THEIR CRIMES

Translated from the French

1917. 

_It is proposed to devote any profits from the sale of this work to TheLeague of Remembrance, or for relief work in Lorraine_. 

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Robbery

Incendiarism

Murder

Outrages on Women and Children

Killing the Wounded

Sheltering behind Women

Martyrdom of Civilian Prisoners

German Excuses: Lies and Calumny

The German Appeal

Appeal by Belgian Workmen

Conclusion

PREFACE. 

The purpose of this book is to remind English-speaking people all overthe Empire and our Allies in America of the wanton destruction andunspeakable terror which have overwhelmed the regions of France andBelgium occupied by the Boche, and also to quicken a true perception ofthe reparation and punishment due when peace is made with the enemy. Inmany minds time has dimmed the horrors of August and September 1914. When war weariness is apt to sap resolution and the possibility of apatched up peace is furtively canvassed, the great world of theEnglish-speaking race should call to remembrance the inhuman and barelycredible acts of brutality and bestiality committed in cold blood by theGerman race. 

No apology is made for this book. It is a translation of a documentwhich has created a profound impression in France. It is anauthoritative record of German crimes committed on the people of Belgiumand Northern France, attested by the Mayors of twenty-six French towns. Some time ago permission was obtained from the French Committee ofPublication (the Prefect of Meurthe-and-Moselle, and the Mayors of Nancyand Luneville) to produce an English version on condition that thetranslation be an "exact and literal translation. " This has beencompleted and the Editor, the Rev. J. Esslemont Adams, an AssistantPrincipal Chaplain with the British Expeditionary Force in France, isindebted to the friends who have assisted in producing the work. 

INTRODUCTION

This is a book of horrors, but a book of plain truths! Where have wediscovered our facts? They are taken from three sources: _First_, Fourreports issued by the French Commission of Enquiry[1]; and "Germany'sViolation of the Laws of Warfare, " published by the French Ministry ofForeign Affairs; _Second_, Two volumes containing twenty-two reports ofthe Belgian Commission[2], and the Reply to the German White Book of the15th May, 1915; _Third_, Notebooks found upon a large number of Germansoldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers, who have been woundedor taken prisoners, and translated under the direction of the FrenchGovernment. These valuable records, in which the bandits and theirleaders have imprudently given themselves away, are real "_pièces àconviction_. "

These reports in their entirety form an overwhelming indictment. Wewish that everyone could study them in full. But the books are large, running to thousands of pages, and will not find their way to thegeneral public. 

Yet everyone ought to know how the Germans carry on war. We havetherefore made selections from these documents in order to compile thissmall pamphlet. A dismal task, this wading through mud and blood! And ahard task, to run through all these reports, pencil in hand, with theidea of underlining _the essential facts_! You find yourself noting downeach page, marking each paragraph; and, lo and behold, at the end of thebook, you have selected _everything_--- that is to say, nothing. Onemight as well start to gather the hundred finest among the leaves of aforest, or to pick up the hundred most glittering grains among the sandon a beach. All we can do is to take the first examples which come tohand. This, then, is not a collection of the most stirring and strikingGerman crimes, but simply a book of samples. Until complete statisticsare forthcoming, two classes of outrage stand out, and must remain everpresent to the mind: murdered civilians can be counted in thousands;houses wilfully burned, in tens of thousands. 

For want of time and space we have concerned ourselves here only withcrimes committed in Belgium and France, and we have had no thought ofseparating the two neighbouring sister nations. 

Our part in this work is a modest one. Taking at random a certain numberof _facts_, we have grouped them under different headings to makeperusal easier for the reader. To indicate the references would havebeen impossible. Each line would have required a foot-note; the noteswould have been as long as the text, and both the length of, and thecost of producing this pamphlet would have been doubled. 

It is enough to state that there is not a single fact published herethat cannot be verified by our readers in one or other of the documentsalready referred to. Nothing but facts are set down, absolute barefacts, and it is for the reader to form his own conclusions. When he hasstudied these "samples, " and begins by means of them to learn the truth, then, and only then, will he have the right to choose, according to hisconscience, between remembrance and oblivion, between pardon andpunishment. 

L. MIRMAN, Prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle. 

G. SIMON, Mayor of Nancy. 

G. KELLER, Mayor of Luneville. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The members of this Commission were MM. G. Payelle (PremierPrésident de la Cour des Comptes), A. Mollard (MinistrePlénipotentiaire), G. Maringer (Conseiller d'État), E. Paillot(Conseiller à la Cour de Cassation)--Rapports et Procès-verbaux, volsi. , ii. , iii. , iv. , Imprimerie Nationale. 

[2] The Commission, consisting of men of the highest position inBelgium, is presided over by M. Van Iseghem (Président de la Cour deCassation). Its reports and the "Reply to the German White Book" havebeen published by Berger-Levrault, from which firm we have also "Carnetsde Route" (J. De Dampierre) and "Paroles Allemandes. " "Crimes allemandsd'après des té-moi gnages allemands, " by J. Bédier, is published byColin. 

ROBBERY

We shall not waste time over the looting of cellars, of larders, ofpoultry yards, of linen-chests, or of whatever can be consumed promptly, or immediately made use of by the troops--all these are the meresttrifles. Let us also dismiss pillage, organised on a large scale by theauthorities, of all sorts of raw material and industrial machinery: thebill on this score will come to several thousand million francs. Let uslikewise put aside official robberies, committed by governors of towns, or provinces, from municipal treasuries (even the treasury of the RedCross at Brussels was robbed), usually under the form of fines, or oftaxes imposed under transparent pretences. There again there will bemillions to recover. 

We shall deal here with _personal robberies_ only, as distinct from thepilfering carried on by hungry soldiers, distinct too from the regularcontributions levied on a conquered country by an unscrupulousadministration. These robberies are innumerable, committed sometimes byprivate soldiers, but often by officers, doctors, and high officials. Here are some examples. 

(1) _Soldier thieves_: They are rougher in their dealings, and killthose who offer resistance. It is a case of "Your money or your life. "Madame Maupoix, aged 75, living at Triaucourt, was kicked to death whilesoldiers ransacked her cupboards. Monsieur Dalissier, aged 73, belonging to Congis, was summoned to give up his purse: he declaredthat he had no money; they tied him up with a rope and fired fifteenshots into his body. Let us pass quickly over the "soldierthief"--merely small fry!

(2) _Officer thieves_: At Baron, an officer compelled the notary to openhis safe, and stole money and jewellery from it. Another, after goingthrough several houses, was seen wearing on his wrists and fingers sixbracelets and nine rings belonging to women. Soldiers who brought theirofficer a stolen jewel received a reward of four shillings. Therobberies at Baccarat and Creil were "directed" by officers. At Creil, acaptain tried to induce Guillot and Demonts to point out the houses ofthe richest inhabitants, and their refusal cost them harsh treatment. AtFossé, a French military doctor in charge of an ambulance, conveying twohundred patients, and himself wounded, was arrested and taken before acaptain. The captain told the doctor that he would have him shot, andmeanwhile opened the doctor's tunic with his own hand, took out hispocket-book and appropriated the 400 francs he found in it. 

Officers and privates sometimes share the stolen money. From a diarybelonging to a titled Lieutenant of the Guards, let us quote thisnote:--

 "Fossé. Village entirely burnt. The 7th Company made 2000 francs in booty. "

From another officer's note-book:--

 "More than 3000 francs booty for the battalion. "

Another diary, after the sacking of a place, gives a detailed accountof the distribution thus:--

 "460 francs for the first lieutenant, 390 francs for the second lieutenant, etc.... "

(3) _Doctor thieves:_ At Choisy-au-Bac, two army doctors, wearing theirbrassards, personally sacked the house of a family named Binder. AtChâteau-Thierry some doctors were made prisoners: their mess-tins wereopened and found to be full of stolen articles. After Morhange, a Frenchdoctor of the 20th Corps remained in the German lines to be near hiswounded. He was accosted by one of his German 'confrères. '[3] who withhis own hands stole his watch and pocket-book. 

At Raon-sur-Plaine, after the retreat of our troops, Dr. Schneiderremained behind with thirty wounded. Next day up came a German ambulancewith Professor Vulpius, a well-known German scientist of HeidelbergUniversity, who must have presided over many international medicalcongresses. As soon as he was installed, "Herr Professor" intimated tohis French fellow-doctors that he was "going to begin with a smallcustomary formality. " The formality was a simple one: his colleagueswere to hand over to him "all the money they had on them. " "I stronglyprotested" (declared the French doctor, on oath), "but we were compelledto hand over our purses and all their contents. Having relieved us inthis way, he turned to our poor wounded, who were all searched andstripped of their money. There was nothing to be done: we were in thehands, not of a doctor, but of a regular brute.... "

(4) _Royal thieves_: After living about a week in a château near Liége, H. R. H. Prince Eitel Fritz, the Duke of Brunswick, and another noblemanof less importance, had all the dresses that could be found in thewardrobes belonging to the lady of the house and her daughters packed upbefore their own eyes, and sent to Germany. 

 * * * * *

These thieves are often _facetious_: they give as compensation aso-called receipt or bond (in German, of course), which in French means, "Good for a hundred lashes, " or "Good for two rabbits, " or "To be shot, "or "Payable in Paris".... They are also _disgusting_. In houses robbedby them they leave, by way of visiting cards, excrement in beds, ontables, and in cupboards. They are sometimes _unnaturally vicious_. In avillage of Limbourg they burnt in a stable a stallion valued at 50, 000francs, and "forced the farmer, his wife and children to witness thecrime on their knees with their arms raised. " Amongst the crowd ofunfortunate people brought from Louvain to Brussels were thirteenpriests. The soldiers at a German guard-house stopped the column, andordered the priests to come out. To shoot them? No. They forced theminto a pigsty, from which they had driven out the only pig. Forthwiththey compelled most of them to strip off all their clothes, and robbedthem of everything of value they possessed. 

These thieves are _practical_ too. At Dinant, safes were opened withoxy-hydrogen blow-pipes, brought expressly for that purpose. They have apartiality for safes, and in this connection the story of Lunévilledeserves recording. A house near the station, belonging to M. Leclerc, was set on fire; the walls alone remained standing, and in one of them(on the second floor) a safe was left intact. A non-commissionedofficer, named Weill, with a party blew up the wall with dynamite, andthe safe was extricated from the rubbish, carried to the station, put ona truck, and sent to Boche-land. This man Weill, before the war, oftencame to Luneville on business with hops, was always well received there, made himself agreeable and knew everybody. When the Germans settled inthe unfortunate town he played a very important part, in spite of hislow rank, in acting as agent, confidential clerk and guide to theCommanding Officer. 

The robbers are also business-like in their transport arrangements as tocarriages, military waggons, lorries, and motor cars. At Compiègne, where the home of the Orsetti family was sacked, silver plate, jewelleryand articles of value were collected in the courtyard of the château, then classified, registered, packed and "put into two carts, upon whichthey took care to place the Red Cross flag. " We read in the note-book ofa wounded German soldier, under medical treatment at Brussels, "A carhas arrived at the hospital, bringing war booty, a piano, two sewingmachines and all sorts of other things. "

In 1870, our clocks were in most demand; now, pianos form theattraction, and an immense number have been sent to Germany. They arethe article particularly favoured by the Boche ladies. In a châteauretaken by our troops, an officer left behind a letter from his wife, inwhich is written, "A thousand thanks for the beautiful things you sentme. The furs are magnificent, the rosewood furniture is exquisite; butdon't forget that Elsa is always waiting for her piano. "

These women, however, are not all as patient in waiting as Elsa. Theyfrequently come and choose for themselves, and preside over the packing. They have been seen arriving in motor cars from Strasbourg or Metz, atmany towns in Lorraine, at Lunéville, Baccarat, and elsewhere. 

All note-books, more or less, contain such items as these: "Wholesalepillage and abundant loot, " "Everything destroyed or sacked, " "Lootinggoing strong, " "Played the piano; looting going strong. " This veryGerman formula frequently occurs, "_Methodically_ plundered. " And again, "We have been allowed to plunder; we didn't require to be told twice:whole bales of loot. "

"_Rethel. _ The Vandals could not have done better. " (The officer whomakes this indiscreet admission and seems to protest against the theftscommitted, writes on the following page: "I have found a silk rainproofcoat and a camera for Felix. ")

"_Courcy. _ The village, and the workmen's cottages looted and sacked. Atrocious. There is something, after all, in what they say of Germanbarbarians. "

"_Ottignies. _ The village was pillaged. The blond beast has made plainwhat he is. The Huns and the free-lances of the Middle Ages could nothave done better. "

"_Cirey. _ During the night incredible things were done: shops sacked, money stolen, rapes: enough to make one's hair stand on end. "

FOOTNOTES:

[3] We have not found this fact recorded in the Commission's Reports. Itwas told to us, on his return from captivity, by Dr. Marlier, of the20th Corps, taken prisoner at Morhange, and Dr. Marlier is the soul ofhonour. 

INCENDIARISM

In order to punish imaginary crimes, attributed to individuals ortownships, or without even taking the trouble to discover any kind ofpretext, the Germans often, especially after looting, set everything onfire _so as to make all traces disappear_. Sometimes, as at Courtaçon, they compelled the inhabitants to provide the material for burning theirown houses; or, as at Recquignies, forced prisoners "to set the housesof the doctor and mayor on fire with lighted straw. " But generally theydo the work themselves. They have a _special service_ for this, and allthe requisite incendiary material is carefully prepared; torches, grenades, fuses, oil pumps, firebrands, satchels of pastilles containingvery inflammable compressed powder, etc. German science has applieditself to the perfecting of the technique of incendiarism. The villageis set alight by a _drilled_ method. Those concerned act quite coolly, as a matter of duty, as though in accordance with a drill scheme laiddown and perfected beforehand. 

Of course, fire once let loose, these people have to see that it doesits work completely: accordingly, at Louvain, they destroyed thefire-engines and fire-escapes; at Namur, they stopped the firemen at thevery moment they were preparing to do their duty. 

In this way they sometimes wilfully burned down whole blocks ofdwellings (Lunéville): sometimes an entire district (105 houses atSenlis, 112 at Baccarat): sometimes almost a whole town itself (morethan 300 houses at Gerbéviller, 800 at Sermaize, 1, 200 at Dinant, 1, 800at Louvain[4]). On other occasions they did not leave a house standing(Nomeny, Clermont-en-Argonne, Sommeilles). 

The complete list of buildings, cottages, farms, villas, factories, orchâteaux, burned wilfully in this way by hand, will be a formidable one, amounting to tens of thousands. [5]

Refinement of cruelty frequently occurs. At Aerschot "women had towitness the sight of the conflagration holding their hands up. Theirtorture lasted six hours. " At Crévic, the Germans began their sinisterwork by burning a château which they knew belonged to General Lyautey. The troops, commanded by an officer, shouted out for Madame andMademoiselle Lyautey "that they might cut their heads off. "

The houses destroyed by fire were not always uninhabited. At Maixe, M. Demange, wounded in both knees, dragged himself along and fell prostratein his kitchen; his house was set on fire and Madame Demange wasforcibly prevented from going to the rescue of her husband, who perishedin the flames. At Nomeny, Madame Cousin, after being shot, was throwninto the burning building and roasted. At the same place, M. Adam wasthrown alive into the flames. Let us note in connection with him, totheir credit, an act of comparative humanity. Finding that the unhappyman was not being burnt fast enough, they ended his misery in the flamesby shooting him. At Monceau-sur-Sambre, where they set fire to 300houses, they confined the two brothers S. In a shed, and the unfortunatemen were burnt alive. [6]

The soldiers' diaries are filled with descriptions of incendiarism, someof which we now quote. "Returned by Mazerulles, which was burnt as wepassed through, because the engineers found a telephone there connectedup with the French. "[7] "The whole village was in ablaze. Everythingdestroyed in the street, except one small house; in front of the doorwas a poor woman with her six children, her arms raised and begging formercy. And every day it is the same thing. "

_Parnx_. "The first village burnt (in Lorraine, on the 10th August);after that the fun began. Villages in flames, one after the other. "Another note-book simply states, "Sommepy--horrible carnage. The villageentirely burnt; the French thrown into the burning houses; civilianswith the rest. " Another recalls theatrical memories. "The village isablaze; it reminds one of the conflagration of Walhalla in the 'Twilightof the Gods. '"

Here is a poet speaking: "The soldiers set up the red cock (_i. E. _, fire) upon the houses, just as they like. " This poet is moved, andspeaks of "pure vandalism" on the part of his companions in arms. Andagain, a musician writes, "Throwing of incendiary grenades into thehouses; a military concert in the evening--'Nun danket alle Gott'! (Nowthank we all our God). " Finally, a Bavarian: "The village(Saint-Maurice, Meurthe-et-Moselle) was surrounded, and the soldiersposted one yard apart so that no one could escape. Then the Uhlans setfire to the place, one house after the other. No man, woman, or childcould possibly escape. Only the cattle were removed in safety, becausecattle have some value. Anyone trying to escape was shot. Everything inthe village was destroyed. " We shall see presently that they even wentso far as to burn ambulances. 

FOOTNOTES:

[4] They destroyed by fire the Library at Louvain, with its 200, 000volumes and its incomparable treasures. By means of shells and fire theyhave injured in one place, totally destroyed in another, wonders of artthat were an integral part of our human heritage; our Cathedrals atRheims, Arras, Ypres, &c. 

[5] Belgium alone accounts for about 20, 000. 

[6] This fact is quoted in the admirable book by Captain A. De Gerlache, entitled "Belgium and the Belgians during the War, " published by thefirm of Berger-Levrault. 

[7] See note at foot of page 31. (this is foot-note 11)

MURDER

Not having sufficient space for a complete catalogue, we shall heresimply mention the judicial murders of Miss Cavell, Eugene Jacquet, Battisti, and others, in order to honour the memory of those noblevictims. For the same reason, as they are now well known to everyone, wecontent ourselves with merely recalling the criminal torpedoing of the_Lusitania, _[8] _Ancona, Portugal, Amiral-Ganteaume_.... All merchantsteamers, without any military character whatever, employed in carryingpassengers of every nationality, and the last-named crowded withrefugees. 

We may pass over the crimes committed _from a distance_, so to speak, onunfortified towns, with fieldpieces, long-range guns, aeroplanes, andZeppelins, merely noting that the Germans _were the first_ to fireshells into the centre of towns indiscriminately. If they made anexception, it was to aim at the cathedral square, when people wereleaving after Mass, as at Nancy, or into the market-place at the timewhen women are busiest, as they did at Lunéville. 

We only mention here such outrages as were committed at close quarterswith hand-weapons, bayonets or rifles. The list is a long one. Will theexact number of victims ever be known? In Belgium alone it has beenproved that up to now more than 5, 000 civilians have been assassinated:grown men, old people, women and children. They slaughtered theirvictims sometimes one by one, sometimes in groups, often in masses. Theywere not content only with killing. At one place they organised roundthe massacre such tragic scenes, and at another displayed suchrefinements of cruelty, that reason falters in face of their acts, andasks what terrible madness has brought this race to such low depths? Isit possible? Yes, it is. Judge by the following examples:--

At Forêt, the village schoolmaster was shot for refusing to trampleunder foot the national flag, torn down from the front of the school. [9]At Schaffen, A. Willem was tied to a tree and burnt alive, and two otherunfortunate men were buried alive. Madame Luykx and her little girl, 12years old, were shot together in a cellar. J. Reynders and his youngnephew, 10 years of age, were both shot in the street. At Sompuis, anold man named Jacquemin, aged 70, was bound to his bed by an officer andleft there without food for three days, dying soon after his release. 

A Westphalian prisoner states, "The commanding officer ordered us toshoot two women, and we did so. One of them was holding a child by thehand, and in falling she dragged the child over with her. The officergave orders to shoot the child, because it could not be left alone inthe world. " At Rouves, a Government clerk refused to tell a Bavarianofficer the numbers of the French regiments in the neighbourhood. Theofficer killed him with two shots from his revolver. At Crézancy, another officer shot with his own hand young Lesaint, 18 years old, "toprevent his being a soldier later on. " At Emberménil, Madame Masson wasshot for having, in absolute good faith, given some wrong information. As she was obviously in a state of pregnancy they made her sit down on abench to meet her fate. At Ethe, two priests were shot "for havingburied some weapons. " At Marquéglise, a superior officer ordered thearrest of four young fugitives. Learning that two of them came fromBelgium, he exclaimed, "The Belgians are filthy people, " and withoutmore ado took his revolver and shot them one after the other. Three werekilled outright, the fourth expired the following day. 

From the crowd of fugitives which left Louvain in flames, the priestswere singled out, and searched. On one of them, a Jesuit father, by nameDupierreux, they found a note-book containing the following note inFrench, "When I used to read about the Huns under Attila devastatingtowns, I smiled. I smile no longer now that I have seen with my own eyesthe hordes of to-day setting fire to the churches and library ofLouvain. " In front of the assembled troops the priests were placed in asemi-circle round the Jesuit Father. The incriminating phrase was readout, and then translated into German. The lieutenant said that itconstituted an incitement to murder, and that the Jesuit must be shot onthe spot. The sentence was carried out forthwith, and the otherpriests, his companions, were made to bury him where he fell. 

At Pin, some Uhlans found two young boys on the road. They tied them bythe arms to their horses and galloped off. The bodies of the poor ladswere found a few miles away--their knees were "literally crushed"; onehad his throat cut and both had several bullets in their heads. AtSermaize, a labourer, named Brocard, and his son, were arrested. Hiswife and daughter-in-law, mad with terror, threw themselves into aneighbouring stream. The old man broke away, and ran to try and savethem. The Germans dragged him away.... Four days later Brocard and theson, on being liberated, returned home, and after a search, found thebodies. The two women, while still in the water, had been shot severaltimes through the head. A parish priest named Dergent was taken toAerschot, stripped, and tied to a cross in front of the church; hisfingers and toes were crushed and broken with the butt-end of a rifle. The inhabitants were made to pass in front of him and were eachcompelled to urinate on him in turn; then he was shot and his bodythrown into the canal. [10]

At Hériménil, during the pillage, the inhabitants were shut up in achurch, and kept there for four days without food. When Madame Winger, 23 years of age, and her three young servants, one girl and two boys, were too slow in leaving her farm to go to the church, the captainordered his men to fire on them. Four more dead bodies!

The Germans arrived at Monchy-Humières. A group of inhabitants watchedthem marching past. No provocation whatever was offered, but an officerthought that he heard someone utter the word "Prussians. " He at oncecalled out three dragoons, and ordered them to fire upon the group--onekilled and two wounded--one of the latter being a little girl of four. 

At Sommeilles, when the fire--which destroyed the whole place--brokeout, Madame X. Took refuge in a cellar belonging to M. And Madame Adnot, who were there, with their four children, the eldest a girl of 11 years. A few days after, on returning to the village, our soldiers found theseven bodies in the cellar lying in a pool of blood, several of thembeing horribly mutilated. Madame X. Had her right arm severed from herbody; the little girl's foot had been cut off, and the little boy offive had his throat cut. 

At Louveigné a certain number of men were shut up in a blacksmith'sshop; in the afternoon the murderers opened the door as if it were apigeon-shooting competition, drove the prisoners out, and shot themdown--a ghastly group of 17 corpses. 

At Senlis the heroic Mayor, M. Odent, and six members of his staff wereshot. 

At Gerbéviller they forced their way into the house of M. And MadameLingenheld; seized the son, aged 36, exempt from service, and wearingthe badge of the Red Cross, tied his hands, dragged him into the streetand shot him. They then returned to look for the father, an old man of70. Meanwhile the mother, mad with terror, made her escape. On comingout she saw her son lying on the ground. As he still showed signs oflife, they threw paraffin over him and roasted him. The father was shotlater on with fourteen other old men. More than 150 victims wereidentified in this parish. 

At Nomeny, M. Vassé provided shelter for a number of neighbours in hiscellar. Fifty soldiers got in and set fire to the house. To escape theflames the refugees rushed out and were shot one by one as they emerged. Mentré was killed first; his son Léon, with his little eight-year-oldsister in his arms, fell next: as he was not quite dead they put thebarrel of a rifle to his ear and blew his brains out. Then came the turnof a family named Kieffer. The mother was wounded; the father, his boyand girl, aged respectively 10 and 3, were shot down. They fell on themwith fury. Striffler, Guillaume, and Vassé were afterwards massacred. Young Mlle. Simonin, 17 years old, and her small sister, afraid to leavetheir refuge in the cellar, were eventually driven out by the flames, and immediately shot at. The younger child had an elbow almost blown offby a bullet; as the elder girl lay wounded on the ground, she wasdeliberately kicked by a soldier. At Nomeny 40 victims were identified. 

And now we come to some of the _wholesale slaughters. _ At Louvain, morethan 100 victims; at Aerschot, over 150; at Soumagne, 165; at Ethe, 197;at Andenne, over 300; at Tamines, 400; at Dinant, upwards of 600, ofwhom 71 were women, 34 old men of over seventy, 6 children from five tonine years old, and 11 under five. At Aerschot, a first batch of 78 menwere taken out of the town, and ordered to advance in groups of three, holding each other by the hand, when they were made to pass in front ofsome German Military Police, who shot them all at short range withrevolvers. Others had their hands bound so tightly that many screamedwith pain: they spent the night lying on the ground, and were shot thenext day. Many, before execution, were compelled to dig their owngraves. At Dinant, the victims were placed in two rows, the firstkneeling, the second standing. Then came the order--"Fire!" At Tamines, several hundred men were massed in the Place Saint-Martin, on the bankof the Sambre. The assassins stood ten yards away and fired a volley. All fell, but some were not wounded. The officer in command ordered themto "stand up. " A second volley was fired. As soon as the firingfinished, there was a frightful scene which lasted until theevening--the killing of the wounded. Many soldiers, some wearing thebadge of the Red Cross, approached their victims by the light of smalllanterns, and passed through their ranks, clubbing them with the buttend of their rifles, and stabbing with bayonets. A perfect shambles!

In these horrors we do not discern the musical note, or theacknowledgment of the "Old German God. " Yet, here is a specimen:--

At Andenne, Colonel Schumann, in command of the Potsdam Rifles, organised a grand concert in the evening at the Place des Tilleuls. Theentertainment ended with a prayer!

It now remains for us to publish a few extracts from note-books foundupon officers and privates. Some are short items like thefollowing:--"Pepinster, 12th August. Burgomaster, Priest andSchoolmaster shot, and houses burnt to the ground. We resume our march. "Another, "Villers-en-Fagne, village in flames. The population hadnotified the French of the approach of the grenadiers; thereupon thehussars set fire to the village, the Parish Priest and others beingshot. "

Others enter into details of the executions. "_Leffe. _ We shoot everyonewho fires on our men. We put three, one behind the other, and a Marburgrifleman kills them outright with a single shot. It is war to theknife. "

Another expresses something other than enthusiasm for such work. "Considering that the King (of the Belgians) has given orders to defendthe country by all possible means, we have been ordered to shoot everymale inhabitant. At Dinant more than 100 were collected in a crowd andshot. A dreadful Sunday. " Another, an aesthete, writes as follows:"During the night many more civilians were shot, so many that we wereable to count over 200. Women and children, with lamps in their hands, were compelled to witness the horrible sight. We afterwards ate ourrice among the dead bodies. Sadly beautiful. " He adds (in shorthand)"Captain Hermann was drunk. "

Again another: "_Dinant. _ We have been firing on everyone who showedhimself, or on those thrown out of the houses, men or women. The bodieslie in the streets, in heaps a yard deep. "

A Saxon officer writes: "My company is at Bouvignes. Our men behave likevandals: everything is upset; the sight of the slaughtered inhabitantsdefies all description; not a house is left standing. We have draggedout of every corner all survivors, one after another, men, women, andchildren, found in a burning cloister, and have shot them 'en masse. '"

The following depositions on the massacres at Nomeny are made byprisoners, one a Bavarian officer in the Reserve, the other a private inthe same regiment. The lieutenant says: "I gathered the impression thatit was impossible for the officers at Nomeny to prevent such acts. Asfar as I can judge, the crimes committed there, which horrified all thesoldiers who were at Nomeny later on, must be put down to the acts ofunnatural brutes. " The soldier says, "At five o'clock regimental orderswere received to kill every male inhabitant of Nomeny, and to razeeverything to the ground; we forced our way into the houses. " Here is amore detailed account of a massacre near Blamont. "All the villagersfled: it was terrible; their beards thick with blood, and what faces!They were dreadful to look at. The dead were all buried, numberingsixty. Among them were many old men and women, and one unfortunate womanhalf confined--the whole being frightful to look at. Three childrenwere clasped in each other's arms, and had died thus. The Altar and thevaulting of the church were destroyed because there was a telephone[11]communicating with the enemy. This morning, 2nd September, all thesurvivors were expelled. I saw four small boys carrying away on twosticks a cradle containing a baby of five or six months. All this isdreadful to see. Blow for blow: thunder against thunder! Every thing isgiven up to pillage. I also saw a mother with her two children; one hada big wound on the head, and one eye knocked out. "

FOOTNOTES:

[8] They have decorated the pirates who sank the _Lusitania_. They gloryin the crime, and have even struck a commemorative medal in its honour. 

[9] In this case, and many of the following ones, the reader isrequested to note, and remember, the _motive_ for the murders. 

[10] This cruel treatment of the Abbé Dergent, priest of Gelrode, nearLouvain, is reported by a neutral witness, Father G. , a student atLouvain. The German soldiers accused the Belgian priests of everyconceivable crime; the Assistant-Priest of Sainte-Gertrude (Louvain), who was remonstrating with a soldier, received this reply: "We areCatholics too, but you are pigs and black devils. " In Belgium about onehundred of the clergy were massacred. Note further that in thisunfortunate country _doctors_ were particularly ill-treated;thirty-seven being shot in the small parishes, while more than onehundred and fifty disappeared altogether from large towns. 

[11] To whom did it belong, and where was it? Telephones exist in everydistrict of Meurthe-et-Moselle. Besides, our army installed fieldtelephones which were not all destroyed at the time of their retreat. Itis a most foolish pretext, yet where can one find a more stupid one thanthis? A German official communiqué, in order to prove that the generalrising of the people had been organized for a long time, declares, "thatdepôts of arms were installed, where each rifle bore the name of the manfor whom it was intended. " It is absolutely clear that this applies toarms taken from civilians by order of the local authorities in Belgiumand France, and deposited at the Town Hall, every weapon bearing thename of its owner. Would they have taken that for an arsenal? No, stupidas they may be, they are not so foolish as that. They feign stupiditysimply because they know very well that the conscience of the civilizedworld is beginning to be moved. 

OUTRAGES ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN

We might write a long and heartbreaking chapter on this pitiful subject, but let the following suffice. The Report of the French Commission ofEnquiry concludes with these words, "Outrages upon women and young girlshave been common _to an unheard-of extent_. " No doubt the bulk of thesecrimes will never come to light, for it needs a concatenation of specialcircumstances for such acts to be committed in public. Unfortunately andonly too often these circumstances have existed, _e. G. _, atBeton-Bazoches and Sancy-les-Provins, a young girl, and at St. Denis-les-Rebaix, a mother-in-law and a little boy of eight years old, and at Coulommiers a husband and two children, were witnesses tooutrages committed on the mother of the family. Sometimes the attackswere individual and sometimes committed by bodies of men, _e. G. _, atMelen-Labouxhe, Margaret W. Was violated by twenty German soldiers, andthen shot by the side of her father and mother. They did not evenrespect nuns. [12]

They did not even spare grandmothers (Louppy-le-Château, Vitry-en-Perthois ... ). 

Nor did they respect children.... At Cirey, a witness (a Universityprofessor), whose statements one of us took down a few days after thetragedy, cried to a Bavarian officer, "Have you no children in Germany?"All the officer said in reply was, "My mother never bore swine likeyou. "

Now and then they let themselves loose on a whole family; at Louppy, themother and her two young girls aged thirteen and eight, respectively, were simultaneous victims of their savagery. 

The outrages sometimes lasted till death. At Nimy, the martyrdom oflittle Irma G. Lasted six hours till death delivered her from hersufferings. When her father tried to rescue her he was shot, and hermother was seriously wounded. Indeed, it was certain destruction to anyfrenzied parent who tried to defend his child. A clergyman of Dixmudesays, "The burgomaster of Handzaeme was shot for trying to protect hisdaughter. " And how many other cases have occurred! We have not the heartto continue the list. 

FOOTNOTES:

[12] See the report of the French Commission (vol. I. , page 35). Seealso, in the "Reply to the White Book, " p. 500, the moving letter ofCardinal Mercier to von Bissing: "My conscience forbids my divulging toany tribunal the information, alas, only too well substantiated, which Ipossess. Outrages on nuns have been committed ... "

KILLING THE WOUNDED

There are _great numbers_ of wounded who, on their solemn oath, haverelated how, when lying on the field of battle, they saw their woundedcomrades "finished off" by rifle or revolver shots, or by blows frombutt-ends, or by bayonet stabs, or kicked to death by German soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and even by officers. [13]

We cannot pause to analyse these innumerable depositions. There is otherevidence. How often, when a counter-attack has put us in possession ofground lost the day before, have we found poor fellows "finishedoff"--with their throats cuts, as in the case of the two sergeants ofthe 31st Chasseurs at the Pass of Sainte-Marie, or "with their ownbayonets driven into their mouths, " like the poor little fellow of the17th. The enemy often runs amok like this:--"On August 23rd, the Curé ofRéméréville tended Lieutenant Toussaint (who passed out first at theForestry School in July). When he fell in battle, this young officer wasbayoneted by all the Germans who passed near him, and his body was amass of wounds from head to feet. " At Oudrigny "a German officer met aFrench vehicle showing the Red Cross flag, and loaded with ten wounded. He deployed his company, and fired two volleys at it. " At Bonviller, anofficer murdered nine French wounded, stretched helpless in a barn, byshooting them through the ear. On 23rd August at Montigny-le-Tilleul, M. Vital was caught in the act of tending a French soldier, L. Sohier byname, wounded in the head and side. Such a crime deserved punishment, and the wretches first shot the orderly and then the patient. 

At Ethe they set a shed on fire and roasted more than twenty wounded whowere lying there. 

We all know the celebrated order of General Stenger in the region ofThiaville (Meurthe-et-Moselle):--"No prisoners are to be taken. Allprisoners, whether wounded or not, must be slaughtered. "

It was not only in Lorraine that such orders were given. Listen to thedepositions of a German soldier: "The same day we saw eighteen otherFrenchmen. Lieutenant N. Told us to shoot them as he did not know whatelse to do with them. "

Read this letter found at L'Éçouvillon in a German trench which werecaptured: "Every day we take many prisoners, but they are shot at onceas we no longer know where to put them. "

Think of the diary in which a German soldier near Peronne recorded hisimpressions of the day: "They lay in heaps of ten or twelve, some deadand some still living. Those who could still walk were marched off. Those who were wounded in the head or lungs, and could not liftthemselves up, were finished off with a bullet. That is the order whichwe got. "

A German soldier, while being nursed in a hospital at Nancy, confided toDr. Roemer that the wound in his stomach "had been inflicted on him by aGerman N. C. O. Because he refused to finish off a wounded Frenchman. "

Wounded were not only massacred on the field of battle, but fieldhospitals were also the scene of atrocities. At Gomery, in a casualtyclearing station, under Dr. Sédillot, there were numerous woundedremaining in the German lines. A German officer with twenty-five menvisited the place and inspected it and retired, saying that all was inorder. But a N. C. O. And a party of soldiers remained in the streetoutside. They were excited and kept shouting, "It is war to the death, "and making signs of cutting throats. They rushed in and with theirrevolvers shot down Dr. Sédillot (who happily survived, with others, togive evidence), and set fire to the place. Maddened by the flames, thewounded (many of whom had had amputations performed on them that verymorning) leapt from the windows on the first floor and fell into thegarden, where the executioners picked them up, gathering them in abunch, and shot them. In this way Lieutenant Jeannin and Dr. Charettewere murdered, and from one hundred to one hundred and twenty officersand soldiers--whose wounds should have made them sacred--perished fromshot or fire after terrible sufferings. 

When all is said, however, it is better to kill wounded soldiers by fireor sword than by starvation, as the following incident shows: Onehundred wounded Frenchmen, together with Dr. Bender, were brought to theStenay barracks, and one hundred and eighty more came in shortlyafterwards; the latter, having been left out unattended on thebattle-field for five days, were in a terrible condition. Dr. Bender invain begged the Germans for help in getting the wounded men out of theambulances into the hospital. The Boches refused, and simply went onsucking their pipes. Though wounded himself, the doctor, with the aid oftwo male nurses (Frenchmen both), had to do the whole thing himself. For several days the Boches gave them no food at all. "Our poor fellowsscreamed with hunger, "[14] says the doctor, on oath, and adds, "I hadsixty badly wounded with me, and begged the German army doctor tooperate, but he said he had no time. I then asked his leave to operatemyself, but his reply was, "You are in the German lines, and mustconform to our rules. " The doctor ends his pathetic evidence with thewords, "Nearly all these unhappy men died of neglect. "

We have seen doctors, like Professor Vulpius, actually steal money; butof all the types of Boche doctors, the most hideous is the hero of thefollowing tale, taken from the deposition of Dr. Bender. "A Frenchsoldier, at Stenay, was under my treatment. He had a wound in hisfoot--not very severe, which did not need an operation at all. What wasmy astonishment to find that a German army surgeon had amputated histhigh? I could not help expressing my indignation, and the surgeon'sonly reply was, "He will be a man the less against us in the nextwar. "[15] They will deny these crimes to-morrow, but in 1914 theygloried in them. 

On the 18th of October a Silesian newspaper published an article sentfrom the front by a N. C. O. , in which he says, "Men who are particularlytender-hearted give the French wounded the 'coup de grace' with abullet, but the others cut and thrust as much as possible. Our enemiesfought bravely ... Whether they are slightly or badly wounded our braveFusiliers spare the Fatherland as far as possible the expensive troubleof looking after numerous enemies. In the evening, with prayers ofthanksgiving on our lips, we go to sleep. " Are these mere boastings ofcrimes? No. The article was submitted to the Captain of the Company whocertified it as correct and counter-signed it. The N. C. O. , the Captain, the Silesian public, the whole German nation were delighted to see thisabominable story of murder and shame appear in the paper under theheading, "A Day of Honour for our Regiment. "[16]

FOOTNOTES:

[13] Report of the French Commission, vol. Iii. 

[14] He adds that certain orderlies--Lorrainers, belonging to the GermanArmy--supplied them with food on the sly. 

[15] French chivalry could hardly believe that a doctor would amputate awounded enemy's limb without absolute necessity and in mere revenge, butsuch cases are, alas, not rare. See the awful tales of torture in the"Journal d'un Grand Blessé en Allemagne, " by Charles Hennebois (pp. 137, 146), and the statement of a German doctor (p. 87), "Your doctors inFrance perform amputations as they please on our wounded. The order hastherefore been given to amputate without hesitation, as reprisals, everydamaged limb. "

[16] Let us quote, to show the mental "make-up" of certain Germans, theconditions in which Captain Coustre of the 108th and Captain Lesourd ofthe 50th met their deaths. They were wandering over the battle-fieldwhere the enemy had been repulsed. They heard a cry for help. There wasa soldier in one place and an officer in another who asked for a drink. They stopped and leant over them to give them a drink from their flaskswhen the wounded men blew their brains out. 

SHELTERING BEHIND WOMEN

Let us call to mind the innumerable instances when the Boches put uptheir hands, or waved a white flag, and cried, "Kamerad, " pretending tosurrender: thus drawing our unsuspecting men towards them and thensuddenly moving aside, to leave the field open to a party of riflemen ora machine-gun hidden away behind them. These are the tricks of cowards, which were constantly employed at the beginning of the war, and our men(at the cost of many victims) learned at last to guard against them. Butthey have done even more cowardly things than this. There was the Germanofficer who, to protect himself from danger while taking observations, put three children round him. At Néry, twenty-five persons, women andchildren, were compelled to walk at the side of a Boche column toprotect it from being enfiladed. Near Malines, six German soldiers whowere taking with them five young girls, on meeting a Belgian patrol, placed the girls all round them to prevent the enemy from firing. AtJodoigne they put a Curé in front of them and made him walk with hisarms folded, and they did the same at Hougaerde to another Curé who waskilled. A similar fate befell several civilians at Mons. At Senlis, ourmen were firing to cover our retreat, and the Germans took someinhabitants out of the houses and made them walk in the middle of thestreets while they themselves kept along by the walls. Many of theseunfortunate people were killed. "In numerous places, " says the BelgianCommission of Enquiry, "the Germans made civilians--men and women--walkin front of them. " In this way a German column passed throughMarchienne, pushing ahead of them a body of several hundred civilians. They took the road for Montigny-le-Tilleul, where the first importantbattle with the French forces took place. At Sempst, during the fightingon the 25th August, men and women were placed in the front rank of thefiring line. At Erpe, on the 12th September, a German column, attackedby a Belgian motor-machine-gun, took out of the houses twenty totwenty-five men and young people (including a child of thirteen), andmade them walk in front in the middle of the road. The machine-gunners, seeing civilians in front of them, ceased firing. At Alost, a Germancompany attacked the bridge. In front marched some thirty civilians witha machine-gun hidden behind them. At Nimy, with the butt-ends of theirrifles, they drove in front of them 500 men, women and children towardsthe English, who in consequence dared not fire; and in this way the 84thand 85th Schleswig Regiments were able to continue their heroic march asfar as Maubeuge. 

When their adversary cannot actually see the human shield that they areusing, they send a warning. On the 7th September, 1914, the Death's HeadHussars shut up all the inhabitants of the village with them in theChâteau of Saint Ouen-sur-Morin, and then, to avoid being shelled, informed the English of their "dispositions. " They fired on anyone whotried to escape. At Mouzon, we saw a number of civilians being pushed infront of the enemy with the butt-ends of rifles, and we stopped firing. The wretched people moved suddenly to one side of the road, uncoveringthe Germans, and then we fired. The Boches, furious, fired their firstvolley not at us, but point blank at these non-combatants, who weredecimated. 

The cowards chiefly used civilians as shields, but sometimes they alsomade use of prisoners. At Keyem, they pushed one hundred Belgiansoldiers in front of them, some with their hands tied, and others withtheir arms in the air. At Dixmude, they advanced under the shelter offorty disarmed marines who had been taken prisoners. When they got infront of our lines our marines shouted, "For God's sake fire, these areGermans, " and these heroes fell gloriously under the French bullets. Such deeds are countless. 

The Boches will deny them later on, but in 1914 they did not deny them, but rather gloried in them as a "good idea. " We can see this from theletter of the Bavarian Lieutenant Eberlein, published on the 7thOctober, 1914, by a leading Munich paper, "We had arrested three othercivilians when a 'good idea' struck me. We made them sit on chairs inthe middle of the street;--supplications from them, and blows withbutt-ends of rifles from us. At last they were seated outside in thestreet with their hands convulsively clasped together. I felt sorry forthem, but the plan worked at once. As I learnt later, the regiment whichentered Saint-Dié, further to the north of us, had precisely similarexperiences to our own. The civilians, whom they had put in the sameway in the middle of the street, were killed by French bullets. I sawtheir dead bodies. "[17]

FOOTNOTES:

[17] We have not, so far, come across any attempted justification, byGerman authors, of these cowardly acts; but such we shall have withoutfail. It is probable that the 93 "intellectuals" whose manifesto werecall to memory a few pages further on are preparing a fresh "appeal tothe civilized world" with a view to explaining that the Germantroops--the representatives and trustees of _Kultur_--are authorised byGod Himself to use _every means_ for the protection of their preciouslives. 

MARTYRDON OF CIVILIAN PRISONERS

After having burnt our villages, [18] and shot the inhabitants by dozensin some places, and by hundreds in others, they frequently deported allor a part of the survivors to Germany. It is impossible at this momentto establish the number of those deported, but they were sent off bytens of thousands. These unfortunate people, men, women and children, who had witnessed and survived fires and massacres, who had seen theirhouses blazing and so many of those dear to them fall under the bulletsof the assassin, and who were forced in some places to dig graves fortheir victims, and in others to hold a light for the executioners whilethey were finishing off the wounded, --these poor wretches are despatchedto Germany. [19] What a journey, and what a place of residence!

Let us quote one story among a thousand. "Our escort was commanded bytwo German officers. They were unapproachable. Anyone who tried to speakto them was threatened with a revolver. In order that we might get adrink, we were made to collect empty meat tins which served as ourdrinking cups until we reached Cassel. We were abused and threatenedwherever we went. Sometimes they made signs to us that they were goingto shoot us, or hang us, or cut our heads off. They threw filth at ourheads and spat in our faces. We were not going to stoop before them; thedisgrace was not ours. It is they, not we, who are degraded. An officerwho was present when our march-past took place aimed blows with ariding-whip at everyone within his reach. Until we arrived at therailway, it was the same at every place where we met soldiers. Wereached Marche after a nine hours' journey. We were conducted to a roommarked as having accommodation for 100 soldiers, but they put 400 of usin there. The people of the place sent us slices of bread and butter, but it was the Germans who ate them. The latter gave us crusts of breadto eat. We were abominably cramped; a few managed to stretch themselvesout, but the air was so poisonous that they could not remain in thatposition. At Melreux station we changed guards. They drove us with thebutt-ends of their rifles to a spot where a train of cattle trucks wasstanding in the yard, and we had to get in. The previous occupants hadbeen cattle, and the trucks had been cleaned in a very perfunctoryfashion. There was neither straw nor seats. Off we went. Every time westopped at a station the soldiers on guard there insulted us. It waseven worse when once we arrived in Germany. They opened the doors on theplatform side, and if we were on a line between two platforms, theyopened the doors on both sides so as to rejoice German hearts by thesight of us. They treated us like wild beasts in a menagerie, and theofficers and soldiers set the example while the women and children werenot behindhand with abuse, and made threatening gestures. Our guardswere applauded as if they were doing something heroic. At one station wesaw a woman looking out of her window and shouting 'Hurrah!' The journeytook 35 hours, and during the whole of that time we were only given foodand drink once, and that thanks only to the Red Cross. [20] We arrived atWilhelmshöhe (Cassel) at 3 a. M. On the 28th August, and were made towalk quickly through the streets. Our arrival had been notified, and inspite of the early hour, a hostile crowd, abusive and threatening, linedthe route. The old and the lame could not keep up the pace at which wemarched. Their companions helped and dragged them along, constantlybeaten with butt-ends. At length, we arrived at the gaol, where theyshut us in the cells in lots of three or four at a time. M. Brichet(Inspector of Forests) wanted to take his son (aged 14) with him, butthe gaoler said, 'Not the father and son together. ' The prisonauthorities showed their surprise at the sort of criminals who had beenentrusted to them, as the bulk of them were shopkeepers and artisans. 

"Included in the number were the burgomaster of Dinant, a sheriff, professors, barristers, and judges. An imbecile, a dozen children ofabout 13, and some old men (one of whom was 81) made up the party. Atthe end of a week, we were assembled in a yard and told that we were notunder sentence, but were detained in the interests of public safety. "

In that prison the poor wretches were treated with much greater severitythan ordinary prisoners, for they were shut up in cells and had no air. "By climbing on a chest one might open the window and see a little bitof the landscape. The ordinary prisoners were allowed to do this but wewere forbidden. " There was not a single chair. There was the skeleton ofan iron bed which was quite useless as there was no mattress. There werefour blankets, and two bundles of straw which very soon crumbled intodust. "One day a week we had an hour in the courtyard, and there wewalked round and round in single file, being forbidden to walk two bytwo. There was a guard with fixed bayonets always with us. The food wasabsolutely inadequate[21] and we suffered continually from hunger. Therewas a certain Croibien who had been slightly wounded at Dinant by abullet in his arm. His wound, neglected during the journey, had becomeseptic and in spite of all his sufferings, nothing was done for him. Itwas not until after several days that it was decided to take him to theinfirmary where his arm was amputated; he died the next day. Althoughhis father and brothers were interned with him, they were not allowed tosee him again, alive or dead. "

M. Tschoffen, public prosecutor at Dinant, the high official who writesthese lines, finishes his deposition with these words: "They had noreason whatever for our arrest, and I do not see any reason that theycould have for setting us at liberty. One fine day they told us that wewere going to leave. "

Here is another illustration: Before the 28th February, 1915, more than10, 000 persons, old men, women, and children, who had been deported fromFrance to Germany, had been repatriated by way of Switzerland. All thosewho received them on their return were "alarmed at their raggedcondition and weakness, " which was so great that the French Commissionof Enquiry received special instructions to question these victims. Theytook the evidence of over 300 witnesses in 28 different localities. Todo justice to their case one ought to quote the whole report--childrenbrutally torn away from their mothers, poor wretches crowded for daystogether in carriages so tightly packed that they had to stand up, casesof madness occurring among these half-stifled crowds, howling withhunger. But we must confine our quotations to a few items of "Kultur. ""While the men of Combres set out for Germany, the women and childrenwere shut up in the village church. They were kept there for a month, and passed their nights seated in the pews. Dysentery and croup ragedamong them. The women were allowed to carry excrement only just outsidethe church into the churchyard. "--"At least four of the prisoners weremassacred because they could not keep up with, the column, beingcompletely exhausted. "--"Fortin, aged 65, and infirm, could not go anyfurther. They tied a rope to him, and two horsemen held the ends so thathe had to keep the pace of the horses. As he kept falling down at everymoment, they made him get up by poking him with their lances. The poorwretch, covered with blood, prayed them to kill him. "

"189 inhabitants of Sinceny, who were sent to Erfurt, arrived thereafter a journey of 84 hours, during which each of them got nothing but asingle morsel of bread weighing less than four ounces. Another convoyspent four days on the railway journey and were only fed once, and werebeaten with sticks and fists and with knife handles. " The samebrutalities were experienced in the German cities through which theypassed, and very few of the civilian prisoners escaped being buffeted bythe infuriated crowds or being spat upon. 

So much for the journey. Now for what happened to them after theirarrival! "The declarations made to us show clearly that the bulk of theprisoners almost collapsed from hunger. After food had been distributed, when anything was left, you saw some of them rush to the neighbourhoodof the kitchens; hustled and beaten by the sentries, these unfortunatesrisked blows and abuse to try and pick up some additional morsels ofthe sickening food. You saw men, dying of hunger, picking up herringheads, and the grounds of the morning's decoction. "

At Parchim, where 2, 000 French civilians from 12 to 77 years of age wereinterned, two starving prisoners who asked for the scraps left over werebeaten with the butt-ends of rifles to such an extent that they died oftheir wounds. The young son of one of them who tried to protect hisfather was tied to a stake for a week on end. 

On oath, Dr. Page deposes: "Those who had no money almost died ofhunger. When a little soup was left, a crowd of unfortunates rushed toget it, and the non-commissioned officers got rid of them at last byletting the dogs loose on them. " But what is the need of all thesedetails and of all this evidence? Look at the 10, 000 who came back afterbeing repatriated and see what the bandits have done to them. Reader, summon up your courage and peruse to the bitter end the conclusions ofthe Official Commission of Enquiry. "It is impossible to conceal themelancholy and indignation we felt on seeing the state of the'hostages'[22] whom the Germans had returned to us after they hadkidnapped them in defiance of the rights of nations. During our enquirywe never ceased hearing the perpetual coughs that rent them. We sawnumbers of young people whose cheerfulness had disappeared apparentlyfor ever, and whose pale and emaciated faces betrayed physical damageprobably beyond repair. In spite of ourselves we could not help thinkingthat scientific Germany had applied her methodical ways to try andspread tuberculosis in our country. Nor were we less profoundly moved tothought by the sight of women mourning their desolated hearths andmissing or captive children, or by the moral impression left on thefaces and bearing of many prisoners by the hateful regime which wasintended to destroy, in those who were subjected to it, the feeling ofhuman dignity and self-respect. "[23]

FOOTNOTES:

[18] _Prisoners_, as well as wounded, have very often been massacred onthe field of battle. As to the treatment that prisoners--French, Belgian, Russian and English--have undergone in German camps, it is apitiful tale that we do not intend to begin here. Some day it must bewritten. With the actual evidence before us, the lot of the Germanprisoners in England, Russia and France must be compared with that ofours in Germany. The most indifferent reader will feel his heart stirredwithin him, and will hesitate to say whether we were "generous, " orwhether we were "fools. "

[19] We speak of those who have left--but what of those who haveremained in Belgium and France, under the German heel? The time has notyet come for writing this piece of history, but we cannot refrain fromreferring to the sufferings of these children of the North, boys andgirls, torn from their families, carried off like bands of slaves toother invaded regions to be employed on forced labour. France hasapprised the neutral countries of these facts: Will they remain silent?

[20] Further on it will be seen that much worse happened on numerousother journeys. 

[21] "We got one pound of black sour bread per diem. In the morning wehad a tepid decoction intended for coffee; at mid-day a pint and a halfof thick soup, and at night rather less than a pint of thin soup. Onthree occasions only did we get potatoes, but never once meat. Cabbagesoup was the usual thing and after a certain time it turned ourstomachs. Certain prisoners were employed in chopping up the cabbages tomake sauerkraut, and they had to keep the broken leaves, as these wereused up for our soup. "

[22] Through an old habit, the Commission makes use of this word; theyare not "hostages, " of course. 

[23] It must also be noted that when the Commissioners making theenquiry saw the repatriated people, they had had some time in which torecover, first in Switzerland, and then in France. The arrival of thesepitiable drafts gave rise (even among those of the Swiss people who werein principle the least hostile to Germany) to such a feeling of horrorfor their executioners that the Kaiser took warning and thought it wiserto suspend the repatriations for several months. For the welcome and thekind care which our poor martyrs received at the hands of the Swiss, ourgrateful thanks and salutations are due!

GERMAN EXCUSES: LIES AND CALUMNY

The Boches have taken up three positions in succession. In the firstplace, in their speeches, in their writings and by commemorativepictures and medals, _they have gloried in their misdeeds_, thusdeclaring that Kultur is above morality (as stated by their writer, Thomas Mann), and that the right of German might is above everything. Then, in the second place, when they discovered that in the worldoutside them there was something known as a "moral conscience, " notunderstood by them, but still to be reckoned with, _they cynicallydenied the charges_. Finally, when they were driven from this secondtrench, when simple negation became impossible, _they had perforce toexplain their crimes_. 

Their commonest explanation is this, "Civilians fired on us. "[24] TheFrench Commission of Enquiry came to the following conclusion on thispoint: "This allegation is false, and those who put it forward have beenpowerless to give it the appearance of truth, even though it has beentheir custom to fire shots in the neighbourhood of dwellings, in orderto be able to affirm that they have been attacked by innocentinhabitants, on whose ruin or massacre they had resolved. "

Enquiries conducted by high magistrates have established the fact thatGerman officials are very frequently guilty of premeditated lies. It isprobable, all the same, that many German soldiers, on entering Belgiumor France, were obsessed by the idea of civilians firing on them. Thecry of a soldier trembling with fear, drunk, or thirsting forpillage--"Man hat geschossen (they have fired)"--is enough for alocality to be delivered up at once to the wildest fury. "When aninhabitant has fired on a regiment, " said a soldier at Louvain, "theplace belongs to the regiment. " What a temptation for a Boche soldier tofire a shot that will at once unloose pillage and massacre!

Some mistakes have _possibly_ been made which could have been avoided bythe least enquiry. Read this admission recorded in his diary by a Saxonofficer: "The lovely village of Gué-d'Hossus has been given over to theflames, though innocent in my opinion. I hear that a cyclist fell offhis machine and that his fall caused his rifle to go off of itself. As aconsequence there was firing in his direction. Then, the maleinhabitants were simply hurled straight away into the flames. Suchhorrors will not be repeated, we must hope ... There ought to be somecompulsion to verify suspicions of guilt in order to put a check on thisindiscriminate shooting of people. "

The only shots fired at them inside, or in the neighbourhood of, villages have been those of French or Belgian soldiers covering theirretreat. Sometimes this has been discovered, but too late, and they havecontinued their crimes--in order to justify them. 

Here is the statement of a neutral: "In one village they found corpsesof German soldiers with the fingers cut off, and instantly the officerin command had the houses set on fire and the inhabitants shot.... Inthe same district a German officer was billeted with a famous Flemishpoet; the officer behaved courteously, was treated with consideration, and allowed himself to talk freely: his complaint was the misdeeds ofhis soldiers. Near Haelen, he told his host, he had to have a soldiershot on finding in his knapsack some fingers covered with rings: theman, on being questioned, admitted that he had cut them off the bodiesof the German dead. "[25]

In exceptional cases an enquiry is held; and in every such instance thetruth is discovered and massacre prevented. 

At the end of August, Liebknecht, [26] a member of the Reichstag, set outin his car for Louvain. He came to a village where there wasconsiderable excitement going on. The Germans had just found three oftheir men lying dead on the road, and accused the peasants of beingresponsible for the deed. Liebknecht examined them, and was not long inobtaining proof that the Germans had been killed by Belgian riflemen. AtHuy there were shots in the night; two soldiers wounded; the populaceaccused; the mayor arrested and condemned to death; but he knew thatthere were no Allied troops in the neighbourhood, and also that his ownpeople had not fired a shot. "Shoot me, if you like, " he said calmly, "but not before extracting the bullets from the wounded. " The officer, less of a brute than some, gave his consent to this. The bullets in thewounds were German bullets. But the Germans do not even require apretext to take action. Their first crime, to our knowledge, was onAugust 4th. Some officers dashed up to Herve in a car, challenged twocivilians while crossing the bridge and, without giving them time toanswer, shot them down with revolvers. 

In their private diaries they accuse one another, each throwing on hisneighbour the responsibility for crimes committed. A cavalryman writes:"It is unfortunately true that the worst elements of our Army feelthemselves authorised to commit any sort of infamy. This charge appliesparticularly to the A. S. C. " A bombing officer: "_Rethel_, September 2nd. Discipline becoming lax. Brandy. Looting. The blame lies with the_infantry_. " An infantry officer: "Discipline in our companyexcellent--a contrast with the rest. The _Pioneers_ are not worth much. As for the _Artillery_, they are a band of brigands. " A final extractseems to be the only one that gives the truth: "Brin ... _troops of allarms_ are engaged in looting. "

It has been possible sometimes to prove premeditation. On the 17thAugust, a German officer was billeted with a Belgian magistrate. Theirtalk turned on Dinant. "Dinant, " said the officer, "is a condemnedtown!" M. X ... , of Dinant, happening to be in another town, made theacquaintance of a German officer, who said to him on August 20th, "Youcome from Dinant? Don't go back. It's a bad place, and will bedestroyed. " Troops on their march towards Andenne announced in villagesthrough which they passed that they were going to burn the town andmassacre the inhabitants. At Louvain, a German officer, treatedgenerously by a middle-class family, and appreciating their courtesy, rushed to their house on the 25th at 11 o'clock in the morning, [27] andearnestly pressed his hosts to leave without delay, refusing to givethem any explanation. The family, puzzled and perturbed by his appeal, went off and so escaped. 

 * * * * *

In the eyes of the moralist the worst of all their crimes will perhapsbe this, that the wretches tried to dishonour Belgium, after firstassassinating her. They have dared to say, write, and proclaim publicly, and affirm to Neutrals, that Belgian women and girls had mutilatedGerman wounded soldiers, blinding them with scissors or with boilingwater. The reports of the Belgian Commission of Enquiry have beenreplied to in a counter report[28] published as a German White Book. This enquiry and these documents will live in history. In centuries tocome they will hang as a heavy weight on the Kaiser's memory and theconscience of Germany. Listen to the pathetic conclusion of the Belgianreply: "Before God and before man, the Belgian Government has nohesitation in giving this as its opinion of the conduct of the GermanGovernment towards the Belgian nation: 'He is twice guilty who violatesthe rights of others and then attempts, with singular audacity, tojustify himself by imputing to his victim faults that were nevercommitted. '"[29]

It still remains to be explained how, by what means, by what deadlyinfluences, this German nation, consisting of men who, as individuals, are not all brigands, has reached and been led to this state ofsavagery? In the preparations for this _collective madness_ of apeople, what part has been played by its leaders of thought and itspoliticians, by race and by education? This is a disturbing phenomenonwhich students of mental disease[30] will study later, but on theexamination of which we cannot here embark. It is not for us to seek thepathological cause for this moral decay--this decadence. We have only tonote its _effects_. 

FOOTNOTES:

[24] Need it be noted here that even if in any locality an imprudentcivilian had fired a shot, it would still remain--in accordance with theHague Convention, International Law, and plain morality--a veritablecrime to massacre in a heap, haphazard, and without enquiry, so manyinnocent souls?

[25] L. H. Grondijs, "Les Allemands en Belgique, " p. Cxix. (Paris, Berger-Levrault, Publishers). 

[26] Liebknecht was too honest and embarrassing a witness for Germany. He has been thrown into prison. We salute him. 

[27] The martyrdom of Dinant began on August 24th; that of Louvain onthe 25th August, at 5 p. M. 

[28] It may be recalled that commissions of enquiry, at which _both_sides should be represented, were offered by Belgian Socialists toGerman Socialists, by Belgian Freemasons to German Freemasons, byBelgian Bishops to German Bishops. Three proposals. Three refusals!

[29] France has suffered from similar calumny. We alluded above (note, p. 37) to the declaration of a German army doctor that orders were givento amputate, as a reprisal, "all wounded limbs. " So _we_ are said to havedone that? A monstrous lie, which will be spurned indignantly by all whoknow the honourable traditions of our ambulances and of our Frenchdoctors. The _method of systematic lying_ has been shown to the life inconnection with the use of asphyxiating gas. The Boches made immensepreparations for the use of this gas. When their organization wascomplete, they took care, before acting, to publish each day for a weekin their communiques, little notes announcing that the enemy were"making wide use of this new method of warfare, "--a statement contraryto fact, and known by them to be so, but one that was calculated tomislead public opinion. When they considered that public opinion wassufficiently "prepared, " they launched their deadly gases and theirflaming liquids; and we needed a long time, needed also to overcome ourmoral hesitation, to make sure of our defence and our reply. _Cynicallying_ with the Germans is not only admitted, but _gloried in_. When itwas completely proved that, in order to start the war of 1870, Bismarckhad committed _forgery_. Professor Hans Delbrück exclaimed, "Blessed isthe hand that forged the Ems despatch. "

[30] Who, except the specialist in mental diseases, can deal with thisproclamation of the Kaiser to his Army of the East?: "Remember that youare the chosen people! The Spirit of the Lord has descended upon me asEmperor of the Germans! I am the instrument of the Most High. I am Hissword. Woe and death unto those who resist my will! Woe and death untothose who believe not in my mission!"

THE GERMAN APPEAL

APPEAL TO THE CIVILISED WORLD

Now that we have reached the close of this book of horrors, let usimpanel the 93 Germans of light and learning, and confront them with thewords of their own manifesto:

"As representatives of German Science and Art, we the undersigned, declare that:--

"It is not true that Germany provoked this War.... 

"It is not true that we have criminally violated the neutrality ofBelgium.... 

"It is not true that our soldiers have made any attack on the life orproperty of a single Belgian citizen without being forced to it by sheernecessity.... 

"It is not true that our troops brutally destroyed Louvain.... 

"It is not true that we have conducted warfare in defiance ofInternational Law. Our soldiers commit neither undisciplined acts norcruelties.... 

" ... In this struggle we shall continue to the end to act as acivilised nation, to whom the heritage of a Goethe, a Beethoven or aKant is as sacred as our own hearth and home. We answer for that in ourown name and on our honour. "[31]

And since irony is more powerful than abuse, let us set down here, without a word of comment, a few German utterances:--

The Kaiser: "We are the salt of the earth. God created us to civilisethe world. "

The Cardinal-Archbishop of Cologne: "It is with God that our soldiersset out for this war that has been inflicted upon us, and in which weare fighting for the sacred treasures of Christianity, and for its ownparticular gift, Kultur. "

Dryander, a Protestant Minister, and preacher to the Royal Court atBerlin: "On our side we are fighting with a self-control, a conscience, and a gentleness unexampled perhaps in the history of the world. "

Professor Lasson: "Our characteristics are humanity, gentleness, conscience--the Christian virtues. In a world of evil, we stand forlove, and God is with us. "

And, finally, this older and memorable saying of their great philosopherHegel: "The destiny of the German race is to supply the sustainingpillars of Christian teaching. "

FOOTNOTES:

[31] Speaking of honour, it is as well to recall here the reply made bya German officer to the schoolmaster at Chanteheux. The schoolmasterquite simply pledged his word of honour that no inhabitant had fired:"You French pig, " the brute shouted, "don't talk of honour--you havenone. "

APPEAL BY BELGIAN WORKMEN

800, 000 copies of this pamphlet had already been sent out when the worldrang with the tragic appeal of the Belgian workmen to their brotherworkers in other lands. This appeal ought to be fixed on the door ofevery factory and workshop. Every worker, every citizen, should studyit. We regret that we cannot reprint it here in full, but the followingextracts will at least give an idea of this new crime committed byGermany:--

 "Workers, --In the name of the international bonds that unite all workmen, the working classes of Belgium--threatened, without exception, with slavery, deportation, and forced labour for the enemy's gain--send to the working classes in other lands a supreme appeal. 

 "Germany, as you know, attacked and terrorised Belgium in 1914 for having defended her right to neutrality and her faith and honour. 

 "Germany has been martyrizing Belgium. She has from that moment onwards turned the land into a prison: the frontiers are armed against Belgians like a battle front.. All our constitutional liberties have been abolished. There is no longer safety anywhere; the life of our citizens is at the mercy of the policeman, --arbitrary, limitless, pitiless ... Belgian industrial idleness has been the creation of the Germans, maintained by them for their own profit. [32] To these 500, 000 unemployed they have for the last month been saying: 'Either you will sign a contract to work for Germany, or you will be reduced to slavery. ' In either case, it means exile, deportation, forced labour in the interests of the enemy, and against the interests of our country: formidable punishments, the cruellest ever invented by tyranny for the punishment of crimes--and what _are_ the crimes alleged?... On the western front, Belgian workmen--your brothers and ours--are being forced to dig trenches, to build aviation camps, to fortify the German lines, and when the victims, in spite of everything, are firm in their refusal to take part in work forbidden by International Law, they are starved and beaten into illness, wounded, and sometimes even _killed_. 

 "In Germany, they are turned on to work in mines, and at lime-kilns, quite regardless of their age, profession, or trade. Youths of seventeen, old men of seventy, are deported in haphazard masses. _Is not this a revival of ancient Slavery with all its horrors_?... Do you know, brothers, what the Germans throw to their victims by way of pay? 30 pfennigs (3d. ) a day!

 "Workers: _Never forget that the soldiers-who are_ _acting as the torturers or our Belgian workmen are themselves German workers!_

 "In the depths of our distress, we count on you. It is for you to act! For ourselves, even if brute force succeeds for the moment in reducing our bodies to servitude, we shall never give our consent. 

 "A final word: Whatever tortures we may undergo, we do not wish for Peace except with the independence of our country and the triumph of justice. 

 "THE WORKMEN OF BELGIUM. "

FOOTNOTES:

[32] By levying on Belgium a war contribution which already exceeds£40, 000, 000--by transporting to Germany food, merchandise and variousproducts to the value of more than £200, 000, 000--by seizing anddespatching to their own country the greater portion of our rawmaterial, machines and accessories--by issuing threatening edicts toprevent localities from using the unemployed on their own importantworks of public utility. 

CONCLUSION

What is our object?

Is it to incite our soldiers to commit, if chance arises, atrocitieslike theirs? We repudiate with horror a thought such as that. _Defensive_ reprisals (asphyxiating gas, liquid fire, etc. ) aresometimes indispensable. Reprisals for _revenge_ would be unworthy ofus. But--without speaking of personal punishments, demanded by outragedconscience, and essential in order that the two indivisible principlesof right and of responsibility may still exist in the world--we mustmake it absolutely impossible for the Wild Beast to break out again. Andhow, when the settling time draws near, and, in spite of weariness, anew effort is needed to realise conditions of peace with guarantees forthe future--how could the Allied Nations accept the sacrifices stilldemanded of them, if they remained in ignorance?

It is not enough for these crimes to be known by Governments and by afew hundred people with leisure and inclination to read collections ofgreat volumes. They must be known by everybody, by the entire people, bythe People, who--in our proud and free countries--control, support, direct their Governments and are the sole masters of their own destiny. 

Our peoples ought to know the crimes committed in the name of "Kultur, "in order, at all costs, to take the precautions necessary to prevent forever their return. That is our first object. The second is this: to allour martyrs we have a sacred duty--that of remembrance. There, wherethey fell, we shall doubtless carve their names in stone or bronze. Butwhat of a time further away? When, after the long sufferings of thiswar, freed humanity takes up again its works of peace, we shall see theGermans reappear in every land, at every cross-road--men of commerce, industry, finance, science, men of the people and of society--in everyplace where those of all countries, all races and all colours meet andrub elbows. And what is our attitude to be? Our answer is this: So longas the nation in whose name and by whose hands these atrocities havebeen committed has not herself solemnly cast from her the scoundrels whodragged her into such decadence, we shall consider that it would betrayour martyrs for us even to rub shoulders with their executioners, andthat until the day arrives--if it ever does arrive--of a striking moralrepentance, to _forget_ would be to _condone_. 

L. MIRMAN, Prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle. 

G. SIMON, G. KELLER, Mayor of Nancy. Mayor of Lunéville.