. |
| Evidence for the Prosecution |
| |
| Brigadier Glyn Hughes
(cont.) |
Did you see
the S.S. guards attack the internees? — No.
Did you see the SS.
guards attacked by anyone? — No.
Were any such instances reported
to you? — No. One S.S. man was shot by one of our guards when trying to
escape, I think.
Cross-examined by Captain ROBERTS — Would
it be true to say that in the later stages of starvation the desire for food
would become an obsession? — The later stages would be complete
indifference.
Would that desire for food become an obsession on the
part of the person at any stage — Undoubtedly, because we always have the
desire to live.
Would that obsession be such that no verbal orders
would deter the person from seeking after food — Amongst the bolder
spirits.
Would force be necessary to stop them? — Force may even
be necessary, but it would not have taken very much to prevent these wakened
people from doing it.
Cross-examined by Captain CORBALLY —
Was there hospital accommodation for the S.S. guards in either camp? —
There was a most beautiful military hospital in Camp No. 2.
Were there
S.S. medical orderlies there?— I do not know that it was an S.S. hospital.
It was a German military hospital. They had doctors, nurses, and orderlies.
How far was this from No. 1 Camp? — The German military hospital
was on the far side of Camp No. 2, which would make it perhaps a mile and a
half from Camp No. 1.
Could you describe the system of issuing food to
the internees? — As far as I know they had these cookhouses which
consisted chiefly of large boilers, and I imagine that each cookhouse was
responsible for so many compounds and the large containers were filled with
this watery soup. In some cookhouses it required three cookings to produce one
meal for, the actual compound for which that cookhouse was responsible. I think
the block leaders sent so many internees to fetch the containers to the
compound and after that I should imagine it would be very nearly a “free
for all” and the weakest could not obtain it.
Would you agree that
when there is a lot of food it is easier to ensure that everybody in the camp
gets at least some? — Quite.
Would you agree that one of the
reasons why it was easier for the administration as soon as we took over the
camp to ensure that everybody got more than a starvation diet was because we
had far more food? — The main reason was that we saw that it was done
because we made an effort which was not made before.
Did we continue to
allow the internees to wait on each other? — In |
| |
| Page 39 |
|
