HISTORY OF RUHLEBEN.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIV, Issue 14001, 4 March 1920, Page 2

HISTORY OF RUHLEBEN.

CAMP CAPIA±X'}> NARHAIiV'£

At the time of the Ruhlehen Exlubition, Mr Joseph Powell, captain of the camp, was pressed to wrue ~. nco.v dealing -with the history oi list plact of • internment. Mr Francis Gribble was then contemplating the punhear tion pf his personal lycolleitions ol tin canip in the earlj days when the great colonising effottwns still in its miancv. Each was well quahned to undertake such .1 task, and it was therefcie, suggested and ananged that the tvo projected books, instead "of. competing, with each other, should be fused in a single narrative, more complete than either author could have written separately r Jhe re-.ult is a most ing wo'ik. which will be leid nitu pride and admiration, tor it sl*owo how to ust the authoi's words 'S numbei ot Englishman raked in troni Gorman citie-., dumped in i sw imp* md housed in stables, set to work lo found a British colony and build a Uritish city within u few'..miles of the enemy's capital." it is a fine record of the-pluck and spirit of many men in niauy different spheres of effort, bound by a common determination .to lisc supeiioi to all the trills ind silfi( ultics In which ihe\ wcie oesct

It is aii ugly picture that the camp presents when the first prisoner-, we it sent there. Here is one portion of it "Washing fauhtes wne si ind llousK insufficient. The 365 men in Barrack X —and the case was typical—were expected to share two taps and 1"< oiilhenware bowls, and to parade, washed and dressed, at G. 30 a.m. The distribution of articles ordinarily denned necessary to decent living was on the same.mean scale. Theiv was given to every nian a coarse towel of the texture of aii English dishcloth, a K" 1 bowl to hold his food —and absolutely nothing else; no knife, no spoon or fork, or drinking-cup, or -plate—not even a .cake of soap. There was a canteen at which these articles and certain others could lie purchased, but the men without money —and there were a. great many In that stat< —were left to wash without soap, to eat with their fingers, and to drink Inputting their mouths to the tap. The order exempting sick men from interment had been more honored in the breach than the observance. Sufferers fro'm tuberculosis, bronchitis, cancer, rheumatism, and various unpleasant skin diseases were pitilessly mixed with the rest;- and so were the half-witted and the cripples. There Were several men who went about the camp on crutches, and there were some who could not walk, but had to get thenfriends to carry them whenever they left their dormitory for any purpose whatsoever."

Early in November. 1914, the prisoners we-re informed that each barrack would be required to elect an interpreter to represent them in their relations with thv authorities. This .vas done, and the men thus chosen, realising that union was strength, proceeded to form themselves into a committee. That was the beginning, of the administrative services which were to have such far-reaching results. At the very first. meeting it was arranged to appoint a captain and vice-captain, and to apply for permission for certain privileges. Within a few days a police force was enrolled, a far-sighted policy "deliberately directed to getting the work of administration out of the hands of thf German non-commissioned officers

and into the hands of the prisoners themselves.". A certain amount of criticism was. howeven. soon levelled against the method of the election of captains and other matters, and, as a. result, a so-called crftnp committee came into being. It was a secret committee, whose meetings had to be conducted with great precaution. The author.-; give a humorous, picture of nni' such meeting, where "the members used to meet, like a ga"ilg of '-onspirators. in a corner of one of the lofts, illuminating their proceedings and keeping their minutes by the. light of a single tallow candle stuck in a bottle. The picture which the reader must be asked to conjure up is that of a grave group of college dons, justices of the peace. Hamburg merchants, and officers of the mercantile marine, transacting mysterious business in the semi-dark-nes=. and then suddenly 'dowsing the glim' because the sailor boy who 'kept cave' for them had reported that a corporal was coming up the stairs." An amalgamation of this committee and the captains paved the way for the reforms which followed. Mr Gerard's visit and the results following thereon are briefly referred to. and there is an interesting chapter devoted to pro-Germans among the prisoners, their separation from the othc>r prisoners, and relegation to separate barracks, and the attempt to enlist them in the German army. For

the first time we get some frank and impartial notes on the personnel of the military administration —Count Schwerin. Lieut. Gleich. Lieut.-Col. v\m Rcicheiibach. Baron von Taube. Baron von Mutzenbecher. o 'the Prince of Thurn and Taxis. Rittmoister von Brocken. Rudiger, and Benthin. Praise is generouslv given where praise is due. and

full tribute is paid to Schwerin's solici-

tude for his prisoners, whom he spoke of as his children, to von Taube for his passe-; to the Casino restaurant and permits to drinU beer, and to von Mutzenbeeher. the censor, who is described

as both a gentleman and a sportsman. One of the Litter's remarks at.tlie jloso of a hotlv-con tested football match endeared him to all who heard it. "When T see how you play football." he said.

"T finite* understand how it. was that we failed to beat the 'contemptible little nrmv.' "

An iiiierosting chapter in the arresting story is that which deals with the finances of the camp —relief fund, canteens capital account, ajid camp expenses account. The total turnover- .vas

{.-2(10.000. The military authorities <xi acted a coimmssion ol 7-i pt-r cent, on I all purchases for the canteens, and took profits on wine sold in the camp. This money, it appears, should, according to ! a War Office order, have been expended tor the benefit of indigent prisoners, but it was not used for this purpose. A scheme for the reorganisation of the civil administration of the camp, drawn up by 3lr AYallaee Ellison, Having been accepted, and the military authorities having decided to withdraw soldiers from the barracks, Ruhleben thenceforward hecame a bit of England —"a small British colony, as it were, planted in the heart of the enemy's country." The building of the city.Legal* under happy auspices, "and, 1 a. homely touch, was given to the- process, by the bestowal of English names upon the various' quarters of the camp. Tin*, theatre was the Ruhleben Empire. A large gate through which wo had to nass was known as the Marble Arch. There was a shopping quarter called Bond street, a slummy quarter called; AVhitcehapcl. and a Jiterary quarter known as Fleet street. Above all, there was a great open space always spoken nf as Trafalgar, Square." Rations were*.'served out at the kitchens, and could be supplemented by purchases from the canteens. The Government, whose duty it was to see that the prisoners were properly fed, entered into, a contract with a man namedGriese, who undertook to feed them for

a payment of 66 pfennigs (about 7Ad) per head per day. "This man," writes ~Slv Gribble, "was an unconscionable knave.' . For breakfast we were sup-, nosed to have dry bread and coffee. The bread was of the celebrated' K.K. variety, straw meal and potato meal being mixed with the rye, and there v.'as • no question whatever about its being dry- Such things as butter, margarine, marmalade, frhd jam were never given eveii in the days when no scarcity in any of these articles was admitted. The so-called coffee was not coffee at all, but a'decoction of acorrie, served, without milk, and with very .little sugar. The midday meal consisted of .a. bowl of soup, supposed to contain meat, which, as a- matter of fact, was,stolen from it by the contractor. - ] wish he bad not only stolen it but eaten it, for then he would long ago havei been beyond i he. need of human forgiveness:. On the few occasions on which he forgot to '.teal it the camp was-swept by violent epidemics of ptomaine poisoning.' Tn the evening _he doled out repugnant chunks of blood sausaq;o ; which I never.dared to taste, or else a. thin,,muddy cocoacr a kind of skilly. That for a long time was actually all: that the German Government gave British civil prisoners to eat, and tho quality of the skilly wa« such that there was a. skilly riot." Quite one \of the most striking features -,'pf- the vqlumey and one. which stamps its rvalue as' a true Jristorical record of what- tool? place, is its scrupulous fairness to.-; those ' in- atitiqritv: Writing of : this ■ particular ;Jfr:

Gribble mjs. "Exactly what happened pn that occasion i»body ever seemed to know ; but- there Is some reason, -to iielieve that the sailors from Barrack TV bombarded either the cook or the boiler —and verj pcfesibJj bombarded both. — with bricks audjclods oi earth. At all events, the firebell was rung, recalling ■us'to our barracks and) soldiers -vith. n\rd *bajoners expedited our return. But the captains rose to the occasion Thej collected samples of the skilly, took it to the eommandantur, and besought the j>er=onnel to taste it betoie pronouncing judgment on the noters The request was admitted to be reasonable, and a skilly taster > ,? is selected Whether it was Count Schwerm or Baron von Taube who. tried the mixture'l did not hear He spluttered funouslv and hio wrath, was insixinth diverted fronj. our heads on. to that of the contractor The skilly, be said was unfit to set even before dogs and he cancelled the punishment which he had decreed, and skillv disappeated for e\er horn the menu " Later, it appears, the kitchens were placed nude- nulitai\ supcivision, but improvement onh came when it was agreed that lepresentatives ot the interned •should be placed m the kitchens a-> controllers. These included Mr George' Ferguson, a well-known baritone singer, Dr Sumnei Moore, a dentist, Captain Coates, a master mariner; Mr Ce£il Breitmever of the De Beers Mining Company, Mi Walter Dodd, a London product broker; arid Mr Broxsop, an organist and mu«ic teacher "Tralj & strange medlev of men fiom man\ eiliings taking to a new tiade'" is the. comment of the authors. A period of.stress, and even hunger, followed unti 1 the feeding, was finally undertaken by the Central Prisoners of War Committee. ... "Ruhleben got richei as Germain got poorei , and the | pnsoners in the later \ears of the ti.stoi> (1 the camp wcie far bet f er fed than their gaolers, who sometimes fawned on them for, food, and sometimes tried to steal from them 'lluie ii,ik bettei tare at thaet time at i nnsoneis' mess than .at >he Hotel Adlon." A detailed account of the administration of the'canteens proves clearly that they were run on. sound: business lines, which resulted not only in added comfort to the interned: but, in substantial profit. Many interesting ruses were resorted to to evade interference, by the authorities. Thus the staff, sat up one night removing labels from 5.000 tins of Nestle's milk, the - firm being alleged-to be partly English, so that the tins could be passed "off as German milk, said to have been delivered without labels. When eggs were beginning to get scarce the word was passed round that men had better make as many meals off eggs as possible, and they were sold at prices much lower than thoste ruling outside, the idea being "to induce them-to build their bodies with proteid while they bad the chance before the cold weather set in."

So far as the medical arrangements | are concerned the narrative 'does not make pleasant reading. Dr. Reiche, one of the first medical officers, is referred to as "a military surgeon of the most brutal type, disposed to scamp his work and treat every patient as a malingerer." - Luckily he was transferred to another post in the course of the first winter. Opinions differed about his successor, Dr. Geiger, who "appeared.to be torn by two conflicting emotions—a venomous hatred of Englishmen and a sincere respect for liis"profession.-" He constantly refused to use anaesthetics when performing minor operations. Here is a description oi a scene which the authors admit may he "not so much true as well invented," but there are others "which call foif serious investigation-." " "A group—one might say a. molt—jpf patients used to.be admitted simultaneously, and no man, however intimate bis complaint, had any chance of confidential treatment. WHiile one man was being ausculted, one saw anoother lying stripped' on a dilapidated sofa, awaiting examination, for suspected appendicitis, a ,third '.having his ears syringed, a fourth having, the rash on li'is chest painted with iodine, a fifth having a cut or a sore bandaged, etc. Even when teeth were drawn the room was not./cleared. Those who liked to stay and" look on were free to do so, though the sensitive were free to retire. The groans of the wounded, dn.these occasions, were audible all down' the passage, and the extraction was so hurriedly performed that the doctor was alleged, on one occasion, to have drawn, not only the wrong tooth, but the tooth of the wrong man, operating on the interpreter insteatl of the sufferer, and hustling them both out of the room before they had time to expostulate. There is little doubt that the conditions at the lazaret were scandalous, and the medical treatment grossly inadequate, and there were constant fights with various epidemics. This part of the story, in fact, is, an exposure of a scandal which Germany will find it difficult to live down."

Few chapters make more pleasant reading- than the one which describes the educational work carried on at Ruhelben., At first it was sporadic and unorganised. Thus one made the following announcement to his pro-German confreres: "I give English lesson very chepe. Also haircut or shave." Later, However, matters thoroughly improved and there were lectures on travels, excellent literary lectures, and others on music illustrated liv a competent choir. There was also a' debating society which attacked all manner of subjects, grave and gay. A school, was formed wherein the teaching of languages took a prominent place. "Probably there were more competent teachers of a large number of languages at Ruhleben than there" have ever been at either Oxford or Cambridge. The. tongues in which instruction could, be got included English, Latin, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek (modern as well as ancient), Russian, Polish, Danish. Yiddish, Serbian, Hebrew, and Arabic; and there were serious students of almost all of them."

In order that the young ships' officers, and apprentices in the camp t should not waste their time Captain Hendrikseii, a master mariner, organised navigation classes, and these, after negotiation and correspondence, were recognised by the Board of Trade, attendance being counted in compiling the date at which they should be eligible to present' themselves for-exami-nation.. "As a rasult of'other, negotiations, it was actually arranged that London, matriculation examinations should be held in the camp .itself, and tiie proportion of passes was higher than • in most English schools. The question papers were kept under seal bv the German censor .until the mornnig of the examination, and they answers were also handed to him' and-, forwarded by him to England.; Some of the questions, set by examiners who did hot realise that they were to be sent to the enemy's country, "were but imperfectly adapted to the circumstances in. which they .hack to be answered." Thus it was hardly .matter for surprise that certain answers failed to .reach England, as, ; for example, those given to a question which called for a. comparison of the British and German fleets. Tn somewhat lighter vein, as bentting this branch of their story, the authors give- an account of the excellent arrangements made for the recreation and entertainment of the camp." There were clubs of, various kinds, the'chief being known as the Summer House. Limited to a membership of 100. there vrfhs an exclusiveness about it "which sometimes provoked stern, unbending democrats to make acrimonious rer , marks." Wines and spirits were ob- i tamable, though the latter could only be secured with the aid of smugglers. "Competition for employment as smugglers became very keen among th-» German soldiers as time progressed. At the beginning most of them could bo persuaded to do most .things for money; towards the end almost any of them would, do almost anything for a I'ot of dripping." Count Rchwerin tried to -stop this smuggling business, and, "driving" into the camp one day in his carriage, he pulled un. harangued a group of officers and cantains on the ovils 4 of alcoholism, and announced that nnv soldier caught srriuq-" glina spirits into'the camp would ,he punished with the utmost rigor of the military law. Little did lie guess that a dozen bottles of brandy, smuggled. l-y his own coachman, were stowed away underneath, the <=eat on which hj«» sat while delivering that impressiveaddress." _ ' ' Interesting, too. is the'reeito! of the ruses . for obtaining English ' news--

1 papers,- as much ns> JO mark* being u t iirst charged,and imfd-per copy; of ,tht-{ Daily"'-Telegraph^"The Times, and the' 'Daily MaiJ. "The distribution* of the copies thus procured was 1 undertaken by ,a mysterious gentleman known Xo » the-eamp.aa the W. of Hull- - leben." In time,'thp Supply.' however, .' increased, and reading clubs were- " formed. "The papers sometimes got into the camp within three days ot their publication, and they were never moVe than 14 davs late.- whole business 1 was another of the triumphs' of British organisation."' Games were started under difficulties, but these were overcome in due course, and the first football match was* arranged, '"at which Baron von -Taube: in tnll uniform, and with the ine%-itable agar in his mouth, consented to kick The athletic standards were high, for the camp included football international*.

an old Cambridge Blue, an e>\-cham-pion sculler, univeisitj and coun l \ cricketers, and profession ll golfeis Here is a delightful account of an August Bank Hohdav celebration "r-\>r the afternoon we otganised a Woild's fair—a real Hampstead-heath level Claims weie pegged out and side-shows wei-tv set up A Pierrot cornpain performed, and men put on the oddest fancv chesses —Mr Mnhonev, if niemoiv seiies being partieulailv effective as a mad hattei One could sh"\ sticks at Aunt Sallys and have ones loitune told and thiow ungs for and-'gamble at little loulette tables The camp police weie there to see that no one exceeded the bounds ot ' legitimate merriment, and the German ofhceis and then wives —and, m somei ' ase-, then sw eethcai te —came out and mingled with the throng making no ittempt to conceal the childlike pleasuit* which they felt It was paiticu'ailv giat'ifving to see little T)i Geigei toaming about the course hand in hand >uth i huge and affectionate lad\ -.evi'al units his si/e This was indeed a Hlmpstcad h=»ith touch which miglri fanh hive be-en de«cnbed as 'worth all the money:'" There is adelicious story, too. of the wife of the ommandant, despite the fnct that gambling hid at hist been ngoroush forbidden, flitting throughout the whole of the afternoon from one roulette table to another and losing money at'each of them in'turn. She Had borrowed all the money the Baron had in his pocket, had lost it, and: sent him back for more, which she also lost. If that sort of tiling went on much longer, he said td Mr Powell, he would be'a ruined man. The;, activities'of-thV-.'.dramatic and musical societies make pleasant reading, and there is a vivid description of the entertainment given. on Tralfalgarßay, 1918. when "the'.German defences'vero known to be crumbling, and the end ■aais well in sight." Witlr. a r daring which outraged all" the laws of discretion, both "Hearts of Oak!'" and

"Rule Britannia !" were' flaunted on the programme.,';the full words .being-.print-ed.' "so that all could join in the chorus." There are details of the Y.M.C.A. hall, the circulating library, the horticultural society, and the flower shows; examples of verses composed by those -.yith a jiterary turn of mind; an account of the journalistic' efforts of the little community; anfl the draftarticles of the constitution of the camp. A.s one comes to the final..pages of the book the note'of optimism, which is seldom absent and which, reflects the feelings of those of whom it- writes, becomes ever more insistent, ending in a veritable note of triumph. The "book, in short, is one' which- tells a fine story in a manner which cannot fail to make the

reader. proud of those, coutrymen of his, ivho, even in captivity, were true to the fines* traditions of their race. It is a. valuable contribution to the history of he war. (