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10 DUSTY DAYS April 24. A public health officer, Colonel Hopkins, and a United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration nurse, Miss Gregg, arrive for an unofficial visit. They are studying camp management and would like to inspect our facilities. Our visitors compliment us on the appearance of the camps, but I think they are only being friendly. I must admit, however, that even the Polish quarters look better today. In the evening, when we make rounds at the Russian camp, we are greeted effusively. The cooks and kitchen supervisors tell us how grateful they are to the Americans for coming out every day and being interested in them, and bringing provisions. The food supplies have been arriving regularly, and the compliments bring a trace of a smile to Howcroft's usual grim countenance , but Morivant is embarassed by the exuberance of our welcome. The Colonel has a supply of DDT and asks if I would like to have our people disinfected. I am delighted, because I have been trying to obtain this highly regarded powder since our arrival. Large rooms are selected for the dusting, each with doors for entry and exit. The national leaders are notified. Explanations are given. Appointments are scheduled for the next day. The enlisted men are instructed on their part in guiding the customers through the dusting rooms and the method of dusting, and that night they keep busy stamping little cards, 2,000 of them, saying "DDT" and the next day's date. Two of the men gripe about being overworked. Life is back to normal. Festivities begin the following morning. The French are first, and cooperate fully. Their leaders tell them that no one can I 63 cross the Rhine unless he has his little DDT card. No difficulty with the Italians, who seem to understand and accept long lines. The other Western European and Balkan guests move through without turmoil. But when the hour arrives for the sprinkling of the Poles and Russians, no one is present. Their leaders are found, the necessity for dusting reexplained -typhus, lice, bedbugs, flies, pestilence-and the leaders apologize, then leave to search for their constituents. Soon about a hundred people appear. The Russian chief is furious . Flanked by Eastman and Mace, both fully armed, he visits each barracks building and excitedly informs his people that if they do not have the little cards, they will not be given supper that night. This is a powerful weapon, more potent than the carbines, and soon the rest of the Russians march in reluctantly and receive the treatment. Reactions to the dusting are mixed. Most of the men accept stoically and bravely. But many of the women, and some of the men, are uncertain; they are afraid that the dust will settle in their hair or spoil their clothing. Mothers resist bringing their infants for the procedure. A few of the older people think they are being poisoned. They unwillingly submit but immediately afterward rush to the washrooms to rinse off the magic white powder. Only one person refuses to submit, a fearful middle-aged Polish woman who decides that she will die if she is dusted. Adjacent to the main dusting room is a small side room, and into this sanctuary she flees, clutching her rosary, her countrymen in pursuit. She climbs a dresser and leaps out of a high, narrow window crying, "The Gestapo are here," and sprains her ankle. Her defeat is total. After we tape her ankle, she is dusted. (This is the only casualty recorded during our extensive DDT experiences .) Some of the supervising DPs, instrumental in making the arrangements for their countrymen, think that because they are important camp luminaries they do not need to be dusted. Their illusions are promptly pulverized. Once the dusting has started, the NCOs and enlisted men find the work challenging. Sergeant Morivant becomes enthusiastic. Soon everyone, regardless of his specified job as driver or cook, becomes proficient at inserting the tip of the hand duster into 64 I The First Camp specified crevices between the skin and clothing, and then aiming the duster properly. Men are easier to handle than women, but women are more fun to dust because they have skirt problems which induce considerable hilarity-the more the hilarity , the more thoroughly dusted are the recipients. Usually only one dusting is sufficient to convince the DPs of the desirable qualities of DDT, and often they request a personal supply for their blankets and beds...

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