HORRORS OF INQUISITION REVIVED BY THE HUNS

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 12 October 1917, Page 1

HORRORS OF INQUISITION REVIVED BY THE HUNS

''Torture of the post," "punishment in the tank," pretended execution by a firing sqiiad, or exposure to storms without being properly clothed are some of the methods systematically used by the Germans to compel deported Belgian civilians to labor for the German army, according to evidence of the Belgian Government. Another method is to apply corporal punishment, often with the butt of a rifle, or to force the Belgians who refuse to work for- Germany to run for two hours or. less without stopping, menaced all the time with a bayonet. According to the Government announce- ; ment,- this evidence accords in all details and shows that deported Belgian civilians are systematically subjected to mistreatment in order to compel them to. work. Under this treatment many of' the deportees succumb, while a larger proportion are so weakened that they become incapable of physical effort. \ The " torture of the postis described as one of the principal measures resorted to by the Germans. Stoutly fettered to posts, the meii are exposed to heat or cold, according to the season, for days together, during which the food rations are reduced until they reach the proportions of a half ration only. —Exposed to Snowstorm.— ' ; The "punishment in the tank" is a severe application of the Turkish bath. Several witnesses have confirmed this fact, among them the son of a manufacturer of the region of Antwerp, who, with several of his comrades, was shut up in a small room heated to a- very high temperature. There was only room in the place for them to stand erect close together and scarcely able to turn. They were left there 24 hours. Then they were led to a factory in the nieghborhood, where they were asked if they would go to work. Upon their refusal, they were taken to a field, under military escort, •' divested by force of their > overcoats, shoes, scarfs, and hats or caps, and ex- - posed to a snowstorm an entire day and an entire* night, with nothing to eat -or drink, and under the absolute prohibition to make the slightest movement-. "Some of them lost consciousness after a few ~- liours of this exposure, and all of them were taken to the hospital the following day. . The son of the Antwerp manufacturer, a-stout, robust man at the time of the deportation, was sent home a complete physical wreck a short time afterward, and since has died from the mistreatment. ; He told of his sufferings to the physiciaii who treated him,- and the Belgian Government are in possession of the evidence as given to the doctor. Two soldiers from Havre, the, Lebris brothers, who escaped from Germany, confirm this evidence regarding the Turkish bath form of punishment. A number of witnesses call attention to the fact that frequently groups of deported men have been the object of a simulated execution, someUpies by a firing squad, ' sometimes with machine guns, in order to overcome their resistance and impress their comrades. ' —Maintain " Punishment Camps."— There is also another means of constraint used upon the deported in the form ■ of punishment camps, -where the regime ; is still more severe than in the other in--1 teraed camps, and where the deported • are forced to work in the marshes, often • in most excessively cold weather, dressed ! in nothing but trousers, shirt," and wooden ; shoes, without food, during an entire "clay. Some of the deported are sent to agri- ; cultural centres, whence, according to the i evidence of a man from Verviers who - escaped from Germany, most, of the - victims return so enfeebled that .it i.--i impossible for them to keep on their feet. Corporal punishment is frequently eni- ! ployed, sucli as blows with the butt of a' j rifle or forced running for periods up to _ two hours without stopping under menace of the bayonet. The evidence shows that • the mortality among men subjected to . these- different forms of mistreatment is _ alarming. Evidence regarding the camp t of deported Belgians of Soltau shows that 3 the men are badly lodged, underfed, illi clothed, brutalised, sequestered, deprived of all diversion and distraction, and refused any kind of spiritual consolation.