The Innocence of the Inmates

During the later part of our imprisonment, the daily ration consisted of very watery soup, given out once daily, and the usual small bread ration. Varying daily in calories, this diet was absolutely inadequate, especially taking into consideration our heavy manual work and our constant exposure to the cold in inadequate clothing. We could watch our bodies beginning to devour themselves. The sick were even worse off when the last layers of subcutaneous fat had vanished and we looked like skeletons disguised with skin and rags. Each of us could calculate with fair accuracy whose turn would be next, and when his own would come. After many observations, we knew the symptoms well, which made the correctness of our