Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-04

i
strasse, where my father and I
were taken. my complaints that
the arrest was against interna-
tional law fell on deaf ears. The
Red officer In charge was a Capt.
Pankov. He looked carefully at
my American passport and NUT
tered: "Our chiefs know what
they are doing"
I was put into small room
with a guard. For days no one
spoke to me. Then on July z,
1945, about 10 days after they
were first seized, saw the II
GIs ostensibly being returned to
their division. On the 18th,
MVD Col. volkowitz walked into
my room, stared at me for sew
eral minutes, then walked out
without q word.
On the 21st, Twas finally taken
before Capt. Pankov. who
listened to my protests Of Illegal
arrest with a forced interest,
then informed me ! was going to-
Dresden Prison.
"You have no reason to COM
plain" he said, you are merely
a. witness in your fathers case.
You'll be released in two or three
days"
Dresden Prison had been half
destroyed by an Allied air raid,
but the Russians were using the
part still intact. ! was put in q
by-eight-foot cell. There !
stayed in solitary confinement
for 10 days. talking to myself
out loud to keep from going mad.
Later on. five Of US prisoners
shared the miserable quarters.
The only light came from q
window" the size of two bricks
over my head.
No Bath for Months
s. From July 81 until December
28. 1945, never left that cage
like cell for a minute. was
never questioned and never
charged with a crime. During
those five months lived in the
same suit I was arrested in,
without a bath, a shave, a hair
cut or fresh air. ] was given
one pint OF warm water a day In
which to wash my hands and
face-but not enough to rinse
out my filthy clothes.
The diet bordered on slow
starvation. Each morning we had
bread and watery brown coffee,
pea soup at noon, and thin cab
bage soup in the; evening. The
weakest Of the prisoners finally
died from malnutrition. but ON
August .. the young MvD cap
tain who patrolled the halls with
q whip at his side (perhaps III
Difference to Russia's allies. I was
never touchedl decided to hasten
the process That morning. In
stead Of bread and coffee. we
were given only coffee. For the
other two meals. our soup was
replaced by q cup Of warm water. |
The next day 1t was the same.
We were being starved to death.
The clatter the second and
third day was deafening, Prison.
ers banged on the doors and
screamed violently for food. DR..
Ring. former Red mayor Of
Chemnitz, changed his stool fero-
ciously against the steel door
and cursed the Communists at |
the top Of his voice. He was
silenced by 20 whip lashes. Then
as the starvation continued. the
clatter slowly ebbed as the pris-
oners lost their strength.
without Food IL Days
We received no food for u
days. Some prisoners spent all |
the time seated crosslegged In
front Of their cell door. whimper-
ing. They were too weak to crawl
back to their hunks. I tried to
conserve my strength as best ] |
could. I stayed on my bunk. the
coffee or water on a stool next |
to me, and took a sip every half |
hour to sustain life. The weak |
ness kept me from going to |
sleep, and I lay awake all night |
listening to the wailing prayers
Of the Moslefn Red Army soldiers
from Georgia In the cells next
to mine.
Each morning ] watched the
sun through the peephole win
dow and knew just when the
guard would appear hoping des-
perately he would bring food.
It happened on August IA, the
18th day The guard came into
-. - L 4