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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/78203-0.txt b/78203-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7e11091 --- /dev/null +++ b/78203-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,699 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78203 *** + + + + + Transcriber’s Note + Italic text displayed as: _italic_ + + + + + THE + HORRORS + OF + WITTENBERG + + OFFICIAL REPORT + TO THE + BRITISH GOVERNMENT. + + LONDON: + C. ARTHUR PEARSON, LIMITED, + Henrietta Street, W.C. + + 1916. + + + + +GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE ON THE TREATMENT BY THE ENEMY OF BRITISH PRISONERS +OF WAR. + + + 18, CARLTON HOUSE TERRACE, S. W., + _6th April, 1916_. + + SIR, + +I have the honour to state that the Chairman of this Committee, Mr. +Justice Younger, has prepared the enclosed Report on the conditions +obtaining at Wittenberg Camp during the typhus epidemic of last year. + +The information upon which this Report is based has been collected +from prisoners of war repatriated from Wittenberg, and especially +from Major Priestley, R.A.M.C., Captain Vidal, R.A.M.C., and Captain +Lauder, R.A.M.C., who were sent to the camp soon after the outbreak +of the epidemic and who were only recently released from Germany. The +Committee considered it advisable to hold back the Report until the +evidence of these officers was available. + + I am, Sir, + Your obedient Servant, + (Signed) ADELAIDE LIVINGSTONE, + _Hon. Secretary_. + + _The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs._ + + + + +REPORT ON THE TYPHUS EPIDEMIC AT WITTENBERG CAMP. + + +_Evidence from the Survivors._ + +Now that Major Priestley, R.A.M.C., Captain Vidal, R.A.M.C., and +Captain Lauder, R.A.M.C., have been permitted to return to this +country after a prolonged detention in Germany still unexplained, the +Government Committee on the Treatment by the Enemy of British Prisoners +of War are in a position to submit for the consideration of His +Majesty’s Government their report upon the conditions of the Camp at +Wittenberg during and prior to the epidemic of typhus which devastated +it in the first six months of 1915. + +The Committee had already in the course of their inquiries gathered +much detailed information as to the state of things which obtained +at Wittenberg during the fever, but until the information in their +possession could be checked, corrected and supplemented by the personal +testimony of the above three officers, the Committee refrained from +making any report, so appalling did the conditions disclosed to them +appear to be. + +Major Priestley, Captain Vidal and Captain Lauder are, it should at +once be stated, the only survivors of the six sent by the German +authorities to take up at Wittenberg Camp the place of duty abandoned +by their own medical staff when the presence of typhus manifested +itself amongst the prisoners under their charge. + +Those officers have now detailed their experiences to the Committee, +who feel that a report upon the whole situation ought no longer to +be withheld, although definiteness on points of detail may still be +lacking by reason of the fact that the professional records of the +epidemic and its incidents kept by Major Priestley, Captain Vidal and +Captain Lauder were taken from them before they were allowed to leave +Germany, and that a promise made to Major Priestley and Captain Vidal +that theirs would be returned to them after copies had been transcribed +remains unfulfilled. + +The Committee, however, have the less hesitation in deciding not to +wait for records which in fact may never become available, for the +reason that the accounts of their experiences given by Major Priestley, +Captain Vidal and Captain Lauder fully confirm those statements in the +possession of the Committee, to which reference has already been made. + + +_Appalling Conditions at Wittenberg Camp._ + +The Camp at Wittenberg is built on a flat, sandy plain devoid of +trees or shrubs. The total area of the camp is about 10½ acres, and +it is surrounded by the usual wire entanglements. It is sub-divided +into eight companies or compounds, intended to be separated from each +other, but not so in practice. Every compound contains on an average +six wooden bungalows in which the men are housed, each bungalow in +turn being divided into two compartments or barracks, originally +constructed, it is believed, to accommodate 120 men. In fact, however, +there were frequently before and during the epidemic 180 to 200 +prisoners in a barrack, so that the overcrowding was most serious. + +In the early stages of the war and during the fever the Camp was very +full. The British prisoners numbered between 700 and 800. There was +a much larger number of French and Belgians, but the Russians always +greatly preponderated over all the others. It is believed that before +and during the progress of the typhus there were at least 15,000 +prisoners in the Camp, and there may have been as many as 16,000 or +17,000—an enormous population for so restricted an area as 10½ acres. + +The winter of 1914-1915 was extremely severe and the cold at +Wittenberg intense, but the heating arrangements for the Camp were +altogether inadequate. Although there were two stoves to each bungalow, +frequently during the winter there was a great shortage of fuel, while +the stoves were so constructed that it was only if they were both +constantly stoked with all the coal they could possibly hold that a +bungalow was reasonably warmed. Often there was no coal for either +stove, and the temperature was so low that the men had always to keep +every window shut to husband what little warmth there was. This greatly +aggravated the evil of the overcrowding above referred to. + +Moreover, the men were insufficiently clothed. From most of the British +prisoners their over-coats were taken on the day of their capture; +none were given them in exchange. Their remaining clothes were often +in rags; some of the men had even to use their blankets as clothing. +Occasionally a prisoner had received a thin cotton shirt, but there +were many with neither boots nor socks; many others had their feet +wrapped in straw. They were provided with no change of underclothing, +and there were no means of washing the scanty clothing they had, +for, at that time, no wash-house existed in the Camp. For personal +ablutions there was only one trough or tap to each compound, and that +was frequently frozen. No hot water was available except that which +came from the cook-house. As a consequence the state of the prisoners +beggars description. Major Priestley found them gaunt, of a peculiar +grey pallor and verminous. Their condition, in his own words, was +deplorable. + +The food with which they were supplied was bad and insufficient. The +Committee are well aware that the difference between German food and +cooking and that to which British soldiers are ordinarily accustomed +induces prisoners to magnify deficiencies in this respect. But after +every allowance on this head is made, the Committee are left with +a record of suffering, owing to the lack of wholesome food, which +they cannot but deplore. It was the men’s food which was so bad +and deficient. During the whole period the medical officers were +well provided for at a price of 1·50 M. a day. There was no general +scarcity, a fact which makes the treatment of the rank and file all the +more difficult to justify or excuse. + +When Major Priestley arrived at Wittenberg Camp the allowance of +bread was one kilo loaf for ten men. Breakfast for the men, he says, +consisted of black (acorn?) coffee and bread. The bread contained +a high percentage of potato and was most unpalatable. Sometimes a +thin soup was given for breakfast in place of coffee. The midday meal +consisted of a soup made of potato flour, horsebeans, soja flour, some +form of grease and a minimum of meat. Men would go for days without +finding any meat in their bowl. Sometimes the midday soup contained a +powerfully smelling sun-dried fish, at other times dried plums, etc. In +the evening there was more thin soup containing margarine. + +Before the outbreak there was a men’s canteen at which bread and some +other articles could be bought, but this was closed with the departure +of the German guards on the outbreak of the typhus, and was not +reopened until after their return when the epidemic was over. + +Then the Camp food improved, but since the month of May the English +had become largely independent of it, for from that time they mainly +subsisted on parcels sent them from home. No parcels, however, reached +the Camp until May, and the Committee are satisfied that the German +food previously supplied was, apart from its bad quality, quite +insufficient to maintain vitality or enable an ordinary man to resist +disease. + +And the spread of the typhus, when it came, was much facilitated by a +camp regulation, not confined to Wittenberg, which enjoined that the +prisoners of all nationalities should be mixed together. Normally there +was only one mattress for every three prisoners, and every British +prisoner was compelled to have one French and one Russian prisoner to +share his mattress with him. + + +_Outbreak of the Epidemic._ + +Now, typhus, as was fully recognised by the Russian doctors themselves, +was unfortunately to some extent—but through no fault of their +own—latent amongst some of the Russian troops, and it is a well-known +medical fact that lice are the great carriers of that disease, while +it is, of course, notorious that the men of all armies in the field, +including the British, are plagued with lice. As a protection against +typhus, therefore, the separation of the infected was an elementary +precaution. But at Wittenberg no adequate measures were taken even to +free the prisoners, on their arrival at the Camp, from the lice. The +only provision for personal cleanliness there made for the men was +one cupful of soft soap issued at intervals of many weeks to a room +containing at least 120. In consequence the men became increasingly +verminous, and that condition, coupled with the cold and want of +proper nourishment, was undoubtedly the principal inducing cause of the +epidemic which supervened. + +And the German authorities, although they were not ignorant of the +danger, did nothing to prevent or minimise the spread of infection. +That they knew it might become general throughout the Camp is +undoubted. German N.C.O.’s warned the French, shortly before the +outbreak, of the risk, and when, during the course of the typhus, +Captain Vidal, in order that its spread might be restricted as much as +possible, asked a German officer, himself standing safely outside the +Camp, if the remaining healthy English could be placed together in one +compound, his request was insultingly refused. + +The medical and surgical arrangements were under the charge of +Oberstabsarzt Dr. Aschenbach and his German assistants. At the outbreak +of the epidemic there were no British medical officers at Wittenberg. +There were a number of Russian, and there may have been some French +doctors; of this the Committee are not certain. + + +_Decampment of German Military and Medical Staff._ + +The epidemic broke out in December, 1914. Thereupon the German staff, +military and medical, precipitately left the Camp, and thenceforth, +until the month of August, 1915, with the exceptions detailed later +on, no communication was held between the prisoners and their guards, +except by means of directions shouted from the guards or officers +remaining outside the wire entanglements of the Camp. All supplies +for the men were pushed into the Camp over chutes. The food for the +hospital and medical officers was passed in on a trolley over about +20 yards of rail, worked by winches at either end, so as to avoid +all contact between the prisoners and the outside world. No medical +attention during the whole time was provided by the German staff. + +Of the happenings during the early weeks of the outbreak the +information before the Committee is supplied by witnesses other than +the medical officers who have recently returned, and accordingly the +one observation the Committee make with regard to this period is that, +when the typhus first appeared, the only hospital at the Camp consisted +of two wooden huts capable of holding about 100 patients, and that at +the instance—as the Committee believe—of the Russian medical staff, the +German authorities were induced to permit a part of Compound No. 8 to +be used for the purpose of an improvised hospital, the accommodation +at the old hospital having already become quite inadequate. + + +_British Medical Officers, unlawfully detained in Germany, substituted +for German staff._ + +The arrival of the British medical officers at the Camp came about +in the following way. From the month of November, 1914, 13 English +doctors had been detained at Halle. They were none of them required +for attendance upon their own men, and it is difficult to understand +how, consistently with the Geneva Convention, their continued detention +was justifiable. Indeed, in direct defiance of the provisions of +that Convention, these doctors were treated as ordinary prisoners of +war, and the Committee cannot resist the suspicion that they were +deliberately detained by the German authorities so that they might +be made available, if need be, for work of danger in relief of their +own staff. Be that as it may, after three months’ wrongful detention +these doctors were, on the 10th February, 1915, informed that they were +to be distributed amongst the other German Camps, and particularly +that six were required for the Camp at Wittenberg. By arrangement +amongst themselves the six sent there were Major Fry, Major Priestley, +Captain Sutcliffe, Captain Field, Captain Vidal, and Captain—then +Lieutenant—Lauder. No reason was given for the order that they should +go to Wittenberg, and it was from the guard on the train that they +first heard of typhus there. + +On arrival at Wittenberg they were marched to the Camp. They visited +the different compounds. They were received in apathetic silence. The +rooms were unlighted; the men were aimlessly marching up and down; +some were lying on the floor, probably sickening for typhus. When they +got into the open air again Major Fry broke down. The horror of it +all was more than he could for the moment bear. Later in the evening +Major Priestley and Captain Vidal were directed to go to two temporary +hospitals outside the Camp, Major Priestley to the Kronprinz Hospital +and Captain Vidal to the Elbarfin Hospital. There were no infectious +diseases at either hospital and the general conditions at each were +satisfactory. These officers were kept there until the 7th March, 1915. + +Of the four officers left on the 11th February at the Camp itself, +Captain Lauder alone survives, and the conditions, as he describes +them, during the period between the 11th February and the 7th March are +full of horror. The wonder is that any prisoner escaped infection. + + +_The Horrors of the Epidemic._ + +Captain Lauder found, for instance, that while in the bungalow there +was normally one mattress to three men, in the improvised hospital +there were no mattresses at all. This, of course, was known throughout +the Camp, and in consequence there were many typhus patients scattered +over the compounds who were determined not to come into the hospital +if they could help it. In one compound alone Captain Lauder discovered +50 hidden cases of typhus. Further, when a patient was brought from +the compound to the hospital, either the mattress on which he had lain +was brought with him, or it was left behind in his bungalow. If it +was brought with him his former companions were left without anything +to sleep on; if it was left behind, his still uninfected companions +were left to sleep upon the infected mattress, and it was almost +inevitable that they should catch the disease. Again, in the absence +of stretchers, all the typhus cases had to be carried down to the +hospital on the tables on which the men ate their food, and there was +no possibility of washing these tables, because, as above stated, there +was practically no soap in the Camp. Moreover, the German authorities +at first refused to allow the whole of Compound No. 8 to be used for +typhus patients. They required that these should be mixed with other +sufferers—a regulation for which it seems impossible to suggest any +justification. The result simply was to spread the infection to those +already afflicted in some other way. + +During the first month the food ration for each patient was half a +petit pain and half a cup of milk each per day. The only soup to be got +was from the Camp kitchen, but that came up in a wooden tub without a +cover, and it arrived at the hospital—so one of the prisoners says—full +of dust and dirt. It was hopeless diet for patients in a fever. In +truth the ration was not a ration at all, it was a pretence. It was not +even possible to give the patients warm water with their milk. + +The Camp conditions were too much for each of the four medical officers +who were left there; two of them, Major Fry and Captain Sutcliffe, +very soon sickened, and they died of typhus about a month after their +arrival. Captain Field was attacked later by the disease and also died. +There is no doubt in the minds of the Committee that the conditions to +which the Camp authorities had reduced the Camp and the prisoners they +had abandoned was directly responsible for the deaths of these devoted +men. Lieutenant Lauder was finally stricken with the disease on the +7th March, after having for three days, with a temperature due to +typhus, stuck to his work, there being no one then to take his place. +He alone of the officers attacked finally recovered. When convalescent +he bravely resumed his duty. + +On March 7th, Major Priestley and Captain Vidal were directed to +return to the Main Camp. They were met there by Captain Field. Major +Fry and Captain Sutcliffe were then dying. Lieutenant Lauder, as above +explained, was in the early stages of typhus. + +Two Russian medical generals were in command in the hospital. There +were then about 1,000 cases of typhus in the Camp and fresh cases were +coming in at the rate of about 50, and sometimes more, a day. There +were at that time about 150 British cases. + +The British sick were lying scattered amongst the French and the +Russians, both in the Compound No. 8 and in the other compounds of the +Camp. Being sometimes dressed in French, Belgian or Russian uniforms +they were difficult to recognise. They were lying in their clothes on +the floor or on the straw mattresses above described. In the beginning +there were no beds in Compound No. 8; there were not even, as has been +shown, mattresses for all. Major Priestley saw delirious men waving +arms brown to the elbow with fæcal matter. The patients were alive with +vermin; in the half-light he attempted to brush what he took to be an +accumulation of dust from the folds of a patient’s clothes, and he +discovered it to be a moving mass of lice. In one room in Compound No. +8 the patients lay so close to one another on the floor that he had to +stand straddle-legged across them to examine them. + +Captain Vidal’s description is even more appalling. It was impossible, +he says, to obtain bedpans for the British patients, and consequently +in cases of delirium, and even in less serious cases, the state of the +mattress was indescribable. Even such a thing as paper for sanitary +purposes was almost unprocurable. + +The difficulty in the way of obtaining sufficient drugs and dressings +was for a long time extreme. Camphorated oil, Captain Lauder says, +could never at Wittenberg, contrary to his experience in other German +Camps, be secured in adequate quantity, yet this was practically the +only stimulant available. Day after day a list of medical requisites +would be sent out, and only a third of the things requested would +be supplied. Bedsores were common. In several cases toes or whole +feet became gangrenous, and sufficient bandages were not available +to dress them. One of the patients now returned to this country, +Private Lutwyche, of the 1st Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, had in +May to have one leg amputated below the knee, and in July the other +leg amputated at the same place, in both cases owing to gangrene. Had +dressings at the proper time been available, both feet would, in all +probability, have been saved. And his case does not stand alone. The +officers are quite satisfied that the post-typhus gangrene which was so +common was largely due to the fact that for so many patients there were +neither socks nor anything else to keep their feet warm. + +In the earlier stages of the epidemic there was practically no hospital +clothing available for the British prisoners. There was only a small +sulphur chamber for disinfecting purposes. When a patient’s outer +clothing was taken off to be sent to the disinfector he had to be +left in his shirt, as no other clothing or shirts were supplied. Each +patient brought his blankets from the Camp with him, and as no covering +could be provided for him while disinfection was taking place, it was +impossible adequately to disinfect his clothing unless he was to be +left naked. + +As regards the washing of patients in hospital, this was entirely out +of the question. Until a supply of soap was obtained by Captain Vidal’s +efforts from England at a later date there was no soap forthcoming. The +only supply was a small quantity secured from the officers’ canteen, +and that was kept for the very worst cases. + + +_The Work of the British Medical Officers._ + +It was to Major Priestley’s great powers of organisation, the devoted +labours and strong personality of Captain Vidal and, after his +recovery, the splendid work of Captain Lauder, that gradual improvement +in the conditions was due. An observation ward was instituted in +Compound No. 8 and placed in charge of Captain Lauder. Major Priestley +took over the treatment of typhus in the hospital, and Captain Vidal, +in addition to other duties, was placed in charge of the surgical +ward. Major Priestley at length obtained permission to collect, and he +did collect, all the British typhus patients in one bungalow of that +compound. He secured for his patients what bedding, hospital clothing, +urinals, etc., he could, as these filtered daily from the hands of +the Germans outside into the storeroom. He arranged that the milk and +the soup should arrive in special vessels before the bungalow; he +obtained for each patient about three cupfuls of milk per day, and for +the convalescents a thin soup and some white rolls. Clothing, beds and +bedding were gradually collected, so that the patients could at last +be put into clean clothes, and their own were disinfected in a movable +steam disinfector that after a time was working. As the cases decreased +in number the appalling overcrowding of the hospital in the beginning +at length disappeared. + +In all this work Major Priestley, Captain Vidal and Captain Lauder were +splendidly supported by the many English prisoners who volunteered as +nurses. Many of these devoted men caught the infection and died of the +fever. + + +_German doctor awarded the Iron Cross for English doctors’ services._ + +On one occasion only during the whole course of the epidemic did Dr. +Aschenbach enter the hospital or even the Camp. His visit took place +about four weeks after Major Priestley’s arrival and after some kind +of order had been evolved. He came attired in a complete suit of +protective clothing, including a mask and rubber gloves. His inspection +was brief and rapid. + +For his services in combating the epidemic Dr. Aschenbach, the +Committee understand, has been awarded the Iron Cross. + +Some of the German guards outside the Camp were infected by prisoners +to whom, contrary to orders, they persisted in selling things. These +men were placed by the Germans in a hospital outside the Camp, and one +of the German medical staff, an Alsatian as it happened, was sent to +attend them. At a later stage in the outbreak this young man came to +the hospital but simply to take bacteriological specimens for research +work at Magdeburg. He helped in no way. + +With these exceptions no visit was paid to the Camp during the whole +outbreak by any member of the German Medical Service. + + +_Brutality of Wittenberg townspeople._ + +The dead were buried in a cemetery formed out of a part of the Camp. +The Germans sent in a certain number of coffins every day into which +the bodies of the dead were put and carried out by their comrades +through a gate in the barbed wire. There was not sufficient room for +burial of so many and the coffins were piled one upon another, but the +Committee do not think there was any special danger in the arrangement. +What the prisoners found hardest to bear in this matter were the jeers +with which the coffins were frequently greeted by the inhabitants of +Wittenberg, who stood outside the wire and were permitted to insult +their dead. + + +_Dearth of Medical Apparatus._ + +During the first two months the typhus was hæmorrhagic typhus; it was +of a milder type later on. + +There were between 250 and 300 English cases and there were 60 deaths +amongst them. The deaths amongst the French and the Russians were, of +course, much greater in number. The medical officers and the nursing +orderlies suffered the most severely; the mortality among them was high. + +The cases of post-typhus gangrene were very numerous, largely the +result, in all probability, of the inadequate heating of the wards at +night, and, as above stated, of insufficient covering. + +It was in the earlier days often necessary to discharge the patients +from hospital before they were fit to be removed. Some were hardly able +to walk, but it was essential to make room for fresh patients, whose +need was greater. + +In many cases these men had to go back to their barrack room and lie on +the bare floor, as no fresh beds or mattresses were provided for a long +time, and the mattresses taken by them into the hospital had to be +destroyed owing to the state in which they were. + +Captain Vidal says that the conditions were thoroughly realised by the +German authorities without any effort being made by them to bring about +an improvement. Representations, usually through the French and Russian +doctors, owing to the marked hostility which was always manifested +towards the English by the Camp authorities, were again and again +addressed to the senior medical officer, but usually without result. + +After the middle of April, however, beds and clothing were, as above +appears, gradually obtained for the hospital, and as the weather became +warmer the cases rapidly decreased in number. With the decrease in the +patients, the supplies became adequate, so that now every patient in +the Wittenberg Hospital, whatever be his ailment, has a bed and proper +hospital clothing. + +The last English typhus case occurred in the middle of May; the last +Russian case in July. + +By the end of July all cases were convalescent except those suffering +from post-typhus gangrene. + +During the epidemic an adequate steriliser for clothes was built +outside the Camp by the Germans, but the work was not pressed, and it +was not ready for use until a fortnight after the last case of typhus +occurred amongst the British. Its presence there now will, however, +probably prevent any recurrence of the epidemic. + +In May also several new hospital bungalows were built behind the wire +entanglements which were then moved back so as to surround them. + +Each of these bungalows has three stoves, and in them beds are provided +with wood-shaving mattresses, sheets, blankets and pillows. + +Unfortunately the epidemic was over before these bungalows became +available. + + +_Responsibility of the German Authorities._ + +As is obvious from this report, the conditions of the Camp were such +that it was not possible for the American Ambassador or his staff to +visit it until after many months. It was, however, visited by Mr. +Lithgow-Osborne on the 29th of October, and by Mr. Gerard himself and +Mr. Russell on the 8th of November, and their reports are on record. + +All accounts before the Committee testify to the great further +improvements in the Camp and its management effected by the Germans as +a result of these visits. + +The Committee fully recognise that at the beginning of the war when +the sudden and it may have been unexpected rush of Russian prisoners +overwhelmed the authorities, every allowance must be made for defects +of all kinds in prison camps, many of them hastily improvised. +They have accordingly looked in every direction to see whether any +justification or excuse can be suggested for the treatment to which +these Wittenberg prisoners were subjected during the period of their +visitation. They can find none. + +Outside the Camp the Committee can discover no indication of any +scarcity either of food or of medical or surgical appliances which +could account for the failure of the German authorities to supply their +sick prisoners with a sufficiency of both. + +At the Kronprinz Hospital and at the Elbarfin Hospital as early as +February the supply of medical requisites was adequate. As has been +stated, the medical officers in the Camp were throughout the epidemic +amply provided with food at an extremely moderate price and apparently +without difficulty. After the outbreak had spent itself and the German +guards had returned to the Camp, Major Priestley and Captain Vidal +were on several occasions allowed to visit the town of Wittenberg +under escort, and even during that period they found displayed there +abundant supplies of every requisite. + +Yet for months the plague-stricken Camp was starved of the barest +necessaries of existence and of the simplest drugs, and was not even +provided with surgical dressings for the patients’ wounds. + + +_Habitual cruelty of the German Staff._ + +The Committee are therefore compelled to look elsewhere for an +explanation of the criminal neglect of which, as it seems to them, the +German authorities were guilty. And they find it in the history of +the administration of the Wittenberg Camp from the very commencement. +Incredible as it may seem, the action of the officers and guards in +precipitately deserting the Camp and thenceforth controlling its caged +inmates with loaded rifles from the outside, was only in keeping with +the methods and conduct of these men throughout. + +The cruelty of the administration at Wittenberg Camp from the very +commencement has become notorious. Savage dogs were habitually employed +to terrorise the prisoners; flogging with a rubber whip was frequent; +men were struck with little or no provocation and were tied to posts +with their arms above their heads for hours. Captain Lauder reports +that many of these men went so far as to look upon the typhus, with +all its horrors, as a godsend; they preferred it to the presence of the +German guards. + +And the callousness during the outbreak even of so prominent an +officer as Dr. Aschenbach is illustrated by an incident related by +Captain Lauder. Shortly after their arrival at the Camp, Major Fry, +with Captain Lauder, was begging Dr. Aschenbach, standing outside the +entanglements, for some medical requisite urgently required. One of his +staff with Dr. Aschenbach was apparently favourably inclined towards +the request, but it was curtly refused by Dr. Aschenbach, who turned +away with the words “Schweine Engländer.” + +To the Committee an incident like that, with all that it implies, +speaks volumes. + +The effects of such methods as have been described were manifest even +on October 29th, 1915, when, as has been stated, Mr. Lithgow-Osborne +visited the Camp. In his report of that visit, after remarking that the +authorities of the Camp regard their prisoners as criminals whom fear +alone keeps obedient, Mr. Osborne proceeds:— + + “In no other Camp have I found signs of fear on the part of the + prisoners that what they might say to me would result in suffering + to them afterwards”; + +and Mr. Gerard, speaking of his visit on the 8th of November, says:— + + “The impression gained after careful examination of the Camp and long + conversations with the prisoners was even more unfavourable than I + had been led to expect.” + +The Committee accordingly are forced to the conclusion that the +terrible sufferings and privations of the afflicted prisoners during +the period under review are directly chargeable to the deliberate +cruelty and neglect of the German officials whose elementary duty it +was, in the words of the Geneva Convention, to respect and take care +of these men, wounded and sick as they were, without distinction of +nationality, but who acted as if neither that Convention nor even the +ordinary instincts of humanity had any place in their scheme of things. + +The Commandant during the whole time was General von Dassel. The +Committee believe that he has now been removed from a position which he +always was unfitted to occupy. Dr. Aschenbach, however, remains medical +officer, and while the Committee recognise that the material conditions +at the Camp are now not unsatisfactory, that improvement is the result +of constant pressure which ought never to have been necessary, and no +confidence can be felt that so long as Dr. Aschenbach is there the +prisoners will have the medical care to which they are entitled. It is +a serious matter, as the Committee think, that the German authorities +should still retain in such a position of responsibility, and it is +outrageous that they should have decorated an officer capable of such +neglect as that for which Dr. Aschenbach must one day answer. + + +_Gallantry of British Medical Officers and Volunteer Orderlies._ + +The Committee turn to a more agreeable topic when they draw attention, +if they properly may, to the splendid work of the British Medical Staff +and orderlies during the epidemic. Major Priestley’s work has already +been referred to in this report: it was beyond all praise. Captain +Vidal was, in the words of one of the prisoners, the idol of the Camp; +and Major Priestley says of Captain Lauder that he cannot sufficiently +express his admiration for his pluck and skill and for the unobtrusive +way in which he did his duty. It was he who, at the beginning, bore the +brunt of the outbreak. + +The Committee have seen Captain Lauder as well as the other officers, +and they feel sure that he fully deserves that high tribute. + +And all these officers concur in praising the splendid bearing of +the orderlies. They each of them volunteered for the work; they +tended prisoners of all nationalities. They all of them, with full +understanding, for they were all warned, risked their lives without a +thought, and many of them died at their post. The Committee hope to be +able in due course to supply His Majesty’s Government with a full list +of these heroic souls. + +The Committee feel that every one of these officers and men as +truly offered his life for the sake of others as any soldier on the +battlefield, and they venture to hope that the devoted service of such +of them as survive will be duly remembered at the proper time. + + (Signed) ROBERT YOUNGER, + _Chairman_. + + (_On behalf of the Government Committee on the Treatment by the Enemy + of British Prisoners of War._) + + _6th April, 1916._ + + + LONDON: JAS. TRUSCOTT & SON, LTD. + + + + + Transcriber’s Notes + + pg 11 Changed: Normally there was only one matress + To: Normally there was only one mattress + + pg 16 Changed: thre was practically no soap in the Camp + To: there was practically no soap in the Camp +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78203 *** diff --git a/78203-h/78203-h.htm b/78203-h/78203-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..66d8742 --- /dev/null +++ b/78203-h/78203-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1127 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <title> + The Horrors of Wittenberg | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1em; + margin-bottom: .5em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} +hr.r30 {width: 30%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 70%; margin-right: 0%;} +hr.r65 {width: 65%; margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; + color: #A9A9A9; +} /* page numbers */ + +blockquote { + margin-top: 0; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +figcaption {font-weight: bold;} +figcaption p {margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: .2em; text-align: inherit;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} + + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; +} + +.fs70 {font-size: 70%} +.fs80 {font-size: 80%} +.fs150 {font-size: 150%} + +.no-indent {text-indent: 0em;} + +h3 {font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.6em; word-spacing: .3em;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78203 ***</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 85%"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" data-role="presentation"> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + + +<h1> +<span class="fs70">THE</span><br> +HORRORS<br> +<span class="fs70">OF</span><br> +WITTENBERG +</h1> + +<hr class="r65"> + +<p class="center no-indent"> + <span class="fs150">OFFICIAL REPORT</span><br> + <span class="fs70">TO THE</span><br> + BRITISH GOVERNMENT.<br> + <br> + <br> + <br> + <span class="fs80">LONDON:<br> + C. ARTHUR PEARSON, LIMITED,</span><br> + <span class="fs70">Henrietta Street, W.C.</span></p> + <hr class="r5"> +<p class="center no-indent fs70"> + 1916. +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="GOVERNMENT_COMMITTEE_ON_THE"> + GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE ON THE<br> + TREATMENT BY THE ENEMY OF<br> + BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR. + </h2> +</div> +<br> + +<p class="right"> + <span style="padding-right: 2em"><span class="smcap">18, Carlton House Terrace, S. W.</span>,</span><br> + <em>6th April, 1916</em>.</p> + +<p class="no-indent"> + <span class="smcap">Sir</span>, +</p> + +<p>I have the honour to state that the Chairman of this +Committee, Mr. Justice Younger, has prepared the +enclosed Report on the conditions obtaining at Wittenberg +Camp during the typhus epidemic of last year.</p> + +<p>The information upon which this Report is based has +been collected from prisoners of war repatriated from +Wittenberg, and especially from Major Priestley, +R.A.M.C., Captain Vidal, R.A.M.C., and Captain Lauder, +R.A.M.C., who were sent to the camp soon after the +outbreak of the epidemic and who were only recently +released from Germany. The Committee considered it +advisable to hold back the Report until the evidence of +these officers was available.</p> + +<p class="center no-indent"> + I am, Sir,<br> + Your obedient Servant,<br> + (Signed) <span class="smcap">Adelaide Livingstone</span>, +</p> +<p class="right"><em>Hon. Secretary</em>. +</p> +<p class="center no-indent"> + <em>The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.</em> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="REPORT_ON_THE_TYPHUS_EPIDEMIC"> + REPORT ON THE TYPHUS EPIDEMIC<br> + AT WITTENBERG CAMP. + </h2> +</div> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center no-indent"><em>Evidence from the Survivors.</em></p> + +<p>Now that Major Priestley, R.A.M.C., +Captain Vidal, R.A.M.C., and Captain Lauder, +R.A.M.C., have been permitted to return to this +country after a prolonged detention in Germany +still unexplained, the Government Committee +on the Treatment by the Enemy of British +Prisoners of War are in a position to submit for +the consideration of His Majesty’s Government +their report upon the conditions of the Camp at +Wittenberg during and prior to the epidemic of +typhus which devastated it in the first six +months of 1915.</p> + +<p>The Committee had already in the course of +their inquiries gathered much detailed information +as to the state of things which obtained +at Wittenberg during the fever, but until the +information in their possession could be +checked, corrected and supplemented by the personal +testimony of the above three officers, the +Committee refrained from making any report, +so appalling did the conditions disclosed to them +appear to be.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span></p> + +<p>Major Priestley, Captain Vidal and Captain +Lauder are, it should at once be stated, the only +survivors of the six sent by the German authorities +to take up at Wittenberg Camp the place of +duty abandoned by their own medical staff +when the presence of typhus manifested itself +amongst the prisoners under their charge.</p> + +<p>Those officers have now detailed their experiences +to the Committee, who feel that a report +upon the whole situation ought no longer to be +withheld, although definiteness on points of +detail may still be lacking by reason of the fact +that the professional records of the epidemic and +its incidents kept by Major Priestley, Captain +Vidal and Captain Lauder were taken from +them before they were allowed to leave Germany, +and that a promise made to Major Priestley +and Captain Vidal that theirs would be +returned to them after copies had been transcribed +remains unfulfilled.</p> + +<p>The Committee, however, have the less hesitation +in deciding not to wait for records which in +fact may never become available, for the reason +that the accounts of their experiences given by +Major Priestley, Captain Vidal and Captain +Lauder fully confirm those statements in the +possession of the Committee, to which reference +has already been made.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p> + + +<h3><em>Appalling Conditions at Wittenberg Camp.</em></h3> + +<p>The Camp at Wittenberg is built on a flat, +sandy plain devoid of trees or shrubs. The +total area of the camp is about 10½ acres, and it +is surrounded by the usual wire entanglements. +It is sub-divided into eight companies or compounds, +intended to be separated from each +other, but not so in practice. Every compound +contains on an average six wooden bungalows in +which the men are housed, each bungalow in +turn being divided into two compartments or +barracks, originally constructed, it is believed, +to accommodate 120 men. In fact, however, +there were frequently before and during the +epidemic 180 to 200 prisoners in a barrack, so +that the overcrowding was most serious.</p> + +<p>In the early stages of the war and during the +fever the Camp was very full. The British +prisoners numbered between 700 and 800. +There was a much larger number of French and +Belgians, but the Russians always greatly preponderated +over all the others. It is believed +that before and during the progress of the +typhus there were at least 15,000 prisoners in +the Camp, and there may have been as many as +16,000 or 17,000—an enormous population for +so restricted an area as 10½ acres.</p> + +<p>The winter of 1914-1915 was extremely severe +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>and the cold at Wittenberg intense, but the +heating arrangements for the Camp were altogether +inadequate. Although there were two +stoves to each bungalow, frequently during the +winter there was a great shortage of fuel, while +the stoves were so constructed that it was only +if they were both constantly stoked with all the +coal they could possibly hold that a bungalow +was reasonably warmed. Often there was no +coal for either stove, and the temperature was so +low that the men had always to keep every +window shut to husband what little warmth +there was. This greatly aggravated the evil of +the overcrowding above referred to.</p> + +<p>Moreover, the men were insufficiently clothed. +From most of the British prisoners their over-coats +were taken on the day of their capture; +none were given them in exchange. Their +remaining clothes were often in rags; some of +the men had even to use their blankets as clothing. +Occasionally a prisoner had received a +thin cotton shirt, but there were many with +neither boots nor socks; many others had their +feet wrapped in straw. They were provided +with no change of underclothing, and there +were no means of washing the scanty clothing +they had, for, at that time, no wash-house +existed in the Camp. For personal ablutions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span>there was only one trough or tap to each compound, +and that was frequently frozen. No hot +water was available except that which came +from the cook-house. As a consequence the +state of the prisoners beggars description. +Major Priestley found them gaunt, of a peculiar +grey pallor and verminous. Their condition, in +his own words, was deplorable.</p> + +<p>The food with which they were supplied was +bad and insufficient. The Committee are well +aware that the difference between German food +and cooking and that to which British soldiers +are ordinarily accustomed induces prisoners to +magnify deficiencies in this respect. But after +every allowance on this head is made, the Committee +are left with a record of suffering, owing +to the lack of wholesome food, which they cannot +but deplore. It was the men’s food which was +so bad and deficient. During the whole period +the medical officers were well provided for at a +price of 1·50 M. a day. There was no general +scarcity, a fact which makes the treatment of +the rank and file all the more difficult to justify +or excuse.</p> + +<p>When Major Priestley arrived at Wittenberg +Camp the allowance of bread was one kilo loaf +for ten men. Breakfast for the men, he says, +consisted of black (acorn?) coffee and bread. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span>The bread contained a high percentage of +potato and was most unpalatable. Sometimes +a thin soup was given for breakfast in place of +coffee. The midday meal consisted of a soup +made of potato flour, horsebeans, soja flour, +some form of grease and a minimum of meat. +Men would go for days without finding any meat +in their bowl. Sometimes the midday soup contained +a powerfully smelling sun-dried fish, at +other times dried plums, etc. In the evening +there was more thin soup containing margarine.</p> + +<p>Before the outbreak there was a men’s canteen +at which bread and some other articles +could be bought, but this was closed with the +departure of the German guards on the outbreak +of the typhus, and was not reopened until after +their return when the epidemic was over.</p> + +<p>Then the Camp food improved, but since the +month of May the English had become largely +independent of it, for from that time they +mainly subsisted on parcels sent them from +home. No parcels, however, reached the Camp +until May, and the Committee are satisfied that +the German food previously supplied was, apart +from its bad quality, quite insufficient to maintain +vitality or enable an ordinary man to resist +disease.</p> + +<p>And the spread of the typhus, when it came, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span>was much facilitated by a camp regulation, not +confined to Wittenberg, which enjoined that the +prisoners of all nationalities should be mixed +together. Normally there was only one mattress +for every three prisoners, and every British +prisoner was compelled to have one French and +one Russian prisoner to share his mattress with +him.</p> + + +<h3><em>Outbreak of the Epidemic.</em></h3> + +<p>Now, typhus, as was fully recognised by the +Russian doctors themselves, was unfortunately +to some extent—but through no fault of their +own—latent amongst some of the Russian +troops, and it is a well-known medical fact that +lice are the great carriers of that disease, while it +is, of course, notorious that the men of all armies +in the field, including the British, are plagued +with lice. As a protection against typhus, +therefore, the separation of the infected was an +elementary precaution. But at Wittenberg no +adequate measures were taken even to free the +prisoners, on their arrival at the Camp, from the +lice. The only provision for personal cleanliness +there made for the men was one cupful of +soft soap issued at intervals of many weeks to a +room containing at least 120. In consequence +the men became increasingly verminous, and +that condition, coupled with the cold and want +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span>of proper nourishment, was undoubtedly the +principal inducing cause of the epidemic which +supervened.</p> + +<p>And the German authorities, although they +were not ignorant of the danger, did nothing to +prevent or minimise the spread of infection. +That they knew it might become general +throughout the Camp is undoubted. German +N.C.O.’s warned the French, shortly before the +outbreak, of the risk, and when, during the +course of the typhus, Captain Vidal, in order +that its spread might be restricted as much as +possible, asked a German officer, himself standing +safely outside the Camp, if the remaining +healthy English could be placed together in one +compound, his request was insultingly refused.</p> + +<p>The medical and surgical arrangements were +under the charge of Oberstabsarzt Dr. Aschenbach +and his German assistants. At the outbreak +of the epidemic there were no British +medical officers at Wittenberg. There were a +number of Russian, and there may have been +some French doctors; of this the Committee are +not certain.</p> + + +<h3><em>Decampment of German Military and +Medical Staff.</em></h3> + +<p>The epidemic broke out in December, 1914. +Thereupon the German staff, military and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>medical, precipitately left the Camp, and +thenceforth, until the month of August, 1915, +with the exceptions detailed later on, no communication +was held between the prisoners and +their guards, except by means of directions +shouted from the guards or officers remaining +outside the wire entanglements of the Camp. +All supplies for the men were pushed into the +Camp over chutes. The food for the hospital +and medical officers was passed in on a trolley +over about 20 yards of rail, worked by winches +at either end, so as to avoid all contact between +the prisoners and the outside world. No +medical attention during the whole time was +provided by the German staff.</p> + +<p>Of the happenings during the early weeks of +the outbreak the information before the Committee +is supplied by witnesses other than the +medical officers who have recently returned, and +accordingly the one observation the Committee +make with regard to this period is that, when +the typhus first appeared, the only hospital at +the Camp consisted of two wooden huts +capable of holding about 100 patients, and that +at the instance—as the Committee believe—of +the Russian medical staff, the German authorities +were induced to permit a part of Compound +No. 8 to be used for the purpose of an improvised +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>hospital, the accommodation at the old +hospital having already become quite inadequate.</p> + + +<h3><em>British Medical Officers, unlawfully detained in +Germany, substituted for German staff.</em></h3> + +<p>The arrival of the British medical officers at +the Camp came about in the following way. +From the month of November, 1914, 13 English +doctors had been detained at Halle. They were +none of them required for attendance upon their +own men, and it is difficult to understand how, +consistently with the Geneva Convention, their +continued detention was justifiable. Indeed, in +direct defiance of the provisions of that Convention, +these doctors were treated as ordinary +prisoners of war, and the Committee cannot +resist the suspicion that they were deliberately +detained by the German authorities so that they +might be made available, if need be, for work of +danger in relief of their own staff. Be that as +it may, after three months’ wrongful detention +these doctors were, on the 10th February, 1915, +informed that they were to be distributed +amongst the other German Camps, and particularly +that six were required for the Camp +at Wittenberg. By arrangement amongst +themselves the six sent there were Major Fry, +Major Priestley, Captain Sutcliffe, Captain +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>Field, Captain Vidal, and Captain—then +Lieutenant—Lauder. No reason was given for +the order that they should go to Wittenberg, +and it was from the guard on the train that they +first heard of typhus there.</p> + +<p>On arrival at Wittenberg they were marched +to the Camp. They visited the different compounds. +They were received in apathetic +silence. The rooms were unlighted; the men +were aimlessly marching up and down; some +were lying on the floor, probably sickening for +typhus. When they got into the open air again +Major Fry broke down. The horror of it all was +more than he could for the moment bear. Later +in the evening Major Priestley and Captain +Vidal were directed to go to two temporary hospitals +outside the Camp, Major Priestley to the +Kronprinz Hospital and Captain Vidal to the +Elbarfin Hospital. There were no infectious +diseases at either hospital and the general conditions +at each were satisfactory. These officers +were kept there until the 7th March, 1915.</p> + +<p>Of the four officers left on the 11th February +at the Camp itself, Captain Lauder alone survives, +and the conditions, as he describes them, +during the period between the 11th February +and the 7th March are full of horror. The +wonder is that any prisoner escaped infection.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p> + + +<h3><em>The Horrors of the Epidemic.</em></h3> + +<p>Captain Lauder found, for instance, that +while in the bungalow there was normally one +mattress to three men, in the improvised hospital +there were no mattresses at all. This, of course, +was known throughout the Camp, and in consequence +there were many typhus patients scattered +over the compounds who were determined +not to come into the hospital if they could help +it. In one compound alone Captain Lauder discovered +50 hidden cases of typhus. Further, +when a patient was brought from the compound +to the hospital, either the mattress on +which he had lain was brought with him, or it +was left behind in his bungalow. If it was +brought with him his former companions were +left without anything to sleep on; if it was left +behind, his still uninfected companions were +left to sleep upon the infected mattress, and it +was almost inevitable that they should catch +the disease. Again, in the absence of stretchers, +all the typhus cases had to be carried down to +the hospital on the tables on which the men +ate their food, and there was no possibility of +washing these tables, because, as above stated, +there was practically no soap in the Camp. +Moreover, the German authorities at first refused +to allow the whole of Compound No. 8 to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>be used for typhus patients. They required that +these should be mixed with other sufferers—a +regulation for which it seems impossible to suggest +any justification. The result simply was +to spread the infection to those already afflicted +in some other way.</p> + +<p>During the first month the food ration for +each patient was half a petit pain and half a +cup of milk each per day. The only soup to be +got was from the Camp kitchen, but that came +up in a wooden tub without a cover, and it +arrived at the hospital—so one of the prisoners +says—full of dust and dirt. It was hopeless +diet for patients in a fever. In truth the ration +was not a ration at all, it was a pretence. It +was not even possible to give the patients warm +water with their milk.</p> + +<p>The Camp conditions were too much for each +of the four medical officers who were left there; +two of them, Major Fry and Captain Sutcliffe, +very soon sickened, and they died of typhus +about a month after their arrival. Captain +Field was attacked later by the disease and also +died. There is no doubt in the minds of the +Committee that the conditions to which the +Camp authorities had reduced the Camp and +the prisoners they had abandoned was directly +responsible for the deaths of these devoted men. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>Lieutenant Lauder was finally stricken with the +disease on the 7th March, after having for three +days, with a temperature due to typhus, stuck +to his work, there being no one then to take his +place. He alone of the officers attacked finally +recovered. When convalescent he bravely resumed +his duty.</p> + +<p>On March 7th, Major Priestley and Captain +Vidal were directed to return to the Main Camp. +They were met there by Captain Field. Major +Fry and Captain Sutcliffe were then dying. +Lieutenant Lauder, as above explained, was in +the early stages of typhus.</p> + +<p>Two Russian medical generals were in command +in the hospital. There were then about +1,000 cases of typhus in the Camp and fresh +cases were coming in at the rate of about 50, +and sometimes more, a day. There were at that +time about 150 British cases.</p> + +<p>The British sick were lying scattered amongst +the French and the Russians, both in the Compound +No. 8 and in the other compounds of the +Camp. Being sometimes dressed in French, +Belgian or Russian uniforms they were difficult +to recognise. They were lying in their clothes +on the floor or on the straw mattresses above +described. In the beginning there were no beds +in Compound No. 8; there were not even, as has +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>been shown, mattresses for all. Major Priestley +saw delirious men waving arms brown to the +elbow with fæcal matter. The patients were +alive with vermin; in the half-light he +attempted to brush what he took to be an accumulation +of dust from the folds of a patient’s +clothes, and he discovered it to be a moving mass +of lice. In one room in Compound No. 8 the +patients lay so close to one another on the floor +that he had to stand straddle-legged across them +to examine them.</p> + +<p>Captain Vidal’s description is even more +appalling. It was impossible, he says, to obtain +bedpans for the British patients, and consequently +in cases of delirium, and even in less +serious cases, the state of the mattress was indescribable. +Even such a thing as paper for +sanitary purposes was almost unprocurable.</p> + +<p>The difficulty in the way of obtaining sufficient +drugs and dressings was for a long time +extreme. Camphorated oil, Captain Lauder +says, could never at Wittenberg, contrary to +his experience in other German Camps, be +secured in adequate quantity, yet this was practically +the only stimulant available. Day after +day a list of medical requisites would be sent +out, and only a third of the things requested +would be supplied. Bedsores were common. In +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>several cases toes or whole feet became gangrenous, +and sufficient bandages were not available +to dress them. One of the patients now +returned to this country, Private Lutwyche, of +the 1st Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, had in +May to have one leg amputated below the knee, +and in July the other leg amputated at the same +place, in both cases owing to gangrene. Had +dressings at the proper time been available, both +feet would, in all probability, have been saved. +And his case does not stand alone. The officers +are quite satisfied that the post-typhus gangrene +which was so common was largely due to +the fact that for so many patients there were +neither socks nor anything else to keep their +feet warm.</p> + +<p>In the earlier stages of the epidemic there +was practically no hospital clothing available +for the British prisoners. There was only a +small sulphur chamber for disinfecting purposes. +When a patient’s outer clothing was +taken off to be sent to the disinfector he had +to be left in his shirt, as no other clothing or +shirts were supplied. Each patient brought his +blankets from the Camp with him, and as no +covering could be provided for him while disinfection +was taking place, it was impossible +adequately to disinfect his clothing unless he +was to be left naked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span></p> + +<p>As regards the washing of patients in hospital, +this was entirely out of the question. +Until a supply of soap was obtained by Captain +Vidal’s efforts from England at a later date +there was no soap forthcoming. The only supply +was a small quantity secured from the +officers’ canteen, and that was kept for the very +worst cases.</p> + + +<h3><em>The Work of the British Medical Officers.</em></h3> + +<p>It was to Major Priestley’s great powers of +organisation, the devoted labours and strong +personality of Captain Vidal and, after his +recovery, the splendid work of Captain Lauder, +that gradual improvement in the conditions was +due. An observation ward was instituted in +Compound No. 8 and placed in charge of Captain +Lauder. Major Priestley took over the +treatment of typhus in the hospital, and Captain +Vidal, in addition to other duties, was +placed in charge of the surgical ward. Major +Priestley at length obtained permission to +collect, and he did collect, all the British typhus +patients in one bungalow of that compound. +He secured for his patients what bedding, hospital +clothing, urinals, etc., he could, as these +filtered daily from the hands of the Germans +outside into the storeroom. He arranged that +the milk and the soup should arrive in special +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span>vessels before the bungalow; he obtained for +each patient about three cupfuls of milk per +day, and for the convalescents a thin soup and +some white rolls. Clothing, beds and bedding +were gradually collected, so that the patients +could at last be put into clean clothes, and their +own were disinfected in a movable steam disinfector +that after a time was working. As the +cases decreased in number the appalling overcrowding +of the hospital in the beginning at +length disappeared.</p> + +<p>In all this work Major Priestley, Captain +Vidal and Captain Lauder were splendidly +supported by the many English prisoners who +volunteered as nurses. Many of these devoted +men caught the infection and died of the fever.</p> + + +<h3><em>German doctor awarded the Iron Cross for +English doctors’ services.</em></h3> + +<p>On one occasion only during the whole course +of the epidemic did Dr. Aschenbach enter the +hospital or even the Camp. His visit took +place about four weeks after Major Priestley’s +arrival and after some kind of order had been +evolved. He came attired in a complete suit of +protective clothing, including a mask and rubber +gloves. His inspection was brief and rapid.</p> + +<p>For his services in combating the epidemic +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>Dr. Aschenbach, the Committee understand, +has been awarded the Iron Cross.</p> + +<p>Some of the German guards outside the Camp +were infected by prisoners to whom, contrary +to orders, they persisted in selling things. These +men were placed by the Germans in a hospital +outside the Camp, and one of the German +medical staff, an Alsatian as it happened, was +sent to attend them. At a later stage in the +outbreak this young man came to the hospital +but simply to take bacteriological specimens for +research work at Magdeburg. He helped in no +way.</p> + +<p>With these exceptions no visit was paid to +the Camp during the whole outbreak by any +member of the German Medical Service.</p> + + +<h3><em>Brutality of Wittenberg townspeople.</em></h3> + +<p>The dead were buried in a cemetery formed +out of a part of the Camp. The Germans sent +in a certain number of coffins every day into +which the bodies of the dead were put and +carried out by their comrades through a gate +in the barbed wire. There was not sufficient +room for burial of so many and the coffins were +piled one upon another, but the Committee do +not think there was any special danger in the +arrangement. What the prisoners found hardest +to bear in this matter were the jeers with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>which the coffins were frequently greeted by the +inhabitants of Wittenberg, who stood outside +the wire and were permitted to insult their +dead.</p> + + +<h3><em>Dearth of Medical Apparatus.</em></h3> + +<p>During the first two months the typhus was +hæmorrhagic typhus; it was of a milder type +later on.</p> + +<p>There were between 250 and 300 English +cases and there were 60 deaths amongst them. +The deaths amongst the French and the Russians +were, of course, much greater in number. The +medical officers and the nursing orderlies +suffered the most severely; the mortality among +them was high.</p> + +<p>The cases of post-typhus gangrene were very +numerous, largely the result, in all probability, +of the inadequate heating of the wards at night, +and, as above stated, of insufficient covering.</p> + +<p>It was in the earlier days often necessary to +discharge the patients from hospital before they +were fit to be removed. Some were hardly able +to walk, but it was essential to make room for +fresh patients, whose need was greater.</p> + +<p>In many cases these men had to go back to +their barrack room and lie on the bare floor, +as no fresh beds or mattresses were provided +for a long time, and the mattresses taken by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>them into the hospital had to be destroyed owing +to the state in which they were.</p> + +<p>Captain Vidal says that the conditions were +thoroughly realised by the German authorities +without any effort being made by them to +bring about an improvement. Representations, +usually through the French and Russian doctors, +owing to the marked hostility which was always +manifested towards the English by the Camp +authorities, were again and again addressed to +the senior medical officer, but usually without +result.</p> + +<p>After the middle of April, however, beds and +clothing were, as above appears, gradually +obtained for the hospital, and as the weather +became warmer the cases rapidly decreased in +number. With the decrease in the patients, +the supplies became adequate, so that now every +patient in the Wittenberg Hospital, whatever +be his ailment, has a bed and proper hospital +clothing.</p> + +<p>The last English typhus case occurred in the +middle of May; the last Russian case in July.</p> + +<p>By the end of July all cases were convalescent +except those suffering from post-typhus +gangrene.</p> + +<p>During the epidemic an adequate steriliser +for clothes was built outside the Camp by the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>Germans, but the work was not pressed, and it +was not ready for use until a fortnight after +the last case of typhus occurred amongst the +British. Its presence there now will, however, +probably prevent any recurrence of the epidemic.</p> + +<p>In May also several new hospital bungalows +were built behind the wire entanglements which +were then moved back so as to surround them.</p> + +<p>Each of these bungalows has three stoves, and +in them beds are provided with wood-shaving +mattresses, sheets, blankets and pillows.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately the epidemic was over before +these bungalows became available.</p> + + +<h3><em>Responsibility of the German Authorities.</em></h3> + +<p>As is obvious from this report, the conditions +of the Camp were such that it was not possible +for the American Ambassador or his staff to +visit it until after many months. It was, however, +visited by Mr. Lithgow-Osborne on the +29th of October, and by Mr. Gerard himself +and Mr. Russell on the 8th of November, and +their reports are on record.</p> + +<p>All accounts before the Committee testify to +the great further improvements in the Camp +and its management effected by the Germans as +a result of these visits.</p> + +<p>The Committee fully recognise that at the +beginning of the war when the sudden and it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>may have been unexpected rush of Russian +prisoners overwhelmed the authorities, every +allowance must be made for defects of all kinds +in prison camps, many of them hastily improvised. +They have accordingly looked in every +direction to see whether any justification or +excuse can be suggested for the treatment to +which these Wittenberg prisoners were subjected +during the period of their visitation. +They can find none.</p> + +<p>Outside the Camp the Committee can discover +no indication of any scarcity either of +food or of medical or surgical appliances which +could account for the failure of the German +authorities to supply their sick prisoners with +a sufficiency of both.</p> + +<p>At the Kronprinz Hospital and at the +Elbarfin Hospital as early as February the +supply of medical requisites was adequate. +As has been stated, the medical officers in the +Camp were throughout the epidemic amply provided +with food at an extremely moderate price +and apparently without difficulty. After the +outbreak had spent itself and the German +guards had returned to the Camp, Major Priestley +and Captain Vidal were on several occasions +allowed to visit the town of Wittenberg under +escort, and even during that period they found +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>displayed there abundant supplies of every +requisite.</p> + +<p>Yet for months the plague-stricken Camp was +starved of the barest necessaries of existence +and of the simplest drugs, and was not even +provided with surgical dressings for the +patients’ wounds.</p> + + +<h3><em>Habitual cruelty of the German Staff.</em></h3> + +<p>The Committee are therefore compelled to +look elsewhere for an explanation of the +criminal neglect of which, as it seems to them, +the German authorities were guilty. And they +find it in the history of the administration of +the Wittenberg Camp from the very commencement. +Incredible as it may seem, the action +of the officers and guards in precipitately +deserting the Camp and thenceforth controlling +its caged inmates with loaded rifles from the +outside, was only in keeping with the methods +and conduct of these men throughout.</p> + +<p>The cruelty of the administration at Wittenberg +Camp from the very commencement has +become notorious. Savage dogs were habitually +employed to terrorise the prisoners; flogging +with a rubber whip was frequent; men were +struck with little or no provocation and were +tied to posts with their arms above their heads +for hours. Captain Lauder reports that many +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>of these men went so far as to look upon the +typhus, with all its horrors, as a godsend; they +preferred it to the presence of the German +guards.</p> + +<p>And the callousness during the outbreak even +of so prominent an officer as Dr. Aschenbach is +illustrated by an incident related by Captain +Lauder. Shortly after their arrival at the +Camp, Major Fry, with Captain Lauder, was +begging Dr. Aschenbach, standing outside the +entanglements, for some medical requisite +urgently required. One of his staff with Dr. +Aschenbach was apparently favourably inclined +towards the request, but it was curtly refused +by Dr. Aschenbach, who turned away with the +words “Schweine Engländer.”</p> + +<p>To the Committee an incident like that, with +all that it implies, speaks volumes.</p> + +<p>The effects of such methods as have been +described were manifest even on October 29th, +1915, when, as has been stated, Mr. Lithgow-Osborne +visited the Camp. In his report of +that visit, after remarking that the authorities +of the Camp regard their prisoners as criminals +whom fear alone keeps obedient, Mr. Osborne +proceeds:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>“In no other Camp have I found signs +of fear on the part of the prisoners that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>what they might say to me would result +in suffering to them afterwards”;</p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="no-indent">and Mr. Gerard, speaking of his visit on the +8th of November, says:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>“The impression gained after careful +examination of the Camp and long conversations +with the prisoners was even +more unfavourable than I had been led +to expect.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The Committee accordingly are forced to the +conclusion that the terrible sufferings and privations +of the afflicted prisoners during the +period under review are directly chargeable to +the deliberate cruelty and neglect of the German +officials whose elementary duty it was, in the +words of the Geneva Convention, to respect and +take care of these men, wounded and sick as +they were, without distinction of nationality, +but who acted as if neither that Convention nor +even the ordinary instincts of humanity had any +place in their scheme of things.</p> + +<p>The Commandant during the whole time was +General von Dassel. The Committee believe +that he has now been removed from a position +which he always was unfitted to occupy. Dr. +Aschenbach, however, remains medical officer, +and while the Committee recognise that the +material conditions at the Camp are now not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>unsatisfactory, that improvement is the result +of constant pressure which ought never to have +been necessary, and no confidence can be felt +that so long as Dr. Aschenbach is there the +prisoners will have the medical care to which +they are entitled. It is a serious matter, as the +Committee think, that the German authorities +should still retain in such a position of responsibility, +and it is outrageous that they should +have decorated an officer capable of such neglect +as that for which Dr. Aschenbach must one day +answer.</p> + + +<h3><em>Gallantry of British Medical Officers and +Volunteer Orderlies.</em></h3> + +<p>The Committee turn to a more agreeable topic +when they draw attention, if they properly +may, to the splendid work of the British Medical +Staff and orderlies during the epidemic. Major +Priestley’s work has already been referred to in +this report: it was beyond all praise. Captain +Vidal was, in the words of one of the prisoners, +the idol of the Camp; and Major Priestley says +of Captain Lauder that he cannot sufficiently +express his admiration for his pluck and skill +and for the unobtrusive way in which he did his +duty. It was he who, at the beginning, bore the +brunt of the outbreak.</p> + +<p>The Committee have seen Captain Lauder as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span>well as the other officers, and they feel sure that +he fully deserves that high tribute.</p> + +<p>And all these officers concur in praising the +splendid bearing of the orderlies. They each of +them volunteered for the work; they tended +prisoners of all nationalities. They all of them, +with full understanding, for they were all +warned, risked their lives without a thought, +and many of them died at their post. The Committee +hope to be able in due course to supply +His Majesty’s Government with a full list of +these heroic souls.</p> + +<p>The Committee feel that every one of these +officers and men as truly offered his life for the +sake of others as any soldier on the battlefield, +and they venture to hope that the devoted service +of such of them as survive will be duly remembered +at the proper time.</p> + +<p class="right"> + (Signed) ROBERT YOUNGER,<br> + <em>Chairman</em>. +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p style="margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;">(<em>On behalf of the Government Committee on the +Treatment by the Enemy of British Prisoners +of War.</em>)</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;"><em>6th April, 1916.</em></p> +</blockquote> +<br> + +<hr class="r30"> +<p class="right fs70"> + <span class="smcap">LONDON: JAS. TRUSCOTT & SON, Ltd.</span> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter transnote"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Notes"> + Transcriber’s Notes + </h2> + +<ul> + <li>pg 11 Changed: Normally there was only one matress<br> + <span style="padding-left: 2em">To: Normally there was only one mattress</span></li> + + <li>pg 16 Changed: thre was practically no soap in the Camp<br> + <span style="padding-left: 2em">To: there was practically no soap in the Camp</span></li> +</ul> +</div> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78203 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/78203-h/images/cover.jpg b/78203-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4fbd9a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/78203-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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