In the beginning of the war the Germans were surprised by the great
number of prisoners taken and had made no adequate preparations
for their reception. Clothing and blankets were woefully wanting,
so I immediately bought what I could in the way of underclothes
and blankets at the large department stores of Berlin and the
wholesalers and sent these to the camps where the British prisoners
were confined. I also sent to the Doeberitz camp articles such
as sticks for wounded men who were recovering, and crutches,
and even eggs and other nourishing delicacies for the sick.
At first the prisoners were not compelled to work to any extent,
but at the time I left Germany the two million prisoners of war
were materially assisting the carrying on of the agriculture
and industries of the Empire.
The League of Mercy of New York having telegraphed me in 1914,
asking in what way funds could best be used in the war, I suggested
in answer that funds for the prisoners of war were urgently needed.
Many newspapers poked fun at me for this suggestion, and one bright
editor said that if the Germans did not treat their prisoners
properly they should be made to! Of course, unless this particular
editor had sailed up the Spree in a canoe and bombarded the royal
palace, I know of no other way of "making" the Germans do anything.
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