KULTUR AND TORTURE

Nelson Evening Mail, 21 September 1916, Page 6

KULTUR AND TORTURE

The following- is from a memorandum by' the Foreign Office : Following upon the refusal of Belgian workmen to work on the requisition of the German authorities the latter attempt to starve them. They forbade the communal authorities to give them relief either in kind or in money. Some time afterwards, with a view of depriving them of all resources ,they proceeded to arrest and imprison, all the State functionaries agents as well as private persons assisting them in the distribution, of relief. The workmen were threatened with having their houses burnt. . The workmen Were requisitioned at their houses by soldiers with fixed bavonets: in the absence of the workmen, members of their families were taken as hostages. Women and children were frequently arrested ; one little girl 14 years old was detained. . . Uhlans patrolled the streets to intimidate the population, actual ly charging peaceful inhabitants with their lances. Two persons were wounded in one of these charges. . . .Finally, not being a'ble to overcome the resistance of the workmen, the Germans resolved to deport them to Germany. . . The works in which prisoners were forced to employ themselves . . consisted in clearins forests and digging trenches. . . Though the grounds to be cleared or dug consisted of quick sands, the Germans refused to allow the elementary precautions such as the use of props necessary in such circumstances. It was obvious that they wished to make the work as difficult, dangerous, and unhealthy as possible. . . The sentinels forbade all rest; if a workman stood up to rest for an instant, he was struck stick or with the butt of a rifle, and even prodded with a bayonet. In general ,the nourishment given them was insufficient, ibad, and unhealthy. . . The least mistake, the slightest breach of rules, was severely punished,. The punishments were of A'arious kinds, but always cruel. One workman . . was placed for several hours, with bare feefc and his face exposed to the sun, on the roof of a shed. Another punishment consisted in making the victim run for several hours with a sack of bricks on his shoulder, or with a brick in each hand, and two bricks attached at each side of his coat. A rest of five or six minutes and a fflass of water were allowed to the unfortunate man every two hours. Sometimes the victim was bound for several hours to a stake or a tree with his face exposed to' the sun.