¢ TT HE Canadian soldiers

who were fortunate

enough to come back
from the bitter fighting in
Europe have a great respan-
sibility to those who did not
return. That responsibility
is to ensure that those things
they fought and died for are
preserved, and that future

generations of Canadians will -

not be obliged again to face
the horors of yet another war.”

These inspiring words came
from the lips of Maurice Rush,
trade unionists and progressive
political figure, returned from
imprisonment in a German pris-
oner of war camp. Maurice,
who saw some of the bitterest
fighting of the war against
Germany, was taken prisoner by
a group of German paratroop-
ers. He looked brown and lean,
and behind his eyes was a bit-
terness that is one of the sears
that he bears from his impris-
onment.

“The treatment of prisoners
by the Germans was very poor,”
he told me, “and the food sit-
uation was very poor. It would
have been impossible to ‘sur-
vive on the food that the Ger-
mans gave us had it not been for
our Red Cross parcels.”

“The prison camp in which
we were held just prior to be-
jng liberated held twenty
thousand prisoners of all na-
tionalities. I was impressed by
the various ruses by which the
German guards and intelligence
officers used to keep us split.
One day they would throw some
small favor to the French pris-
oners, which would cause ill
feeling on the part of prisoners
of other nationalities. The next
day they would do the same to
the British prisoners. It was
not unusual to hear one of our
boys say bitterly on seeing this
“Look at that! Those French
(or British or American) have
always wanted to collaborate
anyway.”

The subtle means by which
the fascists attempted to sow
dissention and suspicion among
the soldiers was noted when
being interrogated, Rush told
me, stating. “When the Ger-
man officers questioned us,
they harped on the ‘Bolshevik
erusade’ line. They would say
we were stupid for not helping
them to defeat the Soviet Un-
ion while we had the chance,
and that although they knew
Germany had only a few weeks
to survive the war would not be
over for us. They pointed out
that we still had another two
years of fighting to do before
we whipped the Russians.”

Maurice stated that he was

amazed at the similarity be-
tween the arguments being
advanced by the fascists and
the anti-Soviet columnists
and writers in the Canadian
press. He drew attention to a
write-up in the Saturday
Night, in which Willson
Woodside, well known Russ-
ophébe, had advanced the
theory that now that fascism
is defeated militarily, the
democracies will have to pre-
pare to destroy |“commun-
ism.”

)

[XN answer to my question as

to the effect of allied bom-
bardments on the German
cities, Maurice said, ‘When I
was taken prisoner, and’ was
being marched and taken
through Germany, I found an
almost complete collapse of
morale, and this was many

3

We Have Grave Responsibility
To The War Dea

Maurice Rush In An Interview
With Fred Wilmot

There were three basic means by which the Nazis hoped to
escape and perpetuate fascism—anti-Soviet propaganda—anti-
semetism and setting one nationality against another.

months before final capitula-
tion. The Germans were con-
vineed that it was just about
over.” .

“Of the many people I spoke
to I did not find one who hon-
estly believed that Germany
could last more than four or
five weeks, and on seeing the
devastation and destruction
that our bombers caused in
Germany I could understand
why. In the larger cities there
were literally thousands of
acres of completely devastated
buildings. In Muenster, a man-
ufacturing centre we passed
through there was not a stick
of timber or wall left standing
for as far as the eye could see.
The Germans rammed-a_ bull-
dozer down the street to clear
the rubble, but the rest was in
ruins. A German told me that
there were thousands of people
buried in the ruins, and there
was no hope of ever recovering
their bodies.”

“There’s an old adage that
goes ‘As ye sow, so’shall ye
reap’ and from the seeds of
hatred sown by the Germans

' they reaped a harvest of des-
truction and death.”

“There was not a town, in
fact, through which we passed
that was not in almost com-
plete ruins from the weight of
Allied bombing attacks. The
German. people were stunned
by\ the terrifie pounding that
they had taken. Their railways
were practically useless, noth-
ing could be moved during the
daytime, and a railway trip of
a hundred miles took us over
seventy hours. ;

“TJ HAVE often been asked

since I came back what the
German people were like,”
‘Maurice continued. People won-
der if they were rabidly fascist
or if they have any democratic
inclinations. . The Germans in
many ways are just the same
as anyone else. They have the
same love for home and fam-
ily, the same liking for good
music and painting, but they

PAGE 12 — MAGAZINE SECTION

a

PTE. MAURICE RUSH

have been so completely in-
doctrinated with the poisonous
beliefs of German fascism over
the period of the past years
that its effects could be easily
They were poisoned
against the Soviet Union and
many of them spoke of the
coming war between us and
the Soviet Union. Many could
not understand why we were
fighting against them and not
aiding them in their fight
against the “bolsheviks.”

seen.

“T had a conversation with
one of my guards which
would illustrate this point.
‘He seemed to be a_ very
pleasant sort of fellow and
our conversation covered a
wide variety of subjects, but
during his conversation he
repeatedly said, ‘Germany
needs living space.’ In other
words Germany had to have
the territory of her neighbors.
His conversation would be
marked by repeated attacks
on the bolsheviks and Jews.”

“It was very clear to me that
it would take many years to
eradicate from the minds of
Germans the poison of fascism.
They have already learned a

lot, but the regeneration of the
German people will not only
come from our military victor-
ies; this will not be enough. If
we are going to win complete
victory against fascism ‘there
are at least three steps that
must be takem. We’ will first
have to make it clear to the
German people that the world
will not tolerate again the
crimes that Germany has com-
mitted, and they must be im-
pressed in this by the speediest
punishment of the German war
Secondly, the Ger-
man people will have to have
this lesson impressed upon them
by being compelled to pay for
the destruction that they have
brought on other nations. Third.

they will have to be re-educated.
It will take years of educa-
tional work to straighten out
their minds.

criminals.

I QUESTIONED Maurice about

the treatment accorded te
various prisoners. “None of the
prisoners were treated well,
but those that came in for the
worst treatment from the Ger-
man guards were the captured
Soviet soldiers. When our ra-
tions were bad, and they never
were good, theirs were worse.
In one camp, Russian prisoners
were reduced to scrambling on
the garbage dump for food to
keep from starving. The Ger-
mans placed guards around the
dump and kept the prisoners
away at bayonet point. This was
not isolated to one particular
camp, but in all camps the Rus-
sians were treated badly.

“And yet,” Rush continued,
“the soldiers who took us pris-
oners were very concerned about
how we treated prisoners. They
realized as did everyone else I
met in Germany, that it would
be but a short time before they
were thrown into oun prison
camps. They feared the Cana-
dians as fighters, and had a
gneat respect for us. But an in-
sistent undercurrent in every-
thing they said was the fact
that they realized that it was
merely a matter of time. Ger-
many was whipped.”

I ASKED Maurice about vio-
lations of the international

conventions with regard to

treatment of prisoners.

“The German officers who in-
terrogated us had many ruses
by which they sought to get in-
formation out of us. The first
officer that questioned me was
a big beefy guy, and when they
led me into his office there was
something about it that re-
minded me of a Hollywood
movie. Behind him was a por-
trait of Hitler, and in his arm
was a swastika armband. He
asked me the usual questions,
name, regimental number, unit,
rank. Then he asked questions
I wasn’t obliged to answer.

When I refused to answer

he threatened me with sk

4

ing. When we got farthy,.
the front their tactics ¢} a
The intelligence officers -
get pretty chummy with,
many of them had been to.
ada and the States. They v
talk about places I knew, '
eouver, Terrace, Calgary,
when they thought you «¢
suspect anything, would t
worm information out of
In one case they threw us
solitary confinement and toa
how we could become sick |
confinement and that we ¥
be released only if we ansv)
their questions.” 4

@
‘“MURING my imprisonme

could see that there ©
three basic means by whic)
Germans. hoped, even in de
to perpetuate fascism. The
is by vicious and very insi
anti-Soviet propaganda. .
warned us about ‘bolshev
and told us how foolist
were to have fought Ger
while Germany was riddin'
world of the ‘bolshevik me
This was their most pa:
weapon, a weapon which :
ing used by our near-fasci |
this country. j

Red baiting was the ¢
weapon of the Germans,
military and civilians.

The second weapon they:
was anti-Semitic propag
They blamed everything
they didn’t blame on ‘the b
viks on the Jews. Altl
Jewish soldiers were treai
Canadians and not as Je |

dangerous line of propa’
Was continually fed to the
oners. :

The third weapon wa
setting of one natic |
against the other. The
lowed this principle for ©
on the international scal
they were determined to |
suspicion in the minds
many people as they cou
fore they were defeated.”

OING into action
Canadians, IT was pro.
the reputation that the °
adians had gained amon:
Allied treops, as good i
ers against fascism. In 1
talks that I had with
adian boys, I found a.
strong hope that what ;
were fighting to de:
would not rear its ugly
in Canada and rob ther
the fruits of their vic
This generation has pa,
terrible price to destroy
man fascism, and those
were fortunate enougt}
come back have a grea:}
sponsibility te these who}
never return. That resp)
bility is to see that the tl
that they fought and die:
are. won for future ger
tions of Canadians, tha
establish a lasting peace.
to crush reaction and i§
“Big Shots” at home
have always been sy
thetic to the fascists. "
want for Canada the carr
through of the promise
a better Canada thait
been made to them soy,

SATURDAY; JUNE r