Former POW in 8 camps never once saw German guards mistreat prisoners!In 1941 Alex McClelland saw heavy action in Libya and Greece as an Infantry Gunner with the 2nd/1st Australian Batallion before being badly wounded by a mortar shell in Crete which temporarily blinded him. After recovering his sight in a German field Hospital he escaped and was recaptured 3 times before working in a POW armaments factory where he was paid and received better food rations than regular POWs. After 8 camps and escaping twice more, in February '45 he was sent to the walled-prison attached to Theresienstadt Ghetto 50 kilometers north of Prague with other troublesome Allied prisoners including 6 U.S. secret agents. In the camp they called the 'Terezin small fortress' the Allied POWs shared Cell 44-Block 4 with 200 Mongolian Russian solders who squatted on the floor rather than use toilets which meant Typhus and other illnesses were a constant threat. Terezin in early '45 was guarded by one German SS soldier who surveyed the entrance area but his view of the camp was partly blocked by the barracks. Brick walls 10 meter (30 feet) high prevented anyone from escaping. Terezin was maximum-security in contrast to almost all other minimum-security camps like Auschwitz or Majdanek which had only wire fences. German guards very seldom entered the prison and discipline was controlled by two civilian Kapos. When necessary the Kapos disciplined the prisoners by hitting with wooden batons they called 'Herr Doktor' (the Doctor). Alex's health was bad from his initial injuries and 4 years as a POW, and it became worse when he contracted a bacterial infection in his leg. Once when Alex was outside camp an SS soldier gave Alex his own medical kit to bandage his infected leg and asked "Don't they give you proper medical treatment in there?". On May 7th,'45 he was freed by American troops. Today he has bone splinters in his spine that cause him constant pain. During 4 years in 8 prison camps and Terezin he never once saw a German guards mistreat prisoners! "The Germans did not use brutality or unnecessary force" he says. "The Wehrmacht and SS treated all POWs fairly according to the 1928 Geneva Convention. The only people I ever saw beat prisoners were other prisoners and the civilian Kapos!" Alex is now 80 and lives on a small pension in a rural Australian trailor-park. His 1999 book "The Answer-Justice" recalls his life in 8 camps, his many death-defying escapes, and the Terezin "fortress". To order Alex's book from Australia = $25(Aust.$). From overseas = $25(US) plus $5 postage: Alex McClelland,
 From inside 'Terezin Fortress' the entrance gate and tower where the lone German guard surveyed the camp. Alex's block was out of the picture to the right. The 10 metre (30 foot) walls in the high-security camp prevented escapes and people outside from looking in which contrasts with low-security camps like Auschwitz which were surrounded by wire fences.   The finest young European-Australians like Alex volunteered to fight in 1939. In this 1940 photo Alex is wearing his Aussie-field hat. In the 1999 photo 59 years later Alex holds his book which describes his capture, 8 camps, harrowing escapes, and Terezin.  The gas driven Cremation furnace in Terezin disposed of dead inmates and guards to prevent the spread of diseases like Typhus. The gas pipes are visible.  Cell 44 where Alex lived for 3 months with 200 Russian POW's and other 'troublesome' Allied prisoners. Only a few bunks line the walls so prisoners took turns sleeping on the floor. The few German guards very seldom entered the barracks which were overseen by civilian Kapos during the last few months of the war.  |