ELEVEN DAYS' CAPTIVITY IN GERMANY.
A WELLINGTON MAN'S EXPERIENCE FIFTY REFUGEES IN ONE ROOM BRUTAL METHODS OF THE GERMANS. Mr. M. Carr, of the wholesale jewellery firm of Mandel and Carr, of Wellington, who returned from Europo via Australia yesterday by the Ulimaroa, tells a tale of the brutal'and disgusting treatment he was accorded in Germany, whore 'he was .taken prisoner after the war with England broke out—a tale'which endorses everythat we havo heard with somewhat incredulous ears of the lengths to Rvhich the Germans have gone to in their •furious hate of the English. Mr. Carr said that he was touring through 'Belgium and Germany on a Cook's tickot, in company with 3Ai. Alexander, representative in Western Australia for B. Tate and Company, of London, and nothing had occurred to tt-arn them of any trouble until they reached Wiesbaden. Their suspicions ivere first aroused on having some letters returned to them (on the evening of Saturday, August 1), with the notification that no mails wero being made up for London. "Wo decided," said Mr. Carr, "that that was no good to us, and that i ivas time to leave the country.- On the Sunday morning (August 2), wo tool; the first train en route for the Dutch border, and arrived at Berlin on August 2. There we found the city just .seething with excitement over the news that war. had been declared against Franco and Russia. Amongst the wild crowds we. saw Germans" marching along carrying two or three Japanese shoulderhigh, and not being able to understand (vny, we asked tho Commissionaire at the hotel, and he told.us that it had been reported that Japan had. declared war against Russia, and that they wero going to help them to win the war. And on wont the crowd, singing patriotic eongs, interspersed -with ' hoarse shouts of 'Hoch, Japan!' We started away bythe first train the next morning (August 3),'butihe train proceeded very slowly owing to the lines being blocked for mobilisation purposes.
Arrested. "So slow was the progress made that we did not reach Bremen until the evening 'of Tuesday, August 4, and thero we got. the firs.t intimation that ■we were up' against trouble. This was tho news that the English Ambassador (Sir Edward Goschen) had asked for his passports. We took the first train (6.40 a.m.) the next day for Holland, and all went well until we reached Osnabruck, where we had to change trains. Wo went over to a restaurant to have u snack, and whilst ,we were sitting there a German officer came arid touched me on the. shoulder and asked to see my passport. After a glance at it — it was signed by the Earl of Liverpoolhe said: "No good in time of war. You're under arrest. You must go quietly to the police station."' "We went along under a guard, and were examined by the Director of Police, and all our luggago and papers wore overhauled. I was under examination for two hours, and then finding\ nothing incriminating about me, I was given a German passport, and was advised by the official to get out of tho country as quickly as possible,, as the temper of ' the people was ' rising. Ho also granted a passport to Mr. Alexander. "We had no sooner boarded tho train again than we were hauled off by an officer, who called a military guard ■with fixed bayonets! We protested, and showed out German passport, but the officer absolutely refused to look ' at anything, and wo were dragged off to' a shed. At length a Gernian civilian came along, and we .begged him to-look, at our-passports. He did so, and seemed impressed. He called tho attention 'of tho officers .to tho German passport, and they had, a confab over it, after which they let us go. Hissed and Hooted At. "Then we went on to a town called Rheinan, Wβ were sitting very quietly in our carriage with the blinds down, when a military guard camo along, ordered us out, the guard was formed up, with wo two in the centre, and marched out of the station into the street with two •Oγ three hundred people hooting at us, and hissing "Englischel Englischel" We were taken before the Commandant, and once more our papers were searched and read, and our luggage overhauled, and after some hesitation, we were -let go. "We immediately went back to the station and boarded tho train, but had not been seated two minutes when we were dragged out again—and once more we were hissed and shouted at by the crowd in the street. In front of the Commandant wo once more • produced our papers, but he recognised us as having been before him a few mimitos before, and again we were let go. By this time- 1 the process was becoming rather nerve-raoking, and we began to wonder vaguely if we ever would-get out of Germany at all. Real Horrors Commence, "But it was far from being over._ The next stopping place was Bentheiin— only six 'miles from that precious border. There tho carriage was entered by a very fierce-looking officer with a big Kaiser moustache. Once more we produced the passport. ' He looked it over with haughty superciliousness, and said —"No good—English!" With that to were bundled out once more and locked in a standing third-class carriage for the night, with an armed .guard of two burly Prussians. . '
"The next' morning -wo were taken out, allowed to buy our breakfast at tho station, and were then placed in a meat-shed with some- fifty Polos, Russians, and Frenchmen. Right across the shed were steel meat-hooks within easy reach. One of the Frenchmen asked tho guard what they were for. The guard's reply was simple and forciblo': 'If the prisoners did not like tho hooks they could hang themselves on them, as they were meant for moat, . At midday we were all led away to ." small old-fashioned inn, the front of which was divided between' a bar and a kitchen. ■ At tho back was a room about 30ft. square,, and thoro the whole fifty —men, women, and children —wore horded. There wo were told we wow all have to eat, sloop, and drink. A guard of about 35 or 40 soldiers, half on duty at a time, were placed in charge of us. 'The horror of those days and nights I And the Food I "Our food was pork and horse flung at us in the roughest fashion, and for which we had to pay as though wo were living at an ordinary hotel. It was food thatimado tho stomach rise, and some of us could not touch it. By paying extra we could got boiled rice and eggs. If you couldn't pay there was nothing for it but geol. Our lot was hard enough, but wo didn't want to sample the inside of a German gaol in war-time. Our beds were bags of straw, and parts of old mattresses flung on tho floor —there woro no bed clothos, eo everyone slept in the clothes they woro in the 'daytime. A tap over a sink was ■ the sole means of washing for the whole fifty .of us—S'hat a piteous-looking crew wo were! i couldn't stand over tho filthy sink, to shavo without retching, 60 I grow a beni'd." T, What wae terribly distressing m &
I depressing was the fact that our guards would not allow any of us to communicate our whereabouts to anyone inside or outside Germany, but they allowed telegrams to bo sent to firms and people in Germany with requests for monoy. If money was forthcoming as the result of a telegram, * the recipient was not allowed to acknowledge the receipt of it. I had occasion to telegraph one Hamburg firm for 200 marks (£10). They sent tho money, and asked could they help us any further. Gould they help us; . Oh, if .wo could, have told them, but they refused to even allow me to wire;—" Thanks for money nnd promises of further help," which I thought would awaken their suspicion to our plight. All they said was that our friends could easily find out if ivo had received the money by ascertaining through the post office if we had signed for it. Can you imagine such insensate cruelty .to people furnished with German as well as British passports against whese movements there was not the slightest suspicion of any kind? More Horrors, then Relief. "Day after day our lot became moro and more hopeless. Some of those who could not pay were taken off to prison, but still we were . shockingly overcrowded/ and the sanitary arrangements were so awful that we daily expected some epidemic to break out. Can you imagine the scene—a Babel of languages,' men walking up and down . like wild beeste, some nigh to losing their reason. Among the prisoners was an old Jewish Rabbi, who went through his prayers every day standing up in a corner and beating his breast. I found myself talking, talking out loud, aimlessly, asking how-long a man could stand such conditions. One day we concocted a letter to the Landrat of the town (the head Magistrate) calling his attention to the fact that we wero a couple of tourists from the. other side of the world, who had never been in any way connected with military matters in our respective countries and whose health was being injured by the inhuman conditions under which we were herded together. A few hours afterwards we know why they called him the '.'land rat." If we wore ill we could get a medical certificate 'to say so, and be removed to the hospital—all other requests' refused. That was on 'August 16—after being held a prisoner for eleven days.
"Relief came at.last. Some ladies] who had got through to London and who knew whorp wo were, communicated at once with the Foreign Office, and they,; through the American Ambassador at The Hajcue, traced our whereabouts and located us at Bentheim and asked for reasons why we should bo held up. After that, an officer camo and asked for names, and in particular, ages. Fortunately I had remembered the provision of -The Hague Convention as to age, and had given our 'ages as 48 and 52, though I am still under the 45 years specified for military detention in war-time. I think at the time I could have passed for 70. After 18 days' detention—lß days of hell on earth —those_ over 45 •were summoned before an official. Again wo were searched under military supervision, again our luggage was overhauled, and then the blessed sunlight and fresh air. Not until we reached the border and the German guard had left the train, did we consider ourselves free and then wo could have jumped over tho moon.
Chastening of Captivity. "No one knows what it is to be freo until they havo been captive. During Hie first day or two of our captivity, I was hopeful, even cheeky, but I tell you I was humble enough long before I got put/ Always obeyed orders quickly, never questioned anything. The fiends deliberately tried to trap you into some act of provocation, so as to get an opportunity to injure or perhaps shoot you. When we would talk, they would stick their heads close down, listen, and. glare into our faces. They knew
we daren't retaliate, tho cowards I All we could do was to ignore. them completely—we 'decided that it wae best to. give ihem no chance to commit an atrocity of which either of us might have been the victim.
Our amusements? Reading over and over again stories in some well-thumbed magazines we had saved from the train, teliing stories as old as the Pharaohs, and finally wo got to spell-ing-bees to keep us from going silly. There were sixteen Englishmen in all in the crowd, and a dozen women and children. Jt was rather heart-breaking business .'leaving the .younger ones "behind. Among them ivero two English boys only 16 and 18 years of age, who had'been at school in Berlin. 1 expect they are there , yet. Poor boys, the horrors they have seen! My chief trouble towards the end was that I could iiot , sleep. I begged of the guard to let me go to somo other rcom to have a sleep under guard during the afternoon; and offered to pay for it, but they refused, so I ueed to tie my handkerchief round my head to keep the myriad flies away, and try to snatch a few minutes sleep on tho floor. Plight of Consular Corps. "But our troubles were light compared to those of the' Consular Service, who were treated with inhuman brutality. The party, which arrived at Bentheim consisted of Mr. Drummond Hay, the Consul at Dantzig, his wife, and two eons (aged 15 and 6 years respectively), the British Admiralty representative at Daritzig and his wife, a consul (Mr. Hutchouso), and a French consul from somewhere. They were separated from their wives, who wero told that they could get accommodation where they liked, but better accommodation would be'provided for the men. This was a Lift, by 12ft. cell in a. filthy prison—eat, sleep, and live in the samo space. They were divested of their money and matches, and could only tell'tlio time by tlio chime of the town clock. They wore fed on black rvo bread and coffee aervad in a bucket, Ikey were exercised for a couple of
hours daily in a 'courtyard, with walls 30ft. high, .in company witli convicts. Their wives communicated with tho authorities,- and after eight days they were removed to our little- hostel. With us they all got away except the Admiralty representative, who was -13 years of age, and is probably there still, if he is not dead. One thing I've learned—we all made resolutions for the future—and that is never again to place a canary in a cage or a dog on a chain. . "When I got back to London it made my blood boil to see how we wero treating tho German prisoners. _ There, they are housed in that magnificent place Olvmpia, with ham and eggs for breakfast and all tho delicacies of tho season provided for them free of charge. Add to that, the ladies of London are going round soliciting subscriptions to keep tho prisoners in cigarettes and literature 1
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Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2280, 14 October 1914, Page 6
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2,407ELEVEN DAYS' CAPTIVITY IN GERMANY. Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2280, 14 October 1914, Page 6
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