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
At Burg, at the canteen, “we used to treat one another to a whole roll
or a cake and a cup of excellent coffee; and, until they were put on the
_verboten_ list, to a chop or steak. The serving was done under the
direction of a kind, motherly _Frau_ at the one canteen, and by a polite
German boy-waiter at the other.... The regular meals seemed to be
provided by the proprietor of the larger canteen under contract with the
German Government. They were served at 8 a.m., 12 noon and 6-30 p.m. In
quality they were superior to the Torgau fare, but in quantity scarcely
sufficient in the depth of winter for hungry young men. Still it must be
remembered that they cost only 1s. 6d. a day” [out of the daily pay
allowed]. Weekly baths were the regulation, but “it was often possible
for pushing natures to get an extra bath on other days,” by a method
which works all the world over. At Burg “the new Commandant was a tall,
well-made, soldierly figure. He had a strong face, curiously resembling
an owl.” An amusing little story follows as to the preciseness of the
Commandant and Mr. O’Rorke continues: “It is pleasant to add that this
new Commandant was in one respect just the man that was needed. From the
first day he began to make the place hum, the foul clean, and in time
rendered it habitable. Had there been any, he would have made the dust
fly, but there was not. Indeed the court was at first almost a bog
through which we threaded our way inch deep in mud, and hopped over the
pools. All this disappeared in a few weeks under the Commandant’s
direction; the swamp was drained and the path widened.” British
officials, too, know that the problem of mud in a confined space trodden
by thousands of feet is one needing energy for its solution.
The Commandant seems to have had a quality more valuable even than
energy—a capacity for learning from those under him. He was a judge by
profession, and was at first stern and terrible, as well as thorough. To
him the prisoners were as ordinary prisoners, “but in time he learnt to
place us in a different category. As for myself, eventually he granted
me facilities for carrying on my work outside the _Lager_, which he
might easily have refused, and when, five months later, we parted, it
was with a certain measure of mutual cordiality” (p. 74). The Adjutant
also learned more cordiality, and adjutants are sometimes prouder of
making others feel their authority than commandants are.
CENSOR FINED BY PRISONER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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