PAGE TWO
oe Th
(Continued from Last Week)
Hours every day were spent in
thinking of our loved ones. Our
hearts went out to them. The days
passed, each day like the preceding
one. Always the same curses and
rough treatment from the guards,
the quarrels, the everlasting yearn-
Our heads well nigh burst under the
impact of striving to find an ex-
planation for the terrible injustice
done to us.
Because the factory building in
which we lived was packed to over-
flowing, all newcomers were dumped
into a very dilapidated riding
academy that was lacking windows
and doors. They constructed very
primitive three-tier bunks on their
night the bunks along one wall
caved in. A number of people were
hurt, some of them geriously.
Thanks to this accident these “lucky
ones” remained in Poland.
A persistent rumor circulated
throughout the camp to the effect
that the box cars were ready for us,
that stoves, pails and toilet gutters
were being manufactured, that we
were to be shipped to Russia. We,
incorrigible optimists, refused to be-
lieve this. We still maintained that
if they shipped us anywhere, it
would be to another part of Poland,
to a special camp where there were
In the camp forge we discovered
prisoners were hammering strips of
thick tin-plate about a yard long and
two inches wide. And we learned
that they were indeed making pails
out of big tin cans, and that in the
carpentry shop they were making
wooden gutters. These facts made
us somewhat uneasy. We gathered
that if they were planning to move
us to some other camp in Poland,
they would not be making such
elaborate preparations for the trip.
~ Melania came again on Friday.
she could carry such a heavy bundle
weakened as she was by the long
years of “Occupational Dieting.”
‘They did not permit me to talk to
her. She stocd for about an hour
among some women who were about
let none of them come closer. She
called something to me, but it was
impossible to understand her words
amid the shouting of scores of voices.
All I could make out was that she
would come on Tuesday. She walked
away. Had she any tears left
A few of the inmates in the camp
we felt were mot very high-prin-
cipled. During morning roll-call on
March 19, a prisoner, one Giergon, a
ridiculous figure, wished to ingrati-
ate himself with the Russians on the
occasion of Stalin’s namesday, which
it happened to be. He raised aloft
a scrap of red rag, attached to a
piece of water pipe, on which he had
somewhat painted a poor replica of
the hammer and sickle, and gave
three cheers in honor of Stalin. Not
a soul repeated the cheer after him.
Our departure began to appear im-
minent. On March 24, the group
that had been the last to arrive at
the camp, was called out. These
people were told ‘to take their be-
longings and were driven to the
railroad station. Some four hours
later, they were back. They told us
they had all been in the bathhouse
train*, from which they bad been
Main Office
taken to the prison itrain for loading.
During the inspection before the
loading it was noticed that the
*bathhous train—a train equipped
with showers and disinfective units
which possibly had been used by
Russian soldiers during the war.
prisoners were covered with lice.
Prompted by hygienic consideration,
the NKVD did not load the trans-
port but sent them back to the camp
for delousing. All night long the
battle against lice continued. Again
and again they sprinkled an insecti-
cide over the underwear and outer
garments of the prisoners. All night
long clouds of this choking and
tearproducing powder filled the
barrack. In the morning the “clean”
prisoners were escorted to the raii-
road statoin under heavy guard.
This time they did not come back.
Now the NKVD turned its atten-
tion to those of us left in the camp.
The guards cut off all our hair prison
fashion, called out the list of those
scheduled to leave and devoted the
afternoon and night to “culturizing”
us, as we dubbed the delousing
operation.
In the morning of the next day,
March 26, they told us to take our
things, read the roll once again and
escorted us outside the camp gate.
Only the very ill and the concussion
victims of the accident in the former
Riding Academy remained in the
camp. They led us to the railroad
station, to the bathhouse train where
we showered; and then under very
heavy guard they herded us into the
woods near the railroad siding where
the trains were waiting. Again a
very minute inspection.
They took away anything that was
sharp as well as anything that hap-
pened to be to their liking. I was
wearing trousers and shoes from
parachuted supplies, which by now
were not too clean. This circum-
stance saved them from being con-
fiscated. When they asked what I
did, I stated that I was a male nurse
by profession and showed the soldier
conducting the inspection my med-
icine chest. He meditated over the
problem for a while, but fortunately
he apparently arrived at the con-
clusion that all these items would
be of litle use to him and he con-
tented himself with appropriating a
small bottle of rubbing alcohol. The
fact that I was permitted to keep
the kit was a rare stroke of good
fortune. Thanks to it my soldiers
were able to withstand our Dan-
tesque long journey and arrive at
our destinotion in fairly good physi-
cal shape.
We were loaded onto the train.
Fifty-five of us were assigned to
each group, for that was the num-
ber of people allotted to each box-
car, which normally carried six
horses. Along each wall of the box-
car a tier of bunks had been built.
there were four windows, three were
covered up with sheets of heavy tin,
while the fourth was open, but
tightly barred with strips of the
heavy tin plate that had been pre-
pared in the camp smithy. We were
twenty-three Poles and thirty-two
non-Poles, mostly Germans. Most
of the Poles were those whom I
had selected after our arrival in
Rembertow. There was also a Bel-
gian, Gill, the box-car commander
Ivanov, and a captain of the Polish
police, Dyminski. The guard slid the
door shut and turned the screws.
We distributed the space among
ourselves and sat down. One ques-
tion plagued us: Where were they
taking us? Y
My men asked me to sleep with
them on one of the upper bunks. I
agreed readily. We lay down in our
clothing, our heads touching the
short wall of the car. There were
nine of us squeezed together on that
bunk. In accordance with “cultural”
requirements, as they put it, the
Russians eternally applied the word
“cultural” to the strangest situa-
tions—they had installed a stove in
our box-car. Unfortunately, they
had neglected to provide any wood.
The icy wind whistled through the
car.
That evening a train carrying a
transport of soldiers in Polish uni-
forms—drew up on the track beside
us. But Soviet soldiers, guarding us,
forbade us to communicate with our
compatriots under pain of death. We
heard them telling the Poles that
our box-cars contained only Ger-
mans. The Polish soldiers must have
thought it odd that before retiring
these “Germans” sang Polish patri-
otic and religious songs such as
“Wszystkie nasze dzienne sprawy’’™
and “Boze cos Polske”* It must have
given them plenty of food for
thought.
*Wszystkie nasze dzienne sprawy—
All our daily cares (like “Now I Lay
Me Down to Sleep’) (evening song)
*Boze cos Polske—God Who Has
Covered Poland With Brightness and
Might (morming song—same melody
as above)
Morning came. We had spent a
very uncomfortable night, but the
over-crowding had made for warmth.
We had all slept on our side, for
there would never have been room
for us to lie on our backs. The
transport of Polish soldlers left,
(probably for the front). Before
their departure, however, they still
had the opportunity of hearing our
“German” larynxes emit the tradi-
tional Polish morning hymn “Kiedy
ranne wstaja zorze.”*
*Kiedy ranne wstaja zorze—When
the morning star arises
From early morning we could see
at a slight distance away from the
tracks knots of women, who having
heard that we were already on the
train, had come over the field from
towns and villages to the station
with packages. The nearby barred
and guarded trains, the incredible
overcrowding, the peevishness and
vulgarity of the soldiers guarding us,
must have made a ghastly impres-
sion on these poor women. I was
thankful that I did not see Melania
among them. She was supposed to
have come on Tuesday and this was
only Palm Sunday. God grant’ that
she be spared this sight. But my
prayers went unanswered.
Around mine in the morning, an
empty freight train pulled up along-
side of our train and cut off our
view of the field. Fortunately, or
unforuntately, directly before our
open [but barred window was a space
between two freight cars. I was
seated in front of the window, look-
ing out through the bars. Suddenly,
I caught sight of my friend Kupla’s
wife passing by. Involuntarily, I
called to her. She peered through
the space, turned around and signal-
ed to someone. A moment later,
Melania was at her side. Her face
drawn, her eyes mirrored the horror,
: AFF
BANK OF WILKES 2
i ft
Al
Kingston Office
Wyoming at Union
Or have you
vacation only”?
“SOMEDAY” COMES
CLOSER WITH
ONLY
YESTERDAY
Ten and Twenty Years Ago
In The Dallas Post
~ From The Issue of June 16, 1944
Two local boys are reported miss-
ing in action, one officially reported
killed, and one wounded:
[Samuel Galletti, Lehman, is dead
in Italy, returning to the land of
his fathers to give his life for the
U.S.A.
Robert Girvan, Dallas, is missing
in action in Italy.
Raymond F. Sutton, formerly of
Kingston Township, is missing in
Germany.
Charles Lacy, Alderson, is wound-
ed in action in ‘the Pacific.
Pvt. Al Shaffer's back is broken
in a truck accident at Fairfax, Vir-
ginia, while on maneuvers.
Heard from in the Outpost: Evan
Jenkins, South Pacific; Bob Roberts,
Pacific; Sandy McCullough, England;
Fred Schobert, Fort Jackson; Tom
Templin, Italy; Howard Johns, Ice-
land; Joe Wallo, Italy.
G. W. Frantz, Dallas Township,
dies at 70.
From The Issue of June 15, 1934
John Dolski, 19, Tunkhanock RD,
is instantly killed by a truck on
Main street in Dallas, when he
crossed to the Nelson Shaver resi-
dence.
sorrow, and impotence she felt. We
exchanged a few words in English, I
did my best to comfort her. Mean-
while the empty freight-cars rum-
bled away.
Near our car stood a group of
Soviet officers, among them a colonel
and a major. Suddenly the major
turned and shouted at us,
‘You're forbidden to speak Ger-
man.”
I explained through the bars that
we were speaking English, not Ger-
man. The officers looked a little
abashed. After a considerable pause,
the major blusteringly stated that
we could speak only in Polish or
Russian. We paid no attention to
his admonition and went on in
English. Melania wanted to come
closer so as to hand me the parcel
she had brought, but a soldier jump-
ed out from behind the car and
gave her such a vicious push with
his gun that my poor darling fell on
the tracks. She got up quickly and
went over to the group of officers.
Saying she was an American citizen,
she asked their permission to hand
me the food parcel. They replied
that it was forbidden to hand us
THE DALLAS POST
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Editor and Publisher
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JAMES KOZEMCHAK
anything. They shoved her away
and told her to move on.
I strained at the bars. “God,” I
murmured, “If only I could do some-
thing to help her.”
(Continued Next Week)
LS
(Continued from last week.)
The usual banquet followed, the
usual speeches were made, and the
usual free rides were enjoyed by the
leading citizens. Here even the
school children were treated to a
sail on the river, and then tthe Co-
dorus dropped down to the Susque-
hanna again, and as reported by
Niles Register continued its voyage
up that river to Owego and Bing-
hamton, where the customary re-
ceptions awaited her arrival.
It is quite difficult to follow the
travels of the Codorus with any de-
gree of accuracy if one has to de-
pend on her voyage as recounted by
the press of the day. Due to slow
communications, notices of her
arrival and departure were fre-
quently run days late in down-river
papers, and no dates were given.
The Harrisburg Chronicle several
times ran the line, “No word of the
Codorus today.”
‘At times local papers are strangely
silent on her comings and goings.
The Lycoming Gazette seems to have
been unaware of the Codorus having
reached Williamsport. This is hard
to explain, for the arrival of the
ship must have been big news. As
recounted elsewhere, it was. There
is also considerable discrepancy be-
tween papers when it comes to dates.
However, in spite of these diffi-
culties, one can piece together the
week-by-week account of the voy-
age, and thrill with the good folk
who greeted the ship at every stop,
on her wonderful accomplishment.
Under the date of May 10, the
Milford Gazette had stated that it
was the intention of Captain Elgar
to proceed with the ship to the
headwaters of the North Branch
where the Cordous would be placed
on rollers and transported overland
to the Delaware River, down which
it would proceed to Philadelphia.
Either this was a wild rumor, or
proved to be utterly impractical, for
the Codorus was tied up at dock in
York Haven by the end of July,
having descended the river with
which it had been struggling for
many weeks.
This was a noteworthy achieve-
ment. To anyone who knows the
Susquehanna it seems absolutely in-
credible. Maybe there was more
water in the river during the spring
and summer of 1826 than is com-
mon during those seasons today.
The very fact that the Codorus was
able to move so far upstream would
indicate that this was tthe ase. Yet?
lack of adequate water was one of
the reasons why Captain Elgar re-
ported that it would be impractical
to attempt any regular steamboat
service on the Susquehanna. An-
other was the riffles which in so
many places rendered passage up or
down stream very dangerous. In
spite of the apparent success of the
voyage it showed the owmers it
would be follish to continue with
further plans for steam navigation.
No wonder one disgruntled stock-
holder remarked that the voyage of
the Codorus was one of the ad-
venture rather than usefulness.
After her remarkable journey the
boat remained tied up at York
Haven for about two years without
any permanent employment. In May,
1828, she was sold for $600, and re-
moved to Baltimore. In 1829 ghe
was sent to North Carolina and
placed in service on the Neuse River,
running from New Bern across Pam-
lico Sound to Beauford on the coast.
While the Codorus was embarked
on her wanderings up the river, two
other steamboats failed to conquer
the [Susquehanna. These boats were
built and launched about the same
time as the Codorus, and attracted
considerable attention up and down
the valley. One of these boats was
named the Pioneer. She simply was
not provided with powerful-enough
engines to move against the current.
To quote from the Harrisburg Chroni-
cle of April 3, 1826:
“The Pioneer returned to Harris-
burg Wednesday last. The machinery
of the vessel is not of sufficient
power to stem the current of
Hunter's Falls.”
The other boat was named the
“Susquehanna & Baltimore,” but
was commonly called the ‘‘Susque-
hanna,” and may have been the
original Susquehanna rebuilt. Much
seems to have been hoped for from
both of these ships. The Lycoming
Gazette of Williamsport, under the
date of May 3, 1826, noted:
“The steamboalts Susquehanna and
Pioneer are expected here today.”
They may have been “expected,”
but they never saw Williamsport.
The item, at least, indicates that
they may have tried.
(Continued Next Week)
Woman's Republican Club
Back Mountain Woman’s Repub-
lican Club will hear Atty. Robert
Fleming at the final meeting of the
year, June 21% 8 p. m., at Shaver-
town YMCA headquarters.
We Have
SUIT or
Crisp Silks
SUITS of
selection of ties.
STORE HOURS
Just The
DRESS
As advertised in Glamour
The perfect costume dress.
Monday - Tuesday 10 A M
Wednesday - Thursday to
Saturday TP. M.
Friday Layaway plan for your
12 Noon Convience A
to " Ample parking space at
9P. M. 4 All times
:
HE Ed