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"We had to pass in front of the fence which had given us protection against
the wind during the night. Imagine our surprise when we saw that what we
had taken for a fence was a pile of corpses which our predecessors had
heaped one upon the other. These dead were men of all countries, Frenchmen,
Swiss, Italians, Poles, Germans, as we could distinguish by their uniforms.
Most of them had their arms extended as if they had been stretching
themselves. 'Look, Captain,' said one of the soldiers, 'they stretch their
hands out to us; ah, no fear, we soon shall follow you.'
"We were soon to have another horrid sight. In a village, many houses of
which had been burnt, there were the ghastly remains of burnt corpses, and
in one building, especially, there was a large number of such infesting the
air with their stench. A repetition of scenes I had seen at Saragossa and
at Smolensk."
"At sunset we arrived at Smorgoni, and here we enjoyed great comfort. It
was the first place where we could obtain something for money. From an old
Jewess we bought bread, rice, and also a little coffee, all at reasonable
prices. It was the first cup of coffee I had had for months, and it
invigorated me very much."
"We were young, and our good humor had soon been restored to us; it made us
forget, for the time being at least, how much we had suffered, and at this
moment we did not think of the suffering yet in store for us."
"We left for Ochmiana; our march was tedious.
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