PRISON HORRORS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 866, 18 November 1916, Page 9

PRISON HORRORS.

AUSTRIAN BRUTALITY. Australian and \'.Z. Cahlr AK.inri.Uion PETROGRAD, November lfi. Released prisoners tell startling stories of the horrors of the Austrian war prison regime. A lieutenant whose aeroplane fell into the Austrian lines was compelled to march to the "Wishenberg Camp, where the food and treatment given him were so terrible that the lieutenant returned to Petrograd in a semistarved slate, and in an advanced stage of tuberculosis. The officer states that the unfortunate soldiers in the camp are starving. The bread given them is composed of a mixture of maize, potatoes, acorns, and horse-chestnuts, mixed with chopped straw and bran. Many men had died of hunger and exhaustion. They were treated most brutally. The hanging up of a man was quite an ordinary punishment. The man's feet and hands would be tied, and then he would be strung up to a pole for two hours until he was unconscious.

Other prisoners were made to lie in a coffin, the bottom of which consisted of sharp edges. The lid was then wired down, leaving only an opening for the man's head. A Russian who refused to spy upon his comrades was condemned to the collin, but no aperture was left for ventilation, and he was found dead in the morning. The camp was surrounded by rows of barbed wire, backed by searchlights, police, dogs, and many guards. There were many attempts made at escape, but the men were mostly recaptured and transferred to prison in Vienna.