DSK wrote:
Thom Stewart wrote:
The British had Con. Camp to keep the Jews of Europe from going to
Palistine. They weren't very nice either.

The British may or may not have invented the concentration
camp, but they invented the term.

No, they didn't. Two British journalists translated the Spanish
term 'reconcentrado' into English. A reconcentrado was a Spanish
concentration camp used in Cuba in 1896-1898.

In the Boer War
(1899-1902) in what is now South Africa, the descendants of
Dutch settlers were widely disperesed through the country
and very effective guerrillas. So the British Army passed
out orders to gather them up and "concentrate" them, meaning
basically to keep as many of them as possible gathered in
small areas where they could be kept from becoming or
supporting guerrillas. The orders were vague on how they
should be treated, it's likley that the British did not have
bad intentions but due to lack of instruction the minimum
was done to feed & shelter them,

This is the minimum is it?

==

THE GREAT ANGLO-BOER WAR Byron Farwell ISBN 0-393-30659-3, page 400:


"In the concentration camps the food was neither good nor plentiful,
and certainly did not make for a balanced diet. Still, no-one died of
starvation."

Malnutrition, not starvation. The camps were well-supplied
with food, as the demonstration before the Ladies Committee
at Bloemfontein shows. The Boer women threw meat on the ground
in front of the Committee as a sign of rebellion.

"Women threw large portions, which had been newly served out, of
good though thin meat, into the wide roadway of the camp. It
would have made very good broth or stew."

==

"They lived in a way that used to make the brutal soldier's mouth water

when he came into town after trekking. Our food in the Mounted
Infantry was generally good enough, but we never had shelter.... These

persecuted people, however, were living in cool, roomy marquees and
were paid for doing things for themselves. Thus if they wanted an oven

to bake their bread in the men made one and got paid for it."

==

ISBN 0-393-30659-3

Standing Orders to the superintendents of the Transvaal camps-

"There must be no stinting in the distribution of medical comforts
to the sick and convalscent, old and infirm people and young children.
When necessary, stimulants may be freely given under doctor's orders.
There must be an adequate supply of milk, which should be liberally
applied to children and deserving people, as well as the sick and
convalescent."

ibid, page 407.

==

much less take sanitary
measures... with predictable results.

Well, to me it looks like the Boers couldn't be bothered to take
sanitary measures.

==

"a large number of deaths in the concetration camps have
been directly and obviously caused by the noxious compounds
given by Boer women to their children".
Page 415 THE GREAT ANGLO-BOER WAR by Byron Farwell.

Let's review these practices...

"Tar on the feet was a common remedy for reducing fever.
Dog's blood was in demand as a medicine.
Cow dung was smeared on the chest for bronchitis and applied to limbs
affected by rheumatism.
Horse dung, boiled and strained, was given to those convalescing from
enteric.
A black chicken was cut open and applied bleeding to the chest for
inflammation of the lungs"

"Mr. Randle was surprised to see a cat running about the tent with all
its fur clipped off. He inquired the cause and was told the fur had
been
cut off and roasted and then applied to his child's chest as a remedy
for
bronchitis."
page 406, THE GREAT ANGLO-BOER WAR, Byron Farwell.

==

Boer sanitation:
"Trekboer women, for example, accustomed all their lives to defecating
in the open veld and moving on, ought to have been instructed in the
use
of latrines and made to use them. Instead, they simply used the space
around their tents."

"The habits of the people in general are such as would
be a disgrace as to any European nation.... Napkins for
babies are seldom used. They are allowed to mess their
beds, which lie for days without being washed or aired,
and the tents absolutely stink of decomposing urine, etc."
-- Dr. G. B. Woodroffe, camp medical officer, Irene Camp.

page 409, THE GREAT ANGLO-BOER WAR, Byron Farwell.

"At Krugersdorp Dr. Franks reported that milk had been
prescribed for a four-month old infant with bronchitis, but
the mother fed it sardines and it died within two days."
page 407, ibid.

==

They also invented the blitzkrieg.

But we never had the sense to use it.


Capt. JG wrote:
I used to be amazed at the cruelty one person is willing to inflict upon
another. I'm not any more.


Don't listen to Elvis much, do ya?

DSK