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diff --git a/old/50788.txt b/old/50788.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3ead0c9..0000000 --- a/old/50788.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1983 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Truth About German Atrocities, by -Anonymous - - -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 -www.gutenberg.org. 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. - - - - -Title: The Truth About German Atrocities - Founded on the Report of The Committee on Alleged German Outrages - - -Author: Anonymous - - - -Release Date: December 29, 2015 [eBook #50788] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRUTH ABOUT GERMAN -ATROCITIES*** - - -E-text prepared by Brian Coe, Moti Ben-Ari, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original maps. - See 50788-h.htm or 50788-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/50788/50788-h/50788-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/50788/50788-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/truthaboutgerman00londiala - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). - - - - - -THE TRUTH ABOUT GERMAN ATROCITIES - -Founded on the Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages - - - - - - - -1915 -Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, -12, Downing Street, London, S.W. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - PAGE - - INTRODUCTION 1 - Appointment of Committee 2 - Terms of Reference 2 - Composition of Committee 2 - 1. CIVILIANS murdered and ill-treated 5 - 2. WOMEN murdered and outraged 15 - 3. Murder and ill-treatment of CHILDREN 16 - 4. Brutal treatment of the AGED, the CRIPPLED and the INFIRM 17 - 5. The use of CIVILIANS as SCREENS 18 - 6. KILLING WOUNDED SOLDIERS and PRISONERS 19 - 7. LOOTING, BURNING and DESTRUCTION of PROPERTY 19 - FINDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE 23 - - -(1365) W. 5601/507 250M 7/15 H. C. & L., Ltd. - - - - -THE TRUTH ABOUT GERMAN ATROCITIES. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -_Prussia joined in a Guarantee of Belgian Neutrality._ - -The neutrality of Belgium was guaranteed by a treaty signed in 1839 to -which France, Prussia and Great Britain were parties. - - -_Recent German Assurances._ - -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." - -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." - - -_Passage through Belgium Demanded by Germany._ - -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. - - -_Passage Refused by Belgian King and Government._ - -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. - - -_Invasion._ - -On the evening of August 3rd, the German troops crossed the frontier. - - -_Early Outbreak of Atrocities._ - -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. - - -_Home Office Collected Evidence._ - -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. - - -_Government Appointed a Committee to Investigate--Terms of Reference._ - -On December 15th, 1914, the Government took the important step of -appointing a Committee:-- - - "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."= - - -_Careful Selection of Members of Committee._ - -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. - - The Right Hon. Viscount Bryce, O.M., the distinguished British - Ambassador at Washington from 1907 to 1912, was appointed - Chairman, and the other members of the Committee were:-- - - The Right Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., who was Corpus - Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford University, 1883-1903, - and is Judge of the Admiralty Court of Cinque Ports. He is one of - the leading authorities on the laws of this country; - - The Right Hon. Sir Edward Clarke, K.C., was Member of Parliament for - Plymouth (20 years) and London City (1906); was Solicitor-General - from 1886 to 1902; - - Sir Kenelm Digby, 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; - - Sir Alfred Hopkinson, 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; - - Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield; - - Mr. Harold Cox, the well-known Journalist and Editor of the - "Edinburgh Review," who represented Preston in the House of - Commons from 1906 to 1910. - - -_How the Committee Worked._ - -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. - - -_Doubt Removed as Work Proceeded._ - -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, =the truth of those broad facts -stood out beyond question=." - - -_Fairness of Witnesses' Evidence._ - -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." - - -_No desire to "Make a Case."_ - -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. - - -_A Terrible Record._ - -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. - -In this pamphlet space will only permit of the insertion of the -Findings of the Committee, and of some examples taken from the Report. -_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._ - -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 _in this country_. 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. - - * * * * * - -Note.--_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._ - - - - -1. CIVILIANS MURDERED AND ILL-TREATED. - - -_The Care of the Belgian Civil Authorities to Collect Firearms from -Civilians and to Warn them against taking part in the Hostilities._ - -[Sidenote: 7] - -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. - - -_The Kindness extended to the Invading Germans by the Civil Population -of Belgium._ - -[Sidenote: 26] - -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. - - -_Outbreak of Atrocities from the Moment the German Army crossed the -Frontier._ - -[Sidenote: 25] - -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 Liege were the chief sufferers.... There is a -certain significance in the fact that the outrages round Liege 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. - - - 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:-- - - _Family honour and rights, individual life, and private property, - as well as religious convictions and worship, must be respected._ - - _Private property may not be confiscated._ - - -_Instances from Herve and Melen._ - -[Sidenote: 7] - -"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. - - -_The Slaughter of Civilians speedily became a Custom._ - -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 Fleron, whose guns barred the main road from -Aix-la-Chapelle to Liege. 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. - - -_No Official German Denial of Atrocities._ - -[Sidenote: 25] - -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. - - -_Flight of Belgian Refugees without Parallel._ - -[Sidenote: 25] - -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. - - -_German Government seek to justify Severities, but no Proof given of -Alleged Firing by Civilians._ - -[Sidenote: 25] - -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. - - -_On the contrary, Civilians were Warned after the Invasion._ - -[Sidenote: 26] - -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. - - -_Civilians Shot Indiscriminately and without any Inquiry._ - -[Sidenote: 26] - -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. - - -_Killing of Civilians on Scale without any Parallel in Modern Warfare -between Civilised Powers._ - -[Sidenote: 25] - -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. - - -_Mass of Evidence convinced Committee of its Truth._ - -[Sidenote: 27] - -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 acts. But when the evidence regarding Liege 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. - - -_Killing of Civilians deliberately planned by the Higher Military -Authorities and carried out methodically._ - -[Sidenote: 27] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 25] - -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. - - -_German Army Disciplined to Obey._ - -[Sidenote: 27] - -The discipline of the German Army is proverbially stringent, and its -obedience implicit. - -[Sidenote: 23] - -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. - - -_A few German Officers showed Feelings of Humanity._ - -[Sidenote: 27] - -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." - -[Sidenote: 30] - -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." - - -_Drink Responsible for many of the Worst Outrages._ - -[Sidenote: 25] - -[Sidenote: 30] - -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. - - -_The German Army is Responsible for Crimes which it did not Check._ - -[Sidenote: 27] - -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. - - -_The Taking and Murder of Hostages._ - -[Sidenote: 27] - -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. - - -_Murder in the Villages._ - -[Sidenote: 27] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 16] - -The Committee is specially impressed by the character of the outrages -committed in the smaller villages. - -_Aerschot and District_ (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. - -Evidence given goes to show that the death of these villagers was due, -not to accident, but to deliberate purpose. - - -_A Death-stricken Area._ - -[Sidenote: 14] - -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 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. - - -_Systematic Massacres._ - -[Sidenote: 14] - -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. - - -_Sudden Outburst of Cruelty follows Belgian Victory._ - -[Sidenote: 14] - -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 Fleron, 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. - - -_A Reign of Terror._ - -[Sidenote: 14] - -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. - - -_Louvain Peacefully Occupied by Germans for Six Days._ - -[Sidenote: 19] - -_Louvain and District._--The events spoken to as having occurred in and -around Louvain between August 19th and 25th deserve close attention. - -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. - - -_A Sudden Change--Murder of Civilians and Destruction of Property._ - -[Sidenote: 19] - -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. - - -_Defeated Germans Revenge themselves on Civilians._ - -[Sidenote: 19] - -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. - -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. - - -_Civilians did not Fire._ - -[Sidenote: 19] - -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. - - -_Harried Villagers._ - -[Sidenote: 21] - -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. - - -_A Calculated Policy of Cruelty._ - -[Sidenote: 23] - -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. - - -_The Tragedy of Beautiful Dinant._ - -[Sidenote: 13] - -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. - - * * * * * - -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. - -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. - - -Further Examples of the Treatment of Civilians. - -[Sidenote: 9] - -Entries in a German diary show that on August 19th the German soldiers -gave themselves up to debauchery in the streets of Liege, 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. - -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'Universite alone. - -[Sidenote: 20] - -_Louvain._--On August 26th (Wednesday) massacre, fire and destruction -went on.... Citizens were shot and others taken prisoners. - -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. - -[Sidenote: 21] - -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. - -"I did not dare to look at the dead bodies in the street, there were so -many of them." - -[Sidenote: 23] - -"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." - -[Sidenote: 24] - -_Louvain_ (German soldier's diary--No. 32).--"180 inhabitants are -stated to have been shot after they had dug their own graves." - -[Sidenote: 11] - -_Surice._--On August 24th and 25th massacres were carried out in which -many persons belonging to the professional classes as well as others -were killed. - -[Sidenote: 11] - -_Namur_ 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. - -[Sidenote: 11] - -In _Tamines_, 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. - -[Sidenote: 21] - -_Tirlemont._--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. - -[Sidenote: 22] - -_Journeys from Louvain to Cologne._--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. - -[Sidenote: 23] - -_Termonde._--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. - -[Sidenote: 23] - -_Ermeton_ (Diary No. 19).--The exact translation of the extract, grim -in its brevity, is as follows: "August 24/14. We took about 1,000 -prisoners; at least 500 were shot. The village was burnt because -inhabitants had also shot. Two civilians were shot at once." - -[Sidenote: 9] - -_Wandre_ (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." - -[Sidenote: 10] - -_Andenne._--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. - -[Sidenote: 11] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 12] - -_Montigny-sur-Sambre._--On the Monday morning 27 civilians from one -parish alone were seen lying dead in the hospital. - -[Sidenote: 12] - -At _Monceau-sur-Sambre_, 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. - -[Sidenote: 11] - -At _Temploux_, 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. - -[Sidenote: 17] - -_Elewyt._--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. - -[Sidenote: 24] - -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. - - - - -2. WOMEN MURDERED AND OUTRAGED. - - -[Sidenote: 30] - -From the very first women were not safe. At Liege 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. - -[Sidenote: 11] - -_Tamines._--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. - -[Sidenote: 24] - -_Wetteren Hospital._--At this hospital was an old woman of 80 -completely transfixed by a bayonet. - -[Sidenote: 17] - -_Sempst._--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. - -[Sidenote: 17] - -_Eppeghem._--On August 25th a pregnant woman who had been wounded with -a bayonet was discovered in the convent. She was dying. - -[Sidenote: 19] - -_Louvain._--"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." - -[Sidenote: 21] - -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. - -"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." - -[Sidenote: 13] - -_Dinant._--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. - -[Sidenote: 30] - -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." - -[Sidenote: 16] - -In _Malines_ 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. - -[Sidenote: 16] - -_Gelrode._--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. - -[Sidenote: 17] - -_Hofstade._--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. - -[Sidenote: 30] - -_Campenhout_ [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." - - - - -3. THE MURDER AND ILL-TREATMENT OF CHILDREN. - - -[Sidenote: 32] - -There can be no possible defence for the murder of children. - -[Sidenote: 33] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 32] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 18] - -At _Haecht_ 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. - -[Sidenote: 18] - -_Capelle-au-Bois._--Two children were murdered in a cart, and their -corpses were seen by many witnesses at different stages of the cart's -journey. - -[Sidenote: 11] - -_Tamines._--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. - -[Sidenote: 17] - -_Boort Meerbeek._--A German soldier was seen to fire three times -at a little girl of five years old. Having failed to hit her, he -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. - -[Sidenote: 17] - -_Weerde._--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. - -[Sidenote: 19] - -_Eppeghem._--The dead body of a child of two was seen pinned to the -ground with a German lance. - -[Sidenote: 17] - -_Hofstade._--On a side road ... was seen ... the dead body of a boy of -five or six with his hands nearly severed. - -[Sidenote: 33] - -In _Hofstade_ and _Sempst_, in _Haecht_, _Rotselaar_ and _Wespelaar_, -many children were murdered. - -[Sidenote: 21] - -_Louvain_ (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. - -[Sidenote: 30] - -_A small village._--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. - -[Sidenote: 32] - -_Malines._--"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." - - - - -4. BRUTAL TREATMENT OF THE AGED, THE CRIPPLED AND THE INFIRM. - - -[Sidenote: 11] - -At _Denee_, 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. - -[Sidenote: 20] - -_Louvain._--"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. - -[Sidenote: 18] - -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.'" - -[Sidenote: 8] - -At _Heure le Romain_ ... some bedridden old men were imprisoned in the -church. - -[Sidenote: 11] - -_Andenne._--A paralytic was murdered in his garden. - -[Sidenote: 29] - -_Beaumetz._--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. - - - - -5. THE USE OF CIVILIANS AS SCREENS. - - -[Sidenote: 33] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 31] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 23] - -_Termonde._--Two hundred civilians were utilised as a screen by the -German troops. - -[Sidenote: 24] - -_Binnenstraat._--The civilians were utilised on Saturday, the 26th -September, as a screen. - -[Sidenote: 33] - -_Mons._--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. - -[Sidenote: 34] - -At _Tournai_ 400 Belgian civilians--men, women and children--were -placed in front of the Germans, who then engaged the French. - -[Sidenote: 34] - -At _Ypres_ the Germans drove women in front of them by pricking them -with bayonets. The wounds were afterwards seen by the witness. - -[Sidenote: 34] - -At _Londerzeel_ 30 or 40 civilians--men, women and children--were -placed at the head of a German column. - -One witness from _Termonde_ 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. - - - - -6. THE KILLING OF WOUNDED SOLDIERS AND PRISONERS. - - -[Sidenote: 35] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 36] - -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." - - - - -7. LOOTING, BURNING AND DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY. - - -[Sidenote: 34] - -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 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. - -[Sidenote: 25] - -Villages, even large parts of a city, were given to the flames as part -of the terrorising policy. - -[Sidenote: 35] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 19] - -_Louvain._--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. - -[Sidenote: 19] - -A witness: "When we got to the Place de la Station ... not a single -house in the place was standing." - -[Sidenote: 20] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 12] - -_Tamines._--A witness went there on August 27th and says: "It is -absolutely destroyed and a mass of ruins." - -[Sidenote: 9] - -_Liege._--The Rue des Pitteurs and houses in the Place de l'Universite -and the Quai des Pecheurs were systematically fired with benzine. - -[Sidenote: 16] - -_Aerschot._--The houses were set on fire with special apparatus. - -[Sidenote: 12] - -_Montigny-sur-Sambre._--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. - -[Sidenote: 11] - -_Namur._--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. - -[Sidenote: 13] - -_Dinant._--The town was systematically set on fire by hand grenades.... -The houses and villages were pillaged and property wantonly destroyed. - -[Sidenote: 12] - -At _Morlanwelz_, about this time, the British Army, together with some -French cavalry, were compelled to retire before the German troops. The -latter took the burgomaster and his manservant prisoner and shot them -both in front of the Hotel de Ville at Peronne (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. - -[Sidenote: 24] - -_Erpe._--The village was deliberately burnt. - -[Sidenote: 23] - -_Termonde._--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. - -[Sidenote: 8] - -_Herve._--From the 8th to the 10th over 300 houses were burnt. - -[Sidenote: 8] - -_Vise._--On or about the 14th and 15th the village was completely -destroyed. Officers directed the incendiaries, who worked methodically -with benzine. - -[Sidenote: 9] - -_Diary of Eitel Anders_, 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." - -[Sidenote: 24] - -_Diary of Matbern, of the 4th Company of Jaegers_, 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." - - -_Looting._ - -[Sidenote: 34] - -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. - -[Sidenote: 15] - -_Aerschot._--Throughout the day the town was looted by the soldiers. - -[Sidenote: 8] - -_Vise._--Antiques and china were removed from the houses before their -destruction by officers who guarded the plunder, revolver in hand. - -[Sidenote: A 171] - -Translated extract from diary of Stephan Luther: "We live like God in -France." - -[Sidenote: A 181] - -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." - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: A 182] - -"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." - -"I could not resist taking a little memento myself here and there." - - - 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:-- - - _Pillage is expressly forbidden._ - - - - -FINDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE. - - -[Sidenote: 37] - -"The Committee have come to a definite conclusion upon each of the -heads under which the evidence has been classified. - - "=It is proved=:-- - - "(=i=) =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.= - - "(=ii=) =That in the conduct of the war generally innocent - civilians, both men and women, were murdered in large numbers, - women violated, and children murdered.= - - "(=iii=) =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.= - - "(=iv=) =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.= - - "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. - =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.= - - "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." - - - - -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. - -YOU can help either by joining the Army or by making munitions. Place -YOUR services at the disposal of the military authorities. - -If YOU are a woman, cannot you help a man to decide? - - - - -[Illustration: Map of Belgium] - - - - -PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS. - - -REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ALLEGED GERMAN OUTRAGES, - - 38 pages, F'cap. folio, with 2 maps. [Cd. 7894.] Price 6_d._ - - -APPENDIX TO REPORT, - - 199 pages, F'cap. folio. 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