THE CHURCHES IN SWITZERLAND IN RELATION TO THE INTERNED
—ARRANGEMENTS MADE FOR THE SPIRITUAL WELFARE OF THE BRITISH INTERNED
—ESTIMATES OF THE PSYCHICAL STATE OF THE INTERNED
Before mentioning the arrangements made for the British Interned, I
should like to give a short sketch of the steps taken by the Churches in
Switzerland, and of Swiss regard for the spiritual welfare of the Allied
and German Interned, before the advent of the British.
I take the Roman Catholics first, as most of the Allied Interned were of
that persuasion. The "Mission Catholique," founded by Mgr. Bovet to give
moral aid to Ps. of W., engaged itself from the very first to provide,
under the direction of the "Aumônier en Chef," for the religious
requirements of the Roman Catholics. Mgr. Colliard, Bishop of Lausanne,
was appointed President of the Mission, and the Abbé Savoy, one of its
members, was charged, in collaboration with both native and Interned
priests, and with the assistance of Mgr. Gariel, Professor at the
University of Fribourg, with the duty of organizing services in the
centres of Internment.
Apart from purely spiritual efforts, the Mission also organized a series
of Conferences dealing with the geography, history, industries, and
social life of Switzerland.
Early in 1916, the Abbé, now Captain Aumônier Herbert Savoy, was
nominated Chaplain-General to the Roman Catholics, Captain Aumônier
Spahn to the Protestants, and Dr. M. Erlanger, of the "Rote Mogen David
Society," to the Jews. These appointments affected the French, Belgian,
and German Interned, the British not having as yet made their appearance
in the country.
Each centre of Internment was as far as practicable considered as
forming part of local parish organizations, and Interned priests were
also appointed to assist the Swiss in their work. The services were held
in the parish churches or chapels and oratories improvised for the
occasion. Protestants being in a minority, it was not found possible to
arrange in an adequate manner for their worship, and Captain Aumônier
Spahn could only hold a service for the men once a fortnight, the
dissemination of the Interned throughout the various cantons adding to
his difficulties. The Jews were ministered to by Grand Rabbi T.
Lewenstein at Zürich, and by Dr. M. W. Rappaport and Rabbi Jules Wolff.
The above arrangements met with little difficulty in their application,
as they simply portended an expansion of the existing religious
organizations of the country. Language offering no bar to common
worship, the addition of accommodation in church, chapel, or synagogue
was seldom necessary, and the Interned Frenchman, Belgian or German took
his place as a member of the ordinary Swiss congregation. The clergy,
too, understood the psychology of their flocks, and were not puzzled by
any new manifestations of racial characteristics.
In the case of the British, the conditions were of a different order.
Here, at once, the differences of race, religious observances, and
language became apparent, and it was evident that I should be thrown on
my own resources in providing for the spiritual welfare of our officers
and men. Château d'Oex was, I found, well served as to religious needs.
The importance of the place as a popular mountain resort for British
tourists had led to the maintenance there by the Colonial and
Continental Church Society of a resident Church of England Chaplain, the
Rev. E. Dudley Lampen, and there was also a resident Swiss Roman
Catholic priest, the Abbé Bullet. Both these gentlemen placed themselves
at my disposal for the service of the men. The Rev. A. M. Sutherland,
Minister of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Lausanne, likewise offered
himself for duty, and in due course established, at his own expense, a
chapel at Château d'Oex for the use of his military congregation.
In September, 1916, the C.C.C. Society further sent the Rev. Isaac
Hutchinson from England to assist Mr. Lampen, and these gentlemen
performed all the duties connected with the Anglican Church at Château
d'Oex, Rougemont and Rossinières, until their relief in 1917, when Army
Chaplains were appointed by the Chaplain-General for duty in Switzerland.
At Leysin Church of England services were conducted by the resident
Chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Tisdale, who also rendered valuable assistance in
his relations with the British Catholics, when as yet no English-speaking
priest visited the place.
As regards his military flock, the Abbé Bullet was much handicapped by
his imperfect knowledge of English, and I found it necessary, therefore,
to make other arrangements, and sought for assistance elsewhere. At this
juncture I was brought into touch with the Rev. Father D. V. Rowan,
Professor of Exegesis at the University of Fribourg. This town is well
known throughout the Catholic world as a seat of learning, and a centre
for theological study. For decades past British students have been
attracted to its schools, and British professors have long been engaged
there at the university and religious institutions. Father Rowan,
hearing of my difficulties, at once came forward with the suggestion
that he and his British confrères of Fribourg should take it in turn to
visit the camps, and thus supplement the work of the local priests. This
system was at once adopted and pursued until the winter of 1916-17, when
two Fribourg priests, Fathers W. J. Neville and D. Fahey, were allocated
duties at Château d'Oex and Mürren as resident Incumbents, a change
which gave much satisfaction to them, as they had found the weekly
journeys to and from Fribourg extremely trying during the winter months.
It was also equally pleasurable to the men to have their spiritual
advisers with them at all times.
The arrangements thus inaugurated continued without further adjustment
till early in 1917, when, owing to increased numbers of British
Interned, it was thought desirable to transfer part of the duties to
trained Army Chaplains. The Rev. A. H. Sewell, Army Chaplain 2nd Class,
of the Church of England, was appointed to Château d'Oex in January,
1917; and in the course of that year four additional Army Chaplains,—two
Church of England, two Presbyterian,—were sent out from England to the
various camps, but it was not till early in 1918 that a Roman Catholic
Army Chaplain, Dom Chapman, replaced the Rev. Father Neville at Château
d'Oex, on the latter receiving his commission and proceeding to France.
Apart from this change, the arrangements for the Roman Catholics
remained as before. With the arrival in Switzerland of the Rev. A. H.
Sewell, who was entrusted with the duty of co-ordinating spiritual
effort, the pastoral work gradually assumed the aspect to which the men
were accustomed, thereby greatly adding to the comfort of the camps.
I feel bound, however, to pay a tribute to the Rev. E. Dudley Lampen,
the Rev. A. Sutherland, the Rev. D. Matheson, M.A., and the Rev. Fathers
Rowan, Neville, and Fahey, who did valiant work, and filled the breach,
in the absence of the regular Army Chaplains, whose services were at the
time required in more important spheres of labour. That they had a
difficult task, and one that can only be appreciated by those who were
intimately concerned with the daily life of the camps, goes without
saying; but it was met in a hopeful spirit, and in some cases with
considerable success. They were called upon to deal with soldiers who
were sick at heart, and suffering from the harsh treatment of a long
captivity, and who had been starved in mind and body, as a result of
which they were physically and mentally debilitated, suspicious of their
fellow-men, and without much sense of proportion. Moreover, the system
adopted in the camps in Germany was calculated to weaken the influence
of the N.C.O., and with it had come a relaxation of discipline and a
levelling down all round.
The psychology of officers and men during the first year of their
internment is one very difficult to analyse. I say expressly the first
year, because at the end of that period the building-up process, as
affecting both the physical and mental conditions of all ranks, had made
headway, and new men were being evolved. After that period the problem
had changed, fairly normal conditions had been re-established, and the
British soldier of the type known to us all had emerged, differing no
doubt from, but approximating to, our previous conception of him.
One of our temporary Presbyterian Chaplains, who gave his services
entirely to the men during the critical period of the internment,—that
of 1916,—and whose success amongst them was of a high order, has
recently written to me of his experiences, which, from the point of view
of that difficult question, "the psychology of the men," appear to me of
special interest. I cannot do better than refer to his letters on the
subject. He writes:—
I am not yet certain how to state the psychology of the life there (in
the camp), nor how to justly analyze the why and wherefore of affairs
as lived out by the men, but in case it may be a faint glimmer of the
thing, may I say one or two things that impressed me.
In the more moral and spiritual region of the men's psychology I found
that, given your purpose in being kind to them was on the basis of
their humanity, and not to exploit them for your religious or Church
ends, but desire to give them a lift in every way, they had a great
respect for your sympathy and appreciation, and looked on that which R.
L. Stevenson had so much of as evidence of the "true blue piety." Yes,
just kind deeds and words, hoping the best for them amid their failings
and faults, and doing the best for them in spite of these, and speaking
the very best things in spite of these.
The work you gave me to do among the men in the form of religious
services I came to feel could not compete in the influence over the men
just like the human fellowship; for example, at the farewell one Tommy
rose and said: "He was one we could go to in our joys and sorrows, and
we found him give us his confidence and friendship, and some of us got
it as much when we were bad boys in prison." That reveals a very
striking side of the men, their estimate of the moral values of life.
I don't know if I can trouble you with my own spiritual work when I say
that I adopted with the men a quite new line for me, which came as a
kind of inspiration when I saw them and their natures. Instead of the
usual line in our Church life of putting pressure on the men to become
religious, or fall in with our ideas of religion, I represented my work
among them in its humblest forms of service as a divine power that was
seeking to help them….
How little we ministers reveal the true Master, and how much we
camouflage Him, and also how much more religious the men are than we
think. At Mürren, when Mr. Hobday was presiding with about 200 men on a
Sunday night, I went over the last week of our Lord's life, and
suddenly I realized that the events of conflict with unscrupulous
enemies looked very like the experiences that the men passed through,
and when I said, "Men, I feel as if I was describing the path you trod
in Germany," there was a distinct approval…. I don't know if you have
read the poem by Francis Thompson, called "The Hound of Heaven," well,
it describes the pursuing of love, and I found _that_ the best way
to win the men. You could woo them into doing anything if you cared for
them and they knew it.
I discovered also that the men have no real grievance against the
Bible, but against the manner of its presentation, and if we would only
be more human we would get them interested. I came to the conclusion
that the men had more religion in them than I believed. They were so
unselfish and considerate of each other, and they loved and idealized
their homes and their children, and I also realized that though they
had formed some bad habits, say, drinking too much, there was a great
deal of it the result of their abnormal condition of mind, and perhaps
we lay too much emphasis on these outward sins, and far too little on
the inner faults of spirit.
You will be pleased to hear that I never felt disturbed about their
swearing, as I seldom heard it. They were a singularly high type, I
thought. Low talk I never heard, and I mixed about with them and
conversed with them in quite a human way, and I would have come across
it if it existed.
In the moral region of the men's psychology I must refer to the subject
of swearing, of which a Chaplain at the front says: "He heard enough to
keep his hair on end for the rest of his life." This is a strange
experience, and I have no doubt he is not exaggerating, but I want to
tell you a fact, that neither I nor … ever in all our experience heard
even the mildest swearing, nor ever had to blush over low talk; and
what … said is just my own experience that in their intercourse with
us, at our own table, where some of them were every week, we found them
behave like gentlemen. I am not inclined to explain this by the fact
that having our confidences these men were loyal to our friendship. It
may be in some measure the reason, but I think it is owing to the fact
that those men came out of a terrible experience, an agony of soul,
that left its impression; in fact, they had, in religious language,
seen the face of God, and could never be the same again.
When I had it said to me that my influence over the men had been
accounted for by my sympathy with socialistic principles, I felt it
keenly, for it was neither true of me nor of the men I met. I was very
pleased to discover not the slightest inclination among the mass of the
men of any revolt against law and order, or discipline, when justly
administered, and the only instances of a spirit of revolt were when
the discipline revealed, as it did only very rarely, I confess, a
desire to hit the actor and not the act, or when it in fact seemed
revenge or anger against a particular man. I found, indeed, a very
general acquiescence in military orders, when the commands came from
officers that the men loved and trusted and who treated them as men,
with minds and feelings. That certainly could not be called socialistic
principles. The "Beloved Colonel" or Captain in the British Army is a
man the men continue to respect, and would follow to the death in the
path of duty.
What they (the men) want first of all is the human touch, the assurance
of comradeship, and only when human friendship has done its work
spiritual talk may follow—and perhaps not even then unless there is
abundance of kindly actions to your credit. The soldier quickly detects
if the dominant idea of the Padre is to bring glory to his Church, and
is not passion for doing good to all irrespective of their communion.
Among soldiers the religion without label is the most respected. It is
a distinct advantage to value at a minimum the petty divisions of the
ecclesiastical fold.
The psychology of Ps. of W. and of the Interned has also been the
special study of certain well-known Swiss doctors, amongst others, Dr.
Clement (Fribourg), Dr. A. L. Vischer (Bâle), and Professor Dr. Robert
Bing. Their views have been well summarized by Major Edouard Favre in
his work, "L'Internement en Suisse des Prisonniers de Guerre, Malades ou
Blessés, 1917," and may be briefly stated as follows:—
The fundamental causes acting on Prisoners of War are loss of liberty,
the herding together of large numbers, the unknown duration of
captivity. They suffer from want of space, the impossibility of
isolating themselves from their fellows, the constant expectation in
which they live whilst awaiting letters or parcels, and the ever
recurrent disappointments connected therewith; and all these sufferings
are accentuated by that important factor, ignorance of the duration of
captivity.
At the outset the prisoners seek in febrile activity a release from all
these sufferings, which are aggravated by the memories of horrors lived
through, apprehensions regarding the future, and nostalgia for country
and relatives. Schools, theatrical performances, and concerts are
organized; but gradually the exterior world effaces itself and
disappears, and the prisoners live in a shadow land, without colour or
life. Sensations are blunted, and give place to apathy, and the events
of the war are followed with a mediocre interest.
Such is the _milieu_ in which neurasthenia develops, well marked in
some, less so in others, but common to all those who have passed six
months in captivity behind wire barriers, and reaching a special
intensity amongst, roughly speaking, 10 per cent. of the captives. First
of all, an exaggerated irritability manifests itself, and the least
opposition becomes insupportable. Quarrels are frequent. Then
intellectual concentration becomes difficult, and such as renders close
attention to a few pages of a book impossible. In such cases the
prisoner often deliberately gives up his promenades, and prefers to
remain quiescent.
A phenomenon of constant occurrence is the loss of memory, and inability
to recall names of persons or of localities, specially those connected
with memories anterior to the war. A Sergt.-Major, for instance, forgot
the name of the Colonel who commanded his regiment since 1913, and has
been unable to recall it up to the present. Several Interned cannot
remember the Christian names of their fathers, mothers, and other near
relatives. Another cannot recall the name of his village. Such cases are
numerous even amongst those who have been in Switzerland for eighteen
months.
As a symptom of a secondary nature, insomnia may be mentioned, though
this varies. It may play a rôle in one camp, and not in another.
Some prisoners complain of a loss of sight, and many become extremely
suspicious and defiant. All have a marked tendency to regard the
ordinary events of their daily life from a distorted point of view. The
chief sufferers become silent for three or four days at a time, and are
plunged in a sort of torpor. Once this state is established, it becomes
in general stationary, and does not diminish as long as the captivity
lasts.
The horrible monotony, combined with a succession of petty incidents,
tends to render the captives small in spirit and egoistic to a degree.
They are no longer capable of any deep feeling, and cannot vibrate to
the higher emotions. Suspicion is a marked characteristic. Some of the
Interned could only see in the disinterested services of one of the
greatest of Swiss surgeons the desire to experiment on interesting
material. They compared themselves to "lapins de laboratoire."
Outside these symptoms, the impression conveyed by many of the Interned
is that of personalities profoundly changed. Their relatives find them
altered out of recognition. A distinguished British General of forty
years' service who visited his compatriots in Switzerland made the
remark, "I thought I knew all there was to be known of British officers
and men. I must confess I no longer understand my Interned comrades
after their experience as 'Ps. of W.' in Germany."
Dr. Clement remarked that under the changed conditions due to internment
in Switzerland, psychical troubles would, it was hoped, rapidly cease to
exist, but this did not prove to be the case. This optimism was only
justified in a certain measure. Symptoms which persist for a long time,
and only gradually disappear, are, a mental instability and a want of
power of concentration. The British Interned designate this state by the
characteristic expression, "difficulty to settle down."
Troubles of memory are extremely frequent even amongst those who have
been a long time in Switzerland, and this symptom differentiates itself
from other neurasthenic manifestations by the fact that the sufferer is
conscious of his state.
Amongst the intellectuals, an excessive impressionability manifests
itself. Despite themselves, they misinterpret a gesture, a play of
feature, a tone of voice, a silence even. Sometimes a certain
misanthropy has been noticed amongst the Interned, which tends to a
desire for that solitude of which they have been so long deprived. One
of them explained this by saying: "It is not a dislike of our fellows,
but simply the absence of all pleasure, and perhaps a sentiment of
discomfort at finding oneself amongst people whose condition is other
than our own."
The happy influence exercised by the visits of relatives in bringing
back the realities of life to the Interned, and in re-establishing
contact with the family, is especially dwelt upon by Swiss medical
officers.