"The extent to which starvation and inhuman treatment is raging in the
state prisons is best shown by the conditions prevailing in the prison
of Moellersdorf. In the years 1915-16, 61 prisoners died there out of
350 to 450 prisoners on the roll. Between January 1, 1917, and May,
1917, 101 prisoners were doomed to death. The majority belong to the
sixth category of prisoners. The thieves, criminals and impostors, if
they had served previously in the army, enjoy special treatment in
Moellersdorf prison. They wear civilian clothes, and are treated with
consideration and well fed. On the other hand, political prisoners,
especially those classed as second category, are dying from
ill-treatment and insufficient nourishment. The judge, auditor A.
Koenig, famous for his arbitrary verdicts against the Czech people, was
a solicitor's clerk in civil life, and now recommends to his wealthy
defendants his Vienna lawyer friends as splendid specialists and
advocates in political matters. Thus, for instance, he forced Dr.
Glaser upon Mr. Kotik as the counsel. Kotik was sentenced to death by
Koenig, and Glaser sent him a bill for 10,000 kronen (L400) for the
'successful defence.'

_The Persecutions of the Sokols_

"Terrible persecutions were inflicted on the Sokol Gymnastic
Association during the war. The sphere of the Sokols' activity does not
touch political affairs at all, being reserved to gymnastics and
spiritual education. Their activity was public, open to official
inquiries and supervision. But this did not save them from
persecutions. The first persecution was already committed in 1914 in
Moravia, when some branches of the Sokol Association were dissolved for
various reasons. Numerous societies were afterwards dissolved