REIGN OF TERROR.

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 February 1916, Page 7

REIGN OF TERROR.

PRUSSIAN ISM IN WARSAW. TROOPS WITHOUT RESTRAINT.. A despatch from Pet'rograd, considerably delayed in (transmission, hag tlie following reports on the state of Warsaw since the eGrman occupation, Little news is allowed to come to Russia, but a correspondent of the Ruaskoe Slovo now tells how tbe invaders dissolved the Central Citizens'

Committee —a heavy Uow to Polish national sentiment. . The paper contained articles concerning the dissolution. Polish women wore .mourning, the churches were filled, and for three days Warsaw mutely and sadly protested against German political terrorism. Then a procession of workmen carrying red flags bearing the letters P.P.S. (Polish Socialist Party) appear-' ed with Hags inscribed: "Long live national independent Poland! Down with the German oppressors!" The crowd rapidly grew, and soon all the square round the Mitzkevitch monument was thronged with people. The Polish national flag was displayed, and a' Catholic priest in white ; robes mounted a platform and blessed the assembly, the members of which afterwards sang the hymn, "Under God's Protection/' Then the procession slowly moved away to the statue of the Virgin, in the Cracow suburb, where everyone knelt and sang the national anthem, '<!i,d Protect Poland.'' VOLLEYS OF RIFLE FIRE. Before the Lazenky Park, where General Beseler's quarters were situated, the crowd stopped ,and cries rose in front of the Belvedere Palace: "Down with the base plunderer.:." Carried away by. enthusiasm, the demonstrators saw no danger. Suddenly a rifle volley rang nut, followed by a second and a third, and the crowd scattered in confusion. In a moment the space before the park presented a terrible picture. The panic-stricken people rushed hither and thither, and women and children were crushed and killed. The Quyesdoff Valley was cleared, and only a few scores .of dead bodies remained. Of.the occupation generally, the writer says : At first the Germans behaved correctly and tried to restrain their soldiers. The windows and doors of all the disorderly houses were placarded with notices which had a restraining effect on the men, but they soon ceased to be frightened, and the night orgies of the German officers became one of the worst features of life in Warsaw. Soon the Germans grew more insolent and overbearing towards the conquered Pules. Caricatures relating to the conquest of Poland appeared in great numbers. One of these represented Warsaw as a siren sitting on the knees of a. fat Bavarian, who was drinking beer. In' another a Pole in national costume was _ almost covered by an enormous German helmet, and a miniature banner bearing the words, 'Poland has not perished yet,' was falling from his hands. A march was written on the capture of Warsaw, and despite the discontent of the people, was played in all the restaurants. TERROR AND TERRORISM. Then followed the dark daya. After the tiring on the crowd, the German authorities threw away all restraint and took away all the privileges they had granted. xue citizens' courts were fdled; the street life closed at ten o'clock in the evening, and the Prussian lieutenants received permission to make themselves drunk in the restaurants. The citizen militia, was subjected to the control of von Glazenap, the police master. The shopkeepers were compelled to remove all Russian inscriptions and to substitute German-words, while German names appeared instead of Russian in the streets. Still the Germans continued to make fresh demands, until they verb tablv tore the last, crumb of bread from the mouths of the people. Prices rose to a height undreamed of, and harrowing stories of starvation appeared daily in the Press. The agents of the German secret: police flooded the theatres and restaurants, and their presence caused men to fly from \varsaw.