and
leave their homes and goods to the mercy of the invaders. The terrible
suffering and misery resulting from these conditions will, perhaps,
become more vivid from the following details taken from some Russian
newspapers which will give an idea of the conditions: "In Moscow all
railroad stations are overcrowded with refugees. Most of these are
unable to leave the freight cars in which they had arrived because the
tortures of hunger and thirst which they had to suffer during their
trip had been too much for them. Thousands upon thousands of these
unfortunate beings had been struck down by sickness, and as far as the
capacity of the Moscow hospitals allowed had been cared for, while
still other thousands had to be satisfied with accommodations in the
open squares and streets of the city, while others were removed
farther east in order to reduce the overcrowded conditions of the
city. Every day some ten thousand refugees were sent east by way of
Smolensk, Orel, and Tula. Among these were many thousands of German
colonists who had formerly been residents of Cholm and Volhynia, but
had been removed from there by order of the Russian Government
previous to the Russian retreat. The fate of all these hundreds of
thousands of refugees by the time winter will have arrived will be
horrible. What, for instance, will happen to about thirty thousand
farmers from Galicia who were removed by force and now are located in
a concentration camp on the River Slucz with nothing over their heads
except the sky?"

From all parts of the Russian Empire involved in the German advance,
streams of these unfortunate victims of war were continuously flowing
toward the east. One of the chief reasons for the extensive misery
which they had to suffer was the fact that the Russian organization,
which even in times of peace does not work any too well, broke down
completely under this unexpected and unparalleled demand on its
resources. In spite of the fact that the larger number of these
refugees were driven east by the special and express command of the
Russian authorities, the latter had made no preparations to take care
of them nor did they seem to show much worry concerning their fate.
Even some of the high Government officials pointed out, to the
responsible Government departments that, as long as the Government had
driven these unfortunate human beings away from their own homesteads
without, in most cases, giving them time to gather in even thei