THREE NEW ZEALANDERS

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 22611, 16 May 1945, Page 5

THREE NEW ZEALANDERS

SIGNS OF STARVATION “EVERLASTING STAIN” (Special Correspondent) BELSEN. May 15 Deaths are still occurring in Belsen concentration camp at a rate of 150 a day. Since the British took it over on April 7, 22,000 unknown people, mostly Jews, have been buried in communal graves holding from 2000 to 5000 bodies. The victims died from effects of starvation and disease, including typhus. These facts were learned by the High Commissioner for New Zealand Mr W. J. Jordan, Mr S. G. Holland, M.P., and Mr F. W. Doidge. M.P., when they spent an afternoon at Belsen. They saw sights they will remember all their lives. It was a day of vivid contrasts. They drove through a smiling countryside where farming folk went about their work as if there had never been a war and Germany was not defeated. Abruptly there appeared a plain white board and in scarlet lettering the words, ‘Danger! Typhus.” They were entering the camp approaches. Deliberate Starvation From the British commandant and the senior medical officer they learned the facts of Belsen. The concentration camp was run by the S.S. and in it the Germans had placed 60,000 men, women and children, mostly of German nationality, the majority being Jews. Their policy was one of deliberate starvation. The meagre ration of food had to be collected by the prisoners and those who could not fend for themselves died first. The prisoners lived in huts which were filthy beyond description, since there were no sanitary arrangements of any kind and no privacy. The dead were dragged from the huts, stacked in piles and stripped of their clothing. In a hut built for about 50 soldiers, no "ewer than 500 persons were crowded. Dead Lying About Camp When the British arrived, there were between 8000 and 10,000 dead lying about the camp. Some doctors and nurses who were prisoners had been doing their best without any medical supplies, and one Polish nurse whose husband and children all died had done excellent work and was now matron of the hospital. It was estimated that 17,000 people required immediate hospital treatment when the British arrived, the most serious cases being typhus and tuberculosis. The barracks were immediately taken over and a suitable hospital found. One hundred medical students came from England and they were going wonderful work. Large numbers of German doctors and nurses were also obliged to help. They were somewhat resentful since their patients were mostly Jews. One had been found maltreating a small Polish child. He would be dealt, with in a “correct” manner. Precautions Against Disease Before entering the camp, Messrs Jordan, Holland and Doidge and their escort were all carefully sprayed with special powder as a precaution against lice and typhus. They first saw the communal graves. Next the huts were entered. Everyone was carefully smoking, including Mr Holland who had not smoked for eight years. Bodies had been placed underneath the floor boards of some huts. In the rooms were women and some children lying in wretched wooden bunks or on the floor itself. They were gaunt, pale and listless with feverishly bright eyes. They, were clad in rags. One who spoke English told Mr Jordan: “We are ail right now, the English have come.” In one room a perspiring young student sat on a box feeding a gaunt figure while around him women lay sprawled on the filthy floor. Here and there were little piles of cooked potatoes, raw onions and bread, which it was explained these people preferred to anything else. Haggard Women In other rooms, women who once had been young and pretty were now haggard and listless. One said she came from Berlin. “Why did they send you here?” asked Mr Doidge. “Oh, I didn’t like Hitler,” was the despondent reply. In another hut emaciated and listless women were being washed by British soldiers. Then they were wrapped carefully in blankets and carried on stretchers into the fresh air among the pine trees. Shocked and silent, the New Zealand visitors drove from the camp to the hospital and here they saw the other side of the picture—clean beds, fresh white linen, cheerful and smiling patients. Today there are still over 28,000 German victims in the camp and barracks.

Reports Not Exaggerated Mr Jordan said: “The scenes in this camp are the worst I have ever experienced. They have not been exaggerated by previous reports. They could not be exaggerated. I think we all have the highest possible admiration for the medical staff and everyone who is working in the camp tb save the poor wretches, whose only crime was that they agreed with us and did not like those very things against which we fought this war.” Mr Holland said: “I have been deeply shocked by the sights we saw. It is a terrible thing to realise that human beings could treat others like this, and it makes me more determined than ever to ensure that we must work to make certain that such things can never occur again.” Mr Doidge said: “The Belsen camp is an everlasting stain on Germany. I will never forget the things we saw today. Thank God we have been able to win the war and put an end to such inhumanity.”