| "The chain locker on the ship was large, lit during the day through the hole where the chain went through. There was a bucket for a toilet. I know children were put in there and kept overnight." |
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"They used to have people locked in the chain locker, including small
children. It was very dangerous because if the anchor started to slip
and start running out, it would turn a body into pulp in no time at
all. I saw children locked up in the chain locker.
He had a birthday party on March 13 1968; there was a woman who he
ordered locked in the chain locker. During the party he had her
brought out. She was filthy, covered with dirt and rust, and had not
been allowed to wash or change clothes - she had been in there a week.
She was pretty dirty - he brought her out to the party, he said he was
giving her a reprieve and permitting her to come to the party, as if
that was a nice gesture. She still wasn't allowed to wash or change,
so she was brought to the party and had to stay and later she was
returned [to the locker]. He said he was giving her a reprieve but it
was just flaunting her degradation. It had looked like things were
lightening up a little, people thought maybe things were getting
better, then this happened and people were shocked and it gave us a
sinister chill. She was in a dress.
From time to time, Hubbard would cancel such activities, like the chain locker, and blame it on someone else. He said that no one was to be put into the chain locker by his order or decree, and Baron Burez was an evil monster for having chain lockered people. Baron was a US crew member and went into disfavour. He would start such pronouncements with, "It has just come to my attention that..." The length of time for children would vary, but no one was there less than a day. The average was a week or two. Three weeks was about the maximum. Age didn't matter. The youngest kids were 5, 6 or 7. Old, young, men, women, big, little; it wouldn't matter because to Scientologists the being is ageless so you don't think in terms of how young or old someone is." [...] "He could be capable of incredible cruelty. On the ship there was an old man on the Royal Scotman who he made push a peanut round the decks with his nose. He had to get down on his hands and knees, he had to go round the deck, quite a long distance in a race with one or two others also in trouble. The first one back got let off and the last one got a double penalty. It was really tough on this old guy, Charlie Reisdorf. The surface of the deck was very rough wood, prone to splinter, so after pushing peanuts with their noses, they all had raw, bleeding noses, leaving a trail of blood behind them. I not only saw it but the entire crew of the ship was mustered - a mandatory attendance - we were required to watch this punishment, to make an example of it for the rest of us. Reisdorf was in his late 50s probably. His two daughters were messengers, they were 11 or 12 at time and his wife was there also. It was hard to say which was worse to watch: this old guy with a bleeding nose or his wife and kids sobbing and crying at being forced to watch this. Hubbard was standing there calling the shots, yelling, "Faster, Faster!". It was indignity, degradation and breaking a person's will, and making people watch. It was disgusting." |
| Rusty old tanks, way below in the ship, filthy bilge water, no air except via oxygen tubes, and hardly sitting height, in which "sinners" were put from 24 hours to a week, day and night, to hammer rust off the insides with Masters at Arms checking outside to hear if the hammering continued and occasional food out of a bucket. This was like the Concentration Camps from my childhood days. |