The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards Fellowship — John Shaqi
The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards FellowshipPicton, Harold W. (Harold Williams)
History
The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards Fellowship
Picton, Harold W. (Harold Williams)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals, charities, etc.; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
I have quoted this passage as I have not the least wish to give a merely
_couleur de rose_ picture of the situation. Human nature is, I fear,
everywhere very much the same, and, once its passions are aroused,
extremely credulous of evil against its opponents. Only one thing in the
account a little surprises me, and that is the colonel’s order. If the
officer was a colonel, would a subaltern be able quietly to countermand
his orders? Is there not some mistake of rank here, or perhaps a
misunderstanding of an angry exclamation?
TORGAU.
The populace at Torgau called them swine with variations—all of which,
alas, is exactly what has been done, in some cases, by the populace on
our side too. At Torgau “the Commandant was a Prussian reservist officer
with a long heavy moustache. We were told [by the other prisoners] that
he was courteous and considerate in every respect, and that, provided we
took care, to salute him whenever we passed him, we should find him
everything we could reasonably wish.” And later, “It was a subject of
universal regret when the first Commandant resigned his position.”
DOGS.
A great deal has been made of the use of dogs in some prison camps. The
following is the account given in Mr. O’Rorke’s book (page 41):
As time went on our numbers increased to about 230 British
officers, and 800 French officers joined us from Maubeuge,
including four generals. One of the latter had been interned in
Torgau before, in the 1870 war, and had made good his escape.
The authorities guarded against the recurrence of such an
eventuality on the present occasion, their most elaborate
precaution being the enlistment of dogs to reinforce their
sentries. Their barkings could be heard occasionally by night,
but their presence disturbed neither our repose nor our
equanimity.
It is worth while to quote from a report made by Dr. Ohnesorg and Mr.
Dresel on Wittenberg in March, 1916:
The police dogs are not now a cause of complaint on the part of
the prisoners.—(_Miscel_. 16 [1916] p. 85).
Dr. Austin in “My Experiences as a German Prisoner” writes:
For a long time previous to our arrival at Magdeburg we had been
informed that large and savage dogs were to be provided to aid
the sentries.... They were certainly savage enough, but were
always led by a sentry, or chained in their den, and were never
let loose on us. (p. 141).
To return to Chaplain O’Rorke’s narrative: “When we first arrived [the
barrack warder] had adopted the rôle of gaoler in his demeanour towards
us, but after a while he became civil and deferential, and—when his son
was captured in the war—actually sympathetic.” (p. 45.) At Torgau “the
meals, though far from sumptuous and not always palatable, were
sufficient for our needs.” (p. 43.)
BURG.
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