Proletarec. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1906-19??, 1946-02-13

Dachau StraSSe which leads TO the
city of Dachau and its Infamous
concentration camp, the JugoSlav
camp is located. So far have be-
come acquainted with about seven
ty SlOVeneS in this camp. The main
element is Serbian, around a thou
sand former prisoners of war, in
Guiding just about every political
and military group in JuSoSlavla
throughout the var All of these
people are anti-Tito and refuse to
return to their country. Those who
were PartisanS have already gone
home. They are fed and billeted by
our Army and have no complaint
on that score, for it has been a long
time since they have had it as good.
Their billetS are as good as ours
their food is wholesome and they
get enough of it, At present they
+ not doing any work, but our
Army has promised to attach them
as a labor battalion, the same as
done with the thousands of Poles
who also refuse to return to their
native land, and whose barracks
arc located on the opposite end of
our depot.
Most of these people spent some
time in the notorious Dachau con-
centration camp. The experiences
they relate are heartbreaking and
bring tears to their eyes. Many of
them were in the camp when our
army liberated it.
There were no exaggerated sto-
rieS published about Dachau. Ali
Of it was truc-and more. | saw it
for myself. A group Of our COM
pany went through the camp with
a former prisoner, an old Polish
man as guide, who could speak
English we'll. l saw the crematories,
the large one built during this war
and a smaller one they had set up
before. | saw the gas chamber dis
Guised as a large bathroom, so that
the condemned prisoners went into
1t quietly in the belief that they
were going to get a bath. Even
though the prisoners knew there
was a gas chamber somewhere on
the grounds, they did not know
they were in it until it was too
late. / saw the bloodsoaked bitches
at the execution grounds-the diff
tercnt places inside and out where
they hung priSoners-the barrels
Of human ashes in the Easements,
and the containers in which it was
to be sent to the families from
whom a large fee was collected for
this ScrVice-the bone grinding ma
chine in which the larger bones
coming out Of the ovens were
ground up - the rows of kennels
where the Germans kept wild dogs
hat we're turned loose on condem-
ned prisoners, The horror imprints
That formed in ones mind upon see
ing this scene of hell-madc us
sick III stomach, in heart and in
mind. Some of the most grucsomc
sights arc the clay figures showing
prlSOnCrS-or rather skeletons of
priSonerS-in various torture posi-
lions employed by the nazi mad
men. These clay figures were made
by the liberated prisoners who wit
messed all this carnage. The German
S. S. guards did the supervising
while the Wretched prisoners were
forced to do the hauling of deao
bodies out of the gas chamber into
the crcmatoricS. These living dead
were never allowed to minglc with
other prisoners and then were
themselves gassed and cremated
while others took their place as
haulers-in n horrible cycle Of
death.
This entire section of the camp
is now preserved as a shrine to the
$4,000 people who were put to
death there.
Ndlly JuSOSlaV prisoners went
through the gates of Dachau never
to return. The suffering and tor
ture undergone by these Jugoslavs
who ended up in Dachau and other
similar concentration camps was
but a small link in the trail of des-
truction the Germans blazed across
their country,
Is it any wonder the Jugoslav
people, or the Czech, or the Rus
sian and Polish, or any other peo-
pie that was crushed under the
Nazl yoke, cannot understand why
we Americans are SO lenient with
the Germans? And they shake their
heads sadly. Our soldiers donated
their w ration of candy to Ger
mans at Xmas time-the Same Cor