RYSZELEWSKI, JOSEPH CAESAR (March 17, 1896 -- )Attorney. Joseph C. Ryszelewski, who was born in Lodz (pronounced wootch), 81 miles southwest of Warsaw, Poland, knew exactly what it was like to grow up with war on his doorstep and war in a foreign country. He survived one of the bloodiest encounters in Poland's second largest city when he was nine years old. The Russian-Japanese war damaged the economy of Poland and cast thousands of workers in Lodz, mainly in the textile industry, out of work. Whether they wanted to end the war or the Russification of their city, the masses of Lodz, with socialists like Pilsudski in their ranks, disturbed the Russian powers that be. They carried all kind of signs, including "Down with the war" in Polish, and the unrest grew. On May 3, 1905, a national holiday in Poland, the factories were closed as everybody, except armed Russian soldiers on horseback, honored the Polish holiday. The Russians, however, trampled and shot many demonstrators to death. Thousands attended their funerals.
As the protests grew stronger, the industrialists asked the czar, or his surrogate in Lodz, both of whom they hated, to draw Russian troops from Czestochowa, Warsaw, and other places in Poland to help them to open their factories. The reinforcements made the tension much worse. Liquor stores were looted. More demonstrators, or insurgents as they were called, were killed. Eventually, in June of the same year, martial law was declared and order was restored. Altogether during the Lodz insurrection, also known as June Days, 55 Polish, 79 Jewish, and 17 Gernan demonstrators were killed and thousands wounded.
Obviously, Joseph's father, Julius, who was a cabinet maker by trade, was secretive at the time as he did not want anyone to know of his plans to duck the bloodshed in Lodz. He disappeared for awhile. Then, on June 25, 1906, he met his family, including his wife, Eleanor, and two children, Joseph, 10, and Anna, 2, when the S. S. Noordland, docked in Philadelphia. The family boarded the ship, which weighed 5,212 gross tons, in Liverpool, England. She was 400 feet long, and her sevice speed was 13 knots, There were accommodations for 63 first-class passengers, 56 second class, and 500 in steerage. Julius and Eleanor had two more children in Philadelphia. The story of the family in the years to come is not yet written.
Judging from the institutions he attended, Joseph Ryszelewski received the best education available to him in Philadelphia. He graduated from Central High School and was a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania in 1917 when he dropped out to enlist in the U. S. Army. After the war, he returned to Penn to earn his degree and graduate from its law school. He was admitted to the bar the same year. He became an assistant district attorney and was elected in 1931 president of the Polish political club in Philadelphia.
No story of Joseph Ryszelewski would be complete without the testimony he gave to Royal C. Johnson, a Republican member of the U. S. House of Representatives from South Dakota and a highly decorated veteran of World War 1. Chairman of a subcommittee on war expenditures and father of the bill to charter the American Legion, he subpoened Ryszelewski to testify on the treatment of soldiers in military prisons. The testimony follows:
TESTIMONY OF JOSEPH C TESTIMONY OF JOSEPH C. RYSZELEWSKI.
(The witness was duly sworn by Mr. Johnson.)
MR. JOHNSON. Any testimony that you may give here wants to be the truth, because you can not be questioned concerning it afterwards in any place so long as you tell the truth here.
Where did you enlist?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. I enlisted at Essington, Pa., July 5, 1917, in the Aviation Corps, United States Army.
MR. JOHNSON. Just give your military experience up to the time that, you got into these prisons in Paris?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. After my enlistment I had to wait probably a month or so before my assignment to an aeronautical grounds, at Princeton where I stayed until October 18, my prescribed course, and then we were supposed to be transferred to France for further training, but in the meantime we were transferred to Minneola for further training, and there the men had plenty of time to devote to gambling, which we did not have time to do at Princeton. As the old saying goes, "Idleness breeds vice," and we were all gambling, and the men were all either in debt all the time, or were gambling all the time very heavily. This continued until we reached France and then we were told that we could not continue flying training on account of the lack of facilities, and in the meantime we were told we would do guard duty and kitchen police duty, and other menial duties of a like kind. This continued until December 17 until a part of the class were sent to the Aviation School, and we were told we would probably get a chance after Christmas, but we still continued to gamble, the whole class, and it was about this time I got into trouble.
MR. JOHNSON. Were you tried for it?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. I was arrested January 6, 1918, and tried February 6, 1918, and sentenced for three years at hard labor and a forfeiture of all allowances. As soon as I was notified of my sentence I escaped to southern France, where, as my record will show that I tried to enlist in the French Legion of the British Flying Corps, and I was rejected because of my American uniform. I then returned to the school, and I was sent to the United States military prison at Gievres; and upon mv arrival at Gievres, or about two weeks later, I made my first step for clemency in an effort merely to get a chance to get to the front in the capacity of a machine gunner, which I was proficient in on account of my aviation machine-gun school training, or wire cutting. This was refused to me. I then made a written application again to the commandant of the post and he refused it, so finally as a last resort as the commandant was passing through the barracks I appealed to him personally and he refused again, so about a month after this incident I appealed to the commandant again, who was Lieut. Breathitt, and he answered me that the purpose of this prison is to break a man's spirit and until this is accomplished you can not hope for clemency. Of course, gentlemen, you can realize the effect of this with three years ahead of me and no hope. About a month later I escaped again. I was out working again with a gang and escaped. This time I got into Paris and with the aid of a relative I enlisted in the Polish Army, which was then a part of the French Foreign Legion. Later it became an independent body.
MR. JOHNSON. Now, you were decorated for gallantry while with the Polish Army, weren't you?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir.
MR. JOHNSON. What decorations were conferred upon you?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. They were conferred in July, 1918; that was after I was sent back, gassed and wounded.
MR. JOHNSON. What were those?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. The Croix de Guerre.
MR. JOHNSON. Go ahead with your military experiences and tell what happened.
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Shall I tell after I entered the Polish Army?
MR. JOHNSON. Yes, sir.
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. After I entered the Polish Army I was transferred to the First Polish Regiment under Col. Lashinski, which was then preparing to go into action at the front. In June. I think the 12th or 8th–I can not recall–I was at Champagne, in a quiet sector, merely to prepare ourselves for more dangerous work, and while there I experienced one attack, and on July 5 I was gassed and had a shrapnel wound in two fingers and was sent back. I was in the hospital possibly about two weeks or a little over two weeks before reviving from my gas attack, and then I was transferred to the Polish aviation. It was then in its height, you might say, and I was then sent to the Polish school, which was under French supervision, to finish my training; and on August 25, after finishing the prescribed training and also the machine-gunning drill, I was transferred to the One Hundred and fifty-fourth, and I was with them until the 12th of November, the day after the armistice, and then transferred to the aviation field at Marseilles. I asked for a furlough to go to Paris to see the aforementioned relative. On January 5 I returned, and I heard that the Polish Army was to be transferred to fight the Bolsheviki. After arriving there I was told to consider myself under arrest, for the American Army was after me. It seemed that through correspondence they found where I was at. Two days later the American officers arrived and they had me handcuffed and I was sent to Marseilles. At Marseilles, in spite of the French uniform, I was sent out to sweep the streets in view of the passers-by and others and was all the time in front of a sentry with a gun.
MR. JOHNSON. What rank were you then?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Second lieutenant, sir. I was in Marseilles for about two days until there was an order to transfer me back to the United States military prison at Gievres, from which I had escaped. I was immediately handcuffed and chained, and. in spite of the regulations, I was continued handcuffed there for two days. The French people who were on the train with me and the indiscreet remarks made by my guard, who was a corporal, and had gone with me in full view, and the indiscreet remarks made by him certainly did decrease the appreciation some of the Frenchmen had for Americans. I explained to them later on the case, and as the guard understood some of the French he corrected me in some instances, but they understood the case as it was. They sympathized with me because I was in uniform and was being disgraced.
MR. JOHNSON. And you were taken to Gievres?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir.
MR. JOHNSON. What kind of treatment did you receive at that military prison?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. On my arrival I may say there was a veritable reign of terror. The only thing that saved me from a beating was a Lieut. Drexel, who came from a near-by stockade, I found later.
MR. JOHNSON. Did you ever see men beaten up there at that prison?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir.
MR. JOHNSON. Who by?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. The sergeants all the way through. They resorted to torture trying to get evidence against their prisoners. I might say just this one case which is exemplary of the whole scheme. On account of the food conditions the men were starving. The men had to solicit food and beg food from the Chinese coolies out on the gang. On account of the food conditions there was one colored boy whose name was Lonnie French, I believe he is in Leavenworth now; he was here about two weeks ago but was transferred. This man was in the kitchen along in February, at any rate he was in the kitchen, and his presence was found out by one of the sergeants. He was immediately beset by three of them and knocked unconscious. This man after being knocked unconscious and bleeding was dragged along the ground for about 800 yards to what they called the solitary confinement cell and left there without blankets or covers to stay over night.
MR. JOHNSON. How do you know that?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. I saw it, sir; and I was speaking with the man later myself.
MR. JOHNSON. Go ahead.
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. The next day the sergeants, afraid of calling the attention of the medical authorities to this man, threw him into a solitary-confinement cell and left him stay in there a day before they allowed him to wash his wounds and his head. And then they transferred him to the mine–I will probably say this later about myself– four months of solitary confinement. At any rate this man was placed in the solitary cell and every mealtime only a piece of bread and a cup of water was brought to him, and there was something else in store for him before he got that. Undoubtedly, you gentlemen know that a colored man is very sensitive on the soles. These men took this colored boy over to the wall and with his handcuffs on and in that position they would attack him with blackjacks and sticks. His cell was the second away from mine, and I could hear his screams, and they would beat him on the soles, because they were trying to find out an accomplice which they supposed had entered the kitchen with him, which was out of reason. And he stuck to his story, and in spite of his torture–and they left nothing undone–they even burned his hair, and as a final resort they let him loose, and the authorities then at the head of the prison–that is, Capt. Dewey and Lieut. Lewis–did not interfere.
MR. JOHNSON. What was this man's name?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Lonnie French.
MR. JOHNSON. With what outfit, do you know?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. No; I haven't that information, sir. But if I may call a few witnesses here, they will probably know what organization he came from. All I know he is in Leavenworth, Kans., at the present time.
MR. JOHNSON. You know French is?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir.
MR. JOHNSON. What were the sergeants' names that did this?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Sisson and Porrell.
MR. JOHNSON. Do you know with what outfit?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir; K Company, Eleventh Marines, doing guard duty.
MR. JOHNSON. At what date was this?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. This occurred some in February; I can not recall the date.
MR. JOHNSON. What year?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. 1919–this year.
MR. JOHNSON. Do you know of any other brutalities in that prison of your own knowledge?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. I know of cases, sir. They are manifold, you might say. For instance, here is a case of a Belgian soldier who was discharged from the Belgian Army on a medical discharge; he was wounded in front of the German in 1914, and if you will permit me I will read the statement in regard to it.
MR. JOHNSON. If you can not find it, it is all right.
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Any way, this man enlisted in the American aviation in 1918. He was stationed at Isidon, and while there he stopped and received a furlough; that is, he expected to receive a furlough, which he did not receive; so, having friends in Paris, he took it on his own responsibility and left for 24 hours; his 24 hours were over and he was arrested because his fluent French made him suspicious. He was held for 5 days in Paris, and then he was arrested and tried and received 10 years for desertion. This man was sent to the prison at Gievres, and because of his lack of English it was hard for him. At any rate, he was wounded, and his wounds began to trouble him in prison; so, on December 24, 1918, he went to the hospital, and was marked "Quarters." While in quarters, on December 24. Sergt. Sisson came up to him and dragged him out of bed and told him to go out and help unload a wagon of wood that had just arrived. He worked as hard as he could, in spite of his sore leg. This sergeant jumped on him with a stick and knocked him down, and finally, when the man protested and wished to see a doctor, this same man, Sergt. Sisson, again abused him with certain language which is not fit for a civilized being to hear. He again knocked him senseless. This man spent his Christmas in bed. That is what I heard later on when these charges were brought against these sergeants.
MR. JOHNSON. Have some of these sergeants been tried for these brutalities?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes; but as I claimed in my letter it was a fiasco. There was a certain deficiency in the money accounts or deposits in the prisons, which were attributed to the prison officers. At the same time the cruelty in some way reached the headquarters at Chaumont, and investigation was ordered when the prisons in the American Expeditionary Forces were examined, and when the time came to investigate the conditions at Gievres these men, as customary, were not placed under arrest, but were allowed to supervise the men who were mistreated. When the day of the trial arrived these men were still in charge of the witnesses who were expected to testify against them, and these men, sir, had the power of life and death over these prisoners. How could you expect fair and unbiased testimony in such a case?
MR. JOHNSON. Do you know whether any of these sergeants or any of the officers were convicted?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. I could not say; I understand one of them had two-thirds of his pay for three months taken away, and another one had about the same sentence, and that was all.
MR. JOHNSON. Those were sergeants?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir.
MR. JOHNSON. None of the other officers were convicted, so far as you know?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. No, sir; not so far as I know.
MR. JOHNSON. Were any of them tried, so far as you know? 157790–20–Vol 1 17
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Capt. Dewey was tried, although I do not know the character of the trial. You men can realize what kind of a man he was when he had his office full of pictures of the gay women of Paris; I do not claim myself to be the best man in the world, but he had these women from the gay life of Paris in his office, and in every instance when he came in contact with the prisoners he showed his small character.
MR. JOHNSON. Did you ever hear him abuse any of the prisoners?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. No, sir; but I have witnesses who heard him say that the sergeants in treating the prisoners should regard the sky as the limit; that nothing short of death was to be lacking to administer discipline in that stockade.
MR. JOHNSON. How long were you confined in Gievres?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Before my second escape I was there for four months, sir.
MR. JOHNSON. And then the last time how long were you there?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. About the same period.
MR. JOHNSON. Do you know of any other instances of brutality that you saw yourself?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir. Because men refused or were too weak to work or couldn't work–they were too weak to work out in the coal pile and they could not shovel any more coal, so they were taken inside of the stockade and placed in handcuffs and chains and made to stand out in the open and inclement weather until they gave in. They were handed out a half slice of bread and a cup of water at each meal time, and some of the most obstinate ones were pinioned, their uncovered hands or arms were placed on top of their knees and a stick placed between their arms and knees in this manner [indicating the manner in which the prisoners were treated], and at the same time they were kicked, and the only consolation they had was to have a dog come up and lick their faces.
MR. JOHNSON. Did you see that?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes. sir.
MR. JOHNSON. Do you know the names of any of the men?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir; Durand was one man and Ben Cohen was another; he is a Russian subject.
MR. JOHNSON. Did you say he is a Russian subject?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir; it seems to me that he escaped to get away from the Russian Army and came to America and enlisted in 1917 and fought in France at the front. I forget now with what division. At any rate as far as I know then he is a very irresponsible fellow: you might say he is slightly demented, at any rate this was not taken into consideration and on every opportunity the sergeants could get they would attack him. In spite of the regulations which prevent a man entering the stockade with a gun in his hand this man was trailed at least twice to my knowledge and threatened with death.
MR. JOHNSON. By whom–an officer or sergeant?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. An officer.
MR. JOHNSON. What officer?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Lieut. Prior and Capt. Levy of the Eleventh Marines, Company K.
MR. JOHNSON. All these men were of Company K of the Marines?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir; except Col. Maul, Lieut. Cooper, and Capt. Dewey, who were of various detachments.
MR. JOHNSON. Did these conditions get better after this shake-up?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Col. Maul was sent to improve conditions; he made a speech in the course of which he said "Who shall harm you if you do right?" Every man in the assembly took it to heart and thought that he was a broad-minded man; I did myself. I am sorry to say that I did, because two or three days later I found myself in the hospital with an attack of pneumonia, and there I wrote the article "The school of Bolshevism," which I have in my possession, and he placed me three months in solitary confinement; I had been three months in solitary confinement, where I contracted rheumatism and so on.
MR. JOHNSON. Have you that article, "The school of Bolshevism"?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir.
MR. JOHNSON. May I look at it a minute? [The witness hands paper to MR. JOHNSON.] Where were you educated?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. In the University of Pennsylvania; I was an undergraduate when I enlisted.
MR. JOHNSON. In your junior year?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. No, sir; a sophomore.
MR. JOHNSON. Where did you get your education before that?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. At the high school in Philadelphia.
MR. JOHNSON. How many languages do you speak?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Three.
MR. JOHNSON. French, English
MR. RYSZELEWSKI (interposing). You might say four–French, Russian. English, and Polish to some extent.
MR. JOHNSON. This paper, "The school of Bolshevism," may be inserted in the record at this point.
(The paper referred to is as follows:)
THE SCHOOL OF BOLSHEVISM.
"Liberty ! Oh Liberty ! Thou art the mother of all strife!"
Little did the Polish poet of the sixteenth century realize the importance and the effect of this statement upon the coming generations, when, despairing upon the future of his country, he wrote the famous ode to liberty. The many years he had spent in Russian prisons and in exile enabled him to express so well the spirit of the oppressed. This spirit of mankind for political and personal freedom did not originate nor die with him. We possess proof of its existence even as far back as 594 B.C., when the ancient Athenians won the privilege of electing their officers. It merely grew and developed, in Tennyson's words, "from precedent to precedent," until it reached its height in the American Revolution.
Edmund Burke, speaking at the time in the English Parliament, well described the attitude of the liberty-loving people for their oppressed brethren when he says:
"In this character of the Americans a love of freedom is the predominating feature which marks and distinguishes the whole, and. as an ardent is always a jealous affection, your colonies become suspicious, restive, and intractable whenever they see the least attempt to wrest from them by force or shuffle from them by chicane what they regard the only advantage worth living for. This fierce spirit of liberty is stronger in the English Colonies, probably, than in any other people of the earth * * *.
"The people of the colonies, sir, are descendants of the Englishmen. England, sir, is a nation which still, I hope, respects and formerly adored her freedom. The colonies emanated from you when this part of your character was most predominant, and they took this bias and direction the moment they parted from your hands. They are, therefore, not only devoted to liberty, but to liberty according to English ideas and on English principles."
Burke points out the distinguishing characteristic of the English fight for freedom in his reference to "liberty according to English Ideas and on English principles." England has always sought and won its freedom by the righting of each particular wrong as it arose, unjust taxation, unjust censorship, unjust control of individual conscience, unjust imprisonment, etc. In that characteristic English document, Magna Charta, one finds that no freeman was to be punished except when his countrymen judged him guilty of crime. The courts were to be open to all and justice was not to be refused or delayed. That was enough freedom for the time being. No one thought of hoisting up the red flag of universal equality or setting up the revolutionary tribunal.
Our forefathers framing the Constitution of the United States went one step further and in our Magna Charta included statements of abstract principles, such as the natural freedom and equality of all men, the sovereignty of the people, and the like, associated with the statements of concrete rights; such as the right of trial by jury, freedom of speech and press, security against excessive fine, cruel and unusual punishments, and others. Thus America has derived her title to the "Sweet Land of Liberty," and, it may be added, "Land of the Free."
When the peoples of the world plunged into what we may hope the last struggle to establish "liberty, equality, and friendship" among mankind, America, tied by tradition, hesitated. But the sight of the tottering power of humanity's chief exponent finally turned the scales. She at last decided upon the right course and, once convinced of the righteousness of the cause, she responded splendidly. The wings of the American eagle had the strength to fly over the Atlantic to meet the determined foe of liberty. Unhappily, in her eagerness to vindicate the wrong she apparently lost sight of her constitutional obligations to her own sons.
It seems that justice prescribed by our Constitution, the ideal "act of rights," which has forever made America "the land of the free," was too weak and civilized to govern its subjects In arms. Medieval feudal trial methods were restored. One's guilt was no longer determined by an unbiased jury, but was determined outside of the court room, usually by his superior officer, the trial being held Inter merely as a formality. As recent revelations show, justice in the American Army was repeatedly outraged.
However, it is not my intention to dwell upon the extent of the committed wrong but rather on its effects and bearing upon the future attitude of the victims toward the Government. Try to imagine, sir, a young, healthy but Inexperienced American leaving the fireside and enlisting in a cause which he has been taught to regard as most sacred and precious to mankind. While in the service, due mainly to new environment, sometimes to former habits, he slips and infracts a military regulation. To maintain order and discipline his commander decides to make an example of the case. Accordingly, pressure is brought to bear Indirectly upon the members of the court which is to Judge the man, and his fate is sealed.
He is sent to a prison where one of the officers take pleasure in informing him that "The purpose of this place is to break a man's spirit." He is then taken over by the noncommissioned officers directly In charge of the prisoners and is informed that for any infraction of prison regulations he may expect to be "taken out in a wooden box." With such encouragement he is sent to work on a coal pile and introduced to a set of rules handed down from the Dark Ages. He is cowed into submission by the sight of a comrade, a foreigner handicapped by his English, who, for misunderstanding an order, is jabbed with a bayonet in four places and left bleeding until the return to the stockade in the evening. His sense of right is further outraged when he notices the return to Dark Ages in the physical coercion of prisoners, in an effort to obtain evidence against other prisoners.
Eventually he begins to make comparisons with the world-wide condemned treatment of prisoners in the former Russian Empire. Unfortunately he finds them very similar. You can easily surmise the rest for yourself.
In my personal relations with such men I was struck, chiefly, by their open and challenging hatred toward the superior officers of the A. E. F. and the administration at Washington. They no longer cherish their former Ideals. Bank injustice had made too deep a wound to be healed by empty promises of a remedy. Faith once betrayed is very seldom completely regained. For this reason many profess their willingness to condemn the present form of American government and are ready to join hands with the radicals in any dreamy effort to establish the ideal state of mankind.
Therefore. I appeal to the sense of justice which, I think, still prevails among the majority and ask you for action, immediate action, to prevent a sure catastrophe. While there is still time remedy the wrong at least partially. Restore the men to duty, restore to them their lawful due–their back pay. Make them realize that America still believes in right and still clings to her temporarily overlooked sense of justice.
MR. JOHNSON. When did you write that article?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. I wrote that when I was in the hospital; somewhere around February 6 or 8, I forget which date.
MR. JOHNSON. At the time after you had seen many of these brutalities?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir.
MR. JOHNSON. You got three months in the solitary, did you?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir. I was confined one month in chains; I had served one month in chains day and night for breaking the parole after I returned from the Polish Army; after this one month was over I was allowed to go to work in the daytime, and after I returned from work I was immediately put in chains again for the night.
MR. JOHNSON. When you wrote this article you gave it to the commandant, did you not?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir; I gave it to the commandant; I thought he was a broad-minded man.
MR. JOHNSON. He is the man that punished you?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir.
MR. JOHNSON. Give us his full name.
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Col. J. C. Maul.
MR. JOHNSON. With what outfit?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. With the Field Artillery.
MR. JOHNSON. You don't know what regiment or battery?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. I know he was a casual.
MR. JOHNSON. You don't know where his home was in the States, do you?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. No, sir.
MR. JOHNSON. Have you anything further that would throw any light on these conditions?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes; I still have a few affairs to describe. There was. for instance, a rule at the prison that in going out of the gate men had to keep lock step; there were two gates leading out of the prison. One sentry or sergeant was placed in front of the first gate and one in front of the second gate; each one had a blackjack or stick in his hand, and they were supposed to count the men; as they went out the first sergeant would give the command "Slow down." As soon as the first two men would show their heads through the gate the second sergeant would shout "Quicken the pace; hurry up." You can realize the condition of that column; that is what they called jail physical exercise, because they immediately beset those men with blackjacks. And even Capt. Levy knew about it and stood by, and I have the men here that can prove that they heard him say, "Hit him again, sergeant; knock him down."
MR. JOHNSON. What men have you here that can prove that?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. There is a captain of the service in the office next door here, Mr. McCullom, he was in there all the time and knows more than I do. And there is Charles Winston, he is also here in the office; and also Ben Kohen, he is in here, he was so often mistreated; he is the victim of the way they used the prisoners over there.
MR. JOHNSON. Have you any more instances of brutality that you want to present?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Arthur Porter and another man I know of who were prisoners both at Gievres, they can prove they have been scrubbed at midnight with mud in the coldest part of the winter.
MR. JOHNSON. What was that punishment given for?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. That was punishment either because they were caught smoking in the barracks or outside the hours allowed for smoking. We were allowed 20 minutes after each meal time for smoking, and if a man was caught-outside of that smoking that is a death for him. Oftentimes a louse would be found on a man and the same treatment would be given to him, a cold shower in the water or else the mud outside. This was all under Capt. Dewey, you might say, the reign of terror that existed there was under Capt. Dewey.
MR. JOHNSON. Do you know his full name?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. No, sir; I do not, but Charles Winston or Mr. McCullom they can both give you the name.
MR. JOHNSON. Have you any more instances?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. All I can do is to submit to you the names.
MR. JOHNSON. Have you the list that was sent by Senator Chamberlain?
MR. RYSZELEWSKI. Yes, sir; here is a list of names, Charles Winston, Ben Kohen, Mr. McCullom, a Mr. Buckley, a Mr. Johnston, and a Mr. Collins.
There is another affair that I would like to bring up and that is in our traveling from Gievres to the port of embarkation at Brest. While at Brest I saw a man named Middleman, a man who wants to testify here and he has begged me to mention his name. One of his relatives who was then on shipboard at Brest found out his whereabouts and came outside the stockade at Brest to see him; this man was immediately refused admittance and when Mr. Middleman heard him talk outside he knew his relative's voice and asked the commandant for permission to see the man. These fellows immediately jumped on him and knocked him out without any provocation whatever.
MR. JOHNSON. Well, now this testimony that you have given here to-day, Mr. Ryszelewski, we thank you for it, and this committee is now obliged to go into another matter at once. The committee will refer these cases that you have mentioned to the Inspector General of the Army for a thorough investigation, so that we may have his report also, and so that the people who are responsible for these cruelties can be punished before they leave the service if they have not already left the service. If you see these witnesses whom you have mentioned here to-day I wish you would tell them that they will not be called to-day, because of another matter which the committee must take up at once, but they will undoubtedly be called before the Inspector General before very long.
Author: Edward Pinkowski (2011) [email protected]
Ryszelewski, Joseph C.Attorney-at-law. Member of Philadelphia Bar Association and numerous other organizations. Active in civic affairs and in Polish American societies and clubs. In 1931 elected President of the Polish American Citizens' League of Pennsylvania. Address: 3169 Richmond St., Philadelphia, Pa.
From: "Who's Who in Polish America" by Rev. Francis Bolek, Editor-in-Chief; Harbinger House, New York, 1943