FATE OF RUSSIANS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 20, 19 October 1942, Page 6

FATE OF RUSSIANS

Prison Nightmare In West GERMAN MURDER (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received October IS, 7.30 p.m.) MOSCOW, October 17. The deaths of Russian war prisoners and peasants in Roslavl prison camp (west Russia) last year, from the middle of October to December, totalled 8500, an average of more than 100 a day. During the remainder of the winter the daily average was 400 and 600. Frequently semi-conscious prisoners were thrown on t<3 the 30 or 40 death-carts which were used each day to remove the dead from the camp, and' they were buried with the others. The prisoners were deprived of all “superfluous” clothes, including overcoats, sweaters, and felt boots, without which frostbite was inevitable. Their food consists of three-quarters of a pint of soup (made from black flour mixed with water) twice daily, and a few ounces of bread once every four or five days.

The prison barracks contain no beds. The earth' floors are waterlogged and are covered with ice in the winter. There is no heating and ho sanitary equipment. When cold, hunger, and dirt fail to achieve utter misery and degradation, German guards resort to torture, beatings, and shootings. Prisoners are frequently employed to drag sledges in place of horses, and if they stumble they are >either shot or bayoneted.