“5) Hanging: The patient’s hands were handcuffed together behind his back. A hook was slipped through his handcuffs and the victim was lifted by a pulley. At first they jerked him up and down. Later, they left him suspended for varying, fairly long, periods. The arms were often dislocated. In the camp I saw Lieutenant Lefevre, who, having been suspended like that for more than 4 hours, had lost the use of both arms.
“6) Burning with a soldering lamp or with matches:
“On 2 July my comrade Laloue, a teacher from Cher, came to the camp. He had been subjected to most of these tortures at Bourges. One arm had been put out of joint and he was unable to move the fingers of his right hand as a result of the hanging. He had been subjected to flogging and electricity. Sharp-pointed matches had been driven under the nails of his hands and feet. His wrists and ankles had been wrapped with rolls of wadding and the matches had been set on fire. While they were burning, a German plunged a pointed knife into the soles of his feet several times and another lashed him with a whip. Phosphorous burns had eaten away several fingers as far as the second joint. Abscesses which had developed had burst and this saved him from blood poisoning.”
Under the signature of one of the chiefs of the General Staff of the French Forces of the Interior, who freed the Department of Cher, M. Magnon—whose signature is authenticated by the French official authorities whom you know—we read that since the liberation of Bourges, 6 September 1944, an inspection of the Gestapo cellars disclosed an instrument of torture, a bracelet composed of several balls of hard wood with steel spikes. There was a device for tightening the bracelet round the victim’s wrist. This bracelet was seen by numerous soldiers and leaders of the Maquis of Manetou-Salon. It was in the hands of Adjutant Neuilly, now in the 1st Battalion of the 34th Demi-Brigade. A drawing is attached to this declaration. Commander Magnon certifies having seen the instrument described above.
We now submit Document F-565, from the military service of the department of Vaucluse, which becomes Exhibit Number RF-309. It is a repetition of the same methods. We do not consider it necessary to dwell upon them.
We will now turn to Document F-567, which we submit as Exhibit Number RF-310. It refers to the tortures practiced by the German police in Besançon. It is a deposition of M. Dommergues, a professor at Besançon. This deposition was received by the American War Crimes Commission—the mission of Captain Miller. We shall read about the statement of M. Dommergues, professor at Besançon:
“He was arrested on 11 February 1944; was violently struck with a lash during the interrogation. When a woman who was being tortured uttered screams, they made M. Dommergues believe that it was his own wife. He saw a comrade hung up with a weight of 50 kilograms on each foot. Another had his eyes pierced with pins. A child lost its voice completely.”