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 Münster II, “The Commandment, General von Ey-Steinecke, as well as
the other officers, and the general treatment, are well spoken of by the
men.” Some improvements suggested on March 16 were already started on
the 18th. At Münster III. the benches in the English Chapel “were
provided at the expense of the camp, although the British prisoners
offered to pay for them.... The camp authorities have endeavoured to
arrange courses of instruction with some success, and several British
are taking lessons in French.... Sergeant Middleditch, the ranking
non-commissioned officer, who has taken an active part in the work of
improvement, stated that the relations with the camp authorities were
excellent, and that the officers showed much consideration in acceding
to reasonable requests. The commandant, General Raitz von Frentz, is
well spoken of by all, and shows a liberal and progressive spirit in
dealing with such difficulties as arise.”
PARCHIM, BRANDENBURG.
From Miscel. No. 7 (1917) a few extracts may be made. Of Parchim Dr.
A. E. Taylor and Mr. J. P. Webster write: “We believe that special
commendation should be given to the Commandant, Oberst Kothe, for the
spirit in which he governs the camp, and for the way in which he does
everything in his power for the welfare of the prisoners, and for the
promotion of a cordial relationship between the men and those in
charge.” Of Brandenburg, Mr. Jackson writes candidly: “The part of the
building occupied by the British prisoners was not so clean as the
remainder, but for this the men themselves are responsible.” It is
obvious that the spirit as to this and other matters will vary in every
country among different sets of men (c.f., _e.g._, below the very
different Güstrow report).
COTTBUS.
Men in hospital at Cottbus “said that the food was good and their
treatment excellent.” Men in the main camp complained that bread sent to
them from Switzerland and England arrived in a mouldy condition, but “as
the mouldiness seemed to start in the middle of the loaf, they thought
this was due to the quality of the bread itself or the manner in which
it was packed.”
ABSENCE ON LEAVE.
At Celle, where “inactive officers” and some others are detained, Mr.
Jackson found one British subject absent on leave, while “several others
have been permitted to make visits to their families in Germany. A
request from another, who had obtained no benefit from his stay at Bad
Blenhorst, for permission to go somewhere for a ‘cure’ is under
consideration.”
LIMBAU, GUESTROW.
At the working camp at Limbau (occupied Russian territory) “the men
described the commandant as a ‘gentleman,’ and said they had no
difficulty in communicating with him in regard to their wishes. None had
any complaint to make of their treatment, and only a very few spoke of
the work as hard.” The camp contained 500 British prisoners.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account