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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1945)
'Ghastly Murder Camp Uncovered by Third Army . . (Acme RadithTclephoto) MaJ. John R. Scottl, Brooklyn, N. Y., Fourth Armored Division medical officer of American Third Army, In spects 60 or more naked things that once were men In another wholesale Nazi murder camp near Ohrdruf, Germany. Many were horribly bruised with scabs on their heads and the whole pile had been sprinkled with lime. Survivors of the ghastly ordeal at hands of Nazis said victims were only part of estimated 6000 Rus sians, Czecho-Slovaklans, Poles, Frenchmen, German Jews and German political prisoners beaten and tor tured at this camp alone whei. malnutrition prevented their doing a full day's work. "Shudder House" of Hadamar Scene of Injection Murders By Ann Stringer United Press Correspondent With the U. S. First Army Inside Germany, April 10. (U.Ri The "shudder house" or Hada- J gaga-Mil.; ig- a.1 .",& .ir-. . i s 100 other MONARCH foods-all Just as Coodl mar stands on a high hill over looking the peaceful German town. In the cemetery beside it are buried some 8,000 persons killed in the "shudder house" by a poison Injection in the heart, administered at the orders of the Gestapo, The Germans in the town call the house the "schauerhaus.'' They all knew what had been happening there' since 1939 but the complete story was not known until American troops overran the big rambling "hospi pital" where efficiency was the watchword. The doctor who ran the "hos pital" and his head nurse were both, captured. They told part of the story.' The graves and 18 volumes of death certificates found in the hospital cellar told the rest. In the huge cemetery outside the hospital are 300 huge mass graves. In each grave there are 10 to 15 wooden coffins, each holding two bodies, many of them women. In the cellar were found the volumes of death certificates one volume for 1939; two for 1940; two for 1941; three for 1942; four for 1943 and six for 1944. Each book lists about 500 death certificates. All are the same. The name of the person has been marked down, then "profession unknown, national ity unknown." The "patients" were sent to the hospital by nazis and Ges tapo officers for "treatment," the doctor said. Each was de scribed as a "mental patient" and the doctor was instructed to put them to death. The doctor explained he car ried out the instructions by in jecting directly Into the heart a poison which caused Immediate death. He explained that death was caused partly by the jab bing of the large needle into the heart, but the major cause was the quick-acting poison. Closing Ume for Sunday Too Late to Classify 5:30 Saturday afternoon Pleaie remember. Another Wholesale Murder Camp Discovered Near Ohrdruf, Germany By Robsrt E. Richards United Press Correspondent Ohrdruf, Germany, April 8 (U.B Another wholesale nazi murder camp, where scores of prisoners were shot when they became too ill to work, was discovered near here by 3rd army tankmen. At one site they found 31 ointherl hnriies lying hud dled grotesquely together where S3 guards naa Kineu urem cause they were too 111 to be moved. Bodies Stacked Monrhv in a small wooden shed were stacked 50 or more naked things that once were men. Many were norriDiy bruised with scabs on meir heads, and the whole pile had been sprinkled with lime. Survivors of the ghastly ordeal at the hands of the nazis said these victims were only part of the estimated 6,000 men killed at the camp. Approximately 4,uuu were cremated and the ashes poured into one great hole, while some 2,000 others were shot and their bodies aburied in a huge pit a mila nr sn from the camp, ac cording to several of the prison ers who had escaped. Almost all the victims were Russians, Czechoslovakians, Poles, Frenchmen, German Jews and German political prisoners. They were beaten and tortured and when malnutrition prevent ed their doing a full days work they were killed. One American One of the victims, a blond younger lying on a stretcher with a hole in his neck, may be an American flier. That is what he told others in the camp, but he wore no Identification tags and it was impossible to check his identity. These atrocities were actually seen by U. S. army officers, cor respondents and Germans. Col. Hayden A. Sears, New 'ton, Mass., told the German civilians, who viewed the scene without muttering a word, that they were to blame for the fiendish acts. A German major, who also had seen the slaughtered oodles, replied that "this was done by a few people and you cannot blame us all." "It was done by those that the German people chose to lead them and all are responsible," Sears answered. "Your names are being taken as witnesses so you can testify in trial if the persons responsi ble are apprehended." Railroad Noises An editorial from tbt San Jest, CalifimU,"Epnhg Nnn", (San Jose hen tbt main lint ef Southern Pacific1! Coast Lint) WE HAVE always resented those) snooty expressions, "across the tracks" or "down by the tracks," with their implication that there was something disreputable and socially low-life about living near railroad tracks. After living many years a block from the Espee's rails, we rise to say that there are many worse places to live Living close to the railroad has its obvious advantages when you are a boy. Where is there a more romantio place than the right, of way, with wheezing switch en gines, puffing freights (which travel so much faster now than they used to) and speeding passenger trains? Morning, noon and night railroading holds attraction for a boy, which is why so many of them go into it, . finding a romance which never dulls until they die, "But how can you stand the noise?" someone asks; Far from being bothered by the noises, you get so you find them soothing and conducive to repose. You get so you can tell the freight trains from the passengers, and you distinguish the touch on the whistle rope of that in dividualistic enginetnan who makes his blasts so short, harp and distinctive. The various whistle notes represent to you these giant creatures of fire and steel talking to one another over long distances and on winter nights, when the wind is blowing and the rain is pelting against the windows it if pleasant to think of engineer and fireman, snug in their cab with the fire roaring below them, shunting lines of cars up and down the glistening wet tracks. If these night noises from the tracks are comfortable and appealing to you during peace they have even mora of these qualities during war. You realize that both the wars in which we are engaged are transportation wars and must be won not only in the foxholes and workshops but on the railroads as well. Some of the particularly long trains you bear puffing and snorting these nights are troop trains and others are weighed down with war's materiel, It la comfortable to reflect what a great job the railroadmen are doing, driving their trains and switching their cars 24 hours a day, even while you are asleep. Back a few years, when trucks and buses started to cut more and more deeply Into railroad revenues, with the airplane as an additional competitor just ahead, as a boy living near the tracks you may have wondered a little worriedly If they would put your old friends, the freights and passengers, out of business. It took the war to show that a nation's need of railroads continues, that no nation can be great and strong without them. You are reassured by that, and by the articles and drawings that have been published of vastly improved equipment which will help the railroads get their share of traffia after the war. Such things mean your friends will be able; to stay alive and that, drowsily safe and comfortable; you will continue to hear the trains chugging and puffing through the night. a e e We thank the San Jose Newt for so beautifully putting Into word the way we raUroadert, and many other people, fed about train. q) The friendly V South Pacific trt German Astounded The German major, a medical officer, had been shown the bodies by an American medical major, John R. Scotti, Brooklyn. When the German saw the bodies he said: "I wouldn't be lieve it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." But this town's leading citi zens, the burgomelster and .his wife, did not see the scenes to day. They were found hanged inside their homes. They had been taken to the camp before and apparently had committed suicide. - The SS guards' cleaned out the camp several days age when American tanks approached. The prisoners who could walk were taken along. Some others were put on trucks. But those who were too 111 to travel either way were shot. Head of Big Bank Snuffs Own Life North Granville, N. Y., April 10 (U.R) Simple burial rites were planned today for Leon Eraser, 55, who put a bullet through his head when he tired of the life that saw him rise from a humble son of a shoe salesman to the presidency of one of the nation's richest banks. Fraser, president of the First National Bank of New York, died yesterday en route to a hospital after the caretaker found him on the lawn of his summer home Tussdar. April 10, 1943 MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE THREE here. The coroner returned a verdict of suicide. 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