renegadetribune--2020-07-19--Masks are Neither Effective nor Safe: A Summary of the Science

At this writing , there is a recent surge in widespread use by the public of facemasks when in public places , including for extended periods of time , in the United States as well as in other countries .
The public has been instructed by media and their governments that one ’ s use of masks , even if not sick , may prevent others from being infected with SARS-CoV-2 , the infectious agent of COVID-19 .
A review of the peer-reviewed medical literature examines impacts on human health , both immunological , as well as physiological .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data regarding the effectiveness of facemasks , as well as safety data .
The reason that both are examined in one paper is that for the general public as a whole , as well as for every individual , a risk-benefit analysis is necessary to guide decisions on if and when to wear a mask .
Are masks effective at preventing transmission of respiratory pathogens ?
In this meta-analysis , face masks were found to have no detectable effect against transmission of viral infections .
( 1 ) It found : “ Compared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reduction of influenza-like illness cases or influenza for masks in the general population , nor in healthcare workers.
” This 2020 meta-analysis found that evidence from randomized controlled trials of face masks did not support a substantial effect on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza , either when worn by infected persons ( source control ) or by persons in the general community to reduce their susceptibility .
( 2 ) Another recent review found that masks had no effect specifically against Covid-19 , although facemask use seemed linked to , in 3 of 31 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ odds of developing influenza-like illness .
( 3 ) This 2019 study of 2862 participants showed that both N95 respirators and surgical masks “ resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory confirmed influenza.
” ( 4 ) This 2016 meta-analysis found that both randomized controlled trials and observational studies of N95 respirators and surgical masks used by healthcare workers did not show benefit against transmission of acute respiratory infections .
It was also found that acute respiratory infection transmission “ may have occurred via contamination of provided respiratory protective equipment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respirators throughout the workday.
” ( 5 ) A 2011 meta-analysis of 17 studies regarding masks and effect on transmission of influenza found that “ none of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection.
” ( 6 ) However , authors speculated that effectiveness of masks may be linked to early , consistent and correct usage .
Face mask use was likewise found to be not protective against the common cold , compared to controls without face masks among healthcare workers .
( 7 ) Masks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obstructing forward travel of viral particles .
Considering those positioned next to or behind a mask wearer , there have been farther transmission of virus-laden fluid particles from masked individuals than from unmasked individuals , by means of “ several leakage jets , including intense backward and downwards jets that may present major hazards , ” and a “ potentially dangerous leakage jet of up to several meters.
” ( 8 ) All masks were thought to reduce forward airflow by 90 % or more over wearing no mask .
However , Schlieren @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cloth masks had farther brow jets ( unfiltered upward airflow past eyebrows ) than not wearing any mask at all , 182 mm and 203 mm respectively , vs none discernible with no mask .
Backward unfiltered airflow was found to be strong with all masks compared to not masking .
For both N95 and surgical masks , it was found that expelled particles from 0.03 to 1 micron were deflected around the edges of each mask , and that there was measurable penetration of particles through the filter of each mask .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask brands found mean 35.6 % penetration ( + 34.7 % ) .
Most medical masks had over 20 % penetration , while “ general masks and handkerchiefs had no protective function in terms of the aerosol filtration efficiency.
” The study found that “ Medical masks , general masks , and handkerchiefs were found to provide little protection against respiratory aerosols.
” ( 10 ) It may be helpful to remember that an aerosol is a colloidal suspension of liquid or solid particles in a gas .
In respiration , the relevant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ viral particles in inhaled or exhaled breath .
In another study , penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97 % and medical masks 44 % .
( 11 ) Honeywell is a manufacturer of N95 respirators .
These are made with a 0.3 micron filter .
( 12 ) N95 respirators are so named , because 95 % of particles having a diameter of 0.3 microns are filtered by the mask forward of the wearer , by use of an electrostatic mechanism .
Coronaviruses are approximately 0.125 microns in diameter .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ not provide superior protection to facemasks against viral infections or influenza-like infections .
( 13 ) This study did find superior protection by N95 respirators when they were fit-tested compared to surgical masks .
( 14 ) This study found that 624 out of 714 people wearing N95 masks left visible gaps when putting on their own masks .
( 15 ) This study found that surgical masks offered no protection at all against influenza .
( 16 ) Another study found that surgical masks had about 85 % penetration ratio of aerosolized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria , although S aureus particles were about 6x the diameter of influenza particles .
( 17 ) Use of masks in surgery were found to slightly increase incidence of infection over not masking in a study of 3,088 surgeries .
( 18 ) The surgeons ’ masks were found to give no protective effect to the patients .
Other studies found no difference in wound infection rates with and without surgical masks .
( 19 ) ( 20 ) This study found that “ there is a lack of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protect either patient or surgeon from infectious contamination.
” ( 21 ) This study found that medical masks have a wide range of filtration efficiency , with most showing a 30 % to 50 % efficiency .
( 22 ) Specifically , are surgical masks effective in stopping human transmission of coronaviruses ?
Both experimental and control groups , masked and unmasked respectively , were found to “ not shed detectable virus in respiratory droplets or aerosols.
” ( 23 ) In that study , they “ did not confirm the infectivity of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A study of aerosol penetration showed that two of the five surgical masks studied had 51 % to 89 % penetration of polydisperse aerosols .
( 24 ) In another study , that observed subjects while coughing , “ neither surgical nor cotton masks effectively filtered SARS-CoV-2 during coughs by infected patients.
” And more viral particles were found on the outside than on the inside of masks tested .
( 25 ) Cloth masks were found to have low efficiency for blocking particles of 0.3 microns and smaller .
Aerosol penetration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this study were between 74 and 90 % .
Likewise , the filtration efficiency of fabric materials was 3 % to 33 % ( 26 ) Healthcare workers wearing cloth masks were found to have 13 times the risk of influenza-like illness than those wearing medical masks .
( 27 ) This 1920 analysis of cloth mask use during the 1918 pandemic examines the failure of masks to impede or stop flu transmission at that time , and concluded that the number of layers of fabric required to prevent pathogen penetration would have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and could not be used for that reason , as well as the problem of leakage vents around the edges of cloth masks .
( 28 ) The New England Journal of Medicine editorial on the topic of mask use versus Covid-19 assesses the matter as follows : “ We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little , if any , protection from infection .
Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and some say more than 10 minutes or even 20 minutes ) .
The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal .
In many cases , the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.
” ( 29 ) During walking or other exercise Surgical mask wearers had significantly increased dyspnea after a 6-minute walk than non-mask wearers .
( 30 ) Researchers are concerned about possible burden of facemasks during physical activity on pulmonary , circulatory and immune systems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trapping reducing substantial carbon dioxide exchange .
As a result of hypercapnia , there may be cardiac overload , renal overload , and a shift to metabolic acidosis .
( 31 ) Pregnant healthcare workers were found to have a loss in volume of oxygen consumption by 13.8 % compared to controls when wearing N95 respirators .
17.7 % less carbon dioxide was exhaled .
( 32 ) Patients with end-stage renal disease were studied during use of N95 respirators .
Their partial pressure of oxygen ( PaO2 ) decreased significantly compared to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( 33 ) 19 % of the patients developed various degrees of hypoxemia while wearing the masks .
Healthcare workers ’ N95 respirators were measured by personal bioaerosol samplers to harbor influenza virus .
( 34 ) And 25 % of healthcare workers ’ facepiece respirators were found to contain influenza in an emergency department during the 2015 flu season .
( 35 )  Healthcare workers ’ surgical masks also were measured by personal bioaerosol samplers to harbor for influenza virus .
( 36 ) Various respiratory pathogens were found on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which could result in self-contamination .
The risk was found to be higher with longer duration of mask use .
( 37 ) Surgical masks were also found to be a repository of bacterial contamination .
The source of the bacteria was determined to be the body surface of the surgeons , rather than the operating room environment .
( 38 ) Given that surgeons are gowned from head to foot for surgery , this finding should be especially concerning for laypeople who wear masks .
Without the protective garb of surgeons , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surface to serve as a source for bacteria to collect on their masks .
Healthcare workers wearing cloth masks had significantly higher rates of influenza-like illness after four weeks of continuous on-the-job use , when compared to controls .
( 39 ) The increased rate of infection in mask-wearers may be due to a weakening of immune function during mask use .
Surgeons have been found to have lower oxygen saturation after surgeries even as short as 30 minutes .
( 40 ) Low oxygen induces hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha ( HIF-1 ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down-regulates CD4+ T-cells .
CD4+ T-cells , in turn , are necessary for viral immunity .
( 42 )  In the summer of 2020 the United States is experiencing a surge of popular mask use , which is frequently promoted by the media , political leaders and celebrities .
Homemade and store-bought cloth masks and surgical masks or N95 masks are being used by the public especially when entering stores and other publicly accessible buildings .
Sometimes bandanas or scarves are used .
The use of face masks , whether cloth , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obstacle to aerosolized pathogens as we can see from the meta-analyses and other studies in this paper , allowing both transmission of aerosolized pathogens to others in various directions , as well as self-contamination .
It must also be considered that masks impede the necessary volume of air intake required for adequate oxygen exchange , which results in observed physiological effects that may be undesirable .
Even 6- minute walks , let alone more strenuous activity , resulted in dyspnea .
The volume of unobstructed oxygen in a typical breath is about 100 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
100 ml O2 greatly exceeds the volume of a pathogen required for transmission .
The foregoing data show that masks serve more as instruments of obstruction of normal breathing , rather than as effective barriers to pathogens .
Therefore , masks should not be used by the general public , either by adults or children , and their limitations as prophylaxis against pathogens should also be considered in medical settings .
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At this writing, there is a recent surge in widespread use by the public of facemasks when in public places, including for extended periods of time, in the United States as well as in other countries. The public has been instructed by media and their governments that one’s use of masks, even if not sick, may prevent others from being infected with SARS-CoV-2, the infectious agent of COVID-19.
A review of the peer-reviewed medical literature examines impacts on human health, both immunological, as well as physiological. The purpose of this paper is to examine data regarding the effectiveness of facemasks, as well as safety data. The reason that both are examined in one paper is that for the general public as a whole, as well as for every individual, a risk-benefit analysis is necessary to guide decisions on if and when to wear a mask.
Are masks effective at preventing transmission of respiratory pathogens?
In this meta-analysis, face masks were found to have no detectable effect against transmission of viral infections. (1) It found: “Compared to no masks, there was no reduction of influenza-like illness cases or influenza for masks in the general population, nor in healthcare workers.”
This 2020 meta-analysis found that evidence from randomized controlled trials of face masks did not support a substantial effect on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza, either when worn by infected persons (source control) or by persons in the general community to reduce their susceptibility. (2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QxlvqiaYCM
Another recent review found that masks had no effect specifically against Covid-19, although facemask use seemed linked to, in 3 of 31 studies, “very slightly reduced” odds of developing influenza-like illness. (3)
This 2019 study of 2862 participants showed that both N95 respirators and surgical masks “resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory confirmed influenza.” (4)
This 2016 meta-analysis found that both randomized controlled trials and observational studies of N95 respirators and surgical masks used by healthcare workers did not show benefit against transmission of acute respiratory infections. It was also found that acute respiratory infection transmission “may have occurred via contamination of provided respiratory protective equipment during storage and reuse of masks and respirators throughout the workday.” (5)
A 2011 meta-analysis of 17 studies regarding masks and effect on transmission of influenza found that “none of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection.” (6) However, authors speculated that effectiveness of masks may be linked to early, consistent and correct usage.
Face mask use was likewise found to be not protective against the common cold, compared to controls without face masks among healthcare workers. (7)
Airflow around masks
Masks have been assumed to be effective in obstructing forward travel of viral particles. Considering those positioned next to or behind a mask wearer, there have been farther transmission of virus-laden fluid particles from masked individuals than from unmasked individuals, by means of “several leakage jets, including intense backward and downwards jets that may present major hazards,” and a “potentially dangerous leakage jet of up to several meters.” (8) All masks were thought to reduce forward airflow by 90% or more over wearing no mask. However, Schlieren imaging showed that both surgical masks and cloth masks had farther brow jets (unfiltered upward airflow past eyebrows) than not wearing any mask at all, 182 mm and 203 mm respectively, vs none discernible with no mask. Backward unfiltered airflow was found to be strong with all masks compared to not masking.
For both N95 and surgical masks, it was found that expelled particles from 0.03 to 1 micron were deflected around the edges of each mask, and that there was measurable penetration of particles through the filter of each mask. (9)
Penetration through masks
A study of 44 mask brands found mean 35.6% penetration (+ 34.7%). Most medical masks had over 20% penetration, while “general masks and handkerchiefs had no protective function in terms of the aerosol filtration efficiency.” The study found that “Medical masks, general masks, and handkerchiefs were found to provide little protection against respiratory aerosols.” (10)
It may be helpful to remember that an aerosol is a colloidal suspension of liquid or solid particles in a gas. In respiration, the relevant aerosol is the suspension of bacterial or viral particles in inhaled or exhaled breath.
In another study, penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97% and medical masks 44%. (11)
N95 respirators
Honeywell is a manufacturer of N95 respirators. These are made with a 0.3 micron filter. (12) N95 respirators are so named, because 95% of particles having a diameter of 0.3 microns are filtered by the mask forward of the wearer, by use of an electrostatic mechanism. Coronaviruses are approximately 0.125 microns in diameter.
This meta-analysis found that N95 respirators did not provide superior protection to facemasks against viral infections or influenza-like infections. (13) This study did find superior protection by N95 respirators when they were fit-tested compared to surgical masks. (14)
This study found that 624 out of 714 people wearing N95 masks left visible gaps when putting on their own masks. (15)
Surgical masks
This study found that surgical masks offered no protection at all against influenza. (16) Another study found that surgical masks had about 85% penetration ratio of aerosolized inactivated influenza particles and about 90% of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, although S aureus particles were about 6x the diameter of influenza particles. (17)
Use of masks in surgery were found to slightly increase incidence of infection over not masking in a study of 3,088 surgeries. (18) The surgeons’ masks were found to give no protective effect to the patients.
Other studies found no difference in wound infection rates with and without surgical masks. (19) (20)
This study found that “there is a lack of substantial evidence to support claims that facemasks protect either patient or surgeon from infectious contamination.” (21)
This study found that medical masks have a wide range of filtration efficiency, with most showing a 30% to 50% efficiency. (22)
Specifically, are surgical masks effective in stopping human transmission of coronaviruses? Both experimental and control groups, masked and unmasked respectively, were found to “not shed detectable virus in respiratory droplets or aerosols.” (23) In that study, they “did not confirm the infectivity of coronavirus” as found in exhaled breath.
A study of aerosol penetration showed that two of the five surgical masks studied had 51% to 89% penetration of polydisperse aerosols. (24)
In another study, that observed subjects while coughing, “neither surgical nor cotton masks effectively filtered SARS-CoV-2 during coughs by infected patients.” And more viral particles were found on the outside than on the inside of masks tested. (25)
Cloth masks
Cloth masks were found to have low efficiency for blocking particles of 0.3 microns and smaller. Aerosol penetration through the various cloth masks examined in this study were between 74 and 90%. Likewise, the filtration efficiency of fabric materials was 3% to 33% (26)
Healthcare workers wearing cloth masks were found to have 13 times the risk of influenza-like illness than those wearing medical masks. (27)
This 1920 analysis of cloth mask use during the 1918 pandemic examines the failure of masks to impede or stop flu transmission at that time, and concluded that the number of layers of fabric required to prevent pathogen penetration would have required a suffocating number of layers, and could not be used for that reason, as well as the problem of leakage vents around the edges of cloth masks. (28)
Masks against Covid-19
The New England Journal of Medicine editorial on the topic of mask use versus Covid-19 assesses the matter as follows:
“We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 20 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.” (29)
Are masks safe?
During walking or other exercise
Surgical mask wearers had significantly increased dyspnea after a 6-minute walk than non-mask wearers. (30)
Researchers are concerned about possible burden of facemasks during physical activity on pulmonary, circulatory and immune systems, due to oxygen reduction and air trapping reducing substantial carbon dioxide exchange. As a result of hypercapnia, there may be cardiac overload, renal overload, and a shift to metabolic acidosis. (31)
Risks of N95 respirators
Pregnant healthcare workers were found to have a loss in volume of oxygen consumption by 13.8% compared to controls when wearing N95 respirators. 17.7% less carbon dioxide was exhaled. (32) Patients with end-stage renal disease were studied during use of N95 respirators. Their partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) decreased significantly compared to controls and increased respiratory adverse effects. (33) 19% of the patients developed various degrees of hypoxemia while wearing the masks.
Healthcare workers’ N95 respirators were measured by personal bioaerosol samplers to harbor influenza virus. (34) And 25% of healthcare workers’ facepiece respirators were found to contain influenza in an emergency department during the 2015 flu season. (35)
Risks of surgical masks
Healthcare workers’ surgical masks also were measured by personal bioaerosol samplers to harbor for influenza virus. (36)
Various respiratory pathogens were found on the outer surface of used medical masks, which could result in self-contamination. The risk was found to be higher with longer duration of mask use. (37)
Surgical masks were also found to be a repository of bacterial contamination. The source of the bacteria was determined to be the body surface of the surgeons, rather than the operating room environment. (38) Given that surgeons are gowned from head to foot for surgery, this finding should be especially concerning for laypeople who wear masks. Without the protective garb of surgeons, laypeople generally have even more exposed body surface to serve as a source for bacteria to collect on their masks.
Risks of cloth masks
Healthcare workers wearing cloth masks had significantly higher rates of influenza-like illness after four weeks of continuous on-the-job use, when compared to controls. (39)
The increased rate of infection in mask-wearers may be due to a weakening of immune function during mask use. Surgeons have been found to have lower oxygen saturation after surgeries even as short as 30 minutes. (40) Low oxygen induces hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1). (41) This in turn down-regulates CD4+ T-cells. CD4+ T-cells, in turn, are necessary for viral immunity. (42)
Weighing risks versus benefits of mask use
In the summer of 2020 the United States is experiencing a surge of popular mask use, which is frequently promoted by the media, political leaders and celebrities. Homemade and store-bought cloth masks and surgical masks or N95 masks are being used by the public especially when entering stores and other publicly accessible buildings. Sometimes bandanas or scarves are used. The use of face masks, whether cloth, surgical or N95, creates a poor obstacle to aerosolized pathogens as we can see from the meta-analyses and other studies in this paper, allowing both transmission of aerosolized pathogens to others in various directions, as well as self-contamination.
It must also be considered that masks impede the necessary volume of air intake required for adequate oxygen exchange, which results in observed physiological effects that may be undesirable. Even 6- minute walks, let alone more strenuous activity, resulted in dyspnea. The volume of unobstructed oxygen in a typical breath is about 100 ml, used for normal physiological processes. 100 ml O2 greatly exceeds the volume of a pathogen required for transmission.
The foregoing data show that masks serve more as instruments of obstruction of normal breathing, rather than as effective barriers to pathogens. Therefore, masks should not be used by the general public, either by adults or children, and their limitations as prophylaxis against pathogens should also be considered in medical settings.
Endnotes
1. T Jefferson, M Jones, et al. Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses. MedRxiv. 2020 Apr 7. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.30.20047217v2
2. J Xiao, E Shiu, et al. Nonpharmaceutical measures for pandemic influenza in non-healthcare settings – personal protective and environmental measures. Centers for Disease Control. 26(5); 2020 May. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article
3. J Brainard, N Jones, et al. Facemasks and similar barriers to prevent respiratory illness such as COVID19: A rapid systematic review. MedRxiv. 2020 Apr 1. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.01.20049528v1.full.pdf
4. L Radonovich M Simberkoff, et al. N95 respirators vs medical masks for preventing influenza among health care personnel: a randomized clinic trial. JAMA. 2019 Sep 3. 322(9): 824-833. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2749214
5. J Smith, C MacDougall. CMAJ. 2016 May 17. 188(8); 567-574. https://www.cmaj.ca/content/188/8/567
6. F bin-Reza, V Lopez, et al. The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: a systematic review of the scientific evidence. 2012 Jul; 6(4): 257-267. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5779801/
7. J Jacobs, S Ohde, et al. Use of surgical face masks to reduce the incidence of the common cold among health care workers in Japan: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Infect Control. 2009 Jun; 37(5): 417-419. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19216002/
8. M Viola, B Peterson, et al. Face coverings, aerosol dispersion and mitigation of virus transmission risk. https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.10720, https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2005/2005.10720.pdf
9. S Grinshpun, H Haruta, et al. Performance of an N95 filtering facepiece particular respirator and a surgical mask during human breathing: two pathways for particle penetration. J Occup Env Hygiene. 2009; 6(10):593-603. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/15459620903120086
10. H Jung, J Kim, et al. Comparison of filtration efficiency and pressure drop in anti-yellow sand masks, quarantine masks, medical masks, general masks, and handkerchiefs. Aerosol Air Qual Res. 2013 Jun. 14:991-1002. https://aaqr.org/articles/aaqr-13-06-oa-0201.pdf
11. C MacIntyre, H Seale, et al. A cluster randomized trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers. BMJ Open. 2015; 5(4) https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577.long
12. N95 masks explained. https://www.honeywell.com/en-us/newsroom/news/2020/03/n95-masks-explained
13. V Offeddu, C Yung, et al. Effectiveness of masks and respirators against infections in healthcare workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Inf Dis. 65(11), 2017 Dec 1; 1934-1942. https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/65/11/1934/4068747
14. C MacIntyre, Q Wang, et al. A cluster randomized clinical trial comparing fit-tested and non-fit-tested N95 respirators to medical masks to prevent respiratory virus infection in health care workers. Influenza J. 2010 Dec 3. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00198.x?fbclid=IwAR3kRYVYDKb0aR-su9_me9_vY6a8KVR4HZ17J2A_80f_fXUABRQdhQlc8Wo
15. M Walker. Study casts doubt on N95 masks for the public. MedPage Today. 2020 May 20. https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/publichealth/86601
16. C MacIntyre, Q Wang, et al. A cluster randomized clinical trial comparing fit-tested and non-fit-tested N95 respirators to medical masks to prevent respiratory virus infection in health care workers. Influenza J. 2010 Dec 3. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00198.x?fbclid=IwAR3kRYVYDKb0aR-su9_me9_vY6a8KVR4HZ17J2A_80f_fXUABRQdhQlc8Wo
17. N Shimasaki, A Okaue, et al. Comparison of the filter efficiency of medical nonwoven fabrics against three different microbe aerosols. Biocontrol Sci. 2018; 23(2). 61-69. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bio/23/2/23_61/_pdf/-char/en
18. T Tunevall. Postoperative wound infections and surgical face masks: A controlled study. World J Surg. 1991 May; 15: 383-387. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01658736
19. N Orr. Is a mask necessary in the operating theatre? Ann Royal Coll Surg Eng 1981: 63: 390-392. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2493952/pdf/annrcse01509-0009.pdf
20. N Mitchell, S Hunt. Surgical face masks in modern operating rooms – a costly and unnecessary ritual? J Hosp Infection. 18(3); 1991 Jul 1. 239-242. https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/0195-6701(91)90148-2/pdf
21. C DaZhou, P Sivathondan, et al. Unmasking the surgeons: the evidence base behind the use of facemasks in surgery. JR Soc Med. 2015 Jun; 108(6): 223-228. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480558/
22. L Brosseau, M Sietsema. Commentary: Masks for all for Covid-19 not based on sound data. U Minn Ctr Inf Dis Res Pol. 2020 Apr 1. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data
23. N Leung, D Chu, et al. Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks. Nature Research. 2020 Mar 7. 26,676-680 (2020). https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-16836/v1
24. S Rengasamy, B Eimer, et al. Simple respiratory protection – evaluation of the filtration performance of cloth masks and common fabric materials against 20-1000 nm size particles. Ann Occup Hyg. 2010 Oct; 54(7): 789-798. https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/54/7/789/202744
25. S Bae, M Kim, et al. Effectiveness of surgical and cotton masks in blocking SARS-CoV-2: A controlled comparison in 4 patients. Ann Int Med. 2020 Apr 6. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1342
26. S Rengasamy, B Eimer, et al. Simple respiratory protection – evaluation of the filtration performance of cloth masks and common fabric materials against 20-1000 nm size particles. Ann Occup Hyg. 2010 Oct; 54(7): 789-798. https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/54/7/789/202744
27. C MacIntyre, H Seale, et al. A cluster randomized trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers. BMJ Open. 2015; 5(4) https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577.long
28. W Kellogg. An experimental study of the efficacy of gauze face masks. Am J Pub Health. 1920. 34-42. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.10.1.34
29. M Klompas, C Morris, et al. Universal masking in hospitals in the Covid-19 era. N Eng J Med. 2020; 382 e63. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372
30. E Person, C Lemercier et al. Effect of a surgical mask on six minute walking distance. Rev Mal Respir. 2018 Mar; 35(3):264-268. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29395560/
31. B Chandrasekaran, S Fernandes. Exercise with facemask; are we handling a devil’s sword – a physiological hypothesis. Med Hypothese. 2020 Jun 22. 144:110002. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32590322/
32. P Shuang Ye Tong, A Sugam Kale, et al. Respiratory consequences of N95-type mask usage in pregnant healthcare workers – A controlled clinical study. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control. 2015 Nov 16; 4:48. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26579222/
33. T Kao, K Huang, et al. The physiological impact of wearing an N95 mask during hemodialysis as a precaution against SARS in patients with end-stage renal disease. J Formos Med Assoc. 2004 Aug; 103(8):624-628. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15340662/
34. F Blachere, W Lindsley et al. Assessment of influenza virus exposure and recovery from contaminated surgical masks and N95 respirators. J Viro Methods. 2018 Oct; 260:98-106. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30029810/
35. A Rule, O Apau, et al. Healthcare personnel exposure in an emergency department during influenza season. PLoS One. 2018 Aug 31; 13(8): e0203223. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30169507/
36. F Blachere, W Lindsley et al. Assessment of influenza virus exposure and recovery from contaminated surgical masks and N95 respirators. J Viro Methods. 2018 Oct; 260:98-106. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30029810/
37. A Chughtai, S Stelzer-Braid, et al. Contamination by respiratory viruses on our surface of medical masks used by hospital healthcare workers. BMC Infect Dis. 2019 Jun 3; 19(1): 491. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31159777/
38. L Zhiqing, C Yongyun, et al. J Orthop Translat. 2018 Jun 27; 14:57-62. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30035033/
39. C MacIntyre, H Seale, et al. A cluster randomized trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers. BMJ Open. 2015; 5(4) https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577
40. A Beder, U Buyukkocak, et al. Preliminary report on surgical mask induced deoxygenation during major surgery. Neurocirugia. 2008; 19: 121-126. https://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/neuro/v19n2/3.pdf
41. D Lukashev, B Klebanov, et al. Cutting edge: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha and its activation-inducible short isoform negatively regulate functions of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. J Immunol. 2006 Oct 15; 177(8) 4962-4965. https://www.jimmunol.org/content/177/8/4962
42. A Sant, A McMichael. Revealing the role of CD4+ T-cells in viral immunity. J Exper Med. 2012 Jun 30; 209(8):1391-1395. https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/3420330


renegadetribune--2020-07-19--Brain Science from Bench to Battlefield: The Realities – and Risks – of Neuroweapons

In this briefing , neuroscientist and neuroethicist Dr. James Giordano of Georgetown University Medical Center discusses how new developments in @ @ @ @ @ in military , intelligence and warfare operations , addresses implications of neuroweapons , and details @ @ @ @ @ , surveillance , guidance and governance of brain science that can be used in military @ @ @ @ @ thus pose defined risk and threat to security interests .
Dr. James Giordano is Professor @ @ @ @ @ and Biochemistry , Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program , and Co-director of the O @ @ @ @ @ Science and Global Health Law and Policy at the Georgetown University Medical Center , Washington @ @ @ @ @ a Senior Researcher and Task Leader of the Working Group on Dual-Use of the EU @ @ @ @ @ has served as a Senior Science Advisory Fellow of the Strategic Multilayer Assessment group of @ @ @ @ @ Pentagon .
Renegade Editor ’ s Note : I am not endorsing this man or @ @ @ @ @ but just providing this to bring awareness to the topic .

In this briefing, neuroscientist and neuroethicist Dr. James Giordano of Georgetown University Medical Center discusses how new developments in brain science afford potential utility in military, intelligence and warfare operations, addresses implications of neuroweapons, and details the need for improved identification, surveillance, guidance and governance of brain science that can be used in military and warfare applications, and thus pose defined risk and threat to security interests.
Dr. James Giordano is Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Biochemistry, Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program, and Co-director of the O’Neill-Pellegrino Program in Brain Science and Global Health Law and Policy at the Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC. He is a Senior Researcher and Task Leader of the Working Group on Dual-Use of the EU Human Brain Project, and has served as a Senior Science Advisory Fellow of the Strategic Multilayer Assessment group of the Joint Staff of the Pentagon.
Renegade Editor’s Note: I am not endorsing this man or all of his positions, but just providing this to bring awareness to the topic.
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Author: Thanks for being a reader of this site. Your contributions make this all possible. You can send support to: Kyle Hunt, PO Box 1052, Sorrento FL 32776. Bitcoin address: 1AfppjYZddJzc2C15PXKMsnyBPjPJQezwA . CashApp: Thanks for being a reader of this site. Your contributions make this all possible. You can send support to: Kyle Hunt, PO Box 1052, Sorrento FL 32776. Bitcoin address: 1AfppjYZddJzc2C15PXKMsnyBPjPJQezwA . CashApp: https://cash.app/$thekylehunt


renegadetribune--2020-07-19--German War Art – The Campaign in the West

While Germany was undergoing great hardship and the war raged on , artists still sought to capture the struggle in @ @ @

Thanks for being a reader of this site. Your contributions make this all possible. You can send support to: Kyle Hunt, PO Box 1052, Sorrento FL 32776. Bitcoin address: 1AfppjYZddJzc2C15PXKMsnyBPjPJQezwA . CashApp: https://cash.app/$thekylehunt


renegadetribune--2020-07-19--Cisco Fires Employees That Question Black Lives Matter During Company-Wide Racism Discussion

In early June , dutifully doing its part to virtue signal along with the rest of the world , Cisco Systems hosted an “ all hands on deck ” meeting on race , hosted via videoconference .
In the comments of the online forum , visible to everyone , some workers questioned the Black Lives Matter movement and were subsequently fired from their jobs , proving once again that you can have an opinion , as long as it ’ s the right opinion .
Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins talked with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker , who is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black lawyer and author who founded the Equal Justice Initiative , during the company ’ s June 1 meeting in front of 30,000 employees , according to Bloomberg .
Several people spoke out online against Black Lives Matter during these online forums .
For example , one employee wrote : “ Black lives don ’ t matter .
All lives matter , ” while another wrote that BLM “ reinforces racism ” .
A third employee commented : “ People who complain about racism probably have been a racist somewhere else to people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oppression in their own community !
” Cisco says it fired a “ handful ” of workers for “ inappropriate conduct ” because it won ’ t tolerate racism .
It also , apparently , won ’ t tolerate its employees opinions .
The “ incident ” at Cisco ( read : people expressing well reasoned opinions ) has been a microcosm of similar situations at other silicon valley companies , who are left to try and figure out how to posture to the public they are concerned about racism , while at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entire staff .
Some believe that protests at companies could be next if employees aren ’ t “ trained ” to think the right way .
Kristen Clarke , the president and executive director of the Lawyers ’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law , said : “ Employers should be striving for zero tolerance when it comes to racism and discrimination , period .
The protests we ’ ve seen in the streets have become part of our new normal and will eventually make their way inside workplaces if employers fail to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ultimately 237 comments of the 10,400 made during the videoconference “ objected to what was being presented ” , while the majority of comments praised management .
On the video call , Cisco ’ s CEO was announcing a $ 5 million donation to “ groups combating racism ” .
Francine Katsoudas , Cisco ’ s executive vice president and chief people officer , said : “ I just felt sad to see it .
I felt a ton of empathy .
I knew that for the African-American and Black employees that were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heartbreaking to see that.
” She then tried to backtrack and justify the firings because they weren ’ t considered “ legitimate debate ” .
Katsoudas said : “ You have a framework where red absolutely is crossing the line .
But if someone has a question or they don ’ t understand something , there ’ s a way for them to ask that question .
We went through and just placed things on that spectrum.
” The remarks were apparently so offensive they were “ seared in the minds of some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One employee commented : “ Wow…and these people work at Cisco ?
” If they are bold enough to say those things at work for all to see , imagine what is said behind closed doors.
” Yeah , it could be < gasp > differing opinions !
“ We still have work to do as a nation .
I pray my daughters have a better world to live in soon , ” another employee said .
Meanwhile , we pray our children have a world where their first amendment right hasn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few years .
But with the direction things are moving , it doesn ’ t look promising… This article originally appeared on Zero Hedge .

By Tyler Durden
In early June, dutifully doing its part to virtue signal along with the rest of the world, Cisco Systems hosted an “all hands on deck” meeting on race, hosted via videoconference. In the comments of the online forum, visible to everyone, some workers questioned the Black Lives Matter movement and were subsequently fired from their jobs, proving once again that you can have an opinion, as long as it’s the right opinion.
Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins talked with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, who is Black, and Bryan Stevenson, a Black lawyer and author who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, during the company’s June 1 meeting in front of 30,000 employees, according to Bloomberg.
Several people spoke out online against Black Lives Matter during these online forums. For example, one employee wrote: “Black lives don’t matter. All lives matter,” while another wrote that BLM “reinforces racism”. A third employee commented: “People who complain about racism probably have been a racist somewhere else to people from another race or part of systematic oppression in their own community!”
Cisco says it fired a “handful” of workers for “inappropriate conduct” because it won’t tolerate racism. It also, apparently, won’t tolerate its employees opinions.
The “incident” at Cisco (read: people expressing well reasoned opinions) has been a microcosm of similar situations at other silicon valley companies, who are left to try and figure out how to posture to the public they are concerned about racism, while at the same time not laying off their entire staff. Some believe that protests at companies could be next if employees aren’t “trained” to think the right way.
Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said: “Employers should be striving for zero tolerance when it comes to racism and discrimination, period. The protests we’ve seen in the streets have become part of our new normal and will eventually make their way inside workplaces if employers fail to meet the moment.”
Cisco said that ultimately 237 comments of the 10,400 made during the videoconference “objected to what was being presented”, while the majority of comments praised management. On the video call, Cisco’s CEO was announcing a $5 million donation to “groups combating racism”.
Francine Katsoudas, Cisco’s executive vice president and chief people officer, said: “I just felt sad to see it. I felt a ton of empathy. I knew that for the African-American and Black employees that were in the meeting, that it was heartbreaking to see that.”
She then tried to backtrack and justify the firings because they weren’t considered “legitimate debate”. Katsoudas said: “You have a framework where red absolutely is crossing the line. But if someone has a question or they don’t understand something, there’s a way for them to ask that question. We went through and just placed things on that spectrum.”
The remarks were apparently so offensive they were “seared in the minds of some Black employees,” according to Bloomberg. One employee commented: “Wow…and these people work at Cisco?” If they are bold enough to say those things at work for all to see, imagine what is said behind closed doors.”
Yeah, it could be differing opinions!
“We still have work to do as a nation. I pray my daughters have a better world to live in soon,” another employee said.
Meanwhile, we pray our children have a world where their first amendment right hasn’t completely disintegrated over the next few years. But with the direction things are moving, it doesn’t look promising…
This article originally appeared on Zero Hedge.
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Author: Thanks for being a reader of this site. Your contributions make this all possible. You can send support to: Kyle Hunt, PO Box 1052, Sorrento FL 32776. Bitcoin address: 1AfppjYZddJzc2C15PXKMsnyBPjPJQezwA . CashApp: Thanks for being a reader of this site. Your contributions make this all possible. You can send support to: Kyle Hunt, PO Box 1052, Sorrento FL 32776. Bitcoin address: 1AfppjYZddJzc2C15PXKMsnyBPjPJQezwA . CashApp: https://cash.app/$thekylehunt


renegadetribune--2020-07-19--Free Masks – No Takers!

Free Masks – No Takers!

A couple of guys went out in Huntington Beach , CA , where there is a mask mandate statewide , @ @ @ @ @ free masks , but the only problem is that no one wanted to be muzzled @

A couple of guys went out in Huntington Beach, CA, where there is a mask mandate statewide, and tried to give away free masks, but the only problem is that no one wanted to be muzzled.


renegadetribune--2020-07-20--Why Face Masks DON’T Work, According to Science

Face masks were never about controlling the spread of infection , since science shows they are actually likely to increase @ @ @ @ @ but rather about controlling the population .

Face masks were never about controlling the spread of infection, since science shows they are actually likely to increase the spread of disease, but rather about controlling the population.


renegadetribune--2020-07-20--The Testimony of Marie Neumann — The Ethnic Cleansing of Germans from Eastern Europe

On Sunday , March 4th , around noon , the shooting became more distant .
Our SS , which was last fighting in the Lucknitzer Woods , had withdrawn and the Red Army occupied the city ( Baerwalde . )
My husband , who was sitting just outside the public shelter , must have realized this .
He became very nervous and insisted that we give ourselves up .
So he asked me for a white kerchief .
I cried and didn ’ t want to give it to him as I feared for his life .
My husband got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the one who was losing her nerve , and that he had thought he could expect more from me , that I would be brave .
My husband then left the shelter with two Poles and came back just a short time later .
All of them had their watches taken away , and had orders to get us all out of the shelter .
We all came outside hearing that usual shouting of the order “ Urri , Urri.
” We had to line up and go to the commandant .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with us , which was allowed ; and then we were ordered not to go to the commandant but to our houses .
We were accompanied by Soviet military police .
Along the way we were met by Soviet cavalry , all Mongols and Asians ; they were frightening to look at , and we became even more scared .
Two military policemen accompanied us , my sister and her children , into our house .
Right away one of them gave us his field flask of vodka , and each of us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we each got a piece of sausage which we ate even though we had no appetite .
We were glad that they were so friendly , and had no idea of what was to come .
My husband then told me to go back to the shelter with him to get the rest of our things .
My sister begged to go along so she and her children wouldn ’ t have to stay behind alone in the house with the soldiers .
My husband agreed .
He and my sister said I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anyway .
You see , my sister was very frightened with all this .
She put her suitcase in my room and asked me to keep an eye on it .
As soon as they left the house I was raped for the first time by the two Soviets .
When they were finished with me , one of them opened my sister ’ s suitcase and my brother-in-law ’ s golden watch , which lay right on top , found its way into his pocket .
Then for the first time I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Then my loved ones came back , my husband white as the plaster on the walls , my sister covered with blood .
But she had escaped from what they wanted her to do in the shelter , because my husband had stepped in .
But now she became the victim of those a thousand-times-accursed military policemen .
After that one of them went off while the other stood in front of the house , continuously calling out to the passing Russian troops , bringing in several hordes of seven to ten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ My sister was on one side of the house with her other two children and my husband .
Someone had pressed a burning candle into his hand .
My sister and I were raped again and again .
The beasts lined up for us .
During this time one of the military policemen held the door shut .
I saw this because I was finally left alone before my sister was .
Once she and her daughter both screamed in a most unnatural way , so that I thought they were being killed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to them when the policeman standing guard burst into our room and knocked my husband to the ground with his rifle .
My niece Ilschen was crying and threw herself on my husband while the boy and I held the policeman ’ s arms crying loudly , otherwise he probably would have killed my husband .
When we were finally granted a little peace and my husband had regained his senses , my sister came over to us and begged my husband to help her , asking , “ Karl , what ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ My husband said , “ I can ’ t help any of you ; we ’ re in the hands of a mob , not soldiers , and they ’ re all drunk out of their minds.
” I said , “ Karl has to hide himself or they ’ ll beat him to death ; they ’ ve already beaten him half to death.
” My husband agreed with me and wanted to hide , but Grete held him back and begged him to think of her poor children .
My husband @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just can ’ t help anybody , but I ’ ll stay with you ; all we can do is hide , all of us , out in the hayloft.
” No sooner said than done .
But just as we were climbing up into the loft , three men appeared ; since there was snow outside , they had seen our tracks .
We had to climb down ; then the two little girls were kissed and their mother raped again .
She and her children cried so that it broke my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ O God , O God , why is this happening ?
The men left , and my husband said : “ They ’ re going to kill me , they ’ re going to kill all of you , and what they ’ ll do to the children you can well imagine.
” My husband said that hiding now made no sense , we don ’ t have any time to do it .
I said : “ Everybody get up there .
I ’ ll lock the doors and they ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” hoping that it would give us the time to hide ourselves .
But I had forgotten in the excitement that the yard gates had been broken down already because we had been closing them whenever we could .
We had just gotten into the loft when there came a howling and yelling of rabble in our yard , shooting like crazy into the ground , and then they came after us .
It had gotten dark in the meantime and they had flashlights .
They were civilians and some military wearing cornered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I can barely write down , the pen sticks in my hand .
They hanged us all in that hayloft , from the rafters , except for the children .
The mob strangled them by hand with a rope .
Later I was told by the people who had taken shelter in the Hackbarth family ’ s cellar on Polziner Street that they had heard our unnatural screams , even down in the cellar ; but no one had the courage to come for us , they were all fighting for their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to on the floor , lying next to my loved ones .
I didn ’ t know yet what had happened to them , although I had a good idea , it was the details I lacked .
Because I was first thrown to the floor when the mob caught us , hit on the head and raped , after which I was hanged .
I lost consciousness immediately .
Later I heard voices .
I was lying one the floor , four men kneeling around me .
They said , “ Frau @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stand I fell down at once .
Later I found myself in the yard being held up by two men .
They took me inside and laid me on a bed .
One of the four men , a civilian , a Pole , stayed by me and asked : “ Frau , who did ?
” I said : “ The Russians.
” Then he hit me and said : “ Russians , good soldiers .
German SS , pigs , hang women and children.
” I fell into a fit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stop .
Then the other three came back in , but when they saw me , they left my apartment .
Shortly thereafter a Russian came in carrying a whip , constantly yelling at me .
Apparently he wanted me to be still , but I just couldn ’ t .
So he hit me once with the whip , then kept hitting on the side of the bed .
When that didn ’ t work , he gave up and left my house .
Then I heard voices in front of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was ever before or since .
Seized by a cold panic I ran out to the little creek next to our garden , where the geese used to swim .
I wanted to drown myself and tried for a long time until I was faint .
But even that didn ’ t bring my life to an end .
How I got through all this I don ’ t know to this day .
In any case someone had hauled me out of the creek .
When I regained my senses I made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ room on the ground floor of Schmechel ’ s , the shopkeeper .
Dear God how I was freezing because there were no windows or doors left in the place , and my clothes were wet ; it was the night of March 4th to 5th and there was still snow and ice about .
After a while I saw there was a bed in the room , so I laid down thinking I was alone in the place .
But I quickly saw that someone had been sitting at the table and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to my bed , and , oh no , it was a Russian .
Suddenly my whole miserable plight came before my eyes .
I cried again and begged him if he wouldn ’ t please shoot me .
He shined a flashlight in my face , took off his coat and showed me his medals , saying that he was a first lieutenant and that I need not be afraid .
He took a hand towel down from the wall and began to rub me dry .
When he saw my throat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
” I said , the Russians .
“ Yes , yes , ” he said , “ Was the Bolsheviks , but now not Bolsheviks , now White Russians .
White Russians good.
” He then took his bayonet and cut off my panties , whereupon I again was ready to die , for I didn ’ t know what to expect anymore .
He rubbed my legs dry ; but I was still freezing and didn ’ t know what I should do if I had frostbite .
But then he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it in his pocket .
He asked me where my husband was , and then raped me in spite of my miserable condition .
Afterwards he promised to send me to a German doctor .
I was happy about that , but then I remembered there were no more German doctors in our area .
Shortly after he left four 18- to 20-year-old Russians appeared .
Totally drunk , they pulled me out of bed and raped me in an unnatural way .
In my condition I wasn ’ t able to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so they kicked me with their boots , getting me just in the worst spot .
I fainted again .
When I came to , I crawled back into the bed .
Then two more such bums showed up , but they left me alone as I was more dead than alive .
I learned back then how much a human being can endure ; I couldn ’ t talk , couldn ’ t cry , couldn ’ t even utter a sound .
They hit me a bit , which didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t feel anything , and then left me alone .
I fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion .
When I awoke very early next morning , I realized again where I was .
I quickly noticed an open wardrobe door , and inside was a dress .
There was also a shirt and some underwear .
So even though the things were much too small , I put them on ; what was left of my clothes was still wet .
I had to put the dress on leaving the back unfastened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were no stockings to be found ; mine had been wound up so tight they were like bones .
Then I was visited by the Russians again .
First one who apparently thought the room was empty , because when he saw me in bed , he left the room immediately .
He came back with three more men ; that first one wanted to hit me , but the officer wouldn ’ t let him .
So the first man pointed to the Hitler portrait on the wall which was full of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was Hitler fascist .
I said , “ No !
This isn ’ t my house.
” He said , “ Come !
Go to your house !
” I had to walk ahead of them to my house and must have been a pretty sight .
When I got there I saw a truck parked in front , and Russian soldiers were loading my slaughtered livestock into a car .
The soldiers almost laughed themselves to death when they saw me .
They indicated to their officer , their fingers tapping their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and when four female soldiers appeared , they wanted to shoot me .
But the officer didn ’ t permit it .
He asked about my neck , and I said , “ Russian soldiers ; my husband , sister , children , too.
” When he heard the word children , he was shocked .
I asked him to come to the barn with me but he didn ’ t want to , and I wasn ’ t allowed to go back either .
So I asked to go to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that and sent a soldier with me .
But when we got the corner by Kollatz , he indicated to me that I should continue along Neustettiner Street by myself .
There were several men already in the marketplace , clearing things away .
When I got to the butcher , Albert Nass ’ s place , a Russian soldier told me to go in : Commander ’ s Headquarters .
Inside the courtyard I saw three farm wagons filled with Poles , men and women , all in new clothes .
Leather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the windows and the Poles leapt at them in a frenzy .
Then I saw a Pole who , if I ’ m not mistaken , was there when my family was murdered ; in fact I ’ m sure he was there , just when they were picking me off the floor .
He was the one who hit me when I said it was the Russians who did this .
I went over to him and asked to see the commander .
He said , “ No speak German.
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You were there at my place yesterday , and you could speak German quite well.
” He screamed at me : “ I there , I not there , so what .
You keep quiet.
” A Polish woman came over and said : “ What you want , German sow ?
Commander not for Germans .
Commander for Poles .
I take whip and chase you away !
” As I was about to leave the courtyard , a Russian soldier said , “ German woman !
Stairs there , go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prisoner for my efforts , locked into a room with others .
When evening arrived it was hell itself .
One woman after another in our group was hauled out .
The shoemaker ’ s wife , Frau Graf , who was in her last month of pregnancy , was taken , also a woman from Wusterhausen , and the Peters ’ daughter Frau Schmidt .
They were driven away by some soldier .
The women screamed as they were being forced into the car , and the prisoners ’ room was full @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Then we heard the motor revving up , the Russians shone searchlights into the room through the window , so bright that several women screamed out that they were using flame throwers against us .
The children cried miserably ; it was horrible .
Toward morning the women came back .
Two came into the room and collapsed ; the other woman was raped once more by the door before they let her in .
They came to get me once during the night .
I was taken into the slaughterhouse and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the soil .
When I came to , my neighbor Herr Held was crying over me .
My neck had swollen so much over the past hours that I had trouble moving my mouth , and I was spitting blood .
The next morning the Polish “ gentlemen ” wanted a turn with us , but none of us moved to go along .
That one certain Pole , always the worst of the lot , had wedding bands on every single finger , top to bottom .
( Oh , it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all this . )
The next night was not much better than the first .
We still had not been given anything to eat or drink .
Toward morning some Poles came and said that we had to go to Neustettin .
There the commandant of Neustettin would give us the necessary papers so that we could return to our homes .
They drove us out into the street and said that whoever didn ’ t come would be shot that night .
The butcher , Herr Nass and his family had come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like us were also coming out of the houses across the street .
I felt so miserable that I didn ’ t want to go .
Frau Loewe said , stay with us and come what may , we won ’ t make the march either .
But all the others , especially the Peters family , talked us into it because they were afraid I would not live to see the next morning .
Peters had a hand cart with him ; it had bedding in it .
He told me I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they would pull me along .
Gradually the march began to move ; up front were the wagons filled with Poles decked out in their new finery , followed by Poles on new bicycles , then at the rear , the Germans .
A procession of misery which exceeded by far the lines of foreigners that had come through Baerwalde during the war .
In the evening we arrived in Neustettin .
The Russians directed us to the officers ’ villa .
We still had nothing to eat , and were not permitted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was available there , and we could smell cooking odors .
The night was quiet .
The next morning two Russians came and ordered us to accompany them to the commander , get our documents , and then go home .
We had to leave our baggage out in the street where women with small children also had to wait , as did old people and those badly wounded in the war .
We were taken around the church to , I think , Fischer Street .
We were taken into a house @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Baerwalde were there .
Women left , men right , crowded in a room where many other Germans waited .
The room was about 12 metres square ; two beds with mattresses , a closet wardrobe , a chaise lounge , and a chair .
Whoever couldn ’ t find a place to sit had to stand .
We got something to eat on the third day .
On this third day we were counted , whereby the victims for that night were looked over .
When the beasts came that night , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , so there were some horrible scenes .
After several days we were ordered to assemble out on the street .
We Baerwalders had not yet been registered , and since no one could understand why we were not on the list , they just gave us false names and registered us as Hitler fascists .
We were taken into the courthouse .
There we were written up as Party members .
In my case the female interpreter wrote Nazi Women ’ s Association .
When I said that was wrong , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Other women said about you.
” ( The next day the list of names was missing , anyway . )
After getting written up a Russian took us into the courthouse basement and locked us up .
No furniture in the cell , the floor made of red brick , the windowpanes smashed .
Besides us Baerwalder women there were a few women from Neustettin .
The next morning during toilet break , which always took place in the wood shed under the watch of Russians , men and women together , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the forecourt .
We stole a few things so we ’ d have something to sit on in that crowded room .
At night ten of us women were always taken out to peel potatoes , a bathtub full , in the kitchen .
Then out to the wood shed to fetch firewood , guarded by an interpreter .
I was always one of those chosen .
What that cost me in nerves no one can ever know .
On the third day another transport was leaving , this time with Herr Hass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Nass ’ s daughter and niece had to stay , which was quite painful for them .
We were then moved to the lodgings of the prison officers .
Here we had to lie on the floor again , but at least it was a wooden floor .
There were several sick people in the room , among them persons with dysentery .
But then we all had diarrhea , open sores and the like .
We never were given water to drink or wash with , so we all stank , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ following night the devil himself was on the loose .
The Russians came in continuously .
They pushed their way between the sleeping women , kicking us in the darkness with their boots and spurs .
It didn ’ t matter to them which woman they got hold of .
The niece of Herr Nass , a girl of 16 , got a saber drawn across her throat because she refused to let herself be taken , and from the backside at that .
And the brave girl did not even make a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be used .
Unbelievable things were happening at night on Fleischer Street as well .
It was so bad that the men who were imprisoned with us in the same room said they couldn ’ t take it any more , what the Russians were doing to us women ; so they made a formal complaint ; and we heard that the men were beaten for this , so we said to them : “ If they would just stop beating you !
” So our pain was double , our own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ After this terrible night we were made to leave the prison and assemble in the courtyard ; we were then given bread , the first bread we had seen in weeks .
The bread was our provision for the march to Hammerstein .
That bread smelled as good as cake , but no one among us could eat right away ; we wanted it to last .
We came to a fine villa .
They had to force us to go in because we thought it was a brothel .
Then we were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never been political or had anything to do with the Party , they let me go .
I had to made the frightening trip home by myself .
It took me five days .
Partisans were still fighting in the woods .
I came to a village where I wanted to spend the night , but most of the houses were occupied by Poles ; they wouldn ’ t give lodging to any German .
Other houses had dead bodies in them .
The Germans kept a low profile out of fear .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in groups .
But despite this precaution it was the same story : “ Frau , come !
” … along with robbery and looting .
Poles who would drive by me in wagons would call out : “ Cherman or Polaka ?
” If one answered German : “ German nix gut.
” And to underline that they ’ d hit you around the ears with the horsewhip .
Around the edges of the forests I saw starving stray livestock wandering aimlessly .
And there were still innumerable bodies laying everywhere .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and women all had their dresses pulled up .
It was as bad as the outward journey .
When I was near Grabunz , I met some women and men from Baerwalde .
They were there to bury the bodies that lay along the road .
I learned from them that they had buried my loved ones in our garden the previous evening .
That is how long they had been hanging in the hayloft .
That made my homecoming still harder .
My house had been ransacked just after my family was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ waiting to be carted off to Russia .
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas , A Terrible Revenge : The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans , 1944-1950 ( New York : St. Martin ’ s Press , 1994 ) , pp .
50-58 .
Marie Neumann , of Pomerania , was among the sixteen million Germans forcibly “ transferred ” from their homes during the greatest ethnic cleansing in history ; her family were among the more than two million who perished .
She eventually arrived in the West , remarried , and began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ events described above was , of course , a “ war crime , ” which by definition — i.e .
the victorious Allies ’ definition — could only involve German perpetrators , not German victims .

On Sunday, March 4th, around noon, the shooting became more distant. Our SS, which was last fighting in the Lucknitzer Woods, had withdrawn and the Red Army occupied the city (Baerwalde.) My husband, who was sitting just outside the public shelter, must have realized this. He became very nervous and insisted that we give ourselves up. So he asked me for a white kerchief. I cried and didn’t want to give it to him as I feared for his life. My husband got angry with me, saying I was the one who was losing her nerve, and that he had thought he could expect more from me, that I would be brave.
My husband then left the shelter with two Poles and came back just a short time later. All of them had their watches taken away, and had orders to get us all out of the shelter. We all came outside hearing that usual shouting of the order “Urri, Urri.” We had to line up and go to the commandant. We asked for permission to take our belongings with us, which was allowed; and then we were ordered not to go to the commandant but to our houses. We were accompanied by Soviet military police. Along the way we were met by Soviet cavalry, all Mongols and Asians; they were frightening to look at, and we became even more scared.
Two military policemen accompanied us, my sister and her children, into our house. Right away one of them gave us his field flask of vodka, and each of us had to drink two glasses. Then we each got a piece of sausage which we ate even though we had no appetite. We were glad that they were so friendly, and had no idea of what was to come.
My husband then told me to go back to the shelter with him to get the rest of our things. My sister begged to go along so she and her children wouldn’t have to stay behind alone in the house with the soldiers. My husband agreed. He and my sister said I would get along with the soldiers better anyway. You see, my sister was very frightened with all this. She put her suitcase in my room and asked me to keep an eye on it.
As soon as they left the house I was raped for the first time by the two Soviets. When they were finished with me, one of them opened my sister’s suitcase and my brother-in-law’s golden watch, which lay right on top, found its way into his pocket. Then for the first time I got a pistol pressed against my chest.
Then my loved ones came back, my husband white as the plaster on the walls, my sister covered with blood. But she had escaped from what they wanted her to do in the shelter, because my husband had stepped in. But now she became the victim of those a thousand-times-accursed military policemen.
After that one of them went off while the other stood in front of the house, continuously calling out to the passing Russian troops, bringing in several hordes of seven to ten men, one group after another. My sister was on one side of the house with her other two children and my husband. Someone had pressed a burning candle into his hand. My sister and I were raped again and again. The beasts lined up for us. During this time one of the military policemen held the door shut. I saw this because I was finally left alone before my sister was. Once she and her daughter both screamed in a most unnatural way, so that I thought they were being killed; and I wanted to go over to them when the policeman standing guard burst into our room and knocked my husband to the ground with his rifle. My niece Ilschen was crying and threw herself on my husband while the boy and I held the policeman’s arms crying loudly, otherwise he probably would have killed my husband.
When we were finally granted a little peace and my husband had regained his senses, my sister came over to us and begged my husband to help her, asking, “Karl, what’s going to happen to us.” My husband said, “I can’t help any of you; we’re in the hands of a mob, not soldiers, and they’re all drunk out of their minds.” I said, “Karl has to hide himself or they’ll beat him to death; they’ve already beaten him half to death.” My husband agreed with me and wanted to hide, but Grete held him back and begged him to think of her poor children. My husband then answered: “Grete, I just can’t help anybody, but I’ll stay with you; all we can do is hide, all of us, out in the hayloft.”
No sooner said than done. But just as we were climbing up into the loft, three men appeared; since there was snow outside, they had seen our tracks. We had to climb down; then the two little girls were kissed and their mother raped again. She and her children cried so that it broke my heart She cried out desperately: “O God, O God, why is this happening?
The men left, and my husband said: “They’re going to kill me, they’re going to kill all of you, and what they’ll do to the children you can well imagine.” My husband said that hiding now made no sense, we don’t have any time to do it. I said: “Everybody get up there. I’ll lock the doors and they’ll have to break them down first,” hoping that it would give us the time to hide ourselves. But I had forgotten in the excitement that the yard gates had been broken down already because we had been closing them whenever we could.
We had just gotten into the loft when there came a howling and yelling of rabble in our yard, shooting like crazy into the ground, and then they came after us. It had gotten dark in the meantime and they had flashlights. They were civilians and some military wearing cornered hats with pompoms. What happened next I can barely write down, the pen sticks in my hand. They hanged us all in that hayloft, from the rafters, except for the children. The mob strangled them by hand with a rope.
Later I was told by the people who had taken shelter in the Hackbarth family’s cellar on Polziner Street that they had heard our unnatural screams, even down in the cellar; but no one had the courage to come for us, they were all fighting for their own lives at the time.
I came to on the floor, lying next to my loved ones. I didn’t know yet what had happened to them, although I had a good idea, it was the details I lacked. Because I was first thrown to the floor when the mob caught us, hit on the head and raped, after which I was hanged. I lost consciousness immediately. Later I heard voices. I was lying one the floor, four men kneeling around me. They said, “Frau komm,” and when I tried to stand I fell down at once. Later I found myself in the yard being held up by two men. They took me inside and laid me on a bed. One of the four men, a civilian, a Pole, stayed by me and asked: “Frau, who did?” I said: “The Russians.” Then he hit me and said: “Russians, good soldiers. German SS, pigs, hang women and children.”
I fell into a fit of crying; it was impossible to stop. Then the other three came back in, but when they saw me, they left my apartment. Shortly thereafter a Russian came in carrying a whip, constantly yelling at me. Apparently he wanted me to be still, but I just couldn’t. So he hit me once with the whip, then kept hitting on the side of the bed. When that didn’t work, he gave up and left my house. Then I heard voices in front of the house and got more scared than I was ever before or since. Seized by a cold panic I ran out to the little creek next to our garden, where the geese used to swim. I wanted to drown myself and tried for a long time until I was faint. But even that didn’t bring my life to an end.
How I got through all this I don’t know to this day. In any case someone had hauled me out of the creek. When I regained my senses I made my way to Fraulein Bauch’s room on the ground floor of Schmechel’s, the shopkeeper. Dear God how I was freezing because there were no windows or doors left in the place, and my clothes were wet; it was the night of March 4th to 5th and there was still snow and ice about. After a while I saw there was a bed in the room, so I laid down thinking I was alone in the place.
But I quickly saw that someone had been sitting at the table and was now standing up, coming over to my bed, and, oh no, it was a Russian. Suddenly my whole miserable plight came before my eyes. I cried again and begged him if he wouldn’t please shoot me. He shined a flashlight in my face, took off his coat and showed me his medals, saying that he was a first lieutenant and that I need not be afraid. He took a hand towel down from the wall and began to rub me dry. When he saw my throat, he asked: “Who did?” I said, the Russians. “Yes, yes,” he said, “Was the Bolsheviks, but now not Bolsheviks, now White Russians. White Russians good.” He then took his bayonet and cut off my panties, whereupon I again was ready to die, for I didn’t know what to expect anymore. He rubbed my legs dry; but I was still freezing and didn’t know what I should do if I had frostbite. But then he took off my wedding ring and put it in his pocket. He asked me where my husband was, and then raped me in spite of my miserable condition. Afterwards he promised to send me to a German doctor. I was happy about that, but then I remembered there were no more German doctors in our area.
Shortly after he left four 18- to 20-year-old Russians appeared. Totally drunk, they pulled me out of bed and raped me in an unnatural way. In my condition I wasn’t able to do more and fell beside the bed, so they kicked me with their boots, getting me just in the worst spot. I fainted again. When I came to, I crawled back into the bed. Then two more such bums showed up, but they left me alone as I was more dead than alive. I learned back then how much a human being can endure; I couldn’t talk, couldn’t cry, couldn’t even utter a sound. They hit me a bit, which didn’t matter to me since I couldn’t feel anything, and then left me alone. I fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion.
When I awoke very early next morning, I realized again where I was. I quickly noticed an open wardrobe door, and inside was a dress. There was also a shirt and some underwear. So even though the things were much too small, I put them on; what was left of my clothes was still wet. I had to put the dress on leaving the back unfastened, to make it fit. There were no stockings to be found; mine had been wound up so tight they were like bones.
Then I was visited by the Russians again. First one who apparently thought the room was empty, because when he saw me in bed, he left the room immediately. He came back with three more men; that first one wanted to hit me, but the officer wouldn’t let him. So the first man pointed to the Hitler portrait on the wall which was full of bullet holes, and he said I was Hitler fascist. I said, “No! This isn’t my house.” He said, “Come! Go to your house!” I had to walk ahead of them to my house and must have been a pretty sight. When I got there I saw a truck parked in front, and Russian soldiers were loading my slaughtered livestock into a car. The soldiers almost laughed themselves to death when they saw me.
They indicated to their officer, their fingers tapping their heads, that I was probably crazy, and when four female soldiers appeared, they wanted to shoot me. But the officer didn’t permit it. He asked about my neck, and I said, “Russian soldiers; my husband, sister, children, too.” When he heard the word children, he was shocked. I asked him to come to the barn with me but he didn’t want to, and I wasn’t allowed to go back either. So I asked to go to the commandant. He agreed at once with that and sent a soldier with me. But when we got the corner by Kollatz, he indicated to me that I should continue along Neustettiner Street by myself. There were several men already in the marketplace, clearing things away. When I got to the butcher, Albert Nass’s place, a Russian soldier told me to go in: Commander’s Headquarters.
Inside the courtyard I saw three farm wagons filled with Poles, men and women, all in new clothes. Leather chairs and other furnishings came flying out the windows and the Poles leapt at them in a frenzy. Then I saw a Pole who, if I’m not mistaken, was there when my family was murdered; in fact I’m sure he was there, just when they were picking me off the floor. He was the one who hit me when I said it was the Russians who did this. I went over to him and asked to see the commander. He said, “No speak German.” “Yes you do,” I said. You were there at my place yesterday, and you could speak German quite well.” He screamed at me: “I there, I not there, so what. You keep quiet.” A Polish woman came over and said: “What you want, German sow? Commander not for Germans. Commander for Poles. I take whip and chase you away!” As I was about to leave the courtyard, a Russian soldier said, “German woman! Stairs there, go up.” I was immediately made a prisoner for my efforts, locked into a room with others.
When evening arrived it was hell itself. One woman after another in our group was hauled out. The shoemaker’s wife, Frau Graf, who was in her last month of pregnancy, was taken, also a woman from Wusterhausen, and the Peters’ daughter Frau Schmidt. They were driven away by some soldier. The women screamed as they were being forced into the car, and the prisoners’ room was full of screaming. Our nerves were raw. Then we heard the motor revving up, the Russians shone searchlights into the room through the window, so bright that several women screamed out that they were using flame throwers against us. The children cried miserably; it was horrible.
Toward morning the women came back. Two came into the room and collapsed; the other woman was raped once more by the door before they let her in. They came to get me once during the night. I was taken into the slaughterhouse and assaulted on a feather bed right on the soil. When I came to, my neighbor Herr Held was crying over me. My neck had swollen so much over the past hours that I had trouble moving my mouth, and I was spitting blood.
The next morning the Polish “gentlemen” wanted a turn with us, but none of us moved to go along. That one certain Pole, always the worst of the lot, had wedding bands on every single finger, top to bottom. (Oh, it’s so disgusting to think back on all this.) The next night was not much better than the first. We still had not been given anything to eat or drink. Toward morning some Poles came and said that we had to go to Neustettin. There the commandant of Neustettin would give us the necessary papers so that we could return to our homes. They drove us out into the street and said that whoever didn’t come would be shot that night.
The butcher, Herr Nass and his family had come back home in the meantime. People like us were also coming out of the houses across the street. I felt so miserable that I didn’t want to go. Frau Loewe said, stay with us and come what may, we won’t make the march either. But all the others, especially the Peters family, talked us into it because they were afraid I would not live to see the next morning. Peters had a hand cart with him; it had bedding in it. He told me I should grab onto the back end and they would pull me along. Gradually the march began to move; up front were the wagons filled with Poles decked out in their new finery, followed by Poles on new bicycles, then at the rear, the Germans. A procession of misery which exceeded by far the lines of foreigners that had come through Baerwalde during the war.
In the evening we arrived in Neustettin. The Russians directed us to the officers’ villa. We still had nothing to eat, and were not permitted to cook anything ourselves even though food was available there, and we could smell cooking odors. The night was quiet. The next morning two Russians came and ordered us to accompany them to the commander, get our documents, and then go home. We had to leave our baggage out in the street where women with small children also had to wait, as did old people and those badly wounded in the war. We were taken around the church to, I think, Fischer Street. We were taken into a house. No hearing. Twenty-eight people from Baerwalde were there. Women left, men right, crowded in a room where many other Germans waited. The room was about 12 metres square; two beds with mattresses, a closet wardrobe, a chaise lounge, and a chair. Whoever couldn’t find a place to sit had to stand. We got something to eat on the third day. On this third day we were counted, whereby the victims for that night were looked over. When the beasts came that night, of course no one wanted to go, so there were some horrible scenes.
After several days we were ordered to assemble out on the street. We Baerwalders had not yet been registered, and since no one could understand why we were not on the list, they just gave us false names and registered us as Hitler fascists.
We were taken into the courthouse. There we were written up as Party members. In my case the female interpreter wrote Nazi Women’s Association. When I said that was wrong, she forbade me to speak and said: “Other women said about you.” (The next day the list of names was missing, anyway.) After getting written up a Russian took us into the courthouse basement and locked us up. No furniture in the cell, the floor made of red brick, the windowpanes smashed. Besides us Baerwalder women there were a few women from Neustettin. The next morning during toilet break, which always took place in the wood shed under the watch of Russians, men and women together, we saw furniture being piled up in the forecourt. We stole a few things so we’d have something to sit on in that crowded room. At night ten of us women were always taken out to peel potatoes, a bathtub full, in the kitchen. Then out to the wood shed to fetch firewood, guarded by an interpreter. I was always one of those chosen. What that cost me in nerves no one can ever know.
On the third day another transport was leaving, this time with Herr Hass, Herr Kaske and Frau Nass. The Nass’s daughter and niece had to stay, which was quite painful for them. We were then moved to the lodgings of the prison officers. Here we had to lie on the floor again, but at least it was a wooden floor. There were several sick people in the room, among them persons with dysentery. But then we all had diarrhea, open sores and the like. We never were given water to drink or wash with, so we all stank, to say the least.
On the following night the devil himself was on the loose. The Russians came in continuously. They pushed their way between the sleeping women, kicking us in the darkness with their boots and spurs. It didn’t matter to them which woman they got hold of. The niece of Herr Nass, a girl of 16, got a saber drawn across her throat because she refused to let herself be taken, and from the backside at that. And the brave girl did not even make a sound; she did not allow herself to be used.
Unbelievable things were happening at night on Fleischer Street as well. It was so bad that the men who were imprisoned with us in the same room said they couldn’t take it any more, what the Russians were doing to us women; so they made a formal complaint; and we heard that the men were beaten for this, so we said to them: “If they would just stop beating you!” So our pain was double, our own fate and our men’s.
After this terrible night we were made to leave the prison and assemble in the courtyard; we were then given bread, the first bread we had seen in weeks. The bread was our provision for the march to Hammerstein. That bread smelled as good as cake, but no one among us could eat right away; we wanted it to last. We came to a fine villa. They had to force us to go in because we thought it was a brothel.
Then we were finally interrogated. And since I had never been political or had anything to do with the Party, they let me go. I had to made the frightening trip home by myself. It took me five days. Partisans were still fighting in the woods. I came to a village where I wanted to spend the night, but most of the houses were occupied by Poles; they wouldn’t give lodging to any German. Other houses had dead bodies in them. The Germans kept a low profile out of fear. Or they stayed together, several families in groups.
But despite this precaution it was the same story: “Frau, come!” … along with robbery and looting. Poles who would drive by me in wagons would call out: “Cherman or Polaka?” If one answered German: “German nix gut.” And to underline that they’d hit you around the ears with the horsewhip. Around the edges of the forests I saw starving stray livestock wandering aimlessly. And there were still innumerable bodies laying everywhere. Many had their skulls bashed in, and women all had their dresses pulled up. It was as bad as the outward journey.
When I was near Grabunz, I met some women and men from Baerwalde. They were there to bury the bodies that lay along the road. I learned from them that they had buried my loved ones in our garden the previous evening. That is how long they had been hanging in the hayloft. That made my homecoming still harder. My house had been ransacked just after my family was buried; everything was in the church waiting to be carted off to Russia.
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans, 1944-1950 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994), pp. 50-58. Marie Neumann, of Pomerania, was among the sixteen million Germans forcibly “transferred” from their homes during the greatest ethnic cleansing in history; her family were among the more than two million who perished. She eventually arrived in the West, remarried, and began a new family. None of the events described above was, of course, a “war crime,” which by definition — i.e. the victorious Allies’ definition — could only involve German perpetrators, not German victims.
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Stop White Genocide

This video shows you the terrible situation the White race is facing these days , which is why the video @ @ @ @ @ Bitchute .

This video shows you the terrible situation the White race is facing these days, which is why the video has been censored even on Bitchute.