The Black Hole of Le Mans

In the Army's records, it was listed as the Loire Detention Training Center at Le Mans, but in the memories of G.I.s the institution (100 miles southwest of Paris) was the "Continental Stockade." Whether they had suffered its rigors while confined for offenses against military law, or whether they had merely observed them from the outside, the men agreed that it had been tough--like Lichfield, England (TIME, Dec. 31, Jan. 14). There was no question that the Army's policy had been to make detention so uncomfortable that the prisoners would prefer combat duty; the question now was whether the Continental Stockade had been so tough as to defeat the Army's purpose.

As it was closed out last week, and its last batch of prisoners shipped to other centers, ugly stories came to light. Tear gas had been used frequently; authorities argued that this was the "most humane" way of treating mobs. There had been a riot in which prisoners were shot. There had been brutality by the guards, and mass punishment for trivial offenses. Examples: exposure in freezing weather on a windy hill; confinement of 15 men for 36 hours in a 6-by-10-ft. "hole" where they could neither sit nor stand erect. Reported an education officer:

"You can imagine what a man thinks about while he is in the hole or on the windy hill, or even in the cages trying to keep warm. Most of them think: 'Damn the Army, damn Truman, damn the U.S.' They get to hate their own country and their own people. They say: 'I hope we get into another war. ... I want to fight on the enemy's side.' I've heard men use these words. These are the men we are supposed to be teaching the principles of democracy."

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