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diff --git a/old/50788-h/50788-h.htm b/old/50788-h/50788-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index a4e77fa..0000000 --- a/old/50788-h/50788-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2255 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> -<head> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> -<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Truth About German Atrocities, by Anonymous</title> -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> -<style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} /* page numbers */ - -.sidenote { - width: 3%; - padding-bottom: .1em; - padding-top: .1em; - padding-left: .2em; - padding-right: .2em; - margin-left: .5em; - float: right; - clear: right; - margin-top: .5em; - font-size: smaller; - color: black; - text-align: center; - background: #eeeeee; - border: dashed 1px; - min-width: 3em; - max-width: 3em; -} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.figcenter p {text-align: center;} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - -/********** CSS taken from HTML best practices ***********/ -h1 -{ - text-align: center; - font-size: x-large; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.6; -} - -h1 small -{ - font-size: small; -} - -h2 -{ - text-align: center; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; -} - -@media print, handheld -{ - .sidenote { - float: right; - clear: none; - } - .larger-version - { - display: none; - } -} -/********** CSS taken from HTML best practices ***********/ - - h1.pg { font-size: 190%; - line-height: 1; } - h2.pg { line-height: 1; } - hr.full { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Truth About German Atrocities, by -Anonymous</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: The Truth About German Atrocities</p> -<p> Founded on the Report of The Committee on Alleged German Outrages</p> -<p>Author: Anonymous</p> -<p>Release Date: December 29, 2015 [eBook #50788]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRUTH ABOUT GERMAN ATROCITIES***</p> -<h4>E-text prepared by Brian Coe, Moti Ben-Ari,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/truthaboutgerman00londiala"> - https://archive.org/details/truthaboutgerman00londiala</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="full" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<h1>THE TRUTH ABOUT GERMAN ATROCITIES</h1> - -<div class="center"> -Founded<br /> -on the Report<br /> -of the Committee on<br /> -Alleged German Outrages<br /> -<br /> -1915<br /> -Parliamentary Recruiting Committee,<br /> -12, Downing Street, London, S.W.<br /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> - - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="left">INTRODUCTION</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Appointment of Committee</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_2">2</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Terms of Reference</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_2">2</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Composition of Committee</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_2">2</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">1.</td><td align="left">CIVILIANS murdered and ill-treated</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">2.</td><td align="left">WOMEN murdered and outraged</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">3.</td><td align="left">Murder and ill-treatment of CHILDREN</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">4.</td><td align="left">Brutal treatment of the AGED, the CRIPPLED and the INFIRM</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">5.</td><td align="left">The use of CIVILIANS as SCREENS</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">6.</td><td align="left">KILLING WOUNDED SOLDIERS and PRISONERS</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">7.</td><td align="left">LOOTING, BURNING and DESTRUCTION of PROPERTY</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="left">FINDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td></tr> -</table></div> - -<p>(1365) W. 5601/507 250M 7/15 H. C. & L., Ltd.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="center"><big>THE TRUTH ABOUT GERMAN ATROCITIES.</big></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> - - -<p><i>Prussia joined in a Guarantee of Belgian Neutrality.</i></p> - -<p>The neutrality of Belgium was guaranteed by a treaty signed -in 1839 to which France, Prussia and Great Britain were parties.</p> - - -<p><i>Recent German Assurances.</i></p> - -<p>In 1913 the German Secretary of State, at a meeting of a -Budget Committee of the Reichstag, declared that "Belgian -neutrality is provided for by international conventions, and -Germany is determined to respect those conventions."</p> - -<p>On July 31st, 1914, when the danger of war between Germany -and France seemed imminent, Herr von Below, the German -Minister in Brussels, being interrogated by the Belgian Foreign -Department, replied that he knew of the assurances given by -the German Chancellor in 1911 (that Germany had no intention -of violating Belgian neutrality) and that he "was certain that -the sentiments expressed at that time had not changed."</p> - - -<p><i>Passage through Belgium Demanded by Germany.</i></p> - -<p>Nevertheless, on August 2nd, the same Minister presented -a note to the Belgian Government demanding a passage through -Belgium for the German Army on pain of an instant declaration -of war.</p> - - -<p><i>Passage Refused by Belgian King and Government.</i></p> - -<p>Startled as they were by the suddenness with which this -terrific war cloud had risen on the eastern horizon, the leaders -of the nation rallied round the King of Belgium in his resolution -to refuse the demand and to prepare for resistance.</p> - - -<p><i>Invasion.</i></p> - -<p>On the evening of August 3rd, the German troops crossed -the frontier.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> - - -<p><i>Early Outbreak of Atrocities.</i></p> - -<p>No sooner had the Germans violated Belgian territory, than -statements of atrocities committed by German soldiers against -civilians—men, women and children—found their way into the -newspapers of this country. The public could hardly believe the -record of cruelty that rapidly accumulated, but the persistence -with which reports from one district tallied in general outline -with reports from other localities left little doubt in the public -mind as to the truth of the alleged atrocities. But it became -necessary to make absolutely certain of the facts.</p> - - -<p><i>Home Office Collected Evidence.</i></p> - -<p>The Home Office, in the autumn of 1914, wisely decided to -collect evidence of the truth, and, during the concluding months -of 1914, a great number of statements taken in writing were -collected from Belgian witnesses (mostly civilians), and from -British officers and soldiers. The statements were taken by -the staff of the Director of Public Prosecutions and a number -of barristers who assisted the Home Office.</p> - - -<p><i>Government Appointed a Committee to Investigate—Terms -of Reference.</i></p> - -<p>On December 15th, 1914, the Government took the important -step of appointing a Committee:—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><b>"To consider and advise on the evidence collected on behalf -of His Majesty's Government, as to outrages alleged -to have been committed by German troops during -the present war, cases of alleged maltreatment of -civilians in the invaded territories, and breaches of -the laws and established usages of war; and to prepare -a report for His Majesty's Government showing the -conclusion at which they arrive on the evidence now -available."</b></p></blockquote> - - -<p><i>Careful Selection of Members of Committee.</i></p> - -<p>In order that the findings of the Committee should command -the confidence of the public, the Government was careful to -appoint upon it men whose judicial outlook, training and experience -for their responsible task could not be questioned.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The Right Hon. <span class="smcap">Viscount Bryce</span>, O.M., the distinguished -British Ambassador at Washington from 1907 to 1912, -was appointed Chairman, and the other members of -the Committee were:—</p> - -<p>The Right Hon. <span class="smcap">Sir Frederick Pollock</span>, Bart., who was -Corpus Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford University, -1883-1903, and is Judge of the Admiralty -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>Court of Cinque Ports. He is one of the leading authorities -on the laws of this country;</p> - -<p>The Right Hon. <span class="smcap">Sir Edward Clarke</span>, K.C., was Member of -Parliament for Plymouth (20 years) and London City -(1906); was Solicitor-General from 1886 to 1902;</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sir Kenelm Digby</span>, G.C.B., K.C., who was a County Court -Judge from 1892 to 1894, and Permanent Under-Secretary -of the Home Office from 1895 to 1903;</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sir Alfred Hopkinson</span>, K.C., LL.D., represented Manchester -and North Wiltshire in the House of Commons; -was Principal of Owens College, Manchester, from -1898 to 1904; and Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University, -Manchester, from 1900 to 1913;</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. H. A. L. Fisher</span>, Vice-Chancellor of the University -of Sheffield;</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Harold Cox</span>, the well-known Journalist and Editor of -the "Edinburgh Review," who represented Preston in -the House of Commons from 1906 to 1910.</p></blockquote> - - -<p><i>How the Committee Worked.</i></p> - -<p>The Committee laboured for three months, examining the -evidence, and more than 1,200 statements made by witnesses -were considered. These depositions were in all cases taken -down in this country by gentlemen of legal knowledge and -experience, and the greatest care was exercised in the task.</p> - - -<p><i>Doubt Removed as Work Proceeded.</i></p> - -<p>The Committee approached their responsible task in a spirit -of doubt, but, to use their own words, "the further we went -and the more evidence we examined, so much the more was our -scepticism reduced.... When we found that things which -had at first seemed improbable were testified to by many witnesses -coming from different places, having had no communication with -one another, and knowing nothing of one another's statements, -the points in which they all agreed became more and more evidently -true. And when this concurrence of testimony, this -convergence upon what were substantially the same broad facts, -showed itself in hundreds of depositions, <b>the truth of those broad -facts stood out beyond question</b>."</p> - - -<p><i>Fairness of Witnesses' Evidence.</i></p> - -<p>The Committee expected "to find much of the evidence -coloured by passion, or prompted by an excited fancy. But -they were impressed by the general moderation and matter-of-fact -level-headedness of the witnesses."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> - - -<p><i>No desire to "Make a Case."</i></p> - -<p>Nor could the Committee, in examining the depositions, -"detect the trace of any desire to 'make a case' against the -German Army." "In one respect, the most weighty part of -the evidence," according to the Committee, consisted of the -diaries kept by the German soldiers themselves.</p> - - -<p><i>A Terrible Record.</i></p> - -<p>The Report of the Committee, with the Appendix, covers -240 foolscap pages. These 240 pages of cold, judicial print -make a terrible indictment against a so-called Civilised Power—and -one, moreover, whose home is not in "Darkest Africa," -but in the very heart of enlightened Europe.</p> - -<p>In this pamphlet space will only permit of the insertion of -the Findings of the Committee, and of some examples taken -from the Report. <i>Those who seek fuller information should obtain -one or other edition of the official Report and Appendix, particulars -of which are given on the cover of this pamphlet.</i></p> - -<p>It should be borne in mind that this terrible record embraces -a part only of the area in the occupation of German troops, and -is based mainly on the statements of Belgian refugees <i>in this -country</i>. If it had been possible to extend the enquiry, and to -get evidence from the Belgians and the French now inhabiting -the districts occupied by Germany, there is no doubt that the -volume of evidence would have been much greater.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—<i>For the purpose of this short pamphlet, the methodical -arrangement in geographical areas followed in the Report has been -abandoned, and a simpler grouping adopted. The whole of the -language, however, in the following pages (apart from the headings) -is the official language of the Report. In no instance has it been -altered, except where an explanation is required, in which case the -explanation is put in brackets. The references in the margin are -to the pages in the report from which the statements have been taken. -When taken from the Appendix, the letter "A" is prefixed.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>1. CIVILIANS MURDERED AND ILL-TREATED.</h2> - - -<blockquote> - -<p><i>The Care of the Belgian Civil Authorities to Collect Firearms -from Civilians and to Warn them against taking part in -the Hostilities.</i></p></blockquote> - -<div class="sidenote">7</div> - -<p>The Belgian King and Government were aware of the danger -which would confront the civilian population of the country if -it were tempted to take part in the work of national defence. -Orders were accordingly issued by the civil governors of provinces, -and by the burgomasters of towns, that the civilian inhabitants -were to take no part in hostilities, and to offer no provocation -to the invaders. That no excuse might be furnished for severities, -the populations of many important towns were instructed to -surrender all firearms into the hands of the local officials.</p> - - -<p><i>The Kindness extended to the Invading Germans by the Civil -Population of Belgium.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">26</div> - -<p>Letters written to their homes, which have been found on the -bodies of dead Germans, bear witness, in a way that now sounds -pathetic, to the kindness with which they were received by the -civil population. Their evident surprise at this reception -was due to the stories which had been dinned into their ears of -soldiers with their eyes gouged out, treacherous murders and -poisoned food.</p> - - -<p><i>Outbreak of Atrocities from the Moment the German Army -crossed the Frontier.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">25</div> - -<p>Murder, rape, arson and pillage began from the moment when -the German Army crossed the frontier. For the first fortnight -of the war, the towns and villages near Liège were the chief -sufferers.... There is a certain significance in the fact -that the outrages round Liège coincide with the unexpected -resistance of the Belgian Army in that district, and that the -slaughter which reigned from August 19th to the end of the month -is contemporaneous with the period when the German Army's -need for a quick passage through Belgium at all costs was deemed -imperative.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Article 46 of the Second International Peace Conference (Convention concerning -the Laws and Customs of War on Land), held at the Hague in 1907, -reads as follows:—</p> - -<p><i>Family honour and rights, individual life, and private property, as well as -religious convictions and worship, must be respected.</i></p> - -<p><i>Private property may not be confiscated.</i></p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> - - -<p><i>Instances from Herve and Melen.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">7</div> - -<p>"On the 4th of August," says one witness, "at Herve" (a -village not far from the frontier), "I saw at about 2 o'clock in -the afternoon, near the station, five Uhlans [German cavalry]; -these were the first German troops I had seen. They were -followed by a German officer and some soldiers in a motor car. -The men in the car called out to a couple of young fellows who -were standing about 30 yards away. The young men, being -afraid, ran off, and then the Germans fired and killed one of them -named D——." The murder of this innocent fugitive civilian -was a prelude to the burning and pillage of Herve and of other -villages in the neighbourhood, to the indiscriminate shooting of -civilians of both sexes, and to the organised military execution -of batches of selected males. Thus at Herve some 50 men -escaping from the burning houses were seized, taken outside the -town and shot. At Melen, a hamlet west of Herve, 40 men were -shot. In one household alone the father and mother (names -given) were shot, the daughter died after being outraged, and -the son was wounded.</p> - - -<p><i>The Slaughter of Civilians speedily became a Custom.</i></p> - -<p>The burning of the villages in this neighbourhood, and the -wholesale slaughter of civilians, such as occurred at Herve, -Micheroux and Soumagne appear to be connected with the -exasperation caused by the resistance of Fort Fléron, whose guns -barred the main road from Aix-la-Chapelle to Liège. Enraged -by the losses which they had sustained, suspicious of the temper -of the civilian population, and probably thinking that by exceptional -severities at the outset they could cow the spirit of the -Belgian nation, the German officers and men speedily accustomed -themselves to the slaughter of civilians.</p> - - -<p><i>No Official German Denial of Atrocities.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">25</div> - -<p>Citizens of neutral states who visited Belgium in December -and January report that the German authorities do not deny that -non-combatants were systematically killed in large numbers -during the first weeks of the invasion, and this, so far as we know, -has never been officially denied.</p> - - -<p><i>Flight of Belgian Refugees without Parallel.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">25</div> - -<p>If it were denied, the flight and continued voluntary exile of -thousands of Belgian refugees would go far to contradict a denial, -for there is no historical parallel in modern times for the flight -of a large part of a nation before an invader.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> - - -<p><i>German Government seek to justify Severities, but no Proof -given of Alleged Firing by Civilians.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">25</div> - -<p>The German Government have, however, sought to justify -their severities on the grounds of military necessity, and have -excused them as retaliation for cases in which civilians fired on -German troops. There may have been cases in which such -firing occurred, but no proof has ever been given, or, to our -knowledge, attempted to be given, of such cases, nor of the -allegations of shocking outrages perpetrated by Belgian men -and women on German soldiers.</p> - - -<p><i>On the contrary, Civilians were Warned after the Invasion.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">26</div> - -<p>The inherent improbability of the German contention is shown -by the fact that after the first few days of the invasion every -possible precaution had been taken by the Belgian authorities, -by way of placards and handbills, to warn the civilian population -not to intervene in hostilities.</p> - - -<p><i>Civilians Shot Indiscriminately and without any Inquiry.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">26</div> - -<p>An invading army may be entitled to shoot at sight a civilian -caught red-handed, or anyone who though not caught red-handed -is proved guilty on inquiry. But this was not the practice -followed by the German troops. They do not seem to have made -any inquiry. They seized the civilians of the village indiscriminately -and killed them, or such as they selected from among them, -without the least regard to guilt or innocence. The mere cry -"Civilisten haben geschossen" ("Civilians have been shooting") -was enough to hand over a whole village or district, and even -outlying places, to ruthless slaughter.</p> - - -<p><i>Killing of Civilians on Scale without any Parallel in Modern -Warfare between Civilised Powers.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">25</div> - -<p>In the present war—and this is the gravest charge against -the German Army—the evidence shows that the killing of non-combatants -was carried out to an extent for which no previous -war between nations claiming to be civilised furnishes any precedent.</p> - - -<p><i>Mass of Evidence convinced Committee of its Truth.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">27</div> - -<p>That these acts should have been perpetrated on the peaceful -population of an unoffending country which was not at war with -its invaders, but merely defending its own neutrality, guaranteed -by the invading Power, may excite amazement and even incredulity. -It was with amazement and almost with incredulity -that the Committee first read the depositions relating to such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -acts. But when the evidence regarding Liège was followed by -that regarding Aerschot, Louvain, Andenne, Dinant and the -other towns and villages, the cumulative effect of such a mass -of concurrent testimony became irresistible, and the Committee -were driven to the conclusion that the things described had really -happened.</p> - - -<p><i>Killing of Civilians deliberately planned by the Higher Military -Authorities and carried out methodically.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">27</div> - -<p>The excesses recently committed in Belgium were, moreover, -too widespread and too uniform in their character to be mere -sporadic outbursts of passion or rapacity.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">25</div> - -<p>That this killing was done as part of a deliberate plan is clear -from the facts set forth regarding Louvain, Aerschot, Dinant -and other towns. The killing was done under orders in each -place. It began at a certain fixed date, and stopped (with some -few exceptions) at another fixed date.</p> - - -<p><i>German Army Disciplined to Obey.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">27</div> - -<p>The discipline of the German Army is proverbially stringent, -and its obedience implicit.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">23</div> - -<p>It was to the discipline rather than the want of discipline in -the Army that these outrages, which we are obliged to describe -as systematic, were due, and the special official notices posted -on certain houses that they were not to be destroyed show the -fate which had been decreed for the others which were not so -marked.</p> - - -<p><i>A few German Officers showed Feelings of Humanity.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">27</div> - -<p>The Committee gladly record the instances where the evidence -shows that humanity had not wholly disappeared from some -members of the German Army, and that they realised that the -responsible heads of that organisation were employing them, -not in war, but in butchery. "I am merely executing orders, -and I should be shot if I did not execute them," said an officer -to a witness at Louvain. At Brussels another officer said: "I -have not done one hundredth part of what we have been ordered -to do by the High German military authorities."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">30</div> - -<p>A humane German officer, witnessing the ruin of Aerschot, -exclaimed in disgust: "I am a father myself, and I cannot bear -this. It is not war, but butchery."</p> - - -<p><i>Drink Responsible for many of the Worst Outrages.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">25</div> - -<div class="sidenote">30</div> - -<p>Many of the worst outrages appear to have been perpetrated -by men under the influence of drink. Unfortunately, little seems -to have been done to repress this source of danger.... Officers -as well as men succumbed to the temptation of drink.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> - - -<p><i>The German Army is Responsible for Crimes which it did -not Check.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">27</div> - -<p>When an army is directed or permitted to kill non-combatants -on a large scale, the ferocity of the worse natures springs into -fuller life, and both lust and the thirst of blood become more widespread -and more formidable. Had less licence been allowed to the -soldiers, and had they not been set to work to slaughter civilians, -there would have been fewer of those painful cases in which a -depraved and morbid cruelty appears.</p> - - -<p><i>The Taking and Murder of Hostages.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">27</div> - -<p>Two classes of murders in particular require special mention, -because one of them is almost new, and the other altogether -unprecedented. The former is the seizure of peaceful citizens -as so-called hostages to be kept as a pledge for the conduct of -the civil population, or as a means to secure some military advantage, -or to compel the payment of a contribution, the hostages -being shot if the condition imposed by the arbitrary will of the -invader is not fulfilled. Such hostage taking ... is opposed both -to the rules of war and to every principle of justice and humanity.</p> - - -<p><i>Murder in the Villages.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">27</div> - -<p>The latter kind of murder is the killing of the innocent inhabitants -of a village because shots have been fired, or are alleged to -have been fired, on the troops by someone in the village. For -this practice no previous example and no justification has been or -can be pleaded.... In Belgium large bodies of men, sometimes -including the burgomaster and the priest, were seized, -marched by officers to a spot chosen for the purpose, and there -shot in cold blood, without any attempt at trial or even enquiry, -under the pretence of inflicting punishment upon the village, -though these unhappy victims were not even charged with -having themselves committed any wrongful act.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">16</div> - -<p>The Committee is specially impressed by the character of the -outrages committed in the smaller villages.</p> - -<p><i>Aerschot and District</i> (August 25th).—Immediately after the -battle of Malines ... a long series of murders were committed -either just before or during the retreat of the army. Many -of the inhabitants who were unarmed, including women and -young children, were killed—some of them under revolting circumstances.</p> - -<p>Evidence given goes to show that the death of these villagers -was due, not to accident, but to deliberate purpose.</p> - - -<p><i>A Death-stricken Area.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">14</div> - -<p>The quadrangle of territory bounded by the towns of Aerschot, -Malines, Vilvorde, and Louvain, is a rich agricultural tract, -studded with small villages and comprising two considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -cities, Louvain and Malines. This district on August 19th passed -into the hands of the Germans, and, owing perhaps to its proximity -to Antwerp, then the seat of the Belgian Government and headquarters -of the Belgian Army, it became from that date a scene of -chronic outrage, with respect to which the Committee has received -a great mass of evidence.</p> - - -<p><i>Systematic Massacres.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">14</div> - -<p>The arrival of the Germans in the district on August 19th was -marked by systematic massacres and other outrages at Aerschot -itself, Gelrode and some other villages.</p> - - -<p><i>Sudden Outburst of Cruelty follows Belgian Victory.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">14</div> - -<p>On August 25th the Belgians, sallying out of the defences of -Antwerp, attacked the German positions at Malines, drove the -enemy from the town and re-occupied many of the villages in -the neighbourhood. And just as numerous outrages against the -civilian population had been the immediate consequence of the -temporary repulse of the German vanguard from Fort Fléron, -so a large body of depositions testify to the fact that a sudden -outburst of cruelty was the response of the German Army to the -Belgian victory at Malines.</p> - - -<p><i>A Reign of Terror.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">14</div> - -<p>The battle of Malines ... was the occasion of numerous murders -committed by the German Army in retreating through the -villages of Sempst, Hofstade, Eppeghem, Elewyt and elsewhere. -In the second place it led ... to the massacres, plunderings and -burnings at Louvain, the signal for which was provided by shots -exchanged between the German Army, retreating after its repulse -at Malines, and some members of the German garrison of Louvain, -who mistook their fellow countrymen for Belgians. Lastly, the -encounter at Malines seems to have stung the Germans into -establishing a reign of terror in so much of the district comprised -in the quadrangle as remained in their power.</p> - - -<p><i>Louvain Peacefully Occupied by Germans for Six Days.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">19</div> - -<p><i>Louvain and District.</i>—The events spoken to as having -occurred in and around Louvain between August 19th and 25th -deserve close attention.</p> - -<p>For six days the Germans were in peaceful occupation of the -city. No houses were set on fire—no citizens killed. There -was a certain amount of looting of empty houses, but otherwise -discipline was effectively maintained. The condition of Louvain -during these days was one of relative peace and quietude, presenting -a striking contrast to the previous and contemporaneous -conduct of the German Army elsewhere.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - - -<p><i>A Sudden Change—Murder of Civilians and Destruction of -Property.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">19</div> - -<p>On the evening of August 25th a sudden change took place. -The Germans, on that day repulsed by the Belgians, had retreated -to and re-occupied Louvain. Immediately the devastation of -that city and the destruction by fire of its population began.</p> - - -<p><i>Defeated Germans Revenge themselves on Civilians.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">19</div> - -<p>The inference is irresistible that the Army as a whole wreaked -its vengeance on the civilian population and the buildings of the -city in revenge for the setback which the Belgian arms had inflicted -on them. A subsidiary cause alleged was the assertion, often -made before, that civilians had fired upon the German Army.</p> - -<p>The depositions which relate to Louvain are numerous, and -are believed by the Committee to present a true and fairly complete -picture of the events of August 25th and 26th and subsequent -days.</p> - - -<p><i>Civilians did not Fire.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">19</div> - -<p>The Committee find no grounds for thinking that the inhabitants -fired upon the German Army on the evening of August 25th. -Eye-witnesses worthy of credence detail exactly when, where -and how the firing commenced. Such firing was by Germans on -Germans. No impartial tribunal could, so the Committee think, -come to any other conclusion.</p> - - -<p><i>Harried Villagers.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">21</div> - -<p>The massacre of civilians at Louvain was not confined to its -citizens. Large crowds of people were brought into Louvain -from the surrounding districts.... Of the hundreds of -people taken from the various villages and brought to Louvain -as prisoners, some were massacred there, others were forced to -march along with citizens of Louvain through various places, -some being ultimately sent on the 29th to the Belgian lines at -Malines, others were taken in trucks to Cologne, others were -released.</p> - - -<p><i>A Calculated Policy of Cruelty.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">23</div> - -<p>The Committee are driven to the conclusion that the harrying -of the villages in the district, the burning of a large part of -Louvain, the massacres there, the marching out of the prisoners, -and the transport to Cologne—all done without enquiry as to -whether the particular persons seized or killed had committed -any wrongful act—were due to a calculated policy carried out -scientifically and deliberately, not merely with the sanction -but under the direction of higher military authorities, and were -not due to any provocation or resistance by the civilian population.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> - - -<p><i>The Tragedy of Beautiful Dinant.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">13</div> - -<p>Just outside the prison one witness saw three lines of bodies, -which he recognised as being those of neighbours. They were -nearly all dead, but he noticed movement in some of them. -There were about 120 bodies.... Unarmed civilians were -killed in masses at other places near the prison. About 90 bodies -were seen lying on the top of one another in a grass square -opposite the convent. They included many relatives of a witness.... -It is stated that, beside the 90 corpses referred to -above, 60 corpses of civilians were recovered from a hole in the -brewery yard, and that 48 bodies of women and children were -found in a garden.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Committee have no reason to believe that the civilian -population of Dinant gave any provocation, or that any other -defence can be put forward to justify the treatment inflicted -upon its citizens.</p> - -<p>As regards this town and the advance of the German Army -from Dinant to Rethel on the Aisne, a graphic account is given -in the diary of a Saxon officer. This diary confirms what is clear -from the evidence as a whole both as regards these and other -districts—that civilians were constantly taken as prisoners, -often dragged from their homes and shot under the direction of -the authorities without any charge being made against them. -An event of the kind is thus referred to in a diary entry: -"Apparently 200 men were shot. There must have been some -innocent men amongst them. In future we shall have to hold an -enquiry as to their guilt instead of shooting them." The shooting -of inhabitants—women and children as well as men—went on -after the Germans had passed Dinant on their way into France.</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Further Examples of the Treatment of Civilians.</span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">9</div> - -<p>Entries in a German diary show that on August 19th the -German soldiers gave themselves up to debauchery in the streets -of Liège, and on the night of the 20th (Thursday) a massacre took -place in the streets.... The Belgian witnesses vehemently -deny that there had been any provocation given, some stating -that many German soldiers were drunk, others giving evidence -which indicates that the affair was planned beforehand. It is -stated that at 5 o'clock in the evening, long before the shooting, -a citizen was warned by a friendly German soldier not to go out -that night.</p> - -<p>Though the cause of the massacre is in dispute, the results -are known with certainty.... Many inhabitants were -burnt alive in their houses, their efforts to escape being prevented -by rifle fire. Twenty people were shot while trying to escape, -before the eyes of one of the witnesses.... Thirty-two -civilians were killed on that day, the 21st, in the Place de l'Université -alone.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">20</div> - -<p><i>Louvain.</i>—On August 26th (Wednesday) massacre, fire and -destruction went on.... Citizens were shot and others -taken prisoners.</p> - -<p>Soldiers went through the streets saying "Man hat geschossen." -("They have been shooting.") One soldier was seen going -along shooting in the air.... Some citizens were shot on -opening the doors, others in endeavouring to escape.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">21</div> - -<p>These prisoners [civilians] were practically without food -from early morning on the 26th until midnight on the 29th. -Of the corpses seen on the road some had their hands tied behind -their backs, others were burnt, some had been killed by blows.</p> - -<p>"I did not dare to look at the dead bodies in the street, there -were so many of them."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">23</div> - -<p>"The officers were worse than the men.... We had -had nothing to eat or drink since the evening of the day before. -A few compassionate soldiers gave us water to drink, but no -official took the trouble to see that we were fed."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">24</div> - -<p><i>Louvain</i> (German soldier's diary—No. 32).—"180 inhabitants -are stated to have been shot after they had dug their own graves."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">11</div> - -<p><i>Surice.</i>—On August 24th and 25th massacres were carried -out in which many persons belonging to the professional classes -as well as others were killed.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">11</div> - -<p><i>Namur</i> was entered on August 24th. The troops signalised -their entry by firing on a crowd of 150 unarmed, unresisting -civilians, 10 alone of whom escaped.... As the inhabitants -fled from the burning houses they were shot by the German -troops.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">11</div> - -<p>In <i>Tamines</i>, a large village on the Meuse between Namur and -Charleroi, the advance guard of the German Army appeared in -the first fortnight in August, and in this, as well as in other villages -in the district, it is proved that a large number of civilians, -among them aged people, women and children, were deliberately -killed by the soldiers.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">21</div> - -<p><i>Tirlemont.</i>—The prisoners, of whom there are said to have -been thousands, were not allowed even to have water to drink, -although there were streams on the way from which the soldiers -drank. Witness was given some milk at a farm, but as she raised -it to her lips it was taken away from her.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">22</div> - -<p><i>Journeys from Louvain to Cologne.</i>—Some of the trucks were -abominably filthy. Prisoners were not allowed to leave to obey -the calls of nature.... They were, in all, eight days in -the train, crowded and almost without food. Two of the men -went mad.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">23</div> - -<p><i>Termonde.</i>—About 70 prisoners ... were taken to Lebbeke, -where there were in all 300 prisoners, and there they were locked -up in the church for three days and with scarcely any food.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">23</div> - -<p><i>Ermeton</i> (Diary No. 19).—The exact translation of the extract, -grim in its brevity, is as follows: "August 24/14. We took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -about 1,000 prisoners; at least 500 were shot. The village -was burnt because inhabitants had also shot. Two civilians were -shot at once."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">9</div> - -<p><i>Wandre</i> (Diary of German soldier—Eitel Anders).—"In -one house a whole collection of weapons was found. The -inhabitants without exception were brought out and shot. This -shooting was heart-breaking, as they all knelt down and prayed; -but that was no ground for mercy. A few shots rang out, and -they fell back into the green grass and slept for ever."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">10</div> - -<p><i>Andenne.</i>—Almost immediately, the slaughter of these inhabitants -began, and continued for over two hours, and intermittently -during the night. Machine guns were brought into -play. The German troops were said to be for the most part -drunk, and they certainly murdered and ravaged unchecked.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">11</div> - -<p>About 400 people lost their lives in this massacre.... -Eight men belonging to one family were murdered. Another -man was placed close to a machine gun, which was fired through -him. His wife brought his body home on a wheelbarrow. The -Germans broke into her house and ransacked it, and piled up all -the eatables in a heap on the floor and relieved themselves upon -it. A hair-dresser was murdered in his kitchen, where he was -sitting with a child on each knee.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">12</div> - -<p><i>Montigny-sur-Sambre.</i>—On the Monday morning 27 civilians -from one parish alone were seen lying dead in the hospital.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">12</div> - -<p>At <i>Monceau-sur-Sambre</i>, on August 21st, a young man of 18 -was shot in his garden. His father and brother were seized in -their house and shot in the courtyard of a neighbouring country -house. The son was shot first. The father was compelled to -stand close to the feet of his son's corpse and to fix his eyes upon -him while he himself was shot.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">11</div> - -<p>At <i>Temploux</i>, on August 23rd, a Professor of Modern Languages -at the College of Namur was shot at his front door by a -German officer. Before he died he asked the officer the reason -for this brutality, and the officer replied that he had lost his -temper because some civilians had fired upon the Germans as -they entered the village. This allegation was not proved.... -After the murder the house was burnt.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">17</div> - -<p><i>Elewyt.</i>—A man's naked body was tied up to a ring in the -wall in the backyard of a house. He was dead, and his corpse -was mutilated in a manner too horrible to record. A woman's -naked body was also found in a stable abutting on the same -backyard.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">24</div> - -<p>Bombardier Wetzel, of the 2nd Mounted Battery, 1st Kurhessian -Field Artillery Regiment, No. 11, records an incident which -happened in French territory near Lille on October 11th: "We -had no fight, but we caught about 20 men and shot them." By -this time killing not in a fight would seem to have passed into a -habit.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>2. WOMEN MURDERED AND OUTRAGED.</h2> - - -<div class="sidenote">30</div> - -<p>From the very first women were not safe. At Liège women -and children were chased about the street by soldiers. One -witness gives a story, very circumstantial in its details, of how -women were publicly raped in the market place of the city, five -young German officers assisting.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">11</div> - -<p><i>Tamines.</i>—A witness describes how he saw the public square -littered with corpses, and after a search found those of his wife -and child, a little girl of 7.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">24</div> - -<p><i>Wetteren Hospital.</i>—At this hospital was an old woman of -80 completely transfixed by a bayonet.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">17</div> - -<p><i>Sempst.</i>—Witness saw a girl of 17 dressed only in a chemise -and in great distress. She alleged that she herself and other -girls had been dragged into a field, stripped naked and violated, -and that some of them had then been killed with the bayonet.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">17</div> - -<p><i>Eppeghem.</i>—On August 25th a pregnant woman who had -been wounded with a bayonet was discovered in the convent. -She was dying.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">19</div> - -<p><i>Louvain.</i>—"In the middle of the night I heard a knock at -the outer door of the stable, which led into a little street, and -heard a woman's voice crying for help. I opened the door, and -just as I was going to let her in, a rifle shot fired from the street -by a German soldier rang out and the woman fell dead at my feet."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">21</div> - -<p>The wife of a witness ... was separated from him, and she -saw other ladies made to walk before the soldiers with their hands -above their heads. One, an old lady of 85 (name given) was -dragged from her cellar and taken with them to the station.</p> - -<p>"I saw the corpses of some women in the street. I fell down, -and a woman who had been shot fell on top of me.... One -woman whom I saw lying dead in the street was a Miss —— -about 35. I also saw the body of —— (a woman). She had -been shot. I saw an officer pull her corpse underneath a wagon."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">13</div> - -<p><i>Dinant.</i>—He found his wife lying on the floor in a room. -She had bullet wounds in four places, but was alive, and told -her husband to return to the children.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">30</div> - -<p>Sixty women and children were confined in the cellar of a -convent from Sunday morning till the following Friday (August -28th), sleeping on the ground, for there were no beds, with nothing -to drink during the whole period, and given no food until the -Wednesday, "when somebody threw into the cellar two sticks -of macaroni and a carrot for each prisoner."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">16</div> - -<p>In <i>Malines</i> itself many bodies were seen. One witness saw a -German soldier cut a woman's breasts after he had murdered -her, and saw many other dead bodies of women in the streets.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">16</div> - -<p><i>Gelrode.</i>—A woman was shot by some German soldiers as -she was walking home. This was done at a distance of 100 yards, -and for no apparent reason.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">17</div> - -<p><i>Hofstade.</i>—The corpse of a woman was seen at the blacksmith's. -She had been killed with the bayonet.... Two -young women were lying in the backyard of the house. One -had her breasts cut off, the other had been stabbed.... In -the garden of a house in the main street bodies of two women -were observed.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">30</div> - -<p><i>Campenhout</i> [Statement of a valet].—"One of the officers ... -putting a revolver to my mistress' temple shot her dead. The -officer was obviously drunk. The other officers continued to drink -and sing, and they did not pay great attention to the killing of my -mistress. The officer who shot my mistress then told my master -to dig a grave and bury my mistress. My master and the officer -went into the garden, the officer threatening my master with a -pistol. My master was then forced to dig the grave, and to bury -the body of my mistress in it. I cannot say for what reason they -killed my mistress. The officer who did it was singing all the -time."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>3. THE MURDER AND ILL-TREATMENT -OF CHILDREN.</h2> - - -<div class="sidenote">32</div> - -<p>There can be no possible defence for the murder of children.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">33</div> - -<p>Whether or no Belgian civilians fired on German soldiers, -young children, at any rate, did not fire. The number and -character of these murders constitute the most distressing -feature connected with the conduct of the war so far as it is -revealed in the depositions submitted to the Committee.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">32</div> - -<p>It is clearly shown that many offences were committed against -infants and quite young children. On one occasion children -were even roped together and used as a military screen against -the enemy, on another three soldiers went into action carrying -small children to protect themselves from flank fire.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">18</div> - -<p>At <i>Haecht</i> several children had been murdered; one of two -or three years old was found nailed to the door of a farmhouse -by its hands and feet, a crime which seems almost incredible, -but the evidence for which we feel bound to accept. In the -garden of this house was the body of a girl who had been shot -in the forehead.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">18</div> - -<p><i>Capelle-au-Bois.</i>—Two children were murdered in a cart, and -their corpses were seen by many witnesses at different stages of -the cart's journey.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">11</div> - -<p><i>Tamines.</i>—One witness describes how she saw a Belgian -boy of fifteen shot on the village green, and a day or two later -on the same green a little girl and her two brothers (name given) -who were looking at the German soldiers were killed before her -eyes for no apparent reason.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">17</div> - -<p><i>Boort Meerbeek.</i>—A German soldier was seen to fire three times -at a little girl of five years old. Having failed to hit her, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -subsequently bayoneted her. He was killed with the butt end -of a rifle by a Belgian soldier who had seen him commit this -murder from a distance.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">17</div> - -<p><i>Weerde.</i>—Two children were killed in a village—apparently -Weerde—quite wantonly as they were standing in the road with -their mother. They were three or four years old, and were -killed with the bayonet.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">19</div> - -<p><i>Eppeghem.</i>—The dead body of a child of two was seen pinned -to the ground with a German lance.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">17</div> - -<p><i>Hofstade.</i>—On a side road ... was seen ... the dead body -of a boy of five or six with his hands nearly severed.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">33</div> - -<p>In <i>Hofstade</i> and <i>Sempst</i>, in <i>Haecht</i>, <i>Rotselaar</i> and <i>Wespelaer</i>, -many children were murdered.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">21</div> - -<p><i>Louvain</i> (August 28th).—One woman went mad, some children -died, others were born.... (August 29th, outside -Louvain): Some corpses were those of children who had been -shot.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">30</div> - -<p><i>A small village.</i>—There were two little children—a boy about -4 or 5, and a girl of about 6 or 7. The boy's left hand was cut -off at the wrist and the girl's right hand at the same place. They -were both quite dead.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">32</div> - -<p><i>Malines.</i>—"One day when the Germans were not actually -bombarding the town, I left my house to go to my mother's house -in High Street. My husband was with me. I saw eight German -soldiers, and they were drunk. They were singing and making -a lot of noise and dancing about. As the German soldiers came -along the street I saw a small child, whether boy or girl I could -not see, come out of a house. The child was about 2 years of -age. The child came into the middle of the street so as to be -in the way of the soldiers. The soldiers were walking in twos. -The first line of two passed the child. One of the second line, -the man on the left, stepped aside and drove his bayonet with -both hands into the child's stomach, lifting the child into the -air on his bayonet and carrying it away on his bayonet, he and -his comrades still singing. The child screamed when the soldier -struck it with his bayonet, but not afterwards."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>4. BRUTAL TREATMENT OF THE AGED, -THE CRIPPLED AND THE INFIRM.</h2> - - -<div class="sidenote">11</div> - -<p>At <i>Denée</i>, on August 28th, a Belgian soldier who had been -taken prisoner saw three civilian fellow-prisoners shot. One -was a cripple and another an old man of 80, who was paralysed. -It was alleged by two German soldiers that these men had shot -at them with rifles. Neither of them had rifles, nor had they -anything in their pockets. The witness actually saw the Germans -search them and nothing was found.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">20</div> - -<p><i>Louvain.</i>—"Subsequently my master—an old gentleman—was -bayoneted and shot."... Among other persons whose -houses were burnt was an old man of 90, lying dangerously ill, -who was taken out on his mattress and left lying in his garden -all night. He died shortly after in the hospital.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">18</div> - -<p>The journey to Louvain is thus described by a witness: -"We were all marched off to Louvain, walking. There were some -very old people, amongst others a man 90 years of age. The -very old people were drawn in carts and barrows by the younger -men. There was an officer with a bicycle, who shouted, as -people fell out by the side of the road, 'Shoot them.'"</p> - -<div class="sidenote">8</div> - -<p>At <i>Heure le Romain</i> ... some bedridden old men were -imprisoned in the church.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">11</div> - -<p><i>Andenne.</i>—A paralytic was murdered in his garden.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">29</div> - -<p><i>Beaumetz.</i>—They saw two old men—between 60 and 70 years -of age—and one old woman lying close to each other in the -garden. All three had the scalps cut right through.... -They were still bleeding.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>5. THE USE OF CIVILIANS AS SCREENS.</h2> - - -<div class="sidenote">33</div> - -<p>The Committee had before them a considerable body of -evidence with reference to the practice of the Germans of using -civilians and sometimes military prisoners as screens from behind -which they could fire upon the Belgian troops, in the hope that -the Belgians would not return the fire for fear of killing or -wounding their own fellow-countrymen.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">31</div> - -<p>The use of women and even children as a screen for the protection -of the German troops is referred to.... From the -number of troops concerned, it must have been commanded or -acquiesced in by officers, and in some cases the presence and -connivance of officers is proved.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">23</div> - -<p><i>Termonde.</i>—Two hundred civilians were utilised as a screen -by the German troops.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">24</div> - -<p><i>Binnenstraat.</i>—The civilians were utilised on Saturday, the -26th September, as a screen.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">33</div> - -<p><i>Mons.</i>—On August 24th men, women and children were -actually pushed into the front of the German position outside -Mons. The witness speaks of 16 to 20 women, about a dozen -children and half a dozen men being there.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">34</div> - -<p>At <i>Tournai</i> 400 Belgian civilians—men, women and children—were -placed in front of the Germans, who then engaged the -French.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">34</div> - -<p>At <i>Ypres</i> the Germans drove women in front of them by -pricking them with bayonets. The wounds were afterwards -seen by the witness.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> - -<div class="sidenote">34</div> - -<p>At <i>Londerzeel</i> 30 or 40 civilians—men, women and children—were -placed at the head of a German column.</p> - -<p>One witness from <i>Termonde</i> was made to stand in front of -the Germans, together with others, all with their hands above -their heads. Those who allowed their hands to drop were at -once prodded with the bayonet.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>6. THE KILLING OF WOUNDED SOLDIERS -AND PRISONERS.</h2> - - -<div class="sidenote">35</div> - -<p>After making all allowances, there remain certain instances -in which it is clear that quarter was refused to persons desiring -to surrender when it ought to have been given, or that persons -already so wounded as to be incapable of fighting further, were -wantonly shot or bayoneted.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">36</div> - -<p>In one case, given very circumstantially, a witness [a British -lance-corporal, whose evidence has been confirmed by a lieutenant -and a private] tells how a party of wounded British soldiers were -left in a chalk pit, all very badly hurt, and quite unable to make -resistance. One of them, an officer, held up his handkerchief -as a white flag, and this "attracted the attention of a party of -about eight Germans. The Germans came to the edge of the -pit. It was getting dusk, but the light was still good, and everything -clearly discernible. One of them, who appeared to be -carrying no arms, and who, at any rate, had no rifle, came a few -feet down the slope into the chalk pit, within eight or ten yards -of some of the wounded men." He looked at the men, laughed, -and said something in German to the Germans who were waiting -on the edge of the pit. Immediately one of them fired at the -officer, then three or four of these 10 soldiers were shot, then -another officer, and the witness, and the rest of them. "After -an interval of some time I sat up and found that I was the only -man of the 10 who were living when the Germans came into the -pit remaining alive, and that all the rest were dead."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>7. LOOTING, BURNING AND DESTRUCTION -OF PROPERTY.</h2> - - -<div class="sidenote">34</div> - -<p>There is an overwhelming mass of evidence of the deliberate -destruction of private property by the German soldiers. The -destruction, in most cases, was effected by fire, and the German -troops had been provided beforehand with appliances for rapidly -setting fire to houses. Among the appliances enumerated by -witnesses are syringes for squirting petrol, guns for throwing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -small inflammable bombs, and small pellets made of inflammable -material. Specimens of the last-mentioned have been shown -to members of the Committee. Besides burning houses the -Germans frequently smashed furniture and pictures; they also -broke in doors and windows. Frequently, too, they defiled houses -by relieving the wants of nature upon the floor. They also appear -to have perpetrated the same vileness upon piled up heaps of -provisions, so as to destroy what they could not themselves -consume.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">25</div> - -<p>Villages, even large parts of a city, were given to the flames as -part of the terrorising policy.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">35</div> - -<p>The general conclusion is that the burning and destruction of -property which took place was only in a very small minority of -cases justified by military necessity.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">19</div> - -<p><i>Louvain.</i>—Then the corps of incendiaries got to work. They -had broad belts with the words "Gott mit uns" ("God with -us"), and their equipment consisted of a hatchet, a syringe, a -small shovel and a revolver. Fires blazed up in the direction of -the Law Courts and St. Martin's Barracks.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">19</div> - -<p>A witness: "When we got to the Place de la Station ... -not a single house in the place was standing."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">20</div> - -<p>On the 26th (Wednesday), in the city of Louvain, massacre, -fire, and destruction went on. The University, with its Library, -the Church of St. Peter, and many houses were set on fire and -burnt to the ground.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">12</div> - -<p><i>Tamines.</i>—A witness went there on August 27th and says: -"It is absolutely destroyed and a mass of ruins."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">9</div> - -<p><i>Liège.</i>—The Rue des Pitteurs and houses in the Place de -l'Université and the Quai des Pêcheurs were systematically fired -with benzine.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">16</div> - -<p><i>Aerschot.</i>—The houses were set on fire with special apparatus.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">12</div> - -<p><i>Montigny-sur-Sambre.</i>—Incendiaries, with a distinctive badge -on their arm, went down the main street throwing handfuls of -inflammatory and explosive pastilles into the houses. These -pastilles were carried by them in bags, and in this way about -130 houses were destroyed in the main street.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">11</div> - -<p><i>Namur.</i>—A witness of good standing ... describes how -the town was set on fire systematically in six different places.... -Not less than 140 houses were burnt. On the 25th the -hospital was set on fire with inflammable pastilles, the pretext -being that soldiers in the hospital had fired upon the Germans.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">13</div> - -<p><i>Dinant.</i>—The town was systematically set on fire by hand -grenades.... The houses and villages were pillaged and -property wantonly destroyed.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">12</div> - -<p>At <i>Morlanwelz</i>, about this time, the British Army, together -with some French cavalry, were compelled to retire before the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -German troops. The latter took the burgomaster and his manservant -prisoner and shot them both in front of the Hotel de -Ville at Péronne (Belgium), where the bodies were left in the -street for 48 hours. They burnt the Hotel de Ville and 62 houses. -The usual accusation of firing by civilians was made. It is -strenuously denied by the witness, who declares that three or -four days before the arrival of the Germans, circulars had been -distributed to every house and placards had been posted in the -town ordering the deposit of all firearms at the Hotel de Ville, -and that this order had been complied with.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">24</div> - -<p><i>Erpe.</i>—The village was deliberately burnt.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">23</div> - -<p><i>Termonde.</i>—The town was partially burnt. One witness was -taken prisoner in the street by some German soldiers, together -with several other civilians. At about 12 o'clock on the 5th some -of the tallest and strongest men amongst the prisoners were -picked out to go round the streets with paraffin. Three or four -carts containing paraffin tanks were brought up, and a syringe -was used to put paraffin on to the houses, which were then fired. -The process of destruction began with the houses of rich people, -and afterwards the houses of the poorer classes were treated in -the same manner.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">8</div> - -<p><i>Herve.</i>—From the 8th to the 10th over 300 houses were burnt.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">8</div> - -<p><i>Visé.</i>—On or about the 14th and 15th the village was completely -destroyed. Officers directed the incendiaries, who worked -methodically with benzine.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">9</div> - -<p><i>Diary of Eitel Anders</i>, a German soldier.—"We crossed the -Belgian frontier on August 15th, 1914, at 11.50 in the forenoon, -and then we went steadily along the main road till we got -into Belgium. Hardly were we there when we had a horrible -sight. Houses were burnt down.... Not one of the -hundreds of houses were spared. Everything was plundered and -burnt."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">24</div> - -<p><i>Diary of Matbern, of the 4th Company of Jägers</i>, states that at -a village between Birnal and Dinant, on Sunday, August 23rd, -"about 220 inhabitants were shot, and the village was burnt.... -All villages, chateaux and houses are burnt down during -the night. It is a beautiful sight to see the fires all round us in -the distance."</p> - - -<p><i>Looting.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">34</div> - -<p>The German troops, both in Belgium and France, are proved -to have been guilty of persistent looting. In the majority of -cases the looting took place from houses, but there is also evidence -that German soldiers, and even officers, robbed their prisoners, -both civil and military, of sums of money and other portable -possessions. It was apparently well known throughout the -German Army that towns and villages would be burned whenever -it appeared that any civilians had fired upon the German -troops, and there is reason to suspect that this known intention -of the German military authorities in some cases explains the -sequence of events which led up to the burning and sacking of a -town or village. The soldiers, knowing that they would have -an opportunity of plunder if the place was condemned, had a -motive for arranging some incident which would provide the -necessary excuse for condemnation. More than one witness -alleges that shots coming from the window of a house were fired -by German soldiers, who had forced their way into the house -for the purpose of thus creating an alarm.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> -<div class="sidenote">15</div> - -<p><i>Aerschot.</i>—Throughout the day the town was looted by the -soldiers.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">8</div> - -<p><i>Visé.</i>—Antiques and china were removed from the houses -before their destruction by officers who guarded the plunder, -revolver in hand.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A 171</div> - -<p>Translated extract from diary of Stephan Luther: "We live -like God in France."</p> - -<div class="sidenote">A 181</div> - -<p>Translated extracts from the field notebook of an officer in -the 178th Regiment, XIIth (Saxon) Corps: "August 17th.—In -the afternoon I had a look at the little chateau belonging to -one of the King's Secretaries (not at home). Our men had -behaved like regular vandals. They had looted the cellar first.... -Everything was topsy-turvy—magnificent furniture, silk, -and even china.... I am sure they must have taken away -a heap of useless stuff simply for the pleasure of looting."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="sidenote">A 182</div> - -<p>"September 3rd.—Still at Rethel, ... the houses are -charming inside. The middle class in France has magnificent -furniture.... Every bit of furniture broken, mirrors -smashed. The Vandals themselves could not have done more -damage. This place is a disgrace to our army."</p> - -<p>"I could not resist taking a little memento myself here and -there."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Article 47 of the Second International Peace Conference (Convention concerning -the Laws and Customs of War on Land), held at the Hague in 1907, -reads as follows:—</p> - -<p><i>Pillage is expressly forbidden.</i></p></blockquote> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>FINDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE.</h2> - - -<div class="sidenote">37</div> - -<p>"The Committee have come to a definite conclusion upon -each of the heads under which the evidence has been classified.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<b>It is proved</b>:—</p> - -<p>"(<b>i</b>) <b>That there were in many parts of Belgium deliberate -and systematically organised massacres of the civil -population, accompanied by many isolated murders -and other outrages.</b></p> - -<p>"(<b>ii</b>) <b>That in the conduct of the war generally innocent -civilians, both men and women, were murdered in -large numbers, women violated, and children -murdered.</b></p> - -<p>"(<b>iii</b>) <b>That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction -of property were ordered and countenanced by -the officers of the German Army, that elaborate -provision had been made for systematic incendiarism -at the very outbreak of the war, and that the burnings -and destruction were frequent where no military -necessity could be alleged, being indeed part of a -system of general terrorization.</b></p> - -<p>"(<b>iv</b>) <b>That the rules and usages of war were frequently -broken, particularly by the using of civilians, -including women and children, as a shield for -advancing forces exposed to fire, to a less degree -by killing the wounded and prisoners, and in the -frequent abuse of the Red Cross and the White Flag.</b></p> - -<p>"Sensible as they are of the gravity of these conclusions, the -Committee conceive that they would be doing less than their -duty if they failed to record them as fully established by the -evidence. <b>Murder, lust, and pillage prevailed over many parts -of Belgium on a scale unparalleled in any war between civilised -nations during the last three centuries.</b></p> - -<p>"Our function is ended when we have stated what the evidence -establishes, but we may be permitted to express our belief that -these disclosures will not have been made in vain if they touch -and rouse the conscience of mankind, and we venture to hope -that, as soon as the present war is over, the nations of the world -in council will consider what means can be provided and sanctions -devised to prevent the recurrence of such horrors as our generation -is now witnessing."</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> -<p> -Is YOUR conscience roused? Won't YOU -take the most effective way of showing it—if -you are a man under 40 and fit? The only -way to put a stop to these and other crimes is -to crush the German Army.</p> - -<p>YOU can help either by joining the Army -or by making munitions. Place YOUR services -at the disposal of the military authorities.</p> - -<p>If YOU are a woman, cannot you help a -man to decide?</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 900px;"> -<img src="images/map-small.jpg" width="900" height="533" alt="" /> -<div class="larger-version"> -<a href="images/map.jpg">Click here to display high-resolution version.</a> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="center"><big>PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS.<br /><br /></big></div> - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><big>REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ALLEGED GERMAN OUTRAGES,</big></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">38 pages, F'cap. folio, with 2 maps. [Cd. 7894.]</td><td align="right">Price 6<i>d.</i></td></tr> -<tr><td> </td></tr> -<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><big>APPENDIX TO REPORT,</big></td></tr> -<tr><td> </td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">199 pages, F'cap. folio. Depositions, diaries and plates. [Cd. 7895.]</td><td align="right">Price 1<i>s.</i> 9<i>d.</i></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">The above have been reprinted as Official Publications, in</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"> smaller (octavo) size:—</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Report</span>, 64 pages, with 2 maps</td><td align="right">Price 3<i>d.</i></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Report</span>, 48 pages, without maps</td><td align="right">" 1<i>d.</i></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Depositions</span>, 288 pages, with 8 plates</td><td align="right">" 6<i>d.</i></td></tr> -</table> -</div> - -<div class="center"> -<br /> -To be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from<br /> -<span class="smcap">WYMAN and SONS, Ltd.</span>, 29, Breams Buildings, Fetter Lane, E.C.,<br /> -and 28, Abingdon Street, S.W., and 54, St. Mary Street, Cardiff; or<br /> -H.M. 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