STILL MORE GERMAN BARBARITIES.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 24, 26 March 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

STILL MORE GERMAN BARBARITIES.

INHUMAN TREATMENT OF THE TSAR'S SUBJECTS.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

The following are extracts from a long statement dealing with the inhuman treatment of Russian subjects bv the German authorities and population, which was issued by tho Press Bureau recently at the request of the Russian Embassy: — Almost immediately after the declaration of war between Germany and Russia disquieting rumours reached us concerning the fate of Russian subjects remaining at different German water-ing-places, as well as of those who were returning from Austria, Switzerland, and France. . The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a great number of inquiries into the statements of the victims, and, reluctantly enough, the authenticity of several incidents had to be admitted, although thev were contrary to the idea always formed of Germany as a highlycultivated nation among the European peoples. . In the first place it must be noticed that the authorities of Berlin were either unwilling or unable to protect from the insults and ferocity of the mob even the diplomatic officials who were attached to various German Courts. In spite of the police being aware of the exact hour of departure from Berlin of the whole staff of the Russian Embassy, the officials were assaulted bv the brutal crowd while in their carriage:; en route to the station. All those who rode in open carriages received blows on their backs, heads and shoulders. MINISTERS INSULTED. Among those who were thus insulted were the Minister at Karlsruhe, Count Brevern de la Gardie and his wife, and the wife of the Minister at Stuttgart, Mme. Lermontof. An elderly gentleman with a long grey beard and golden spectacles broke his umbrella on Mme. Leraontof's back. Many ladies were spat upon, including Princess Beloselsky-Belozersky, Mme. Raevsky, the Countesses Ltitke and Totleben," Countess Brevern, and others. It would be impossible to mention all the cases of harsh treatment and cruelty which 'Russian tourists, irrespective of rank or social position, age or sex, had to undergo in Germany. They were removed in cattle trucks, which had not even been cleaned; in the towns where they had to halt they were placed in stables, pig-styes, quarantine houses for cattle, and slaughterhouses. Russians, chiefly women and children, often sick, were made to walk at great speed through the streets, sometimes with their hands up. Straggling or looking back was forbidden under fear of being shot.

FISTS USED TO WOMEN. At all the stations (Allcnstein, Rostock, etc.), soldiers pushed the women and children into the railway carriages, using their fists and the butts of their rifles, while families were separated and many children lost. For days and days food could not be obtained, the authorities refusing the people even water. No exceptions were made. Thus, in the night of August 7th ,at Neumunster, an elderly lady, the wife of his Imperial Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant in the Caucasus, Countess WorontzowDachkow, was pushed out of tbe railway carriage by means of a rifle-butt, rudely searched, and pulled by the hair.

At Breslau the wife of the Director of the Chancellery of the Ministry of Ways of Communication. Mme. TuganBaranovski, who had hut recently undergone a serious operation, was attacked by a crowd, who tore off the bandages that had been applied after the operation, and thrown into prison, where she was kept for three days. Mme. Tugan-Baranovski died on August 13th at Petrograd, where she had arrived in a state of collapse.