World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, Canadian; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
I am not allowed to tell more, but it is certain that the unwarranted
internment of one of the best and most honorable men I ever met ended
only with the armistice. It caused him incalculable damages in his
affairs and great injury to his health. I am convinced that the victim
of this denial to justice will seek redress somehow, and that the
trials and tribulations he had to undergo will reverberate now that the
war is practically ended.
Mr. Hintermann was a man of very high character. He was greatly
esteemed by all the prisoners. Towards the more needy he showed great
charity and alleviated numberless cases of suffering. Speaking German,
French, and English with equal fluency, he was able to communicate
with the prisoners of these nationalities, and in this way he came to
realize their distress and sufferings and was thus the better able to
apply what remedies were within his reach. All who knew him during his
imprisonment will ever have a pleasant remembrance of the man, and a
deep appreciation of his invariable generosity and kindness of heart.
The subject of the deportation of Belgians was the main topic of
discussion in the newspapers for some time and I cannot add anything
new on the subject. It was with manifest reluctance that the German
press finally admitted that Belgians had been deported, and were then
in Germany. The accomplishment, however, was so palpable that denial
was at last rendered impossible.
We received at one time and another a great number of these unfortunate
people into our jail. They were, for the most part, Belgian subjects
who had refused to work for the Germans. There were some who, after
accepting the burden of hard labor forced upon them in the hope that
in this way they might find some relief from the terrible situation
that otherwise threatened them at Guben camp, at last rebelled against
their task and the insufficiency of food. It was then that they were
brought to the Stadtvogtei. On one occasion there were no fewer than
twenty-four of these prisoners amongst us, and towards them the British
prisoners always showed a practical sympathy.
I cannot leave this subject without mentioning one notable case. It
was that of a Belgian named Edouard Werner. He was a man twenty-five
or twenty-six years of age, and of remarkable physique–tall, well
proportioned, and very strong. He lived in Antwerp before war was
declared, and was engaged in that city in the offices of the Canadian
Pacific Railway Company. His parents were Germans, but himself born in
Antwerp, he decided, when he attained the age of eighteen years, to
become a naturalized Belgian subject. He submitted to the requirements
of the military laws of the country, but was exempted from service in
the army and had in his possession papers to this effect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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