 French, $500 Poles,
l ,240 Hungarians. $40 Yugoslavians,
1880 Russians, 324 Dutch, 622 Bel
gians, $50 Austrians, 242 Italians,
2,105 Czechs, 1900 Germans, 260
Dutch, 1,201 miscellaneous.
We visited the hospital established
and maintained by the prisoners
themselves and stated by prisoner
doctors who, according to Satnor,
were eminent surgeons and physi-
clans in Germany and France be-
fore being arrested as Jews, Con-
formists or anti-Nazis. Satnor was
proud of this hospital and he hand
ed out records of patients as SOU
venirs. He said everything that was
such ward, lying crosswise on the
floor shoulder to shoulder. The room