SECOND EDITION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16372, 28 October 1916, Page 8

SECOND EDITION.

AWFUL GERMAN GRIME. BRUTALITY TO PRISONERS DISEASE AND STARVATION. OFFICIALS DESERT OAMP. DOCTORS' TERRIBLE TASK. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received 1.30 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 2G. The British official report on the typhus epidemic which occurred in the spring and summer of 1915 in the prison camp at Gardelegen, in I Saxony, reveals horrifying mismanagement and callous cruelty on the part of the Germans, equalling those of Wittenberg. The area of the camp was 550 yds by 550 yds. The prisoners were not allowed to leave it except when en- . gaged in fatigue duties. There was only one bath-house for 11,000 men, of whom 4000 were Russians, 6000 ' French, 700 Belgians, and 230 British. j Food Bad and Inadequate. 3 The overcrowding was most ter- * rible. The huts were devoid of j tables and stools. The men sat on 5 beds to eat their meals. Here lay \ sick men, and even dead. The at- . mosphere by day and night was int describably foetid. The food was ■ of bad quality, and the prisoners constantly suffered the pangs of ' hunger. The Russians, who re- ' ceived few private parcels, were 1 seen on their hands and knees crowd--1 ing round a pit where potato peel- ' ings were thrown, struggling to find i a bit of rind. , Few of the prisoners had boots or , overcoats, and their suffering was in- , tensified by the extreme cold and the absence of proper fires. The , sanitary conditions were horrible. Twelve hundred men had to congregate at a single standpipe for their _ personal washing, and the cleaning of eating utensils and clothes, all without soap. Some of the men were for three months without bathing. As a result, lice , swarmed in every garment and blan- , ket. Reign of Terror Established. The commandant and the guards established a reign of terror and brutality. The camp was soon in a state of utter misery and desolation. Everyone of them became anaemic and listless. Early in February the authorities, fearing an epidemic, chose seven British, French, 1 and Bussian doctors, and brought j them to Gardelegen. The doctors , found very small quantities of drugs, • including four ounces of Epsom salts, 1 three of four dozen tablets of quinine, some aspirin and calomel, and a few lint dressings. Cases of sickness now numbered 50 daily. A commission of German doctors arrived, and spent an hour at the camp. Half-an-hour later, the German guards packed up, and soon not a German remained inside the camp. The sick were left 1 utterly unattended, and the kitchens were empty, Brunner, commandant of the camp, summoned seven doctors to the edge of the barbed-wire, and told them that sentries would shoot anyone attempting to leave. He added he would return to the spot daily to receive their reports. Appalling Situation. The doctors were faced with an appalling situation. There were no beds for the sick men, and the state of the patients on the floors was indescribable. No milk or eggs were procurable, so the sick were fed on black bread and raw herrings, like the rest of the prisoners. The doctors commenced to sort the cases, and to isolate the convalescents. The epidemic lasted 1 four months, and totalled 2000 cases, of whom 14 per cent. died. . Brunner and other camp authorities were actively hostile throughout. The doctors.encouraged games of 'football, but Brunner ordered the games to be stopped on pain of severe punishment.