The Wilmington morning star., 1945-09-26
AMERICAN Tells
OF BLACK MARKET
AT SUMATRA JAIL.
BY WILLIAM MCDouGAu
(United Press Staff Corresaou,

l helped operate black na.l
1t wasn't looked upon with h''a,he'' s
by my fellow prisoners in tbo 'Iorn
anese internment camn a. ~ zap
boek Linggau in the sumatro Zoe
giles. For all OF us it was cbo;a 3an'
between life and slow death ~,
starvation. 'N oy
My friends have told me- ab,,.
the black market in the rrn;'.y TuuI
States and about the OPA ~
OPA at Loeboek Linggau was the he
Japanese Kempei police Tbor a.e
were no fines. My GOOD friend
Dutchman named ]. A. BoIle d;,s
after 80 days in the hands of a Nv
Kempei because he was cannh. s
outside our camps oarbed WY
fence. He was trying to smuogI.
in food. os's
Ihere were two kinds Of SNUG.
Cling at our prison camp.
Inat KIND winch entailed contact
and bartering with the natives was
called black marketing. The Ke<
pei called it melting the natives
against the Japanese.
The other consisted of raidjrg
nearby plantations, formerly cult.
waited, but later abandoned, where
grew bananas, papayas and =,
woody potato-like tuber called Ubi
Kayu. Smuggling in that food was
called Ubi raiding. The Kempei
called it stealing from the natives
Blackmarketing was punishable
by starvation in the Kempei jail
Punishment for Ubi raiding was
not quite SO severe. Offenders were
beaten by native Malay guards
known as Haibos, and imprisoned
But they were not turned over 10
the Kempei.
A fellow American internee. E.
H. Germann, and myself belonged
to the ranks Of the smugglers. |
specialized in black marketing be.
cause / was able to speak Malay
dialects. Germann specialized in
Ubi raiding because he was husA.
ier, able to carry bigger loads
Most of the camp smugglers
were natives, Indonesians or Eura.
SLAMS who knew the native langc.
age, customs and the jungle trails.
Five of them were caught one
night. They returned 80 days later
-shambling skeletons.
owe my good fortune in evad.
ing capture to Malayan named
Mandang, formerly employed by
the Standard Oil Co, at Palembang.
Mandang was king of the camp
smugglers. His food smuggling
probably, was responsible for saw
ing more lives than the work OF the
camp doctors.
Mandang took me under his wing
and, together with two other As-at'
lie prisoners, we smuggled food re-
gularly into the camp for months
Cermann, with probably 20 others,
including j. A. Gillbrook, former
United Press correspondent at
Tieptsin, staged the Ubi raids,
Let's go smuggling
Mandang's spies have spotted the
position of every guard and chos'
en- the safest place to slip through
the barbed wire. There is no moon
- we pick only the darkest nlgh's'
We inch through the wire, oragglhg
sacks filled with barterable gooas
such as clothing and jewelry'
Mandang slips through the fence
last and we wriggle along on our
bellies into the black shadows Oh
the Jungle while, still baretoo'ea
and with Mandang now leading We
creep along single file, each man
holding onto the sack in front Oh
him because in the darkness We
could easily become separated anu
lost.
Mandang's bare feet are MS
eyes. They unerringly feel 'nsn 's.
way along obscure trails, flnd me las
right spot where fallen logs o[i0se
small rivers, the exact place ~
ford shallow water. They leao 10 10
finally to well-used traiis anu INV
a native village.
The japanese farmers are mos mos'
trustworthy so we visit tAell ..od ia,,,
scattered over the large cultlvsIsa ~.
areas set ASIDE by the Dutcn III
Java's overflowing millions
But on this particular night ircA
is against US. Suddenly our 7aaa. va
gaining is interrupted as a 'dp4 s,,+
nese lookout bursts into me the The
Kempei sold ers are ralalng .n,. ~,
village The day before some ,,ark. -U
ish native traded clo'hlng' .i.'+ ~.
ed with the camp emblem d, v.m. -.
nearbv town. thus tipping OIL Ns nm.
nei spies the Javanese were '''
tacting US. .,,od
We scurry into a maize fle+u Estpn. 1,
f1atten out on our bell es' Ns': u.
ing as the Kempie search n.' oos. m
ter hut. arresting natives WIN
sess western-style clothing
Tbev do not find US. But 5esf4 s;.bt
Javanese are nabbed thal aias ,-i
and IS more in subsequent 'q-a ~.
Thev spent months in the ,i-srt I
boek Linggau jail. They rncs." .. -.
beatings and torture. But they "
fused to reveal our names
G. ,,s travel back empty lar 1r.s