The horrors of Wittenberg : Official report to the British government

The text is a verbatim 1916 British government committee report on the treatment of prisoners of war at the German Wittenberg Camp, based on testimony from three surviving Royal Army Medical Corps officers who witnessed a typhus outbreak. It details a makeshift settlement of wooden bungalows on a barren plain, where spaces designed for 120 men often housed 180 to 200, and the total camp population may have exceeded fifteen thousand within ten acres. Winter brought bitter cold, fuel shortages, and malfunctioning stoves, leaving prisoners in near‑freezing conditions as the disease spread unchecked.

Listening to this official inquiry offers a rare glimpse into the grim everyday reality of World I captivity, conveyed in the formal language of a government report. The stark details let the survivors' urgent observations speak for themselves, providing both a valuable historical record and a sobering reminder of wartime suffering. The narration remains unembellished, preserving the document’s raw authenticity.