The Kingdom of serbia : report upon the atrocities committed by the Austro-Hungarian Army during the first invasion of Serbia

VII TREATMENT OF AUSTRIAN PRISONERS

DuriNG my stay in Serbia I have frequently come in contact with Austro-Hungarian prisoners through interrogating them on the various points connected with my enquiry. I thus had the opportunity of observing, at all hours of the day, and in the different prisoners’ camps, the treatment which was meted out to these people. I think it advisable to append here a brief summary of my observations, supported by the depositions of prisoners, which I obtained, and of which I render a few of the most typical.

I will say at once that the prisoners of war of the Serb race feel absolutely at home, and, as if to show their satisfaction, they wear a small ribbon with the Serbian colours on the breast of the tunics or on their caps. I saw several hundreds of these prisoners wearing the tricolor, and who, though perhaps not quite so comfortable as in their own homes, seem to be delighted to find themselves in Serbian territory. 1 also noticed that they are shown great confidence, and that outside the hours of work they are permitted to go about quite freely.

In the prisoners’ camps I had occasion to visit, the prisoners are divided into companies, according to their trades. They are made to work: some

are tailors, others bakers, yet others are employed 186