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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/license - - -Title: German Atrocities - A Record of Shameless Deeds - -Author: William le Queux - -Release Date: May 16, 2016 [EBook #52082] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN ATROCITIES *** - - - - -Produced by Brian Coe, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - -The Leading Illustrated Authority -on the War is - -NAVY AND ARMY - -6^{D.} ILLUSTRATED 6^{D.} - . WEEKLY . - - - This magnificent publication is a complete pictorial history of the - war week by week. It is, moreover, the only journal that provides - interesting and authoritative articles on the ships, the weapons, - and the men engaged in the war. - -SUPERB ILLUSTRATIONS - - Tell your Newsagent to send you “Navy and Army Illustrated” each - week. Send a copy to your Friend in the Colonies. Save a copy for - your Friend at the Front. - - -Published by Country Life, Ltd., 20, Tavistock St., W.C.; and George -Newnes, Ltd., 8-11, Southampton St., Strand, W.C. - - * * * * * - - MAGNIFICENT - PHOTOGRAVURE - PORTRAITS - - OF - - LORD KITCHENER - - AND - - ADMIRAL JELLICOE - - are offered to the readers of - this book at the special price of - - 2/6 the pair, packed in strong tube, carriage paid. - - These two Portraits should occupy an - honoured place in every British home, and - as the _supply is limited_, you should write at - once and make sure of securing them. - - 2/6 THE PAIR. 16 ins. by 22 ins. Splendid Portraits - - GEORGE NEWNES, Ltd. (Dept. G), - 8-11, Southampton Street, Strand, London, W.C. - - * * * * * - - ENGLAND INVADED - - At this great crisis in the Nation’s - history every Britisher should read - - WILLIAM LE QUEUX’S - - thrilling and realistic novel, - - A VIVID STORY OF THE - GERMAN MENACE, - - THE INVASION - - Read how the Germans invaded - England, and how - the British Public rose in - their millions and thrust - them back :: :: :: - - Obtainable at all Railway Bookstalls and Booksellers’. - Price =6d.=, paper cover, or bound in cloth, =7d.=; - or may be had direct (2d. extra for postage) from - - GEORGE NEWNES, LTD., - - 8-11, Southampton Street, Strand, - London, W.C. - - ENGLAND TRIUMPHANT - - [Illustration: THE MEN RESPONSIBLE. - - THE KAISER. - - _Photo, Stanley and Co._ - - CHANCELLOR VON BETHMANN-HOLLWEG. - - _Photo, Stanley and Co._ - - GENERAL VON MOLTKE. - - _Photo, Record Press._ - - _Face title-page._] - - - - - GERMAN - ATROCITIES - - A RECORD OF - SHAMELESS DEEDS - - BY - WILLIAM LE QUEUX - - [Illustration: colophon] - - GEORGE NEWNES, LIMITED - LONDON - - - - -PREFACE - - -This fearful and disgraceful record of a Nation’s shame and of an -Emperor’s complicity in atrocious crimes against God and man is no work -of fiction, but a plain unvarnished statement of the grim and terrible -work of the Kaiser’s Huns of Attila which I have considered it a duty to -lay before the British public. - -Modern Germany, frothing with military Nietzschism, seems to have -returned to a primitive barbarism. Belgium, a peaceful modern nation, -has been swept by fire and sword, and its honest, pious inhabitants -tortured and massacred, not because the German soldiery desired to wreak -such vengeance upon a people with whom they could have no quarrel, but -because they had been encouraged “to act with unrelenting severity, to -create examples which by their frightfulness would be a warning to the -whole country.” - -The wild orgies of blood and debauchery, the atrocious outrages, -murders, and mutilations, the ruthless violation and killing of -defenceless women, girls, and children of tender age, have been, it is -now admitted by the Germans themselves, carried out with their full -knowledge, and even as part of the actual plan of campaign of their -War-Lords. - -Germany, though boasting of her culture, her refinement, her honest -home-life, and the peaceful efforts of her Emperor, has for ever lost -her place among civilized nations. It now stands revealed that when her -diplomatic methods of base chicanery and lying fail then she does not -hesitate to resort to acts so dastardly and inhuman as to have no -parallel. Not only has she broken her most solemn treaties and moral -engagements, but all the rules of civilized warfare to which she was a -signatory at The Hague she has also violated, merely regarding them as -“a scrap of paper.” - -Not content with resorting to every act of savagery and every refinement -of cruelty which degenerated minds, filled with the blood-lust of war, -could conceive, her troops, by order of her generals, have made a -practice all along the line of placing before them innocent women and -children to act as a living screen, in the hope that the Allies would -not, from motives of humanity, fire upon them. - -One cannot read a single page of this awful record--the German Black -Book--without being thrilled with horror at unspeakable acts of -civilized troops, who, at the behest of their Kaiser, and the exposed -yet still ruling _camarilla_ at Berlin, have become simply as the Huns -of Attila. - -The contents of this book are no hearsay stories, but hard facts -officially recorded in _dossiers_ in the French and Belgian Ministries -of War, most of them, indeed, sworn statements taken before -burgomasters, mayors, prefects, and magistrates. Even our brave fellows -wounded in the Kaiser’s savage attack upon Europe have brought back from -the front similar narratives of the most appalling crimes. Evidence of -German trickery and savagery we have, too, in our midst, for trains, -sentries, and policemen have been shot at under cover of darkness by men -who mean to emulate the methods of their compatriots. - -The frightful deeds which have been done over the face of Belgium and in -France are, no doubt, intended to be repeated in Great Britain, and, if -it were possible, the Red Hand of Destruction would certainly be laid -very heavy upon us--more heavily, perhaps, because we, by our honesty of -purpose, have incurred the hatred of Kaiserdom. - -I would bid all sufferers in Belgium and France to remember that when -Attila of old came to Chalons, full of ostentation as the great -War-Lord, he came to his own undoing, and his dominion at once -disappeared to the winds. There is One with Whom vengeance lies for -wrongs, and most assuredly will He mete out the same dread Fate of death -and obscurity to the unblushing War-Lord of Germany, who, daily, with -his blasphemous impiety, lifts his bloodstained hands and thanks his -Maker for his shameful “successes.” - -WILLIAM LE QUEUX. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - -PREFACE 5 - -WHAT THE KAISER SAID 8 - -FOREWORD 9 - -AUTHOR’S NOTE 10 - -INTRODUCTION 11 - -CHAPTER I. ARTICLE XXIII. OF THE HAGUE CONVENTION 19 - - “ II. MY INTERVIEW WITH BELGIAN MINISTERS OF STATE 21 - - “ III. THE BRITISH PRESS BUREAU STATEMENT 26 - - “ IV. SECOND REPORT OF THE BELGIAN COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY 34 - - “ V. CAN THESE THINGS BE TRUE? 44 - - “ VI. WANTON BRUTALITY 47 - - “ VII. 300 MEN SHOT IN COLD BLOOD 52 - - “ VIII. THE INFERNO AT VISÉ 54 - - “ IX. THE MAIDEN TRIBUTE 58 - - “ X. ATROCITIES ROUND LIÉGE 66 - - “ XI. THE CRIME OF LOUVAIN 73 - - “ XII. FRENCH PROTEST TO THE POWERS 91 - - “ XIII. THE DESECRATION OF CHURCHES 101 - - “ XIV. TREATMENT OF ENGLISH TRAVELLERS 105 - - “ XV. WHAT OUR SOLDIERS SAY 109 - - “ XVI. THE ANTWERP OUTRAGE 117 - - “ XVII. “THE HUSSAR-LIKE STROKE” 124 - -THE DAY 127 - - * * * * * - -WHAT THE KAISER SAID: - -“When you meet the foe you will defeat him. No quarter will be given, no -prisoners will be taken. Let all who fall into your hands be at your -mercy. Gain a reputation like the Huns under Attila.” - - This quotation from an address of the Kaiser to German troops, - before they were dispatched to Peking in 1900, was circulated on - post cards throughout Germany. - - - - -_FOREWORD_ - -WHO WERE THE HUNS OF ATTILA? - - -The Kaiser, we read, has exhorted his soldiers to make themselves as -much dreaded as the Huns of Attila. It is worth while to recall the -methods of this savage, for he was nothing better. In one expedition -across Greece and in another across Italy he reduced seventy of the -finest cities to smoking ruins and to shambles. The inhabitants were -either slaughtered on the spot or marched away in chains to end their -lives as slaves. Men, women, children, babies--all came alike to this -black demon of outrage and destruction. Briefly, the Monarch of the Huns -may be best described as the worthy leader of one vast gang of -Jack-the-Rippers. - -And this is the blood-guilty ruffian whom the Kaiser now holds up as his -exemplar! Judging by Louvain, he is no unworthy follower of his Master. - - - - -_AUTHOR’S NOTE_ - - -_In addition to the sworn facts and statements supplied officially to me -by the Belgian Government, I have here included some others which have -been recounted by wounded men who have returned from the front, by -doctors who have attended them, and by the special correspondents of -Reuter’s, the Central News, and other news agencies, and of the London -and provincial newspapers._ - - - - -GERMAN ATROCITIES. - - -Mr. Asquith has described the sacking of Louvain as “the greatest crime -committed against civilization and culture since the Thirty Years’ War. -With its buildings, its pictures, its unique library, its unrivalled -associations, a shameless holocaust of irreparable treasures lit up by -blind barbarian vengeance.” - - - - -_INTRODUCTION._ - - -It was a little over a month after the declaration of war that reports -of great events began to crowd in upon us. Much had happened in that -short space of time. The enormous forces of the Kaiser had forced back -the line of the Allies well into France. We admired the huge machine at -work. From a military point of view the rapidity of the advance of such -an enormous body of men was something unique in warfare. It was not this -wonderful achievement of the German army, however, it was not the -equally wonderful resistance made by the Allies against overwhelming -numbers, it was not the glorious record of Belgian, French, and British -heroism--which resulted in practically nothing being gained by their -adversary--it was none of these things that aroused and amazed the -nations of the civilized world. It was something very different which -arrested their horrified wonder, something which, in the words of the -_Times_, “will turn the hand of every civilized nation in the world -against them” (the German nation). - -The atrocious acts committed by the troops of the Kaiser have staggered -the civilized world, and it must now be plain to the meanest -intelligence that these atrocities and acts of inhuman barbarity were -not the doings of soldiers intoxicated with the excitement of success in -battle, or maddened to the point of avenging defeat, or to be ascribed -to an unbridled license of irresponsible troops out of hand. There is no -longer any doubt, even in minds slow to believe them, that deeds which -bring the blush of shame to the cheek as we read of them have been -perpetrated; there is as little doubt where the responsibility for them -rests. It is with the Kaiser and the men around him. - - -Plain Speaking. - -“Until now we have maintained an attitude of deliberate reserve upon the -innumerable stories of German atrocities which have reached us,” says -the _Times_. “We published without comment the unanswerable list of -shocking excesses committed by the German troops, which was sent to -England by the Belgian authorities. When a German Zeppelin cast bombs -upon ill-fated women asleep in their beds at Antwerp, we did no more -than explain the bearings of international law upon conduct which has -met with universal reprobation in Europe and America. But now the real -object of German savagery is self-revealed, not only by the effacement -of Louvain, but by the shameful admissions sent forth from the wireless -station at Berlin. On Thursday night the following official notification -regarding Belgium came vibrating through the air:-- - - “‘The only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil - population has been to interfere with unrelenting severity and to - create examples which by their frightfulness would be a warning to - the whole country.’ - - “Such is the cynical nature of the German apologia for the - destruction of Louvain. Such is the character of the warfare of the - modern Huns. They seek to strike terror into the hearts of their - foes by methods which belong to the days of the old barbaric hosts, - who were thought to have vanished from the world for ever. - - “There must be no mistake about the apportionment of blame for this - and numberless other crimes. We have listened too long to the - bleatings of professors bemused by the false glamour of a - philosophy which the Germans themselves have thrust aside. The - Kaiser and his people are alike responsible for the acts of their - Government and their troops, and there can be no differentiation - when the day of reckoning comes. - - “The Kaiser could stop these things with a word. Instead, he - pronounces impious benedictions upon them. Daily he appeals for the - blessing of God upon the dreadful deeds which are staining the face - of Western Europe--the ravaged villages, the hapless non-combatants - hanged or shot, the women and children torn from their beds by - cowards and made to walk before them under fire, all the infamies - which have eternally disgraced German ‘valour.’ We are no longer - dependent upon hearsay for these stories. Our own men are bringing - them back from the front. Let there be no mistake as to where the - responsibility rests.” - - -What the Kaiser Said. - -It was the Kaiser (addressing his troops in June, 1900, on their setting -out for Peking) who said:-- - - “_When you meet the foe you will defeat him. No quarter will be - given, no prisoners will be taken. Let all who fall into your hands - be at your mercy. Gain a reputation like the Huns under Attila._” - - -=And Who Was Attila?= - -=It is worth while to recall the methods of this savage, for he was -nothing better. In one expedition across Greece and in another across -Italy he reduced seventy of the finest cities to smoking ruins and to -shambles. The inhabitants were either slaughtered on the spot or marched -away in chains to end their lives as slaves. Men, women, children, -babies--all came alike to this black demon of outrage and destruction. -Briefly, the Monarch of the Huns may be best described as the worthy -leader of one vast gang of Jack the Rippers. - -And this is the blood-guilty ruffian whom the Kaiser now holds up as his -exemplar! Judging by Louvain, he is no unworthy follower of his Master.= - - * * * * * - -Then was it not =Bismarck= who said:-- - - “_You must leave the people through whom you march only their eyes - to weep with._” - -It was also the Kaiser who said, addressing his soldiers, “You must only -have one will, and it is mine; there is only one law, and it is mine.” - -And then again, I repeat, it was a Berlin wireless that flashed the -official message:-- - - “The only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil - population has been to interfere with unrelenting severity and to - create examples which by their frightfulness would be a warning to - the whole country.” - -Need we seek further to fix the responsibility? - - -War Rights. - -What are the rights of nations in a state of war? There are first of all -the unwritten laws of nations and humanity which need, or should need, -no defining amongst civilized peoples. There are also the definite and -specific Acts laid down at The Hague Convention, which it was declared -by the signatories would not be legitimate in war between civilized -nations. Germany was a signatory to The Hague Convention. At this -Convention the Powers limited the rights of belligerents in the means to -be adopted of injuring the enemy. Here are some of them:-- - - BY Article XXIII. it was especially forbidden:-- - - “To kill or wound treacherously individuals belonging to the - hostile nation or army. - - “To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or - having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion. - - “To declare that no quarter will be given. - - “To employ arms, projectiles, or material calculated to cause - unnecessary suffering. - - “To make improper use of a flag of truce, of the national flag, or - of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy, as well as the - distinctive badges of the Geneva Convention. - - “To destroy or seize the enemy’s property, unless such destruction - or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.” - -The law of civilized warfare was further made plain as follows:-- - - Article XXV.: “The attack or bombardment, by whatever means, of - towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are undefended, is - prohibited.” - - Article XXVI.: “The officer in command of an attacking force must, - before commencing a bombardment, except in cases of assault, do all - in his power to warn the authority.” - - Article XXVII.: “In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps - must be taken to spare as far as possible buildings dedicated to - religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, - hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, - provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes. - It is the duty of the besieged to indicate the presence of such - buildings or places by distinctive and visible signs which shall be - notified to the enemy beforehand.” - -In other further Articles it was laid down that a belligerent is -forbidden to force the inhabitants of territory occupied by him to -furnish information about the army of the other belligerent, or about -its means of defence. It was forbidden to confiscate private property, -and also laid down that family honour and rights, the lives of persons, -and private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, -must be respected. Pillage was forbidden, and prisoners must be humanely -treated. - - -Uncivilized Warfare. - -Stories of German brutality and ruthless disregard of these rules of -civilized warfare as set out above were, from the opening of the war, -continually reaching England. At first the public were sceptical about -such tales of horror. Unfortunately, however, it was too clearly seen -that the Germans made war in a manner which was very far from being -civilized. Atrocities were being committed with a definite object--an -object which was self-revealed, not only by the effacement of Louvain, -“a shameless holocaust of irreparable treasures lit up by blind -barbarian vengeance,” but by the disgraceful admissions sent forth from -the German wireless station which I have already quoted. - -The character of the warfare of these modern Huns was to terrorize the -inhabitants of a hostile country, so that the invader might proceed on -his way without fear of molestation. Therefore, the unspeakable crimes -of the Kaiser’s forces have not even the excuse of being outbursts of -national savagery. The shameful record contained in these pages are the -cold and calculated brutalities of a nation who boasted of its -“culture,” whose prayerful Emperor held up his hands to his Maker -invoking success for his horde of ruthless barbarians, but who has shown -that in war he respects no law of God, and regards the solemn treaties -of nations as “scraps of paper.” - - “We can only pray for a hastening of the day when all that is best - in the German people will reassert itself as of old, and when the - long reign of an arrogant and ruthless military caste will be - looked back to by the countrymen of Schiller and Goethe as a - nightmare that never can return.” - - --From the American _Nation_. - - - - - - -I. - -Article XXIII. of The Hague Convention forbids:--“To kill or wound -treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army.” - - -From almost the first day of the war this undertaking, given by Germany -along with the other Great Powers, has been treated by her as a “scrap -of paper.” - -The fearful deeds of horror which have besmirched the name of Germany -form a terrible page of history. They have been proved by captured -Germans themselves to have been deliberate, and to have been actually -ordered by officers as high in rank as colonels and majors, and to be -part of the Kaiser’s preconceived plan. The murder of unarmed, -inoffensive citizens, the hussar-like stroke of sowing neutral waters -with death, the destruction of unfortified towns and the massacre of -their inhabitants, the violation of women and young girls, the forcing -of men, women, and children to march as shields in front of their -troops, the murder of the wounded, the wholesale slaughter of -non-combatants, the tortures, the mutilations, and the vile outrages are -surely sins against humanity, and are bound to meet with an awful and -just retribution. The blood of those martyred innocents cries aloud to -God for vengeance, and such vengeance must surely come upon the Kaiser -and the inhuman monsters surrounding him who have so deliberately urged -on their wild assassins to commit the unspeakable crimes reported -during the first month of the war. - -It must be remembered, in reading of these terrible atrocities, that -while they were being committed on the defenceless on every hand, yet -the Kaiser sent a telegram to the King of Würtemberg actually thanking -the Almighty for the success of his marauders in their murderous -campaign against women and children. The text of the Kaiser’s message -was: “With God’s gracious assistance, Duke Albrecht and his splendid -army have gained a glorious victory. You will join me in thanking the -Almighty. I have bestowed on Albrecht the Iron Cross of the First and -Second Class.--WILHELM.” God’s gracious assistance! - -The ruthless and utterly inexcusable barbarities committed by the German -army were surely without parallel in the whole history of the world. The -spectacle of racial degeneration which Germany displayed staggered -civilization, and this awful story of murder, cruelty, and debauchery -will surely remain for all time as a record of infamies which have -eternally disgraced the German nation. About the apportionment of blame -there must be no mistake. The Kaiser could have prevented it by a single -word. But, condemned by his own speech, he and his people are alike -responsible for the acts of the troops, and no differentiation can be -made by right-thinking people. - -[Illustration: THE BELGIAN COMMISSION. _Photo, Barratt._ - -_Face p. 21._] - - - - -II. - -My Interview with Belgian Ministers of State. - - -In order that the civilized world should be acquainted with the terrible -atrocities committed in Belgium, the King of the Belgians, who had -served in the trenches with his men, disguised as a private soldier, -appointed a Mission to proceed to the President of the United States and -lay the case before him. The members of the Mission were:-- - - =M. Carton de Wiart, Chief of the Mission, who is the Belgian - Minister of Justice;= - - =M. de Sadeleer, Leader of the Conservative Party;= - - =M. Pau Hemans, Leader of the Liberal Party;= - - =M. Emile Van der Velde, Leader of the Socialist Party.= - -=All these men are Belgian Ministers of State, and were accompanied by -Count de Lichtervelde, who acted as Secretary to the Mission.= - -The members of this Mission first came to London to present an Address -to the King. On the evening of the day these gentlemen were received by -His Majesty, and later by Sir Edward Grey, I had the privilege of a -private interview with them. - -I had a long talk with M. Carton de Wiart, during which he unfolded to -me many frightful details, and - - “=These abominable crimes against humanity and civilization call for - condign reprobation in the face of the civilized world.... Let us - hear no more whining about German ‘culture.’ But let us make it - known that we will make the world ring with our sense of - horror.=”--_Frederic Harrison._ - -explained the reason for the appointment of a committee of inquiry. He -described to me scenes he himself had witnessed. He laid stress upon the -bombardment and destruction of open towns--that is, towns unprotected -and undefended by any military works--such as Malines and Louvain; while -Antwerp, being a fortified place, ought to have had twenty-four hours’ -notice given to its inhabitants before it was attacked with bombs, yet -no such notice was given. On the contrary, attacks by Zeppelins had been -made without warning in the dead of night. He also described to me the -atrocities committed by the Germans in the bombardment and setting fire -to small villages without any military reason or necessity whatever. He -related harrowing details of the massacre of perfectly innocent people, -non-combatants, men, women, and children. - -He showed me a letter from a person of repute in Belgium who had motored -from Brussels to Louvain by the Tervueren road, in which I read: “After -I got to a village named Veerde St. George I saw only burning villages; -peasants beside themselves with terror threw up their arms in sign of -submission on my approach. When I got to Louvain I found the whole town -in ruins, and soldiers were still piling straw against buildings which -had escaped the flames and igniting them.” - - -Authenticated Documents. - -The mass of documents which the Mission were carrying to America, he -informed me, were all signed statements of persons who had been -eye-witnesses of the atrocities, as well as those of many who had -suffered. - -In a chat I also had with M. Emile Van der Velde, another member of the -Delegation and the leader of the Belgian Socialists, he said: “I went to -Malines after the fighting, in order to investigate the state of -affairs. I found only eight Belgian people in the town, but even then -the Germans were bombarding the deserted houses, apparently with the -sole object of destroying them. The whole object of the Germans,” he -added, “had been to create such a reign of terror that the whole -population of Belgium should flee into Antwerp, and so render it -impossible for the people congregated there to be fed. I myself examined -the bodies of a peasant and his son which had been cut to pieces by -bayonet thrusts.” - -Another member of the Delegation told me that he had learned from -several wounded persons how a druggist living near Tirlemont, on -refusing to act as guide to the Uhlans, was shot three times and then -bayoneted; and further, in the same hospital, wounded soldiers had told -him how that while lying upon the battlefield many had been bayoneted or -shot. - -The Delegation had, earlier in the day on which I had this interview -with them, presented an Address to His Majesty at Buckingham Palace, the -text of which has been published. It ran:-- - - “SIRE,--Belgium, having had to choose between the sacrifice of her - honour and the peril of war, did not hesitate. She opposed the - brutal aggression committed by a Power which was one of the - guarantors of her neutrality. - - “In this critical situation it was for our country an inestimable - tower of strength to see coming forth the resolute and immediate - intervention by great and powerful England. - - “Commissioned by His Majesty the King of the Belgians with a - Mission to the President of the United States, we have considered - it to be our duty to make a stay in the capital of the British - Empire to convey to your Majesty the respectful and ardent - expression of gratitude of the Belgian nation.... - - “Our adversary, after invading our territory, has decimated the - civil population, massacred women and children, carried into - captivity inoffensive peasants, put to death wounded, destroyed - undefended towns, burned churches, historical monuments, and the - famous library of the University of Louvain. All these facts are - established by authenticated documents. Each we shall have the - honour of submitting to the Government of your Majesty. - - “In spite of all this suffering in Belgium, which has been made the - personification of outraged right, the country is resolute in - fulfilling to the utmost her duties towards Europe. Whatever may - happen, she must defend her existence, her honour, and her - liberty.” - -The King, in reply, said that he would support Belgium, and expressed -his horror at the shocking report of German brutality. - - -The Belgian Minister’s Statements. - -The delegation was subsequently received by Sir Edward Grey at the -Foreign Office, where they outlined some of the violations of -international law and of humanity committed by Germany, viz.:-- - - 1. Violation of Belgium’s neutrality. - - 2. Taking of several millions of francs from the private National - Bank at Liége and Hasselt. - - 3. Bombardment of the open towns of Louvain and Malines and the - bombardment of Antwerp at night by airship without the twenty-four - hours’ notice due in international law to the inhabitants of a - fortified town. - - 4. Bombardment and burning of villages and the massacre of - non-combatant inhabitants, including women and children. - - - - -III. - -Our own Press Bureau issued on the 25th August the following statement -to the English Press:-- - - -“The Belgian Minister has made the following statement:-- - -“In spite of solemn assurances of good will and long-standing treaty -obligations, Germany has made a sudden savage and utterly unwarranted -attack on Belgium. - -“However sorely pressed she may be, Belgium will never fight unfairly -and never stoop to infringe the laws and customs of legitimate warfare. -She is putting up a brave fight against overwhelming odds; she may be -beaten, she may be crushed, but, to quote our noble King’s words, ‘She -will never be enslaved.’ - -“When German troops invaded our country, the Belgian Government issued -public statements, which were placarded in every town, village, and -hamlet, warning all civilians to abstain scrupulously from hostile acts -against the enemy’s troops. The Belgian Press daily published similar -notices broadcast through the land. Nevertheless, the German authorities -have issued lately statements containing grave imputations against the -attitude of the Belgian civilian population, threatening us at the same -time with dire reprisals. These imputations are contrary to the real -facts of the case, and as to threats of further vengeance, no menace of -odious reprisals on the part of the German troops will deter the Belgian -Government from protesting before the civilized world against the -fearful and atrocious crimes committed wilfully and deliberately by the -invading hosts against helpless non-combatants, old men, women, and -children. - -“Long is the list of outrages committed by the German troops and -appalling the details of atrocities, as vouched for by the Committee of -Inquiry recently formed by the Belgian Minister of Justice and presided -over by him. This committee comprises the highest judicial and -University authorities of Belgium, such as Chief Justice Van Iseghem, -Judge Nys, Professors Cottier, Wodon, etc. - -“The following instances and particulars have been established by -careful investigations, based in each case on the evidence of reliable -eye-witnesses:-- - -“German cavalry occupying the village of Linsmeau were attacked by some -Belgian infantry and two gendarmes. A German officer was killed by our -troops during the fight and subsequently buried at the request of the -Belgian officer in command. No one of the civilian population took part -in the fighting at Linsmeau. Nevertheless, the village was invaded at -dusk on August 10th by a strong force of German cavalry, artillery, and -machine guns. - -“In spite of the formal assurances given by the Burgomaster of Linsmeau -that none of the peasants had taken part in the previous fight, two -farms and six outlying houses were destroyed by gun fire and burnt. All -the male inhabitants were then compelled to come forward and hand over -whatever arms they possessed. No recently discharged firearms were -found. - - * * * * * - -“=Nevertheless, the invaders divided these peasants into three groups; -those in one group were bound, and eleven of them placed in a ditch, -where they were afterwards found dead, their skulls fractured by the -butts of German rifles.= - -“=During the night of August 10th German cavalry entered Velm in great -numbers. The inhabitants were asleep. The Germans, without provocation, -fired on M. Deglimme Gevers’ house, broke into it, destroyed furniture, -looted money, burnt barns, hay and corn stacks, farm implements, six -oxen, and the contents of the farmyard. They carried off Mrs. Deglimme, -half naked, to a place two miles away. She was then let go, and was -fired upon as she fled, without being hit. Her husband was carried away -in another direction and fired upon. He is dying. The same troops sacked -and burned the house of a railway watchman.= - - * * * * * - -“Farmer Jef Dierick, of Neerhespen, bears witness to the following acts -of cruelty committed by German cavalry at Orsmael and Neerhespen on -August 10th, 11th, and 12th:-- - -“=An old man of the latter village had his arm sliced in three -longitudinal cuts; he was then hanged head downwards and burned alive. -Young girls have been raped and little children outraged at Orsmael, -where several inhabitants suffered mutilations too horrible to describe. -A Belgian soldier belonging to a battalion of cyclist carabiniers, who -had been wounded and made prisoner, was hanged; whilst another, who was -tending his comrade, was bound to a telegraph pole on the St. Trond road -and shot.= - -“On Wednesday, August 12th, after an engagement at Haelen, Commandant -Van Damme, so severely wounded that he was lying prone on his back, was -finally murdered by German infantrymen firing their revolvers into his -mouth. - -“On Monday, August 10th, at Orsmael, the Germans picked up Commandant -Knapen, very seriously wounded, propped him up against a tree, and shot -him. Finally they hacked his corpse with swords. - -“In different places, notably at Hollogue sur Geer, Barchon, Pontisse, -Haelen, and Zelck, German troops have fired on doctors, ambulance -bearers, ambulances, and ambulance wagons carrying the Red Cross. - -“At Boncelles a body of German troops marched into battle carrying a -Belgian flag. - - WHY THE GERMANS COMMIT ATROCITIES. - - “=True strategy consists in hitting your enemy, and hitting him - hard. Above all you must inflict on the inhabitants of invaded - towns the maximum of suffering, so that they may become sick of the - struggle and may bring pressure to bear on their Government to - discontinue it. You must leave the people through whom you march - only their eyes to weep with.= - - “=In every case the principle which guided our general was that war - must be made terrible to the civil population, so that it may sue - for peace.=” - - =BISMARCK.= - - - -“On Thursday, August 6th, before a fort at Liége, German soldiers -continued to fire on a party of Belgian soldiers (who were unarmed, and -had been surrounded while digging a trench) after these had hoisted the -white flag. - -“On the same day, at Vottem, near the fort of Loncin, a group of German -infantry hoisted the white flag. When Belgian soldiers approached to -take them prisoners the Germans suddenly opened fire on them at close -range. - -“Harrowing reports of German savagery at Aerschot have reached the -Belgian Government at Antwerp from official local sources. Thus on -Tuesday, August 18th, the Belgian troops occupying a position in front -of Aerschot received orders to retire without engaging the enemy. A -small force was left behind to cover the retreat. This force resisted -valiantly against overwhelming German forces, and inflicted serious -losses on them. Meanwhile, practically the whole civilian population of -Aerschot, terrorized by the atrocities committed by the Germans in the -neighbouring villages, had fled from the town. - -“Next day, Wednesday, August 19th, German troops entered Aerschot, -without a shot having been fired from the town and without any -resistance whatever having been made. The few inhabitants that remained -had closed their doors and windows in compliance with the general orders -issued by the Belgian Government. Nevertheless, the Germans broke into -the houses and told the inhabitants to quit. - -“=In one single street the first six male inhabitants who crossed their -thresholds were seized and shot at once, under the very eyes of their -wives and children.= - -“The German troops then retired for the day, only to return in greater -numbers on the next day, Thursday, August 20th. - -“They then compelled the inhabitants to leave their houses and marched -them to a place two hundred yards from the town. There, without more -ado, they shot M. Thielemans, the Burgomaster, his fifteen-year-old son, -the clerk of the local judicial board, and ten prominent citizens. They -then set fire to the town and destroyed it. - -“The following statement was made by Commandant Georges Gilson, of the -9th Infantry of the Line, now lying in hospital at Antwerp:-- - -“I was told to cover the retreat of our troops in front of Aerschot. -During the action fought there on Wednesday, August 19th, between six -and eight o’clock in the morning, suddenly I saw on the high road, -between the German and Belgian forces, which were fighting at close -range, a group of four women, with babies in their arms, and two little -girls clinging to their skirts. Our men stopped firing till the women -got through our lines, but the German machine guns went on firing all -the time, and one of the women was wounded in the arm. - -“=These women could not have got through the neighbouring German lines -and been on the high road unless with the consent of the enemy.= - -“=All the evidence and circumstances seem to point to the fact that these -women had been deliberately pushed forward by the Germans to act as a -shield for their advance guard, and in the hope that the Belgians would -cease firing for fear of killing the women and children.= - -“This statement was made and duly certified in the Antwerp hospital on -August 22nd by Commandant Gilson in the presence of the Chevalier Ernst -N. Bunswyck, Chief Secretary to the Belgian Minister of Justice, and M. -de Cartier de Marchienne, Belgian Minister to China. - -“Further German atrocities were continuously being brought to notice and -made the subject of official and expert inquiry by the proper -authorities. - -“In publishing the above statements the only comment the Press Bureau -can offer is, that these atrocities appear to be committed in villages -and throughout the countryside with the deliberate intention of -terrorizing the people, and so making it unnecessary to leave troops in -occupation of small places, or to protect lines of communication. _In -larger places, like Brussels, where the diplomatic representatives of -neutral Powers are eye-witnesses, there appear to have been no -excesses._” - -=Such was the document issued by the Press Bureau. I have quoted it word -for word= (emphasizing only in italics or in heavy type certain -passages). - - PRIMITIVE SAVAGERY. - - “=Their utter contempt for the established usages of international - intercourse, and even for the ordinary decencies of life, was - displayed in their brutal treatment of the French and Russian - Ambassadors, in the stripping naked of the wives of Russian - officials, in the atrocities they have since committed in Belgium, - in their seizure of hostages, in their homicidal mine-laying in the - North Sea. In all these matters one seems to discern a sudden lapse - into primitive savagery.=” - - --Dr. Dillon in the _Contemporary Review_. - - - - - - -IV. - - -The following is the second report issued by the Belgian Commission of -Inquiry, and which was published by the British Official Press Bureau on -September 15th, 1914. - - -Second Report of the Belgian Committee of Inquiry. - -To M. Carton de Wiart, Minister of Justice, Antwerp. - -Sir,--The Commission of Inquiry has the honour to make the following -report on acts of which the town of Louvain, the neighbourhood, and the -district of Malines have been the scene. - -The German Army entered Louvain on Wednesday, August 19th, after having -burned down the villages through which it had passed. - -As soon as they had entered the town of Louvain the Germans -requisitioned food and lodging for their troops. They went to all the -banks of the town and took possession of the cash in hand. German -soldiers burst open the doors of houses which had been abandoned by -their inhabitants, pillaged them, and committed other excesses. - -The German authorities took as hostages the mayor of the city, Senator -Van der Kelen, the Vice-Rector of the Catholic University, and the -senior priest of the city, besides certain magistrates and aldermen. -All the weapons possessed by the inhabitants, even fencing swords, had -already been given up to the municipal authorities and placed by them in -the Church of St. Pierre. - -In a neighbouring village, Corbeek Loo, on Wednesday, August 19th, a -young woman, aged twenty-two, whose husband was with the Army, and some -of her relations, were surprised by a band of German soldiers. The -persons who were with her were locked up in a deserted house, while she -herself was dragged into another cottage, where she was assaulted by -five soldiers. - - -Fate of 16-year-old Girl. - -In the same village on Thursday, August 20, German soldiers fetched from -their house a young girl, about sixteen years old, and her parents. They -conducted them to a small deserted country house, and while some of them -held back the father and mother, others entered the house, and, finding -the cellar open, forced the girl to drink. They then brought her on to -the lawn in front of the house and assaulted her. Finally they stabbed -her in the breast with their bayonets. - -When this young girl had been abandoned by them after these abominable -deeds, she was brought back to her parents’ house, and the following -day, in view of the gravity of her condition, she received extreme -unction from the parish priest and was taken to the hospital of -Louvain, as her life was despaired of. - -On August 24 and 25 Belgian troops made a sortie from the entrenched -camp of Antwerp and attacked the German army before Malines. The Germans -were thrown back on Louvain and Vilvorde. - -On entering the villages which had been occupied by the enemy the -Belgian army found them devastated. The Germans, as they retired, had -pillaged and burnt the villages, taking with them the male inhabitants, -whom they forced to march in front of them. - -Belgian soldiers entering Hofstade on August 25 found the body of an old -woman who had been killed by bayonet thrusts. She still held in her hand -the needle with which she was sewing when she was killed. A woman and -her fifteen or sixteen year old son lay on the ground, pierced by -bayonets. A man had been hanged. - -At Sempst, a neighbouring village, were found the bodies of two men -partially carbonised. One of them had his legs cut off at the knees; the -other had the arms and legs cut off. A workman, whose burnt body has -been seen by several witnesses, had been struck several times with -bayonets, and then, while still alive, the Germans had poured petroleum -over him and thrown him into a house to which they set fire. A woman who -came out of her house was killed in the same way. - -A witness, whose evidence has been taken by a reliable British subject, -declares that he saw, on August 26, not far from Malines, during the -last Belgian attack, an old man tied by the arms to one of the rafters -in the ceiling of his farm. The body was completely carbonised, but the -head, arms, and feet were unburnt. Further on, a child of about fifteen -was tied up, the hands behind the back, and the body was completely torn -open with bayonet wounds. Numerous corpses of peasants lay on the ground -in positions of supplication, their arms lifted and their hands clasped. - - -Facts about Louvain. - -At nightfall on August 26 the German troops, repulsed by our soldiers, -entered Louvain panic-stricken. Several witnesses affirm that the German -garrison which occupied Louvain was erroneously informed that the enemy -were entering the town. Men of the garrison immediately marched to the -station, shooting haphazard the while, and there met the German troops -who had been repulsed by the Belgians, the latter having just ceased the -pursuit. - -Everything tends to prove that the German regiments fired on one -another. At once the Germans began bombarding the town, pretending that -civilians had fired on the troops, a suggestion which is contradicted by -all the witnesses, and could scarcely have been possible, because the -inhabitants of Louvain had had to give up their arms to the municipal -authorities several days before. - -The bombardment lasted till about ten o’clock at night. The Germans then -set fire to the town. Wherever the fire had not spread, the German -soldiers entered the houses and threw fire grenades, with which some of -them seemed to be provided. The greater part of the town of Louvain was -thus a prey to the flames, particularly the quarters of the upper town, -comprising the modern buildings, the ancient Cathedral of St. Pierre, -the university buildings, together with the university library, its -manuscripts and collections, and the municipal theatre. - -The Commission considers it its duty to insist, in the midst of all -these horrors, on the crime committed against civilisation by the -deliberate destruction of an academic library which was one of the -treasures of Europe. - -The corpses of many civilians encumbered the streets and squares. On the -road from Tirlemont to Louvain alone a witness counted more than fifty. -On the doorsteps of houses could be seen carbonised bodies of -inhabitants, who, hiding in their cellars, were driven out by the fire, -tried to escape, and fell into the flames. The suburbs of Louvain -suffered the same fate. - -We can affirm that the houses in all the districts between Louvain and -Malines, and most of the suburbs of Louvain itself, have practically -been destroyed. - - -Thousands Sent to Germany. - -On Wednesday morning, August 26th, the Germans brought to the station -squares of Louvain a group of more than seventy-five persons, including -several prominent citizens of the town, among whom were Father Coloboet -and another Spanish priest, and also an American priest. - -The men were brutally separated from their wives and children, and after -having been subjected to the most abominable treatment by the Germans, -who several times threatened to shoot them, they were forced to march to -the village of Campenhout in front of the German troops. They were shut -up in the village church, where they passed the night. - -About four o’clock the next morning a German officer told them they had -better go to confession, as they would be shot half an hour later. About -half-past four they were liberated. Shortly afterwards they were again -arrested by a German brigade, which forced them to march before them in -the direction of Malines. In reply to a question of one of the -prisoners, a German officer said they were going to give them a taste of -the Belgian quickfirers before Antwerp. They were at last released on -the Thursday afternoon at the gates of Malines. - -It appears from other witnesses that several thousand male inhabitants -of Louvain, who had escaped the shooting and the fire, were sent to -Germany for a purpose which is still unknown to us. - - -Eye-Witness’s Account. - -The fire at Louvain burnt for several days. An eye-witness who left -Louvain on August 30th gave the following description of the town at -that time:--“Leaving Weert St. George’s, I only saw burnt-down villages -and half-crazy peasants, who on meeting anyone held up their hands as a -sign of submission. Before every house, even those burnt down, hung a -white flag, and the burnt rags of them could be seen among the ruins. - -“At Weert St. George’s I questioned the inhabitants on the causes of the -German reprisals, and they affirmed most positively that no inhabitant -had fired a shot, that in any case the arms had been previously -collected, but that the Germans had taken vengeance on the population -because a Belgian soldier belonging to the gendarmerie had killed an -Uhlan. - -“The population still remaining in Louvain have taken refuge in the -suburb of Héverlé, where they are extremely crowded. They have been -cleared out of the town by the troops and the fire. - -“The fire started a little beyond the American College, and the town is -_entirely_ destroyed, except for the town hall and the station. -Furthermore, the fire was still burning to-day, and the Germans, far -from taking any steps to stop it, seemed to feed it with straw, an -instance of which I observed in the street adjoining the town hall. - -“The cathedral and the theatre are destroyed and have fallen in, as also -the library; in short, the town has the appearance of an ancient ruined -city, in the midst of which only a few drunken soldiers move about, -carrying bottles of wine and liqueurs, while the officers themselves, -seated in arm-chairs round the tables, drink like their men.” - -The Commission has not yet been able to obtain information about the -fate of the Mayor of Louvain and of the other notables who were taken as -hostages. - -The Commission is able to draw the following conclusions from the facts -which have so far been brought to its notice:-- - -In this war, the occupation of any place is systematically accompanied -and followed, sometimes even preceded, by acts of violence towards the -civil population, which acts are contrary both to the usages of war and -to the most elementary principles of humanity. - - -Brutality Everywhere. - -The German procedure is everywhere the same. They advance along a road, -shooting inoffensive passers-by--particularly bicyclists--as well as -peasants working in the fields. - -In the towns or villages where they stop they begin by requisitioning -food and drink, which they consume till intoxicated. - -Sometimes from the interior of deserted houses they let off their rifles -at random and declare that it was the inhabitants who fired. Then the -scenes of fire, murder, and especially pillage begin, accompanied by -acts of deliberate cruelty, without respect to sex or age. Even where -they pretend to know the actual person guilty of the acts they allege, -they do not content themselves with executing him summarily, but they -seize the opportunity to decimate the population, pillage the houses, -and then set them on fire. - -After a preliminary attack and massacre they shut up the men in the -church, and then order the women to return to their houses and to leave -their doors open all night. - -From several places the male population has been sent to Germany, there -to be forced, it appears, to work at the harvest, as in the old days of -slavery. There are many cases of the inhabitants being forced to act as -guides and to dig trenches and entrenchments for the Germans. Numerous -witnesses assert that during their marches, and even when attacking, the -Germans place civilians, men and women, in their front ranks, in order -to prevent our soldiers firing. - -The evidence of Belgian officers and soldiers shows that German -detachments do not hesitate to display either the white flag or the Red -Cross flag in order to approach our troops with impunity. On the other -hand, they fire on our ambulances and maltreat the ambulance men. They -maltreat and even kill the wounded. The clergy seem to be particularly -chosen as subjects for their brutality. - -Finally, we have in our possession expanding bullets which had been -abandoned by the enemy at Werchter, and we possess doctors’ certificates -showing that wounds must have been inflicted by bullets of this kind. - -The documents and evidence on which these conclusions rest will be -published in due course. - - (Signed) - - The President, COOREMAN. - - Members of the Commission, COUNT GOBLET D’ALVIELLA, RYCKMANS, - STRAUSS, VAN CUTSEM. - - Secretaries, CHEV. ERNST DE BUNSWYCK, ORTS. - - - “=The report of the Belgian Commission of Inquiry into the German - atrocities in Belgium is perhaps the most appalling document that - has ever been submitted to civilised man. It reveals a cruelty more - perverse than that of the Boxer or Bashi-Bazuk, and it covers the - reputation of the German soldiery with eternal shame.... They - themselves have transgressed every law of God and man.=” - - --From the _Daily Mail_. - - - - - - -V. - -Can These Things Be True? - - -Can these cold-blooded deeds of atrocity be true? Is it a fact that they -have been proved to the satisfaction of the most exacting critics? Is -this “welter of fire, blood, and destruction” to be written finally on -the pages of history? - -I can only say this: - -1. These stories came to us first from responsible correspondents of all -our leading newspapers, who took them down for the most part at first -hand from eye-witnesses and from the poor victims themselves. - -2. A committee of eminent lawyers, assisted by the Belgian Minister of -Justice, made a searching inquiry, sifting vague reports from actual -facts. - -3. The evidence of the atrocities thus collected was formulated in an -Official Report to be presented to the President of the United States by -the Belgian Delegation of Ministers of State, now on their way to -America. - -4. The British Official Press Bureau issued, on the 25th August, a -statement of the representations made to them, which I have already -quoted. - -5. The Report of the Belgian Government was confirmed by the French -protest against German atrocities which was addressed on September 2nd -to the Powers by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. - -6. Mr. Richard Harding Davis, an eminent American author and -correspondent in Belgium of the _New York Tribune_, has entirely -confirmed, in cables sent to this leading American journal, things he -has seen with his own eyes. - -7. I have narrated the information given to me verbally by M. Van der -Velde himself. “I myself examined the bodies of a peasant and his son -which have been cut to pieces by bayonet thrusts.” - -8. While at first the reports of these atrocities were received in this -country with some reserve, the accumulated and overwhelming evidence, -aggravated from day to day since the very commencement of the war, has -provoked the public men of England, and every responsible newspaper in -the country, as well as all our leading weeklies like the _Spectator_, -the _Saturday Review_, the _Nation_, the _British Weekly_, and others, -into a passionate protest against the inhuman and barbarous methods of -warfare that have stained the name of Germany for ever. - -9. Germany herself has admitted her wanton deeds, and sought to excuse -them in a way that makes her guilt all the more deplorable. We are told -that these barbarian atrocities against the civil population and -unoffending peasants, the sacking, looting, and burning of towns and -villages, are part of the general plan of attack, and that they are -accomplished in cold blood for purely strategical considerations. -Unfortunately they are not merely the riotous and isolated outbursts of -marauding and buccaneering soldiers. - -“The only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil population -has been to interfere with unrelenting severity and to create examples -which by their frightfulness would be a warning to the whole country.” -To prevent “surprise attacks” tortures were inflicted on helpless old -men, women, and children, peaceful villagers were hanged, innocent -children were savagely sabred by German officers, wounded soldiers and -officers shot and mutilated. There was the burning of Visé and the -terrible massacre at Seraing, the sacking and plundering of many another -harmless village, the bombardment of Malines, and the crowning sacrilege -of all, the burning and sacking of Louvain, the torture and massacre of -its defenceless people. Abler pens than mine have told the story of -these blood-guilty ruffians, and abler historians will yet chronicle for -future generations the record of the modern Huns of Attila. “For every -vile deed wrought under the impious benedictions of the monarch who is -ravaging Europe ample reparation will be exacted.... The memory of them -will burn in the heart and mind of every Englishman.” So said the -_Times_. I affirm this is the feeling of every true Britisher. - - - - -VI. - - -=It is specially forbidden “To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid -down his arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at -discretion. To make improper use of a flag of truce, of the national -flag, or of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy.”--Hague -Convention, Article XXIII.= - - -Wanton Brutality. - -I have made it plain from the official documents I have quoted that the -German troops violated every item of this article. But in addition to -cases of brutality already cited in the official document, the Belgian -Mission, while in London, gave me the following:-- - -On August 19th Aerschot, in North Brabant, with about five thousand -inhabitants, was, as already reported, destroyed. It appears that during -the three days the German soldiery massacred and pillaged the town, -which had not resisted, although there was no military force there -whatever. - -In the neighbouring village of Diest many of the inhabitants were put to -the sword. The wife of Francis Luyckx, aged forty-five, and her -daughter, twelve years of age, had, in their terror, taken refuge in a -sewer. They were discovered, dragged out, and shot. - -The little daughter of Jean Oyyen, a pretty child of nine, was shot, and -a man named Andre Willem, aged twenty-three, the village sexton, was -bound to a tree and burned alive. - -In the village of Schaffen, near Diest, two men, named Lodts and Marken, -both aged forty, were captured and entombed. When exhumed, it was -found that they had been buried alive, head downwards. These -occurrences--which are only a few of a very long list--had been fully -inquired into, and confirmed by the committee of investigation, which -was composed of the highest magistrates of Belgium and the chief -professors of the Universities. - -Statements were made that aged villagers in many places on the -Franco-German frontier were hanged to trees; others, after being killed, -had their eyes gouged out. In one place fifteen bodies were found -mutilated in a heap, and along the whole frontier from Luxemburg to -Basle outrages were committed on women, girls, and children. - -Mlle. Marie Malet, the daughter of a judicial official in Brussels, who -had been sent to London with a party of Belgian girls for safety, stated -that she had seen a little girl, a friend of hers, aged ten, savagely -sabred by a German officer, merely because she made a remark that the -Germans were bullies. The child died an hour afterwards. Mlle. Malet -stated that she had been sent from near Brussels with her sister, owing -to the insults to which Belgian girls were subjected by German soldiers. -Her mother had been wounded and her home looted of food and valuables. - -[Illustration: BELGIAN PEASANTS WATCHING THE DESTRUCTION OF THEIR HOMES -BY THE RUTHLESS INVADER. - -_Photo, Daily Mirror._] - -The record of German atrocities in Belgium, indeed, rivals that of Alva -in the Netherlands in the sixteenth century. The worst Balkan methods -were being pursued by the army of the pious Kaiser. At Pontillac, -between Liége and Namur, the Burgomaster officially reported that the -men of the 17th Hussars from Mecklenburg entered the place, met with no -resistance, and demanded food, which the inhabitants at once gave them. -After eating and drinking to their full, to the surprise of everyone -they rode wildly through the streets emptying their carbines at the -windows of the houses. Two Belgian soldiers who were secreted in the -village returned their fire. A hot fusillade ensued, and then the -Germans deliberately shot down all the villagers they could find. They -also seized a M. Lahaye, a member of the Communal Council, and dragged -him through the streets with a rope round his neck. - - -Drunken German Soldiers. - -Further details regarding the wild savagery at Aerschot reached the -Belgian Government after the issuing of the official report printed in -the foregoing pages. It seems that the population of the Belgian -provinces overrun by the Germans suffered, not only from the outrages of -the troops acting under the orders of their officers, but also from -atrocities due to drunken soldiers. - -In one town some of them fired their rifles openly into the air and -afterwards declared that the inhabitants had fired on them. On this -pretext the people were dragged from their houses, which were then set -on fire, and in many cases women and girls were outraged and the men -shot. At Aerschot the troops--upon whom the Kaiser and the Austrian -Emperor were beseeching God’s blessing--stabled their horses in the -church, one of the most beautiful in Belgium, while the troops were set -to work to destroy the pictures and fittings in the noble edifice. The -Germans accused the son of the Burgomaster of killing the son of a -German colonel. This was denied by the Burgomaster’s son, who only fired -to defend his mother and sister from gross insults by the soldiery. - - “=For every evil and unwarrantable act committed in the Western - theatre, ample vengeance will be exacted at the other - end.=”--_Times._ - - -The Germans, however, surrounded the town. The inhabitants were then -dragged from their homes and the women separated from the men. The -latter were divided into batches and forced to run towards the river, -the troops laughing at them and firing at them as they ran. One man who -escaped by feigning death afterwards returned and counted forty-one -bodies of his friends. Many of them had been stabbed by bayonets after -being wounded. About one hundred and fifty of the male inhabitants of -this place were compelled to watch the German troops shoot the -Burgomaster, his son, and the Burgomaster’s brother. - - -Women Mutilated. - -Mr. Adolph Coussmaekrs, a well-known resident of Antwerp, wrote giving -nine cases of atrocities committed by the Germans in the districts of -Orsmael and Barchon. - -I do not reproduce here the nine cases instanced by this gentleman. The -wanton mutilation on women and children is revolting and seems -incredible. - -In addition, there were criminal assaults on women which I cannot dwell -upon in these pages; they have been narrated by unimpeachable persons. -Mothers had their daughters dragged away from them by shameless officers -to a fate that must have driven them to despair. Women and young -children were injured by bayonet-thrusts and revolver-shots, and were -still suffering from their wounds. - - “=In no war of modern times has an enemy so distinguished himself by - war on civilians as in this. The brutality of the methods employed - by the Prussian apostles of ‘culture’ is only equalled by its - futility.=”--_Daily Telegraph._ - - - - -VII. - -300 Men Shot in Cold Blood. - - -A terrible story of the holocaust at Liége was told to the correspondent -of the _Daily Mail_ by a wealthy Dutch cigarette manufacturer who had -lived for a long time in Belgium, and was married to a Belgium woman. He -stated that on the day of their entry the Germans posted an order on the -streets that all arms in possession of private persons must be -immediately delivered, under the threat of being shot. The inhabitants -complied with the order. Among others, collections of old arms were -brought, valued sometimes at hundreds of pounds. The new vandals -destroyed all these pitilessly. - -“During the first days the Germans paid for everything they took. But -later on soldiers produced valueless pieces of paper, on which something -had been scribbled which could hardly be read. On Sunday, August 23rd, -at midnight, the inhabitants were suddenly awakened by soldiers knocking -at the doors. ‘We need immediately two hundred and fifty mattresses, two -hundred pounds of coffee, two hundred and fifty loaves of bread, and -five hundred eggs,’ they said. ‘If these are not delivered in an hour’s -time your hostages will be shot.’ Everybody rushed to the market-place, -many people in their night clothes. There stood the mayor, half-dressed. - -“After the inhabitants had brought in everything which was demanded they -were informed that the whole was a mistake and that they could go to -bed. The old mayor, however, was detained the whole night in the -street. - -“One day when the soldiers sat down to dinner, an alarm was suddenly -beaten in the streets. Soldiers from all the houses were summoned to -their regiments. Immediately after, the bombardment of the houses began. -The informant took refuge with his wife and children in a cellar, which -was constantly filled with smoke from the neighbouring houses, which had -caught fire. On Wednesday morning the bombardment ceased and they -ventured to the station. - -“Here, notwithstanding his protests, and proposals to produce papers, -showing that he was a Dutch subject, the cigarette manufacturer was -separated from his family, of whom he has since lost sight. He was -surrounded by soldiers, who bound his hands behind his back, and with -other refugees he was kept at the station many hours. During this time -he saw a party of three hundred Belgian civilians, among whom were old -men and lads of fourteen or fifteen, driven at the point of the bayonet -to a remote spot near the station, where they were all shot before his -eyes. - -“After a terrible night, he and his group of seventy-six men were set -free. They had had nothing to eat or drink for thirty-six hours. All -streets and roads in and round Liége were strewn, according to the -witness, with bodies of men, women, and children. Among those shot were -the mayor, two aldermen, the rector of the University, two deans, and -many police inspectors.” - - - - -VIII. - - - “=Our German people will be the grand block on which the good God - may complete His work of civilizing the world.=” - - From a speech of _The Kaiser’s_. - - - - -The Inferno at Visé. - -A correspondent of the _Handelsblad_ was an eye-witness of the scenes in -Visé, near Liége, when it was burned, and told a tale of German -barbarity, and of the murder and torture of its helpless inhabitants, of -a nature to make one’s blood run cold. As summarized in the _Daily News_ -the story is as follows:-- - -“It was an awful sight. Every house was a mass of flames, through which -the streets were hardly visible. - -“At the entrance of the Grand Hotel were three disarmed soldiers bound -hand and foot. Entering the hotel, I found the floor covered with dead -bodies. In that hall of the dead several soldiers stood guard. From this -awful, nauseating scene I hurried back to the blinding glare and -suffocating heat of the burning villages. - -“The correspondent describes how a colleague supported an aged lady -found lying near her blazing house. She pleaded, ‘Let me die.’ Poor, -unhappy creature, bereft of home and even of adequate clothing, the -aged - -[Illustration: SHOWING THE DESTRUCTION IN THE CHURCH AT VISÉ. - -_Photo, Sport and General._] - -and defenceless victim of the Kaiser’s gallant army! He adds: ‘We fled -from the scene that must for ever blur the scutcheon of the Kaiser, and -I pray as long as I live it will never be my task to see such an inferno -again.’ - -“Absolutely incredible was the picture of incidents connected with the -burning of Visé by the Germans and the shooting given in private letters -which arrived from Eysden, on the Dutch frontier, and seen by the -_Telegraaf_. According to these letters, the Germans alleged that the -citizens had fired on the troops. All the inhabitants were then hunted -out of their houses to spend the night in the square watching the -burning. Men were taken prisoners, and possibly shot, and the rest were -driven out of the town, which was given to the flames. Eysden is filled -with refugees--one hundred and fifty in one canteen and two hundred and -fifty in the Protestant Church, while four hundred have been sent to -Maastricht. - -“Two trainloads of refugees came into Brussels from the Tirlemont -district. The scenes I have witnessed,” telegraphs a Press Association -correspondent, “and the stories told by these poor people would melt a -heart of stone. Removal from the face of the earth--a phrase of the -German papers themselves--continues to be the invader’s idea of how best -to deal with unarmed, unoffending villages, the only crime of whose -people is that they have fallen in his path. - -“The Germans entered Tirlemont, in the vicinity of which they have been -for some days. They were in strong force, mostly cavalry and artillery. -The big guns shelled the place, and the cavalry played at war by -attacking the flying and panic-stricken populace, shooting and stabbing -them at random. - -“Never have I seen such a picture of woe as a peasant woman and five -children who stood bewildered in the Place de la Gare here, all crying -as if their hearts would break. It was a terrible story the woman had to -tell. ‘They shot my husband before my eyes,’ she said, ‘and trampled two -of my children to death.’ - -“A German knocked at the door of the house of the Burgomaster at Venne, -near the Dutch frontier, and when the Burgomaster’s wife opened the door -she was knocked down and killed with the butt end of a rifle. - -“A solicitor, who was a member of the Belgian Chamber, and who was -staying in the house, rushed to the front door, and he also was -instantly knocked down and killed with a bayonet thrust. On hearing of -these atrocities the population fled in terror.” - - -Lancer’s Fiendish Act. - -M. Isadore Felix Cruls, a Belgian refugee who arrived in London, had a -tragic story to tell. He carried on a prosperous printing business at -Saint Jossé, a suburb of Brussels. When hostilities broke out he was -called up for service in the Civil Guard, and stationed on the Chaussée -de Louvain, the road between Louvain and Brussels. As reported in the -_Daily Telegraph_, he stated:-- - -“At midnight on August 19th-20th I was on duty on the Chaussée de -Louvain watching the refugees come in from the various towns and -villages. The road was blocked when I got near. I saw that a party of -German Lancers were at the rear of the procession of refugees. I saw one -of the Lancers prodding a woman, who had four or five children walking -by her side. - -“There was an old woman, evidently the mother of the young woman, -walking with them. One of the Lancers was amusing himself by pricking -this old woman with his lance in order to make her walk along more -quickly. The young woman turned round and shouted something at the -Lancer, either by way of remonstrance or insult. I was not near enough -to hear what she said. The Lancer took up his lance and ran it through -one of the little girls who was walking along, clutching the hand of her -mother. She was a fair-haired girl of about seven or eight years of age. -When the crowd saw this they became infuriated, and a panic ensued. The -Lancers bore down upon the people, scattering them in all directions. -What became of these people I do not know.” - - - - -IX. - -The Maiden Tribute. - - -Another story M. Cruls related was told to him by the mother herself. At -a village called Leau a squadron of about five hundred Uhlans was -marching through the town when they declared that someone had fired at -them. On going round to all the houses, searching for firearms, they -came to one where the family circle consisted of a grandfather, the -father, mother, and a girl of seventeen or eighteen, and a young boy, -who, upon seeing the approach of the German soldiers, fled and hid -himself. The soldiers came in, and without any questioning fired at and -killed the father. They were going to shoot the grandfather when the -mother and daughter fell on their knees and begged the soldiers to spare -the life of the old man. The officer, or under-officer, of the party -then said, “Yes, we won’t trouble about the old people,” and touching -the cheek of the young girl with his fingers, he added, with a -significant laugh, “Pretty youth is better.” The sequel need not be -written here, although the mother of the girl has told it. - - -A Governess Hanged. - -A well-known family in Brussels were staying at their villa at Genck, -about six kilometres from the capital. On arrival of the Germans there -they entered the villa, smashed everything they could, and stole -whatever was of value, “even taking away the wedding-ring that the -husband wore on his finger.” They took away the men first, and nobody -knows what has become of them. A member of the family and two servants -fled from the house in terror, but returned when they saw the German -soldiers going. - -This is what they saw: “The body of an old lady of seventy years of age -lying on the floor with her throat cut. A governess, about thirty years -of age--I cannot tell you her nationality--was found hanging from a -tree, stark naked and mutilated.” - -Although this happened within six kilometres of Brussels, yet no -atrocities were known to have been committed in the capital, the -Kaiser’s unrestrained savages being there under the eyes of the -representatives of the Powers. - -A Dutch gentleman named Couzy, of Amsterdam, was staying at Mont, a -village in the hills above Comblain au Pont, when war broke out. Having -missed the last train which the Belgians ran to Dinant, he was obliged -to return to Mont, where he witnessed the arrival of thousands of Uhlans -and many batteries of German artillery. Mr. Couzy declared that the -treatment of the Belgians by the enemy was merciless. He was witness of -many horrible scenes. He was present when, after the discovery of the -bodies of two German officers in a horse-dealer’s yard at Comblain au -Pont, seventy villagers were brought before the commanding officer. -Without question, the officer selected thirty, who were shot without -any form of trial whatever. Several of these men were known to Mr. Couzy -as honest and trustworthy citizens. - -On another occasion a number of villagers were searched for weapons. A -young Dutchman, also known to Mr. Couzy, had upon him a razor which he -used daily. Immediately he was placed against a wall and shot. - -A refugee arriving at Maastricht from Bassenge stated that ten thousand -Germans came from the direction of Louvain, and began to burn everything -that had been left standing and shoot everyone opposed to them. Two -hundred of the villagers were driven out by the Germans and ordered to -hold their hands above their heads. Anyone who dropped his hands for an -instant was shot, and anyone who looked at or showed sympathy with the -victims shared the same fate. They were marched for two hours, and -during that time many shots whistled over their heads. The Germans then -stopped and threatened that the first who looked back would be shot. - - -A Senator’s Story. - -“M. Leon Hiard, senator of Hainaut, one of the largest manufacturers in -Belgium, lived at Haine Saint Pierre, where before the battle of Mons -the Germans requisitioned everything. He states that, revolver in hand, -threatening death for unpunctuality or disobedience, the German officers -spread terror into the hearts of the inhabitants. At Peronne the mayor, -M. Gravis, had very imprudently caused all the arms of the inhabitants -to be deposited at his house instead of the town-hall. He also carried -a revolver, and some of his carts had been used to bar a road.” The -_Daily Express_ correspondent continues-- - -“He was taken before the German general at the town-hall with his -secretary. The séance was short. ‘Vous fusillé,’ said the general, and -the unfortunate man was led out blindfolded and shot. As the secretary -was following him a more kindly officer said in his ear, ‘Mais -filez-donc, imbécile,’ and pushed him on one side. - -“The body of M. Gravis was propped up against a wall for forty-eight -hours as an example to the town. Men were billeted in all the houses, -and although in the better houses the officers behaved with some -restraint, in the peasants’ cottages unbridled licence was the rule. - -“Women were treated infamously, indescribable scenes of debauchery -taking place, while all the possessions of the unfortunates were -wilfully wasted and destroyed. The fiery-tempered people were being -driven to reprisals, so that an excuse for further cruelty might be -found.” - - -What General von Boehn said. - -I take the following extract from a long dispatch in the _Daily -Chronicle_, from Mr. E. Alexander Powell, the Special Correspondent of -the _New York World_:-- - -“Three weeks ago the Government of Belgium requested me to place before -the American people, through the medium of the _New York World_, a list -of specific and authenticated atrocities committed by German armies -upon Belgian non-combatants. - -“To-day General von Boehn, commanding the Ninth Imperial Field Army, and -acting as mouthpiece of the German General Staff, has asked me to place -before the American people the German version of the incidents in -question.... - -“General von Boehn began by asserting that the accounts of the -atrocities perpetrated on Belgian non-combatants were a tissue of lies. - -“‘Look at these officers about you,’ he said; ‘they are gentlemen like -yourselves. Look at the soldiers marching past in the road out there. -They are most of them the fathers of families. Surely you do not believe -that they would do the things they have been accused of.’ - -“‘Three days ago, General,’ I said, ‘I was in Aerschot. The whole town -is now but a ghastly, blackened, bloodstained ruin!’ - -“‘When we entered Aerschot,’ he replied, ‘the son of the Burgomaster -came into the room, drew a revolver, and assassinated my Chief of Staff. -What followed was only retribution. The townspeople only got what they -deserved!’ - -“‘But why wreak your vengeance on women and children?’ - -“‘None have been killed,’ the General asserted positively. - -“‘I’m sorry to contradict you, General,’ I asserted, with equal -positiveness, ‘but I have myself seen their mutilated bodies. So has Mr. -Gibson, Secretary of the American Legation at Brussels, who was present -during the destruction of Louvain.’ - - -“It is War!” - -“‘Of course, there is always danger of women and children being killed -during street fighting,’ said the General, ‘if they insist on coming -into the street. It is unfortunate, but it is war.’ - -“‘But how about the woman whose body I saw with the hands and feet cut -off? How about the white-haired man and his son whom I helped to bury -outside of Sempst, and who had been killed merely because the retreating -Belgians had shot a German soldier outside their house? There were 22 -bayonet wounds in the old man’s face. I counted them. How about the -little girl, two years old, shot while in her mother’s arms by a Uhlan, -and whose funeral I attended at Heyst-op-den-Berg? How about the old man -that was hung from the rafters of his house by the hands and roasted to -death by a bonfire being built under him?’ - -“The General seemed somewhat taken aback by the amount and exactness of -my data. ‘Such things are horrible if they are true,’ he said. ‘Of -course, our soldiers, like soldiers in all armies, sometimes get out of -hand, and do things which we would never tolerate if we knew it. At -Louvain, for example, I sentenced two soldiers to 12 years’ penal -servitude apiece for assaulting a woman.’ - -“‘Apropos of Louvain,’ I remarked, ‘why did you destroy the library? It -was one of the literary store-houses of the world.’ - -“‘We regretted that as much as anyone else,’ answered the General. ‘It -caught fire from the burning houses, and we could not save it.’ - -“‘But why did you burn Louvain at all?’ I asked. - -“‘Because the townspeople fired on our troops. We actually found -machine-guns in some of the houses; and,’ smashing his fist down upon -the table, ‘whenever civilians fire upon our troops we will teach them a -lasting lesson. If the women and children insist on getting in the way -of bullets, so much the worse for women and children.’ - -“‘How do you explain the bombardment of Antwerp by Zeppelins?’ I -queried. - -“‘The Zeppelins have orders to drop their bombs only on fortifications -and soldiers,’ he answered. - -“‘As a matter of fact,’ I remarked, ‘they destroyed only private houses -and innocent civilians, several of them women. If one of those bombs had -dropped 200 yards nearer my hotel I wouldn’t be smoking one of your -excellent cigars to-day.’ - -“‘That is a calamity which, thank God, didn’t happen,’ he replied. - -“‘If you feel for my safety as deeply as that, General,’ I said -earnestly, ‘you can make quite sure of my coming to no harm by sending -no more Zeppelins.’ - -“‘Well, Herr Powell,’ said he, laughing, ‘we will think about it, and,’ -he continued gravely, ‘I trust that you will tell the American people -through your great paper what I have told you to-day. Let them hear our -side of this atrocity business. It is only justice that they should be -made familiar with both sides of the question.’ - -“I have quoted my conversation with General von Boehn as nearly verbatim -as I can remember it. I have no comments to make. - -“I will leave it to the readers of the _World_ to decide for themselves -just how convincing are the answers of the German General to the Belgian -accusations.” - - “=We cannot doubt their (the Belgian Commission) competency for the - task entrusted to them; nor can we mistrust their good faith. And - of what nature is the story which their report, item by item, - unrolls? They recount a series of acts committed by the German - soldiery which, if even a half or a quarter be true, are enough to - condemn them to everlasting shame as barbarians grosser and more - criminal than Huns or Visigoths, or the hordes led by Yenghis Khan - or Tamerlane the Great.=” - - --From the _Daily Telegraph_. - - - - - - -X. - -Atrocities Around Liége. - - -Belgian officials reported from Liége devilish atrocities committed in -the town and suburbs. In the Place de l’Université, the Rue des -Pitteurs, and the Quai des Pecheurs most of the houses were burned. The -occupants, who had been awakened by the acrid smoke, fled in terror, and -fifteen persons, men, women, and children, were killed as they ran, -while in one instance a family were called together, and father and son -were killed and then mutilated in front of them. Apparently many of the -soldiers breaking into _cafés_ were drunk, and after firing accused the -inhabitants of it, taking vengeance by burning and murders without -restraint. This indeed appeared to be part of the German campaign, for -not only in Belgium, but also in France, the same inhuman and dastardly -excuses were resorted to in order to attempt to justify the awful crimes -which these “cultured” barbarians committed. - - -Road Strewn with Dead. - -Georges Just, a restaurant-keeper at Chenee, province of Liége, said: -“When we heard of the German approach my wife and I fled across the -river into Liége. It seems now like a dream. Just before they entered -the town the Germans committed all kinds of outrages. Never shall I -forget the terrible sights along the roadside. Mutilated corpses of -people I knew, and many wounded and dying, lay strewn in our path. In -some places we saw the dead piled in heaps fifteen feet high.” - -A letter written by a niece of Mr. John Redmond, M.P., who was living in -a Belgian town occupied by the Germans, contained the following:-- - -“They are absolute barbarians, and treat the women like dogs. For the -least thing the inhabitants are shot, and they all live in fear of their -lives. The town’s most prominent men, in relays of three, guarded by -soldiers, guarantee with their lives the good behaviour of the people. -My husband is one of the guarantors. On Wednesday night he spent his -hours of vigil in the town hall. Imagine my feelings. - -“The Germans take everything. No matter how well they are treated and -received, they behave filthily and brutally, officers and men alike. -Empty houses they smash from top to bottom.” - - “=The Belgian people are enduring the horrors of war, and after - making every allowance for the source from which our information - comes, we do not doubt that they are enduring them in a form which - ought to be impossible amongst civilized nations.=”--_Bonar Law._ - - -What an Eye-Witness Saw. - -Another eye-witness was Mr. Henry Frenkel, a Russian living in Antwerp, -who volunteered in the 6th regiment of the line to serve with his -Belgian friends. While the Germans were in Liége he was sent there upon -an important mission. This is how he tells his story:-- - -“I got into Liége by Holland. I went first to Rosendael, then to -Maastricht, last to Eysden, and then openly passed the frontier. I will -not describe Visé, Mouland, Berneau, and other places, all burned, -sacked, and devastated in the most horrible fashion. Although all I have -seen has hardened my nerve, I still shiver when I think of it. One -cannot grasp the idea of all that has really taken place there. The -Germans, mad with rage on account of the resistance which we opposed to -them, have acted like wild beasts, to give it a mild name. I have seen -men, women, and children hanged or horribly mutilated. I have seen heaps -of corpses, of which no trace will be left in a few hours, as the -inhabitants round Liége have been commandeered to bury them in lots. Ah! -the Prussians will have to render us a terrible account. I witnessed an -incident on the Place Lambert, in Liége. A Belgian chauffeur was arguing -with a German officer. Visibly, the Belgian chauffeur could not -understand what was wanted of him. The crowd gathered, and I could not -follow the rest of the scene; but I heard a revolver shot. Then German -soldiers rushed out of the palace to stop the crowds, and I saw the -chauffeur, with blood-covered face, carried into a house by two -soldiers. Not a sign of revolt from the crowd. The rifles are loaded, -ready to go off. At my side a German said, laughingly: ‘Ach, das ist -nichts! Eine kleinigkeit.’ (‘Oh! that’s nothing. Only a small thing.’)” - - -Dinant Destroyed. - -It was at Dinant, one of the most famous beauty spots of Belgium, and -which is so well known to English tourists, who flock to it in great -numbers every year, that some particularly atrocious outrages took -place. According to the message of Reuter’s correspondent at Ostend, the -women were confined in convents whilst hundreds of men were shot. A -hundred prominent citizens were shot in the Place d’Armes. M. Hummers, -manager of a large weaving factory employing two thousand men, and M. -Poncelet, son of a former Senator, were both shot, the latter in the -presence of his six children. The Germans appeared at the branch of the -National Bank, where they demanded all the cash in the safe. When the -manager refused to give them the money they tried to blow the safe open. -Not succeeding in this they demanded the combination for the lock. The -manager refused. On this the Germans shot him immediately, together with -his two sons. Dinant was afterwards destroyed by shell-fire and -incendiarism. - - “=The modern Attila respects neither the laws of nations nor the - laws of God. His evil deeds cry aloud to Heaven and to the - horror-struck watching nations.=”--_Times._ - -The wanton destruction of this ancient and beautiful town is a crime -second only to that committed at Louvain. - - -Children Outraged. - -A Belgian soldier who fought at Dinant was eye-witness of a terrible -scene. Several German infantrymen had entered a house in a small village -on the Meuse, and he, with four other Belgians, lay in wait for them. -The Germans emerged with a young woman, whom they subjected to brutal -ill-usage. The Belgians feared that if they fired they might hit the -woman, but presently one of the Kaiser’s savages drew his bayonet and -plunged it into the poor girl’s breast, whereupon she sank down uttering -a piteous cry. - -At Harseet the Uhlans suddenly descended upon the village, shot the -first men they came across, numbering seven; this was followed by -outrages on women, and twenty-two men were carried off as prisoners. Two -Uhlans demanded a fowl from a peasant, who replied that he had none. -They found one, and promptly shot him. - -Because two Jesuit professors at Louvain University were found with -newspapers upon them, telling of German atrocities, one was shot, while -thirty of the Jesuits were taken away in carts to an unknown fate. - -In La Préville a number of Uhlans who broke open a _café_ and satiated -themselves with drink saw a little boy of seven playing with a toy gun. -Because he pointed it at a German soldier he was shot. - - -Base Act of Ingratitude. - -Many Belgian refugees, after weary wanderings, found themselves in -Paris, and some of them were given shelter in the vast Cirque de Paris, -where straw was laid upon the floor upon which those made homeless and -destitute by the Kaiser’s savage barbarians made their bed. - -One old grey-haired man, bent and travel-stained, was found by a -correspondent seated alone and silently weeping. A kindly Red Cross -nurse inquired the reason of his despondency. He said: “My name is Jean -Beauzon. I kept a little coffee-house just across the river from Liége, -in the town of Grivegnee. When the army was mobilized my two sons, both -strapping fine fellows, went off to join the regiment. I have two -daughters, one left with my old father and the other here”; so saying he -pointed to a bright-eyed girl of sixteen, whose face and head were -swathed in bandages. - -“You see,” he went on, “that poor dear face. Well, a German did that. -They burst into my place and demanded wine, which I gave them. What -happened then I cannot exactly remember. It all seems like a horrible -nightmare. We subsequently left our home and wandered away in the -opposite direction from the terrible cannonading that was going on. - -“After walking in the dark for two hours my other daughter became too -tired to go any farther and sat down in despair by the roadside. - -“This girl here and I then went on to try to find some means of -conveyance for her. A little way down the road we came upon a riderless -horse, which we managed with great difficulty to catch and mount. We -then went back to find my other daughter. We had not left her for more -than half an hour, but she was no longer there. We spent the rest of the -night looking for her, but found no sign or trace of her, and in the end -were obliged to give up the search. - -“Finally we got into a train, which brought us here. I was cared for by -the Red Cross. I don’t know where they found me or anything else except -that I have prayed all the time to the Blessed Virgin to return my -cherished lamb to me undefiled.” - - “=What kind of soldiers can these be who slaughter old women with - bayonet thrusts, who violate young girls and then murder them, who - strip and stab young boys, who hang and burn old men, and who - subject to degradation and insult innocent and unoffending - priests?=” - - --From the _Daily Telegraph_. - - - -[Illustration: HOW THE GERMAN VANDALS DEALT WITH THE WORLD-FAMED LIBRARY -OF LOUVAIN. - -_Photo, Central News._ - -_Face p. 73._] - - - - -XI. - -The Crime of Louvain. - - -“=In destroying the ancient town of Louvain, the German troops have -committed a crime for which there can be no atonement, and Humanity has -suffered a loss which can never be repaired.=”--_Press Bureau._ - - -No words can adequately describe the wave of disgust which swept over -the whole of the civilized communities of the world when it became known -that the Germans had reduced to ashes the beautiful old city of Louvain. -Mr. Asquith has described the sack of Louvain as - -“=the greatest crime committed against civilization and culture since the -Thirty Years’ War. With its buildings, its pictures, its unique library, -its unrivalled associations, a shameless holocaust of irreparable -treasures lit up by blind barbarian vengeance.=” - -This ancient city, the Oxford of Belgium, has been reduced by the new -Huns to a heap of ashes. “Every traveller in Belgium,” says Sir William -Robertson Nicoll, “will remember the ancient mediæval town, its -wonderful Hotel de Ville, the most perfect piece of architecture in -Belgium, the Church of St. Peter, begun in 1425, and the University with -its priceless library. All have perished, and why? The civil population -had been disarmed, but in a night skirmish German soldiers accidentally -fired on their own guard, and it was decided in the panic of the hour to -destroy the whole town. A town of forty-five thousand inhabitants, the -intellectual metropolis of the Low Countries since the fifteenth -century, is now no more than a heap of ashes.” - -The wanton destruction of this ancient seat of learning, rich in -historic associations, was an act of vandalism almost without parallel -in history, a crime not only against humanity, but against the -generations of future years. - -The restrained and dignified words in which our own Official Press -Bureau made known the ruthless sacking of Louvain constitute a fearful -indictment of German Militarism, which can give official sanction to -such an appalling deed. Here are the words of the Press Bureau:-- - -“Ancient and beautiful Louvain, a town of forty-five thousand people, a -seat of learning, famous for its ancient and beautiful churches and -other buildings, many of them dating from the fifteenth century, has -been utterly destroyed by one of the Kaiser’s commanders in a moment of -passion to cover the blunder of his own men. The excuse for this -unpardonable act of barbarity and vandalism is that a discomfited band -of German troops returning to Louvain were fired upon by the people of -the town, who had been disarmed a week earlier. The truth is that the -Germans, making for the town in disorder, were fired upon by their -friends in occupation of Louvain, a mistake by no means rare in war. The -assumption of the German commander was, in the circumstances, so wide of -probability that it can only be supposed that in the desire to conceal -the facts the first idea which occurred to him was seized upon as an -excuse for an act unparalleled in the history of civilized people. - -“The Emperor William has stated that the only means of preventing -surprise attacks from the civil population has been to interfere with -unrelenting severity and to create examples which, by their -frightfulness, would be a warning to the whole country. The case of -Louvain is such an ‘interference,’ without even the miserable excuse -suggested. Louvain is miles from the scene of real fighting. In -International Law it is recognized that ‘the only legitimate end which -the States should aim at in war is the weakening of the military forces -of the enemy.’ And the rules under the annex to Convention IV. of 1907, -which expand and demand the provision of the Declaration of Brussels, -lay down that any destruction or seizure of enemies’ property, not -imperatively called for by military necessities, is forbidden. - -“In destroying the ancient town of Louvain, the German troops have -committed a crime for which there can be no atonement, and Humanity has -suffered a loss which can never be repaired.” - - -Incredible Wickedness. - -But even the above statement does not relate one half of the fearful -crimes against property and human life committed by these uniformed -ruffians in the ill-fated city, perpetrated by hosts of armed men -against innocent and helpless non-combatants, aged men, defenceless -women, and children. The houses and buildings of the town were without -doubt deliberately set on fire. Helped by petrol poured on by brutal -Teuton soldiers, the flames spread rapidly and fiercely. - - “=For every vile deed wrought under the impious benedictions of the - monarch who is ravaging Europe ample reparation shall be - exacted.=”--_Times._ - -Everyone who offered opposition was killed; everyone found in the -possession of arms shot. Wives saw their husbands murdered before their -eyes, mothers their sons. Men were brutally dragged away from their -weeping wives and children, propped up against a wall and shot, or -ruthlessly cut down where they stood. German soldiers, encouraged by -their officers, looted where and how they liked; the inhabitants were in -some cases driven to take refuge on the roofs of their houses, which -were set on fire. From burning houses were to be heard the agonized -cries of those perishing in the conflagration, which was destined to -reduce the city to ashes. - -Many authenticated stories of these terrible happenings have reached -London. At first they seemed unbelievable, but each day brings further -corroboration. I take the liberty of reproducing a despatch of Mr. Hugh -Martin, the special correspondent of the _Daily News and Leader_, whose -vivid narrative brings home to us the details of the sufferings of the -poor victims of these abominable proceedings:-- - -“Stories of the sacking of Louvain, which are almost unbelievable in -their horror, reach here (Rotterdam) from the frontier. One of the most -vivid is that of an assistant in a bicycle shop, who, though a Dutchman, -was given special facilities for escape owing to his being mistaken for -a German. - -“‘At mid-day last Tuesday,’ he begins, ‘a fearful uproar broke out in -the streets while we were at dinner, and the crackle of musketry was -soon followed by the roar of artillery near at hand. - -“‘Hearing shrieks from the inhabitants of our streets, I rushed to the -window and saw that several houses were already in flames. Soldiers were -smashing the shop windows and looting in all directions. - - -Shot Down Like Rabbits. - -“‘As the people rushed into the streets from the burning houses they -were shot down like rabbits. With my governor, his wife, and little boy, -we fled to the cellar, where I and the boy hid under a pile of tyres, -while the manager crept into a chest, and his wife far into a drain, -where she stood with water up to her waist for many hours. - -“‘Night fell and the sound of shooting in the streets became brisker. I -crept out of my hiding-place to get some water, and, peeping out of the -window, saw, to my horror, that almost the whole street was in ruins. -Then we found that our own house was alight, and it was necessary to -choose between bolting and being burnt to death where we were. - -“‘I decided to make a dash for it, but the moment I was outside the door -three Germans held me up with their revolvers and asked me where I was -going. My reply was that I was a German, and that my master and his wife -were Germans who had been trapped in the burning house. - -“‘Apparently my German was good enough to make them believe my -statement, for they promised to give us safe conduct out of the town. -Our walk through the streets to the railway station I shall always -remember as a walk through hell. - -“‘The beautiful town, with its noble buildings, was a sea of flame. Dead -bodies lay thick in the streets. Dreadful cries came from many of the -houses. It was half-past five on Wednesday morning when we reached the -railway station. Soldiers were even then still going about the streets -with lighted brands and explosives in their hands, setting alight any -buildings that still remained intact. - -“‘In the parks they had already begun to bury the dead, but in many -cases so shallow were the graves that a large part of each body was -still visible. At the railway station we witnessed a truly harrowing -spectacle. Fifty citizens, both men and women, had been brought from -houses from which the soldiers swore that shots had been fired. - -“‘They were lined up in the street, protesting with tears in their eyes -that they were innocent. Then came a firing squad. Volley followed -volley, and the fifty fell dead where they stood.’ - -“This appalling story is fully confirmed by an independent despatch from -a Dutch journalist who happened to be at Louvain on his way to Brussels. -He states that he was standing on Tuesday evening near the railway -station at Louvain talking to a German officer, when he was strongly -advised to leave the spot, owing to the great danger. - -“A group of some five hundred men and women described as hostages were -ranked in the open space by the station, and they were informed that for -every soldier fired on in the town ten of them would be shot. This -arrangement was carried out with true German regard for the punctilious -observation of all rules. - -“The wretched people sobbed and wrung their hands and fell on their -knees, but they might as well have appealed to men of stone. - -“Ten by ten as the night wore on they were brought from the ranks and -slaughtered, without regard to age or sex, before the eyes of those who -remained. - -“Accounts differ widely as to the origin of the trouble, some declaring -that the German patrols in the city fired on the German troops -retreating before a sortie from Antwerp, while others state that stray -shots were fired at a commissariat train passing through the town. - -“I would draw special attention to the fact that so far as the main -facts are concerned both my informants are Dutchmen, who can have no -object in spreading anti-German lies.” - -Further terrible details are supplied by a cigar manufacturer who -happened to be in Louvain about that time. Taken prisoner, he was -escorted by German soldiers from the town, which was then one mass of -flames, to the neighbouring village of Campenhout, where they witnessed -the shooting of seven priests. - -“Altogether we were seventy-three men, handcuffed like criminals,” he -says, “and we were locked in the church, and had to lie on the cold -floor. Fresh prisoners arrived at intervals. Outside we could hear the -cries and lamentations of women and children. Inside an imprisoned -priest gave us absolution. - -“When we left the church, Campenhout was burning fiercely. We were told -we should be freed, but must return to Louvain. On returning, we were -once more taken prisoners and driven in front of German soldiers across -country without rest or food, and used as a cover for the troops.” - - -The “Black Hole” Outdone. - -Incredible inhuman treatment was accorded to some twelve hundred people -who were captured by the German barbarians in the act of fleeing from -the doomed city. The men were separated from the women and children, and -marched back to Louvain. Then began for them a terrible journey--a -journey that drove many mad and others to self-destruction. - -“Like so many brutes,” says the _Times_ correspondent, “these burgesses -of Louvain, among them merchants, brewers, advocates, engineers, and -representatives of all social grades, were herded into wagons which had -served for the transport of horses and were inches deep in filth. Into -each wagon ninety men were crushed at the point of the bayonet by -soldiers who seemed to glory in the maltreatment of their fellow-men. -The unhappy prisoners had, of course, to stand, and to add to the -horrors of the fetid atmosphere, the doors were shut, and only fugitive -rays of light filtered through the chinks. - -“For two hours they were kept like this at Louvain station, after which -the train left for Cologne. The journey occupied about fifty hours, and -the Belgians during this awful time were given neither food nor drink. -‘After such an experience,’ states one of them, ‘hell itself can have no -terrors.’ - -“Once strong physically and prosperous, he who spoke is now a nervous -wreck and destitute, living on the charity of friends who do not know -but what it may be their turn to-morrow. - -“Arrived at Cologne, the prisoners were marched through jeering crowds -to the Exhibition Gardens. Men and women surged round the pitiful band, -hurling at them vile epithets, and shouting, ‘Zum Tod, zum Tod!’ (‘Kill -them, kill them!’) Even the children joined in kicking the prisoners as -they passed. The Belgians could gather no idea as to why they had been -dragged off to Germany, and even feared the worst. The night was passed -in the open, and in the morning they broke their prolonged fast on a -small portion of black bread. - -“Suddenly the German authorities changed their minds. Back the prisoners -must go to Belgium, and, four abreast, the motley column regained the -station. A passenger train awaited them, but each compartment for nine -people was made to hold eighteen or nineteen. In some ways the home -journey was more terrible than the outward. For two days and three -nights the unfortunate inhabitants of Louvain were jolted about between -Cologne and the capital of their own country, again absolutely without -food. - -“On rare occasions the guard exhibited a glimmering of pity, and -permitted the prisoners a mouthful of water. At the Gare du Nord, in -Brussels, compatriots smuggled food through the windows. The train only -stopped a short time here, and was off again to Schaerbeek. - -“Completely at a loss what to do with their charges, the Prussian -officers ordered them out of the train, and under an armed guard -marched them on foot through Vilvorde and Pont Brulé and on to Malines. -When crossing the fields the prisoners tore up turnips and beetroots and -ate them ravenously. At Malines the officer in charge of the escort told -the half-dead men they were free, and by different routes they reached -Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, and other places in territory unoccupied by the -enemy.” - - -The Massacre of Innocents. - -The stories of the poor panic-stricken women of Louvain who emerged -alive from the night of terror cannot fail to arouse horror. One woman -upon whose face were marks of the intense suffering through which she -had passed told how she tore down the curtains from her windows, wrapped -them round some wearing apparel, and ran from the house with her two -children. In the street she became involved in a stampede of men, women, -and children rushing away from their burning town, whither she knew not. - -This miserable refugee’s story was so disjointed, so interspersed with -hysterical sobs and exclamations, that it is impossible to make a full -and coherent narrative of it. - -“Ah!” she exclaimed, with a convulsive shudder, “I will tell you of the -burning of Louvain. We had pulled down some of the buildings so that the -Germans should not mount guns on them when they came. I believe that was -the reason. We were in a state of terror, because we had heard of the -cruelties of the Germans. But all we had heard of them was not so bad as -we experienced. In the streets people were cruelly butchered, and then -on all sides flames began to rise. We were prepared for what we regarded -as the worst, but never had we anticipated that they would burn us in -our homes. People rushed about frantic to save their property. They were -shot down by rifle volleys, struck down by sabres, and pierced by -lances. My God! What have we not suffered?” - -Two young Oxford undergraduates who were present tell a graphic story, -in a letter to the _Times_, of the sack of the town and the burning of -the neighbouring village. Leaving Aix-la-Chapelle on the Wednesday in -question, they set off for Louvain. As they passed through the little -hamlet of Cortenbergh they encountered a body of German troops who had -been dispatched to destroy the village. Taken prisoners, they were -guarded while the inhuman soldiers of the Kaiser made use of the -cartloads of straw which they had brought with them for their terrible -purpose. Soon every house was a mass of flames. - -“This was in the afternoon,” they relate, “and from three to six o’clock -we had to stand at the end of the street while the firing went on. It -was a terrible spectacle, and our first glimpse of the horrors of war, -for we saw five civilians, as they left their burning homes, ruthlessly -shot down by German soldiers. Neither of us will ever forget the -spectacle Louvain presented when we reached it the following morning. -The whole town had apparently capitulated to the Germans, although -occasionally we heard the sound of firing. The greater part of the town -was in flames. Houses were falling, telegraph and telephone poles were -tumbling into the streets, and the picture of desolation was complete, -while German soldiers were looting among the ruins. Dead bodies littered -the streets.... Some German soldiers told us that they had taken four -hundred English prisoners from among those who had attacked their -troop-trains, and three hundred and thirty of them had been shot that -morning because they were found in possession of dum-dum bullets.” - - -A Refugee’s Plight. - -The pathetic tale of a Belgian woman, who reached a place of safety -after almost inconceivable hardship, was told in words which were few, -but pregnant with tragedy and suffering. “Panic-stricken, we women fled -from the burning town, and, half-running and half-walking, hurried from -the dreadful scene. Mile after mile we covered, until our feet seemed as -lead and our senses reeled. I am told we walked over seventy miles -before we came to a railway. I wanted to bow down and kiss the cold iron -rails. I fell exhausted, having carried my two children in turn. -Footsore, broken-hearted, after the first joy of sighting the railway, I -felt my head whirling, and I wondered whether it was all worth while. -Then I thought of my deliverance, and thanked God. - -“What did Louvain look like? Like what it was--a mass of flame devouring -our homes, our property, and our relatives. Most of us women were -deprived of our husbands. In the town everybody who offered any -opposition was killed, and everyone found to be armed in any way was -shot. Wives saw their husbands shot in the streets. I myself saw the -Burgomaster shot, and I saw another man dragged roughly away from his -weeping wife and children and shot through the head.” - - -An American’s Story. - -A vivid word-picture of the scene is given by Mr. Gerald Morgan, an -American, in the _Daily Telegraph_. “An hour before sunset we entered -Louvain,” he says, “and found the city a smoking furnace. The railway -station was crowded with troops, drunk with loot and liquor, and rapine -as well. From house to house, acting under orders, groups of soldiers -were carrying lighted straw, placing it in the basement, and then -passing on to the next. It was not one’s idea of a general -conflagration, for each house burned separately--hundreds of individual -bonfires--while the sparks shot up like thousands of shooting stars into -the still night-air. It was exactly like a display of fireworks or -Bengal lights and set-pieces at a grand display in Coney Island. - -“Meanwhile, through the station arch we saw German justice being -administered. In a square outside, where the cabs stand, an officer -stood, and the soldiers drove the citizens of Louvain into his presence, -like so many - -[Illustration: WRECKAGE IN THE STUDENTS’ QUARTER OF LOUVAIN. - -_Photo, Newspaper Illustrations, Ld._ - -_Face p. 87._] - -unwilling cattle on a market day. Some of the men, after a few words -between the officer and the escorts, were marched off under fixed -bayonets behind the railway station. Then we heard volleys, and the -soldiers returned. Then the train moved out, and the last we saw of the -doomed city was an immense red glare in the gathering darkness.” - - -What M. Carton de Wiart Told Me. - -Before leaving the subject of Louvain it is necessary for me to -chronicle the following, which was told me by M. Carton de Wiart, the -Belgian Minister of Justice. “As to the sacking of Louvain,” he stated, -“we have here a statement dated August 30th, which has been handed to -the Commission by a person of universal repute in Belgium, and which has -been telegraphed to us. On August 30th that person went from Brussels to -Louvain. On the high-road, when he got to a place called Weerde St. -George, he saw only burning villages and peasants beside themselves with -terror. When he reached Louvain and got to the American College--a large -number of American students, young priests, and medical students come to -Louvain--he found that fire had destroyed the whole town except the town -hall and city station. This gentleman noted that on Sunday last the -Germans kept on kindling new fires and placing straw so as to carry the -fire farther. The cathedral and the theatre had been destroyed, and had -collapsed completely. So had the famous library, one of the most -precious in the world, especially as regards manuscripts and works of -art. The town,” he says, “presents the aspect of an old ruined city, a -city like Pompeii. In the midst of this scene of desolation the only -people you could see were drunken soldiers carrying bottles of wine and -liqueurs in their arms, and officers themselves sitting in the streets -around tables drinking like their men.” - - -The “Times” Speaks Out. - -Finally I give a quotation from the _Times_:-- - -“Deep and deadly must be the vengeance which the defenders of -civilization will exact from these new apostles of brutality. Even -Attila had his better side. He spared Milan. It has been said of him -that, though he destroyed cities without remorse, he respected the laws -of nations as they were understood in his day. The modern Attila -respects neither the laws of nations nor the laws of God. His evil deeds -cry aloud to Heaven and to the horror-struck watching nations. The -infamous crime of the destruction of Louvain is without a parallel even -in the dark ages. The harmless civil population had been disarmed a week -ago. The German garrison at the gates of the town fired upon another -force of their own countrymen. To conceal their blunder, they laid the -blame upon the helpless townspeople. No denials were listened to. Some -of the men of Louvain were shot, the rest were made prisoners, the women -and children were flung into trains and carried off to an unknown -destination, and the city was razed to the ground. Louvain has ceased -to exist. A town of forty thousand inhabitants, bigger than Crewe or -Dover or Colchester or Keighley, has been completely wiped out. The -wickedness of this abominable act shall be expiated to the uttermost -when the day of reckoning comes. - -“Until now we have maintained an attitude of deliberate reserve upon the -innumerable tales of German atrocities which have reached us. We -published without comment the unanswerable list of shocking excesses -committed by the German troops, which was sent to England by the Belgian -authorities. When a German Zeppelin cast bombs upon ill-fated women -asleep in their beds at Antwerp, we did no more than explain the -bearings of international law upon conduct which has met with universal -reprobation in Europe and America. But now the real object of German -savagery is self-revealed, not only by the effacement of Louvain, but by -the shameful admissions sent forth from the wireless station at Berlin. -Last Thursday night the following official notification regarding -Belgium came vibrating through the air:-- - -“‘The only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil -population has been to interfere with unstinting severity and to create -examples which by their frightfulness would be a warning to the whole -country.’ - -“Such is the cynical nature of the German apologia for the destruction -of Louvain. Such is the character of the warfare of the modern Huns. -They seek to strike terror into the hearts of their foes by methods -which belong to the days of the old barbaric hosts, who were thought to -have vanished from the world for ever. There must be no mistake about -the opportionment of blame for this and numberless other crimes. We have -listened too long to the bleatings of professors bemused by the false -glamour of a philosophy which the Germans themselves have thrust aside. - -“=The Kaiser and his people are alike responsible for the acts of their -Government and their troops, and there can be no differentiation when -the day of reckoning comes. The Kaiser could stop these things with a -word. Instead, he pronounces impious benedictions upon them. Daily he -appeals for the blessings of God upon the dreadful deeds which are -staining the face of Western Europe--the ravaged villages, the hapless -non-combatants hanged or shot, the women and children torn from their -beds by cowards and made to walk before them under threats of all the -infamies which have eternally disgraced German ‘valour.’=” - - - - -XII. - - “=Just for a word--‘neutrality’--just for a scrap of paper Great - Britain was going to make war.=”--_The German Chancellor._ - - _The “scrap of paper” was the Powers’ treaty guaranteeing Belgium - neutrality._ - - -French Protest to the Powers. - -So numerous and so terrible were the outrages committed by Germans on -French territory that the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, on -September 2nd--a month after the outbreak of hostilities--was compelled -to address a communication to the Powers which set forth a large number -of authenticated cases of barbarity. In the course of this official -statement it was explained that the indisputable facts set out were -selected merely as examples, and that it was impossible to bring to the -notice of the Powers every act contrary to the laws of war of which -accounts were being received day by day. The series of memoranda were -sufficient to establish the two following classes of facts:-- - - “First. The Armies and Government of Germany profess the deepest - scorn for International Law, and for treaties solemnly recognised - for Germany. - - “Secondly. The devastations of the invaded countries (incendiarism, - murder, pillage, and atrocities) appear to be systematically - pursued by order of the leaders, and are not due to acts of - indiscipline. - - “It is necessary to emphasise this two-fold characteristic of the - German proceedings. They constitute a negation of every human and - International law, and bring back modern warfare, after centuries - of civilisation, to the methods of barbaric invasions. We are - confident that such facts will arouse the indignation of neutral - States, and will help to make clear the meaning of the struggle - which we are carrying on in the respect of law and independence of - nations.” - -To this _communiqué_ were attached ten separate memoranda, setting forth -various specific charges against the Germans, and showing, among other -things, how the Kaiser’s troops were killing the French wounded, and had -even shot Red Cross nurses. - - -A Dead Man’s Diary. - -“In the fifth of these memoranda,” says Reuter’s correspondent, “the -German allegation that the civilian population had taken part in the war -was strongly denied, and was declared to be nothing but a pretext put -forward by the German troops to give them the appearance of reprisals. -From the beginning of the war the Germans had made a practice of burning -undefended villages and of assassinating the inhabitants, and evidence -of this was to be found in letters and notebooks which had been taken -from Germans, dead or prisoners.” - -A notebook found on a corpse of a German lieutenant contained the -following remark:--“We have fired the church of Villerupt and shot the -inhabitants. We pretended that scouts had taken refuge in the tower of -the church and had fired on us from there. The fact was, it was not the -inhabitants of Villerupt, but Customs officers and forest guards who -fired on us.” - -The sixth memorandum gave detailed evidence in support of the charge -that a systematic devastation of the country had been ordered by the -German leaders. Letters found on German soldiers made it clear that the -burning of villages and the shooting of the inhabitants were general -measures, and that the orders were given by superior officers. - -Attention was called to this violation of The Hague Convention, and it -was pointed out that it was on the proposal of the German delegates at -the second Hague Conference that an article was inserted declaring that -the belligerent guilty of such violation should be liable to pay an -indemnity. - -In the remaining memoranda information was given as to the destruction -of villages in the region of Paris, and the burning of Affleville, under -circumstances of particular brutality. - -The statement concluded: “The Government of the Republic, respecting -International conventions which it has ratified, protests against those -violations of International law, and holds up to reprobation before the -opinion of the world the behaviour of an enemy who respects no rule and -goes back on his signature affixed to International agreements.” - - -The Red Hand of Destruction. - -Upon the Franco-German frontier the red hand of destruction was indeed -laid heavily, and it seemed incredible that a civilised nation should -resort to the methods of savages. Yet it was, alas, true, as was proved -in hundreds of cases. Atrocities were committed everywhere; civilians, -women, and children were shot down in blind rage. A German officer -captured by the French near Blamont admitted that the Germans wanted no -prisoners, and that the wholesale massacre of peaceful villagers was -according to orders. - -German infantrymen belonging to the Bavarian regiments systematically -set fire to the villages through which they passed in the region of -Barras, Harbone, and Montreux, for during the engagement no artillery -fire could have caused such conflagrations. In the same district they -forced the inhabitants to precede their scouts. According to the same -report the German troops were daily massacring peaceful villagers, and -actually made children march before them when debouching from the -villages upon the field of battle. - -An official report was made by M. Mirman, Prefect of the Meurthe and -Moselle, to the French Minister of the Interior, after a visit paid to -the districts of Bardonviller, Cirey, and Blamont, in the Luneville -area. He stated that it was impossible to cite all the acts of savagery -and brutality on the part of the German troops which had come under his -notice. He could make out a long list of women, young girls, and old men -and women who had been executed without the least reason and upon the -slightest pretext. Houses had been systematically burned by order of the -German officers as they advanced, and then again as they retreated. - - -Petrol on Burning Houses. - -At Bardonviller, where one of the Kaiser’s sons was with the troops, -eleven of the inhabitants had been murdered, among whom was the wife of -the mayor, and a woman with her infant child, while seventy-eight houses -were burned with petrol and specially-prepared faggots. After pillaging -the town and looting everything they could, they fired on and demolished -the church, and took fifteen of the inhabitants, including a magistrate, -away as hostages. - -At Bremeuil the Prefect found a pitiful and shameful state of affairs. -There, five inhabitants, one a little lad, were butchered, as well as an -old man of seventy-four, who was “trussed and shot like a rabbit.” The -Communal building was destroyed, and nearly the whole town swept away, -not during battle, but by the soldiers on their arrival. - -The French troops in Lorraine had seized an entire mail, letters written -by German soldiers to their families. In these it was shown that the -chief occupation of the troops was eating and drinking, and in more than -twenty of the letters it was stated that all French civilians were shot -if they only looked suspicious or evil-disposed. All the men, and even -boys under age, were shot. - -Another official statement issued by the French Ministry of War stated -that two Uhlans who were reconnoitring on the frontier entered the -little village of Affleville. They were ejected by a patrol of three -mounted riflemen. On the following day a detachment of Uhlans returned, -set fire to a farmhouse, and killed the farmer, who attempted to save -his property. The inhabitants protested that their village had not -interfered with the enemy, but later that evening a further squadron of -Uhlans arrived while all the villagers were attending service in the -church, and after sprinkling the houses with petroleum set the whole -place on fire. The terrified inhabitants fled without money or other -property to Verdun, the parish priest being shot. - - -“We Kill Everyone.” - -Many other sensational indictments of the blood-lust of the Kaiser’s -savage hordes reached the French Ministry of Justice. The Curé of -Pillon, in the Metz district, states that on August 10th fifteen Germans -entered his house and pointed their rifles at him. He was dragged into -the road and brought before the General. On the way there he was -hurried along with the butts of his captors’ rifles. When he stopped -they hit him. He took out his handkerchief, and they confiscated it. He -shouted: “You are a set of brutes. Take me before one of your officers -who speaks French.” An officer replied in French, “It’s all up with -you.” A French shell burst not far from the German troops. The Germans -threw themselves down, but compelled the priest to remain standing. - -Seven lads from French Lorraine at Baroncourt saw a body of Uhlans -driving before them old men, women, and children. They struck those that -would not or could not walk. Three Uhlans moved aside to a field where a -boy of fifteen was tending a herd of cows. The youth attempted to -prevent the seizure of the cattle. The troopers shot him point-blank, -and he fell without a cry. - -In Lorraine a large number of letters written by German soldiers were -captured, and these letters are full of descriptions of acts of wanton -cruelty. Most of the writers make reference to food and drink. One says, -“We have no need for money. We simply take.” In another it is written, -“Before burning the village we took away everything that was eatable or -drinkable,” and again, “The first village across the frontier was -completely destroyed. It was a sight which was both sad and agreeable.” -In another letter it is stated, “We have shot the inhabitants of from -fourteen to sixty years old. There were thirty of them.” In twenty other -letters the phrases recur, “All were shot. We kill everyone.” - - “=The efforts directed towards the abolition of war must not only be - termed foolish, but absolutely immoral, and must be described as - unworthy of the human race.=”--_Gen. Von Bernhardi._ - - -Village Ruthlessly Bombarded. - -Refugees from Lorraine had a pathetic story to tell. The village of -Pontsurseille was burned on August 21st by the Germans. Like several -others in the neighbourhood, it was close to the border-line, and -courteous relations continued between its inhabitants and the enemy, -even after the first days of the war. But on August 14th a body of -Uhlans suddenly appeared and commandeered a number of things. They were -supplied at once with 200 chickens, a quantity of oats, and some other -provisions. The Guard Champêtre himself delivered the objects -commandeered, and took them across the border into the German camp. He -was not allowed to return immediately, and was detained for two days. On -Monday, August 17th, when the Guard Champêtre had returned, a shell -suddenly burst over the village. It exploded a few yards from a place -where a couple of women were engaged in milking the cows. Other shells -followed. They came from a battery erected on the other side of the -border. - -No French soldier had been seen at the village for three days. They had -made their appearance only for a short time, and had fallen back. The -firing stopped after a while, but was resumed during the night and -continued for several nights following. All the able-bodied men had left -for the garrisons, and only the women, the children, and some aged men -remained. The Guard Champêtre was the only person with any authority -that remained, and he took over the administration of the commune. -Meanwhile he was compelled every day to go back and forwards between the -village and the German camp and supply the provisions that were -commandeered. - -A young seminarist acted as secretary at the Mairie, and the wife of the -Guard Champêtre took charge of the fire-engine and tried to put out the -fire caused by the shells with the help of some other women. - -On the night of August 20th it became evident that the Germans intended -to lay the village in ruins. The bombardment was continued all night and -the following day. The inhabitants took refuge in the cellars, which -protected them against the shells. About forty of them found shelter in -a big cellar belonging to a rich farmer, M. François Michel. - - -Helpless Children. - -There were small children of three, six, and nine years, and infants -only a few months old. The Guard Champêtre, assisted by his wife, -directed everything. He had the openings protected by mattresses, which -prevented the Germans from discharging their rifles into the cellar. - -By making a hole in one of the walls he secured a retreat into an -adjoining cellar. Suddenly an officer came, had the door opened, and -ordered everybody to come out at once. M. François Michel was the first -to step out, and he was instantly shot down by a group of soldiers -standing by. Next a boy of six, a nice little lad, stepped out. He was -also shot down. Everybody in the cellar then rushed back, amid cries of -horror raised by the wife of M. Michel and his children. - -The Germans shouted, “Come out, or we shall burn you alive,” and fired a -volley down the steps of the cellar. The soldiers poured petroleum down -the cellar and on the mattresses, and set fire to it. The people inside -took refuge in the adjoining cellar, and the Guard Champêtre and his -wife were the last to leave. From this cellar they finally escaped and -fled across the field. The soldiers meanwhile had seized the young -seminarist, and another young man, aged twenty, and shot them, declaring -that they were of age for military service. - -[Illustration: THE CHURCH AT TERMONDE IN RUINS. - -_Photo, Sport and General._ - -_Face p. 101_] - - - - -XIII. - -The Desecration of Churches. - - -Other refugees from Lorraine had harrowing stories to tell of German -brutalities, and many made statements which were officially registered. -Whole villages, they said, had been put to fire and sword. One man told -an official of the Catholic Society that he had, with his own eyes, seen -two German soldiers chop off the arms of a child which clung to its -mother’s skirts. Other narratives show once more that the Germans -entered closed houses and shot or bayoneted the inmates on the pretence -that they had been fired upon by them. Miners had in many places been -wilfully entombed, and other miners had been forced to dig trenches for -the enemy under the threat of being shot. Germans had stabled their -horses in churches, which they desecrated, and even covered their -animals with priests’ vestments. - -Under their usual plea the Germans burned the town of Burzweiler, in -Alsace-Lorraine, blowing up its factories. - -An eye-witness, M. Gaudefroy-Demonhynes, who was attempting to return to -France from Baden, made a sworn statement to a Paris magistrate, -explaining how he had found himself on August 1st detained with other -Frenchmen and some Russians at the railway station of Lorrach, in Baden, -a few miles from the French frontier. The party were arrested by -soldiers and taken to the police station, where they and their luggage -were searched. They were then led under guard through the town amid -hostile demonstrations by the inhabitants to the square in front of the -railway station, where they found another party of about thirty -Frenchmen and twenty Russians. - -One of this party, a French commercial traveller, a stout man aged about -forty, suddenly shouted “Vive la France!” Instantly the two soldiers -guarding him took him before an officer or a non-commissioned officer, -standing a few paces away from a group of officers. People standing -between M. Demonhynes and the scene prevented him from hearing what was -said, but a few seconds later a shot--only one shot--rang out. - -“I don’t know who fired,” the witness says, “but I know that just before -the report the Frenchman was standing before my eyes against the wall of -a restaurant facing the station, held fast by his two guards in the -position of one who is about to be executed. - -“Hardly had the shot rang out than protests arose from our little band. -Among those who protested most vigorously were three young Frenchmen -from eighteen to twenty years old. They looked to me like students -leaving Germany, like myself. I did not speak to them and do not know -their names. Just as the soldiers seized him and his comrades one of the -young Frenchmen tried to speak to an officer who was wearing a large, -light grey cloak. This officer did not listen to him. Some order must -have been given, I don’t know by whom. - -“One of the three Frenchmen, who must have been told of the fate -awaiting him, cried out in German ‘Don’t hold us. We aren’t afraid; we -are Frenchmen!’ - -“This time the officer replied coarsely, half turning round, ‘Shut up.’ -The three Frenchmen of their own accord placed themselves against the -wall of the same restaurant. Two lines of soldiers were drawn up on -either side of them at right angles to the wall. Other soldiers--how -many I did not count--took up their position in front of them about -eight yards away. A volley rang out. The three Frenchmen fell. - -“Fresh cries arose from our party. Horror-stricken women began to weep. -I did not see the bodies removed, but I saw them fall to the ground. - -“At this moment a great uproar broke out. Another Frenchman, a big man -with a great black beard, whose age and appearance I forget and whom I -did not know, began to shout, ‘Cowards! Murderers!’ Soldiers surrounded -him. He struggled with them. They speedily overcame him, and, without -taking the trouble to stand him up against the wall, without the -intervention of any officer, one of the soldiers thrust the barrel of -his rifle against his body and shot him down point blank before my eyes. - -“I saw these same soldiers dragging his body along the ground. The man -was struggling still. I had not the strength to look any more. I heard -other shots. I don’t know if there were any other victims.” - -The German troops allowed no considerations of religion or respect for -antiquity to interfere with their scheme of devastation. Great works of -art and architecture and ancient churches were destroyed by fire or -shell, and in more than one instance it is stated that cathedrals were -used for stabling horses. To-day many are the ruined churches in -Belgium. Of the beautiful cathedral of Louvain only the walls stand, for -the interior is reported to have been ruthlessly shelled, pillaged, and -finally set on fire. Other churches in the ill-fated city similarly -suffered, while at Malines, too, bare walls and loose masonry are all -that remain of what were until recently sacred edifices of exceptional -interest to visitors by reason of their ancient treasures. - - “=We believe that some of the generals and some of the officers have - encouraged these crimes, which would be impossible without such - countenance. Yet we trust that there are still German officers - whose characters can be respected.=” - - --From the _Morning Post_. - - - - - - -XIV. - - “=It is not a fair fight. Germany is fighting foully; she is defying - not only the rules of war, but the rules of humanity.=”--_Mr. - Richard Harding Davis_, the great American author. - - -Treatment of English Travellers. - -The treatment meted out to English travellers and residents in Germany -at the time of the outbreak of the war was equally in keeping with the -modern culture of the nation. British subjects arriving in England were -loud in their protest of the manner in which they were treated, and even -British, French, and Russian Consuls were treated like criminals. In -regard to the latter, a mock formality of presenting the Consuls with -passports was gone through before their departure, but, provided with -these so-called guarantees of safe conduct, they were subjected to the -grossest insults on the way, the women being the chief object of the -mob’s fury. Insulting inscriptions were scribbled on the walls of their -compartments, and they were the objects of very hostile demonstrations. -At every station brave soldiers of the Kaiser presented their revolvers -at the heads of the travellers, came up to the carriage windows, jeered -at the occupants, and often threw rubbish into the compartments. - -Mr. Drummond Hay, the British Consul at Dantzig, the French Consul, M. -Michel, and the Russian Consul were, with their families, turned out -from their consulates at an hour’s notice. They were told that they -would be taken to the Russian frontier, but in reality they were -conveyed to Bentheim, near the Dutch frontier, _via_ Stettin, a journey -which occupied three days. During the journey they were not given nor -allowed to buy any food, and when the train reached Bentheim the -travellers were curtly told to get out, and the Consuls were immediately -separated from their families. The women and children were housed in a -mean tavern under strict military guard, and the men, together with Mr. -Drummond Hay’s sixteen-year-old son, were taken to the local prison. -They were all put into one small cell, which they found already tenanted -by M. Vassel, an attaché of the French Consulate at Bentheim, who had -been imprisoned some days previously. M. Vassel had been arrested when -looking after the luggage of the French Consul at Bentheim, who had just -left for Holland. - -In prison the Consuls were treated as though they belonged to the worst -class of criminals. They were obliged to sleep on the floor, without -covering of any kind, and with only a few wisps of straw between them -and the cold stones, and their only food was the black bread which is -served out to the ordinary convicts. - -Having fallen ill on the journey, M. Michel asked to be allowed to see a -doctor, but, in lieu of medical advice, he was given a very strong dose -of castor oil, which made him very much worse. The conditions under -which these four men and a boy lived cannot be described. The gaolers -would not allow them nor anyone else to clean out the cell. Night and -day the unfortunate prisoners were herded together. Their only -recreation, a daily walk of half an hour’s duration, was taken in -company with the convicts. - -Ten days after leaving Dantzig Mr. Drummond Hay was set free, but the -others were detained amid the awful surroundings which have been -described. - -It was ascertained that there were forty-eight other foreigners--among -them fifteen Frenchmen--who are being kept in the town of Bentheim under -the strictest military observation. - -The state of affairs in Dantzig when the Consuls left was terrible; many -people were being shot daily, often upon the very scantiest suspicion. - -If the Germans treated responsible Government officials in the manner -described above, how much worse was the case of unfortunate girls and -women stranded alone in Germany. In many cases English governesses in -German families were cast adrift, to starve and endure the insults of -the savage enemy. Hundreds of English men and women, many of them -tourists, were thrown into prison without any trial, and suffered the -same indignities as did our Consul at Dantzig. - - -Englishwoman’s Experience. - -A well-authenticated story was related by the headmistress of a London -elementary school, who was in Switzerland when the war broke out and who -returned to England prostrate with shock at the horror of scenes she -witnessed while passing through Germany. The train, she said, was -packed; all windows were closed, and the blinds drawn, and the -passengers were forbidden on peril of their lives to raise them. -Glimpses of troop trains were caught at intervals, and to allow these to -pass frequent stops were made. The pace was slow, and the crowded, -unventilated carriages became unendurably close. In the same compartment -as the lady in question were two English women, whom she learned to be -teachers in the provinces. One of these became ill, and at last, when -the train came to a stop at a countryside place between stations--there -was no means of locating it--her friend helped the sick girl to alight -in order to breathe some fresh air. Instantly bullets hailed upon them, -and both were shot dead. Their travelling companions dared make no -attempt to recover the bodies, and when the train passed on they were -left beside the line. - -Two teachers of another London girls’ school state that a woman -travelling with them through Germany was shot for failing to show her -passport, and her body thrown out upon the line. Other ladies in the -same train stated that they had been stripped by German officers on the -pretence of searching them. - -[Illustration: A MALINES RED-CROSS WARD WHICH WAS SHELLED BY THE -GERMANS. - -_Photo, Sport and General._ - -_Face p. 109._] - - - - -XV. - - “=France must be so completely crushed that she can never again come - across our path.=”--_Gen. Von Bernhardi._ (This statement was made - long before war was declared.) - - -What Our Soldiers Say. - -By innumerable acts of treachery and appalling savagery on the -battlefield the German soldiers have forfeited for ever the right to the -courtesies usually extended to an honourable foe. The opening phases of -the war have shown them in the light of cold-blooded barbarians, rather -than honourable soldiers. The well-attested stories of their shocking -brutality have no parallel in the history of the world. And in -practically every case these incredible acts of cruelty have been -committed with the knowledge and approval of their officers. They are -carrying out to the letter the advice of the Kaiser to act like the Huns -of Attila. - -British soldiers who have returned wounded from the front are emphatic -in their assertions that the German gunners deliberately fired on the -hospitals and Red Cross men. One man remarked, “They seemed to take a -delight in aiming at hospitals, which had the Red Cross over them. In -fact, anything with the Red Cross acted as a target. A church was being -used as a hospital, and one of our officers, who had a flesh wound, was -taken inside for medical attention. Whilst he was there a shell blew -away the roof of the church, and injured him a second time. Fifty men -went out under the Red Cross to pick up wounded. They were fired on, and -only two of them came back.” - -A member of the Red Cross organisation stated that the Germans have -treated with actual brutality the British wounded who fell into their -hands. Twenty-seven British soldiers who were being removed from the -field in an ambulance were dragged away and made to march to the Town -Hall of Mons, two falling unconscious in the streets on their way. - -A resident of Ostend, in a letter to this country, put into words the -prevailing opinion in Belgium. “These Germans are not true soldiers,” he -writes, “they are murderers in uniform. They kill the wounded and shoot -the women and children. At one of the charges at Liége the Colonel of -the 9th Regiment of the Line was shot through the head, and when his -body was recovered later in the day it was found that these German -cowards had inflicted at least twenty bayonet stabs on the already dead -body.” - - -Helpless Soldiers Maimed. - -These terrible allegations are borne out by information which has been -received by a British officer from his son at the front, who states that -the enemy, on coming across wounded British soldiers, proceed to stab -them through the right hand with a bayonet, with a view to rendering the -hand useless for holding a rifle again. - -A horrible story is told by a wounded British sergeant. Struck down by a -bullet, he lay on his back on the battlefield of Mons, unable to move, -around him many wounded men. The German soldiers advanced over their -bodies, stabbing at them with their bayonets. Realising that his only -chance of saving his life was to feign death, the wounded “Tommy” closed -his eyes and kept perfectly still. As the Germans passed one struck him -on the body a heavy blow with the butt of a rifle, with the result that -one of his ribs was smashed. Clenching his teeth to prevent crying out -he lay rigid, hoping against hope that the barbarous enemy would not see -that he still lived. Then to his relief they passed on, but not before -one of them had plunged his bayonet into his shoulder. - -Such stories as these make one’s blood boil, but they are by no means -isolated instances. Many wounded soldiers who have returned have -declared that after the battle of Mons the Germans, especially officers -and non-commissioned officers, passed over the ground and thrust their -swords at the wounded men. One man escaped by hiding for twenty-four -hours under sheaves of corn. - -Yet another story is told by a wounded soldier who was also in the -fighting near Mons. He said, “We had had to retire a short distance, -leaving some killed and wounded behind. We saw the Germans come along. -They carried away some of our men who were lying on the ground we had -left. They placed them--and I am positively sure there were wounded as -well as killed among them--on a hayrick. Then the rick was set on fire. -It made us desperately wild, and we long to get at those Germans. If we -only could have charged! As it was, we had to stay where we were, but I -think we got in a good few shots of vengeance which found their billet.” - -A lieutenant of an infantry regiment stated that the Germans captured a -party of his men outside Liége, and in order to prevent their escape -crushed their feet with the butts of their rifles. They then took one -man and held him against a tree while their comrades beat him about the -back with rifle butts. An infantryman named Legrande, who was in the -trenches beside his brother at a point where the fighting was furious, -and who is now in hospital at Brussels, told the following story. His -brother was mortally wounded by a German bullet, and died in his arms. -He himself was shot in the thigh, and almost at the same moment some -German Uhlans rode over him, leaving him unconscious. When he recovered -his senses he made an endeavour to crawl back to his own lines, which in -the meantime had been drawn in. He was discovered by some German -infantrymen, who stripped him, taking his water-bottle and everything. -Legrande had to wait in a state of utter nudity until the middle of the -night, and then strip the dead bodies of his comrades in order to clothe -himself. Eventually he regained the ranks of his comrades in an almost -dying condition. - -Again the Germans, having despoiled dead Belgian soldiers of their -uniforms, clothed some of their men in them and placed them at the head -of their troops when an attack was made upon the Belgian troops. - - -The Khaki Uniform Trick. - -The treacherous use by the Germans of British uniforms is instanced by -one of the wounded men at present in England. “What made matters worse -for us was the treachery of the enemy,” he stated, in the course of an -account of the fight in which he had sustained his hurt. “We were -compelled to fall back at one point, and left behind us our haversacks -and greatcoats, which we had taken off to allow us to fight the better. -Some time afterwards a body of men came towards us wearing the familiar -khaki-coloured coats, and naturally we took them for friends. But they -were Germans who had seized our coats and put them on in order to -disguise themselves, and no sooner were they near us than they sent a -murderous fire into our ranks. Later, when there was a lull in the -fighting, we found a large number of Germans killed wearing the clothes -of British soldiers, showing that they must either have stripped our -dead or the British prisoners they had captured and used their clothes.” - -A number of Belgian soldiers arriving in Folkestone have also described -the behaviour of the enemy as too brutal for any civilised nation, and -most of them had seen Belgian villagers drawn in front of the Germans to -act as a screen for them. A favourite trick of the Germans was to -terrify Belgian villagers by driving them along immediately in front of -their heavy guns, where, owing to the elevation of the guns, they were -really quite safe. Their experience had been that the Germans had no -respect for the Red Cross, and that in fact they waited until the -wounded had been picked up and would then fire. They confirmed the -stories which had been told about the manner in which the Germans had -killed wounded men. - -In another case a French soldier, after the engagement at Spincourt, -related that while he was on the ground with a bullet in his foot the -Germans, seeing he was not dead, fired at him with a rifle, twice, -point-blank, hitting him in the hip and shoulder, whereupon he became -unconscious. The Germans, thinking he was dead, left him. - -Many of the British wounded affirm that the Germans pay no respect to -the Red Cross flag, but continually fire upon it and upon Red Cross men. -The enemy have also frequently violated the rules of the white flag. -These statements are supported by the Ostend correspondent of the -Central News, who was the eye-witness of the disgraceful incident which -he described in the following message:--“When I was in the neighbourhood -of Malines the forts were under bombardment. From the Willebroek fort -the Belgians were placing shells into a wood four miles distant, with -the object of forcing out a detachment of Uhlans. Presently a party of -Uhlans, exhibiting a white flag, came forward towards the Belgian -trenches with a request for a cessation of fire for the purpose of -collecting wounded. The temporary truce was agreed to. A Red Cross wagon -came forward to collect wounded, and a party from the Belgian trenches -went out for a similar purpose. - -“Suddenly the German Red Cross van opened, and from out of it a -mitrailleuse poured its deadly fire with such effect that some ninety of -the Belgians fell dead. The retribution was swift and complete. The -Belgian artillery again opened fire, and with well-directed shells laid -low at least 200 of the treacherous Germans. - -“Another incident of like character came beneath my immediate notice. A -party of German cyclists, entering the village of Willebroek, shot down -a child of seven years of age. The Belgian infantry opened fire upon the -cyclists, and an armoured motor-car, carrying a captain and four men, -pursued the marauders. It is with satisfaction that I can record that -eight of the Germans will fight no more.” - - -France Makes a Formal Protest. - -An official _communiqué_ issued by the War Office of Paris contains the -following references to these outrages. It draws to the attention of the -Powers signatory of The Hague Convention the following facts, -constituting on the part of the German military authorities a violation -of the Conventions signed on October 10th, 1907, by the Imperial German -Government:-- - -“According to a report dated August 10th, 1914, sent by the General -Commanding the Army in the East,” it continues, “the German troops have -finished off a large number of wounded men by shots fired into their -faces at close quarters, as has been demonstrated by the dimensions of -the wounds. Other wounded men were deliberately trampled upon. - -“On the 10th August the Bavarian infantry systematically set fire to the -villages which they went through in Barbas, Montigny, Montreux, and -Paruse districts, at a time also when no artillery fire on either side -could have provoked such action. In the same district they compelled the -inhabitants to go in front of their scouts.” - -Another report, dated August 11th, 1914, says: “The German troops are -burning villages, massacring inhabitants, and making the women and -children march in front of them when they come out of the villages on to -the battlefields. This was done notably at Billy, in the fighting on the -10th. They are finishing off the wounded and killing prisoners. - -“The Government of the Republic, in view of such proceedings, which must -be repudiated by the universal conscience of mankind, leaves it to the -civilised Powers to make complete appreciation of these criminal acts, -which are eternally dishonouring for a belligerent.” - - - - -XVI. - - “=The wrong--I speak openly--that we are committing I will endeavour - to make good as soon as our military goal is achieved.=” - - From a speech by _The German Chancellor_. - - - - -The Antwerp Outrage. - -Next to the tragic and infamous destruction of Louvain, and the -attendant atrocities committed in that beautiful old town, nothing has -called forth more passionate denunciation than the cowardly attempt made -by Zeppelin airships to drop bombs at Antwerp in the dead of night on -its sleeping inhabitants. For the first time in history a death-dealing -airship has attacked a city in this way. As a weapon the Zeppelin -dropping bombs may be as destructive as great shells fired from siege -howitzers. The horror of aircraft is, however, more terrorizing than -that of any siege gun, because bombs can be thrown down from the sky on -defenceless and sleeping cities. The civilized world has greeted with -execration this inhuman method of prosecuting war. - -Before even a fortified town can be bombarded, the rules of war provide -for twenty-four hours’ notice before the commencement of actual -bombardment. Here we have a great airship sailing high over a sleeping -city. Without warning her crew drop death-dealing bombs from the sky in -the dead of night. Surely the killing of unsuspecting men, innocent -women, and sleeping children in this way is the most ruthless outrage -ever attempted in war. - -Piloted by a German who knew the city well--one of the many to whom the -city opened wide its doors in the days before the war--the huge airship -had for its objective the Palais du Roi, where the Queen of Belgium, the -little Princes, and Princess Marie-José lay sleeping. Aided by the -darkness, the crew of the Zeppelin felt confident of their ability to -carry out their murderous programme. They had mapped out a career of -terrifying destruction. In a track of devastation they meant to leave in -ruins the Palais du Roi (which would also have involved the death of the -Royal Family), the Bourse, the Palais de Justice, the Banque, and the -Minerva Motor Works. But in no case was the treacherous aim attained. -The cowardly raid proved a complete and utter failure, the only -consolation provided the Kaiser being the slaughter of seven innocent -persons and the wounding of some twenty others. - - -Girls Horribly Mutilated. - -The bombs which were to have killed the Queen and her family and to have -shattered the Bourse fell into an adjoining street, wrecked a house, and -injured two women. That destined for the destruction of the Banque -struck the attic of a house near by, killed a servant as she slept, and -injured two others. Of the other bombs one fell into a shrubbery, dug a -deep, funnel-shaped hole, uprooted shrubs, and plucked from their frames -windows of the St. Elizabeth Hospital, where the wounded lay. -Another--and the most successful bomb--struck a private house inhabited -by poor people, murdered a woman, and horribly mutilated three girls, -killed two Civic Guards, and seriously injured another. It was at a -private house just off the Place de Meir that a bomb wrought much -destruction to life and property. It tore off the top storey and split -up the front. - - -Screams of Dying Women. - -“As I arrived on the scene,” says a _Daily Telegraph_ correspondent, “a -woman tottered out covered with lime dust, crying out, ‘Docteur, -docteur!’ Beneath the ruins of the house two Civic Guards were dead. -Within the house pitiful screams came from three girls who had been -roused from sleep by receiving dreadful wounds on the face and body. One -girl had half her face blown away; the two others were seriously wounded -on the face. Evidently their bodies had been somewhat protected by the -bed-clothes.” - -The Zeppelin at the time of this appalling incident was almost -stationary in the sky, some seven hundred feet from the ground. Needless -to say, a panic at once ensued, and thousands of people took refuge in -their cellars, while others dashed out into the streets in their night -attire. Time after time the earth trembled as the terrible bombs fell, -causing devastation everywhere, the spots being signalled, it is said, -from the roofs of houses occupied by prominent Germans, of whom there -was a large colony in Antwerp. Truly it was a night of terror, for the -populace through the hours of tension did not know from one moment to -another that they might not be blown to atoms. Ten bombs struck ten -different streets. One which fell in the Rue des Navets made a hole six -feet six inches in diameter and twenty-two inches deep. It was probably -filled with shot, for all the houses in the vicinity were riddled by -bullets, and presented the appearance of having been fired upon, all the -doors and windows being broken and the ceilings having fallen in. - - “=The best protection of undefended cities against German Zeppelins - is that a repetition of the Antwerp occurrence will be greeted with - execration by the whole civilized world.=”--_Times._ - - -Enormous Damage to Property. - -It was calculated that about nine hundred houses were more or less -damaged and about sixty houses destroyed. In a single house four persons -were found dead. Indeed, in one room two people had been blown to atoms. -Three men were walking in the Rue de la Corne, when one of the bombs -fell. One was killed and the other two mortally wounded, while another -passer-by had his leg blown off. All the bombs, which created a terrific -explosion, were found to have been in a steel cover one and a half -inches thick and about a foot in diameter. The Zeppelin was, of course, -fired upon from the forts with guns and rifles, but having launched its -deadly missiles it moved off into the darkness. - -A subsequent examination of the projectiles thrown showed that they had -a double covering, the two covers being joined together by -mushroom-shaped rivets, which act the part of bullets, and must cause -horrible injuries, as the two covers or envelopes are torn to fragments -by the explosive. - - “=If Germany had fought fairly we should have retained the respect - for her which we had in the past; but her barbarous method of - conducting war by sea and land has made all the nations of the Old - World and the New regard her as the enemy of the human race.=” - - --MILITARY CORRESPONDENT of _The Times_. - - - - -A Miraculous Escape. - -The story of that terrible night would not, however, be complete without -a reference to the miraculous escape of M. Vamberg, a cigarette-maker. -Had he slept in the bed he usually occupied, he would now be a dead man. -But for some reason he chose another bed in another room, his wife being -absent in the country, and so saved his life. The bed which Mme. Vamberg -occupies when at home was crushed by the falling roof. More than that, -having been aroused by the sound of the cannon, and having jumped out of -bed and rushed down to the first floor, M. Vamberg found himself -suddenly hanging from the window, the house having fallen about his -ears. He was rescued from this position by the firemen. - - -More Cowardly Raids. - -But, as though not satisfied with the success of the first attempt, the -Germans determined upon another dastardly raid. A few nights after the -first outrage a Zeppelin again appeared over the city in the dead of -night. Ten bombs were discharged, and damaged a number of houses. No -lives were lost, however. A boy of fifteen had his right arm injured by -a flying splinter, while his father and sister and one or two others -were slightly injured. A graphic description of the raid is given by the -_Daily Telegraph_ correspondent. “I was awakened,” he relates, “by the -rattle of rifle-fire from neighbouring roofs and the hideous crash of -exploding bombs. Hurriedly descending into the Place Verte, I was just -in time to see an airship disappearing southward. She was at a -tremendous height, but could be clearly seen in the rays of the -searchlight. There was an incessant rattle of shots from rifles and -machine guns from the darkened town, and shrapnel could be seen -exploding like meteorites in the trail of the flying marauder. All round -the Place Verte from the roadway, and from points of vantage on the high -buildings, spurts of flame indicated the efforts of the firers to bring -down the hated ship. Immediately the searchlights fixed upon her the -Zeppelin made off at great speed.” - - -Worse than the Boxers. - -Surgeon-Major Seaman, of the United States Army Reserve Corps, who -helped to tend the wounded, was so indignant with these cowardly tactics -on the part of the Germans that he communicated with his Government, -asking it to join at once in exacting reparation from Germany for such -infamies. He declared that in all his eight campaigns, of which one was -against the Boxers in China, he had never seen an act of war so -ruthless, so horrible, as the sight of three young girls mutilated and -defaced, and of the dead young mother, all attacked in their beds at -night. And with him the civilized world will agree. - -Other airship and aeroplane raids were made on Antwerp and also upon -Paris, but fortunately none has been attended with either great loss of -life or destruction of property. But that such should be the case -affords no excuse for crimes which rank among the greatest committed by -the ruthless German army. - - “=At this moment the words ‘German culture’ are synonymous for - rapine, murder, and hideous cruelty. This is a state of things - which ought to be grasped by the people of Germany.=” - - --From the _Morning Post_. - - - - - - -XVII. - - “=Against ordinary though severe reprisals upon civilians who have - fired upon the German troops we have not a word to utter; but - outrage, mutilation, burning alive, and so forth are not reprisals; - they are atrocities which make the name of Germany stink in the - nostrils of mankind. It is hard to believe that a civilized nation - should have so reverted to savagery, but unfortunately the facts - admit of no dispute.=”--From the _Globe_. - - -“The Hussar-like Stroke.” - -The laying of mines in neutral waters in contravention of the rules by -which civilized warfare was to be conducted was in itself a most -dastardly act. To place contact mines in the open sea and then to skulk -behind them was declared by the Kaiser’s wireless press bureau to be a -“Hussar-like stroke.” The Kaiser himself referred with satisfaction to -the fact that his navy had sown the North Sea with death. The laying of -mines is only admissible for the purpose of guarding estuaries and -harbours, and by The Hague Convention it was specifically laid down that -neutral waters must not be mined. In consequence of this cruel action of -the enemy many crews of British and Danish trawlers, the hard toilers of -the sea, were sent to their deaths, while the Wilson liner _Runo_, on a -voyage to Archangel, and His Majesty’s ships _Amphion_ and _Speedy_ were -sent to the bottom with great loss of life. In addition, several -trawlers, while engaged in mine-sweeping operations, were also -destroyed. All craft and cunning in naval warfare was, of course, -admissible, including the alteration and extinguishing of lights, the -removal of landmarks and buoys, and the disguising of warships as -merchantmen; but to scatter death indiscriminately along a neutral -waterway was a stab-in-the-back method worthy, indeed, of the pinchbeck -Napoleon. - -=Such is the case against the German Soldier--the terrible and -overwhelming record which makes the very heart sick with horror, and the -blood run chill. One of our great poets called upon the human race to -“move upward, working out the beast, and let the ape and tiger die.” -Apes and tigers are noble creatures beside the living apostle of German -“culture.” He has built himself a monument upon the heights of infamy, a -monument from which, through all the ages yet to come, every honest man -will turn away in loathing and disgust.= - - =JOHN RUSKIN’S words:=-- - - “=For blessing is only for the meek and merciful, and a German - cannot be either; he does not understand even the meaning of the - words ... but a German, selfish in the purest states of virtue and - morality ... but no quantity of learning ever makes a German - modest....= - - “=Accordingly, when the Germans get command of Lombardy, they - bombard Venice, steal her pictures (which they can’t understand a - single touch of), and entirely ruin the country, morally and - physically, leaving behind them misery, vice, and intense hatred of - themselves, wherever their accursed feet have trodden. They do - precisely the same thing by France--crush her, rob her, leave her - in misery of rage and shame, and return home, smacking their lips, - and singing Te Deums.=”--_Fors Clavigera._ - - - - -THE DAY - -By THE “BATH RAILWAY POET” - - [This very striking poem, which we reproduce below by kind - permission of the _Daily Express_, is published in leaflet form at - a halfpenny, for the benefit of the National Relief Fund. The - author is Mr. Henry Chappell, a railway porter at Bath. Mr. - Chappell is known to his comrades as the “Bath Railway Poet.” The - _Express_ acclaims the author of “The Day” as a national poet--an - opinion which is very largely shared by the general Press.] - - - You boasted the Day, and you toasted the Day, - And now the Day has come. - Blasphemer, braggart, and coward all, - Little you reck of the numbing ball, - The blasting shell, or the “white arm’s” fall, - As they speed poor humans home. - - You spied for the Day, you lied for the Day, - And woke the Day’s red spleen. - Monster, who asked God’s aid Divine, - Then strewed His seas with the ghastly mine; - Not all the waters of the Rhine - Can wash thy foul hands clean. - - You dreamed for the Day, you schemed for the Day; - Watch how the Day will go. - Slayer of age and youth and prime - (Defenceless slain for never a crime), - Thou art steeped in blood as a hog in slime, - False friend and cowardly foe. - - You have sown for the Day, you have grown for the Day; - Yours is the harvest red. - Can you hear the groans and the awful cries? - Can you see the heap of slain that lies, - And sightless turned to the flame-split skies, - The glassy eyes of the dead? - - You have wronged for the Day, you have longed for the Day - That lit the awful flame. - ’Tis nothing to you that hill and plain - Yield sheaves of dead men amid the grain; - That widows mourn for their loved ones slain, - And mothers curse thy name. - - But after the Day there’s a price to pay - For the sleepers under the sod, - And He you have mocked for many a day-- - Listen and hear what He has to say: - “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” - What can you say to God? - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of German Atrocities, by William le Queux - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN ATROCITIES *** - -***** This file should be named 52082-0.txt or 52082-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/8/52082/ - -Produced by Brian Coe, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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/license - - -Title: German Atrocities - A Record of Shameless Deeds - -Author: William le Queux - -Release Date: May 16, 2016 [EBook #52082] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN ATROCITIES *** - - - - -Produced by Brian Coe, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" class="dblbox" width="306" height="500" alt="[Image of the cover -unavailable.]" /> -</div> - -<div class="dblbox"> -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="nind"> -The Leading Illustrated Authority<br /> -on the War is</p> -</div> -<p class="chuge"><span class="smcap">Navy</span> <small><small>AND</small></small> <span class="smcap">Army</span></p> - -<p class="cb"><big> -<big>6<sup>D.</sup></big> <span style="margin-left: 2em; -margin-right:2em;">ILLUSTRATED</span> <big>6<sup>D.</sup></big><br /> -. WEEKLY .</big></p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HIS magnificent publication is a complete pictorial history of the -war week by week. It is, moreover, the only journal that provides -interesting and authoritative articles on the ships, the weapons, -and the men engaged in the war.</p></div> - -<p class="cb"><big>SUPERB ILLUSTRATIONS</big></p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p class="nind">Tell your Newsagent to send you “Navy and Army Illustrated” each -week. Send a copy to your Friend in the Colonies. Save a copy for -your Friend at the Front.</p> - -<p class="c"><small>Published by Country Life, Ltd., 20, Tavistock St.,<br /> W.C.; and George -Newnes, Ltd., 8-11, Southampton St.,<br /> Strand, W.C.</small><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a>{1}</span></p> -</div></div> - -<p> </p> - -<div class="dblbox"> -<p class="nind"> -<big><big>MAGNIFICENT<br /> -PHOTOGRAVURE<br /> -PORTRAITS</big></big><br /> -<br /> -OF<br /> -<br /> -<big><big><big>LORD KITCHENER</big></big></big><br /> -<br /> -AND<br /> -<br /> -<big><big><big>ADMIRAL JELLICOE</big></big></big></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="nind"> -are offered to the readers of<br /> -this book at the special price of<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<p class="c"><big>2/6 the pair</big>, packed in strong tube, carriage paid.</p> - -<hr class="dbl" /> - -<div style="margin:auto auto;max-width:20em;"> -<p class="nind">These two Portraits should occupy an<br /> -honoured place in every British home, and<br /> -as the <i>supply is limited</i>, you should write at<br /> -once and make sure of securing them.<br /> -</p></div> - -<hr class="dbl" /> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary=""> -<tr class="c"><td><big>2/6<br /> THE PAIR.</big></td><td> </td> -<td> 16 ins. by 22 ins.<br />Splendid Portraits</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="c"> -——<br /> -<big>GEORGE NEWNES, Ltd.</big> (Dept. G),<br /> -8-11, Southampton Street, Strand, London, W.C.<br /> -</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a>{2}</span> </p> - -<p class="cb"><span class="undr"><span class="smcap">England Invaded</span></span></p> - -<hr class="dblundr"/> - -<div class="poetry"><div class="poem"> -<b>At this great crisis in the Nation’s<br /> -history every Britisher should read<br /> -<br /> -<big>WILLIAM LE QUEUX’S</big><br /> -<br /> -thrilling and realistic novel,<br /> -<br /> -A VIVID STORY OF THE<br /> -GERMAN MENACE,<br /></b> -</div></div> - -<p class="cb"><span class="undr"><span class="smcap">The Invasion</span></span></p> - -<hr class="dblundr28"/> - -<div class="poetry"><div class="poem"><big> - <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Read how the Germans invaded<br /></span> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">England, and how<br /></span> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">the British Public rose in</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">their millions and thrust</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">them back :: :: ::</span></span></big> - <br /> - -<p class="nind"><b>Obtainable at all Railway Bookstalls and Booksellers’.</b><br /> -<b>Price 6d., paper cover, or bound in cloth, 7d.</b>;<br /> -<b>or may be had direct (2d. extra for postage) from</b><br /> -</p> - -</div></div> - -<p class="cb"> -GEORGE NEWNES, LTD.,<br /> -<br /> -8-11, Southampton Street, Strand,<br /> -London, W.C.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="c"> -<span class="undr"><span class="smcap">England Triumphant</span></span></p> - -<hr class="dblundr45"/> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a>{3}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<span class="caption">THE MEN RESPONSIBLE.</span><br /> -<a href="images/front_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/front_sml.jpg" width="263" height="400" alt="[Image unavailable: THE MEN RESPONSIBLE. - -THE KAISER. - -Photo, Stanley and Co. - -CHANCELLOR VON BETHMANN-HOLLWEG. - -Photo, Stanley and Co. - -GENERAL VON MOLTKE. - -Photo, Record Press. - -Face title-page." /></a> -<br /> - - - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="" -class="caption"> - -<tr><td colspan="3" class="c">THE KAISER.<br /> -<small>Photo, Stanley and Co.</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td>CHANCELLOR VON<br /> BETHMANN-HOLLWEG.<br /> -<small>Photo, Stanley and Co.</small></td><td> </td> - -<td>GENERAL VON MOLTKE.<br /> -<small>Photo, Record Press.</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td> </td><td> </td><td>Face title-page.</td></tr> -</table> - -</div> - - -<h1>GERMAN<br /> -ATROCITIES</h1> - -<p class="cb">A R E C O R D OF<br /> -SHAMELESS DEEDS<br /> -<br /> -<small>BY</small><br /> -<big>WILLIAM LE QUEUX</big><br /> -<br /> - -<img src="images/colophon.jpg" -width="180" -height="179" -alt="[Image of the colophon unavailable.]" -/><br /> -<br /> -GEORGE NEWNES, LIMITED<br /> -LONDON</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a>{5}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra2">T</span>HIS fearful and disgraceful record of a Nation’s shame and of an -Emperor’s complicity in atrocious crimes against God and man is no work -of fiction, but a plain unvarnished statement of the grim and terrible -work of the Kaiser’s Huns of Attila which I have considered it a duty to -lay before the British public.</p> - -<p>Modern Germany, frothing with military Nietzschism, seems to have -returned to a primitive barbarism. Belgium, a peaceful modern nation, -has been swept by fire and sword, and its honest, pious inhabitants -tortured and massacred, not because the German soldiery desired to wreak -such vengeance upon a people with whom they could have no quarrel, but -because they had been encouraged “to act with unrelenting severity, to -create examples which by their frightfulness would be a warning to the -whole country.”</p> - -<p>The wild orgies of blood and debauchery, the atrocious outrages, -murders, and mutilations, the ruthless violation and killing of -defenceless women, girls, and children of tender age, have been, it is -now admitted by the Germans themselves, carried out with their full -knowledge, and even as part of the actual plan of campaign of their -War-Lords.</p> - -<p>Germany, though boasting of her culture, her refinement, her honest -home-life, and the peaceful efforts of her Emperor, has for ever lost -her place among civilized nations. It now stands revealed that when her -diplomatic methods of base chicanery and lying fail then she does not -hesitate to resort to acts so dastardly and inhuman as to have no -parallel. Not only has she broken her most solemn treaties and moral -engagements, but all the rules of civilized warfare to which she was a -signatory at The Hague she has also violated, merely regarding them as -“a scrap of paper.”</p> - -<p>Not content with resorting to every act of savagery and every refinement -of cruelty which degenerated minds, filled with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a>{6}</span> blood-lust of war, -could conceive, her troops, by order of her generals, have made a -practice all along the line of placing before them innocent women and -children to act as a living screen, in the hope that the Allies would -not, from motives of humanity, fire upon them.</p> - -<p>One cannot read a single page of this awful record—the German Black -Book—without being thrilled with horror at unspeakable acts of -civilized troops, who, at the behest of their Kaiser, and the exposed -yet still ruling <i>camarilla</i> at Berlin, have become simply as the Huns -of Attila.</p> - -<p>The contents of this book are no hearsay stories, but hard facts -officially recorded in <i>dossiers</i> in the French and Belgian Ministries -of War, most of them, indeed, sworn statements taken before -burgomasters, mayors, prefects, and magistrates. Even our brave fellows -wounded in the Kaiser’s savage attack upon Europe have brought back from -the front similar narratives of the most appalling crimes. Evidence of -German trickery and savagery we have, too, in our midst, for trains, -sentries, and policemen have been shot at under cover of darkness by men -who mean to emulate the methods of their compatriots.</p> - -<p>The frightful deeds which have been done over the face of Belgium and in -France are, no doubt, intended to be repeated in Great Britain, and, if -it were possible, the Red Hand of Destruction would certainly be laid -very heavy upon us—more heavily, perhaps, because we, by our honesty of -purpose, have incurred the hatred of Kaiserdom.</p> - -<p>I would bid all sufferers in Belgium and France to remember that when -Attila of old came to Chalons, full of ostentation as the great -War-Lord, he came to his own undoing, and his dominion at once -disappeared to the winds. There is One with Whom vengeance lies for -wrongs, and most assuredly will He mete out the same dread Fate of death -and obscurity to the unblushing War-Lord of Germany, who, daily, with -his blasphemous impiety, lifts his bloodstained hands and thanks his -Maker for his shameful “successes.”</p> - -<p class="r"> -WILLIAM LE QUEUX.<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a>{7}</span> </p> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td class="rt"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top" colspan="3"><span class="smcap">Preface</span> </td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_005">5</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" colspan="3"><span class="smcap">What the Kaiser Said</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_008">8</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" colspan="3"><span class="smcap">Foreword</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_009">9</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top" colspan="3"><span class="smcap">Author’s Note</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_010">10</a></td></tr> -<tr><td valign="top" colspan="3"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_011">11</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span></td><td class="rt"><a href="#I">I.</a></td><td><span class="smcap"> Article XXIII. of The Hague Convention</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_019">19</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#II">II.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">My Interview with Belgian Ministers of State</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_021">21</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#III">III.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">The British Press Bureau Statement</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_026">26</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#IV">IV.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Second Report of the Belgian Committee of Inquiry</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_034">34</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#V">V.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Can these Things be True?</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_044">44</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#VI">VI.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Wanton Brutality</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_047">47</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#VII">VII.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">300 Men Shot in Cold Blood</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_052">52</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#VIII">VIII.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">The Inferno at Visé</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_054">54</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#IX">IX.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">The Maiden Tribute</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_058">58</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#X">X.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Atrocities Round Liége</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_066">66</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#XI">XI.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">The Crime of Louvain</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_073">73</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#XII">XII.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">French Protest to the Powers</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_091">91</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#XIII">XIII.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">The Desecration of Churches</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_101">101</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#XIV">XIV.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Treatment of English Travellers</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_105">105</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#XV">XV.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">What Our Soldiers Say</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_109">109</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#XVI">XVI.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">The Antwerp Outrage</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_117">117</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="c">“</td><td class="rt"><a href="#XVII">XVII.</a></td><td>“<span class="smcap">The Hussar-like Stroke</span>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_124">124</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Day</span></td> -<td> </td> -<td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_127">127</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a>{8}</span></p> - -<div class="boxxedd"> -<p>WHAT THE KAISER SAID:</p> - -<p>“When you meet the foe you will defeat him. No quarter will be given, no -prisoners will be taken. Let all who fall into your hands be at your -mercy. Gain a reputation like the Huns under Attila.”</p> - -<p>This quotation from an address of the Kaiser to German troops, -before they were dispatched to Peking in 1900, was circulated on -post cards throughout Germany.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a>{9}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="FOREWORD" id="FOREWORD"></a><i>FOREWORD</i></h2> - -<p class="cb"><big><big>WHO WERE<br /> THE HUNS OF ATTILA?</big></big></p> - -<div style="margin:2% 15% 2% 15%;"> -<p class="nind">The Kaiser, we read, has exhorted his soldiers to make themselves as -much dreaded as the Huns of Attila. It is worth while to recall the -methods of this savage, for he was nothing better. In one expedition -across Greece and in another across Italy he reduced seventy of the -finest cities to smoking ruins and to shambles. The inhabitants were -either slaughtered on the spot or marched away in chains to end their -lives as slaves. Men, women, children, babies—all came alike to this -black demon of outrage and destruction. Briefly, the Monarch of the Huns -may be best described as the worthy leader of one vast gang of -Jack-the-Rippers.</p> - -<p class="nind">And this is the blood-guilty ruffian whom the Kaiser now holds up as his -exemplar! Judging by Louvain, he is no unworthy follower of his Master.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a>{10}</span></p> -</div> - -<h2><a name="AUTHORS_NOTE" id="AUTHORS_NOTE"></a><i>AUTHOR’S NOTE</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><i>In addition to the sworn facts and statements supplied officially to me -by the Belgian Government, I have here included some others which have -been recounted by wounded men who have returned from the front, by -doctors who have attended them, and by the special correspondents of -Reuter’s, the Central News, and other news agencies, and of the London -and provincial newspapers.</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a>{11}</span></p> - -<h1><span class="smcap">German Atrocities.</span></h1> - -<div class="boxxedd"> -<p>Mr. Asquith has described the sacking of Louvain as “the greatest crime -committed against civilization and culture since the Thirty Years’ War. -With its buildings, its pictures, its unique library, its unrivalled -associations, a shameless holocaust of irreparable treasures lit up by -blind barbarian vengeance.”</p> -</div> - -<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a><i>INTRODUCTION.</i></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra2">I</span>T was a little over a month after the declaration of war that reports -of great events began to crowd in upon us. Much had happened in that -short space of time. The enormous forces of the Kaiser had forced back -the line of the Allies well into France. We admired the huge machine at -work. From a military point of view the rapidity of the advance of such -an enormous body of men was something unique in warfare. It was not this -wonderful achievement of the German army, however, it was not the -equally wonderful resistance made by the Allies against overwhelming -numbers, it was not the glorious record of Belgian,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a>{12}</span> French, and British -heroism—which resulted in practically nothing being gained by their -adversary—it was none of these things that aroused and amazed the -nations of the civilized world. It was something very different which -arrested their horrified wonder, something which, in the words of the -<i>Times</i>, “will turn the hand of every civilized nation in the world -against them” (the German nation).</p> - -<p>The atrocious acts committed by the troops of the Kaiser have staggered -the civilized world, and it must now be plain to the meanest -intelligence that these atrocities and acts of inhuman barbarity were -not the doings of soldiers intoxicated with the excitement of success in -battle, or maddened to the point of avenging defeat, or to be ascribed -to an unbridled license of irresponsible troops out of hand. There is no -longer any doubt, even in minds slow to believe them, that deeds which -bring the blush of shame to the cheek as we read of them have been -perpetrated; there is as little doubt where the responsibility for them -rests. It is with the Kaiser and the men around him.</p> - -<h3>Plain Speaking.</h3> - -<p>“Until now we have maintained an attitude of deliberate reserve upon the -innumerable stories of German atrocities which have reached us,” says -the <i>Times</i>. “We published without comment the unanswerable list of -shocking excesses committed by the German troops, which was sent to -England by the Belgian authorities.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a>{13}</span> When a German Zeppelin cast bombs -upon ill-fated women asleep in their beds at Antwerp, we did no more -than explain the bearings of international law upon conduct which has -met with universal reprobation in Europe and America. But now the real -object of German savagery is self-revealed, not only by the effacement -of Louvain, but by the shameful admissions sent forth from the wireless -station at Berlin. On Thursday night the following official notification -regarding Belgium came vibrating through the air:—</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"><p>“ ‘The only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil -population has been to interfere with unrelenting severity and to -create examples which by their frightfulness would be a warning to -the whole country.’</p> - -<p>“Such is the cynical nature of the German apologia for the -destruction of Louvain. Such is the character of the warfare of the -modern Huns. They seek to strike terror into the hearts of their -foes by methods which belong to the days of the old barbaric hosts, -who were thought to have vanished from the world for ever.</p> - -<p>“There must be no mistake about the apportionment of blame for this -and numberless other crimes. We have listened too long to the -bleatings of professors bemused by the false glamour of a -philosophy which the Germans themselves have thrust aside. The -Kaiser and his people are alike responsible for the acts of their -Government and their troops, and there can be no differentiation -when the day of reckoning comes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a>{14}</span></p> - -<p>“The Kaiser could stop these things with a word. Instead, he -pronounces impious benedictions upon them. Daily he appeals for the -blessing of God upon the dreadful deeds which are staining the face -of Western Europe—the ravaged villages, the hapless non-combatants -hanged or shot, the women and children torn from their beds by -cowards and made to walk before them under fire, all the infamies -which have eternally disgraced German ‘valour.’ We are no longer -dependent upon hearsay for these stories. Our own men are bringing -them back from the front. Let there be no mistake as to where the -responsibility rests.”</p></div> - -<h3>What the Kaiser Said.</h3> - -<p>It was the Kaiser (addressing his troops in June, 1900, on their setting -out for Peking) who said:—</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"><p>“<i>When you meet the foe you will defeat him. No quarter will be -given, no prisoners will be taken. Let all who fall into your hands -be at your mercy. Gain a reputation like the Huns under Attila.</i>”</p></div> - -<p class="nind"><b>And Who Was Attila?</b></p> - -<p><b>It is worth while to recall the methods of this savage, for he was -nothing better. In one expedition across Greece and in another across -Italy he reduced seventy of the finest cities to smoking ruins and to -shambles. The inhabitants were either slaughtered on the spot or marched -away in chains to end their lives as slaves. Men, women, children, -babies—all<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a>{15}</span> came alike to this black demon of outrage and destruction. -Briefly, the Monarch of the Huns may be best described as the worthy -leader of one vast gang of Jack the Rippers.</b></p> - -<p><b>And this is the blood-guilty ruffian whom the Kaiser now holds up as his -exemplar! Judging by Louvain, he is no unworthy follower of his Master.</b></p> - -<div class="blockquottb"> - -<p>Then was it not <b>Bismarck</b> who said:—</p> -</div> -<div class="blockquottb"><p>“<i>You must leave the people through whom you march only their eyes -to weep with.</i>”</p></div> - -<p>It was also the Kaiser who said, addressing his soldiers, “You must only -have one will, and it is mine; there is only one law, and it is mine.”</p> - -<p>And then again, I repeat, it was a Berlin wireless that flashed the -official message:—</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"><p>“The only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil -population has been to interfere with unrelenting severity and to -create examples which by their frightfulness would be a warning to -the whole country.”</p></div> - -<p>Need we seek further to fix the responsibility?</p> - -<h3>War Rights.</h3> - -<p>What are the rights of nations in a state of war? There are first of all -the unwritten laws of nations and humanity which need, or should need, -no defining amongst civilized peoples. There are also the definite and -specific Acts laid down at The Hague Convention,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a>{16}</span> which it was declared -by the signatories would not be legitimate in war between civilized -nations. Germany was a signatory to The Hague Convention. At this -Convention the Powers limited the rights of belligerents in the means to -be adopted of injuring the enemy. Here are some of them:—</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"><p><span class="smcap">By</span> Article XXIII. it was especially forbidden:—</p> -<div class="blockindd"> -<p>“To kill or wound treacherously individuals belonging to the -hostile nation or army.</p> - -<p>“To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or -having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion.</p> - -<p>“To declare that no quarter will be given.</p> - -<p>“To employ arms, projectiles, or material calculated to cause -unnecessary suffering.</p> - -<p>“To make improper use of a flag of truce, of the national flag, or -of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy, as well as the -distinctive badges of the Geneva Convention.</p> - -<p>“To destroy or seize the enemy’s property, unless such destruction -or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.”</p></div> -</div> - -<p>The law of civilized warfare was further made plain as follows:—</p> - -<div class="blockindd"> -<p>Article XXV.: “The attack or bombardment, by whatever means, of -towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are undefended, is -prohibited.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a>{17}</span></p> - -<p>Article XXVI.: “The officer in command of an attacking force must, -before commencing a bombardment, except in cases of assault, do all -in his power to warn the authority.”</p> - -<p>Article XXVII.: “In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps -must be taken to spare as far as possible buildings dedicated to -religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, -hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, -provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes. -It is the duty of the besieged to indicate the presence of such -buildings or places by distinctive and visible signs which shall be -notified to the enemy beforehand.”</p></div> - -<p>In other further Articles it was laid down that a belligerent is -forbidden to force the inhabitants of territory occupied by him to -furnish information about the army of the other belligerent, or about -its means of defence. It was forbidden to confiscate private property, -and also laid down that family honour and rights, the lives of persons, -and private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, -must be respected. Pillage was forbidden, and prisoners must be humanely -treated.</p> - -<h3>Uncivilized Warfare.</h3> - -<p>Stories of German brutality and ruthless disregard of these rules of -civilized warfare as set out above were, from the opening of the war, -continually reaching England. At first the public were sceptical about -such<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a>{18}</span> tales of horror. Unfortunately, however, it was too clearly seen -that the Germans made war in a manner which was very far from being -civilized. Atrocities were being committed with a definite object—an -object which was self-revealed, not only by the effacement of Louvain, -“a shameless holocaust of irreparable treasures lit up by blind -barbarian vengeance,” but by the disgraceful admissions sent forth from -the German wireless station which I have already quoted.</p> - -<p>The character of the warfare of these modern Huns was to terrorize the -inhabitants of a hostile country, so that the invader might proceed on -his way without fear of molestation. Therefore, the unspeakable crimes -of the Kaiser’s forces have not even the excuse of being outbursts of -national savagery. The shameful record contained in these pages are the -cold and calculated brutalities of a nation who boasted of its -“culture,” whose prayerful Emperor held up his hands to his Maker -invoking success for his horde of ruthless barbarians, but who has shown -that in war he respects no law of God, and regards the solemn treaties -of nations as “scraps of paper.”</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“We can only pray for a hastening of the day when all that is best -in the German people will reassert itself as of old, and when the -long reign of an arrogant and ruthless military caste will be -looked back to by the countrymen of Schiller and Goethe as a -nightmare that never can return.”</p> - -<p class="r"> -—From the American <i>Nation</i>.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a>{19}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I.</h2> - -<p><b>Article XXIII. of The Hague Convention forbids:—“To kill or wound -treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army.”</b></p> - -<p>From almost the first day of the war this undertaking, given by Germany -along with the other Great Powers, has been treated by her as a “scrap -of paper.”</p> - -<p>The fearful deeds of horror which have besmirched the name of Germany -form a terrible page of history. They have been proved by captured -Germans themselves to have been deliberate, and to have been actually -ordered by officers as high in rank as colonels and majors, and to be -part of the Kaiser’s preconceived plan. The murder of unarmed, -inoffensive citizens, the hussar-like stroke of sowing neutral waters -with death, the destruction of unfortified towns and the massacre of -their inhabitants, the violation of women and young girls, the forcing -of men, women, and children to march as shields in front of their -troops, the murder of the wounded, the wholesale slaughter of -non-combatants, the tortures, the mutilations, and the vile outrages are -surely sins against humanity, and are bound to meet with an awful and -just retribution. The blood of those martyred innocents cries aloud to -God for vengeance, and such vengeance must surely come upon the Kaiser -and the inhuman monsters surrounding him who have so deliberately urged -on their wild assassins<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a>{20}</span> to commit the unspeakable crimes reported -during the first month of the war.</p> - -<p>It must be remembered, in reading of these terrible atrocities, that -while they were being committed on the defenceless on every hand, yet -the Kaiser sent a telegram to the King of Würtemberg actually thanking -the Almighty for the success of his marauders in their murderous -campaign against women and children. The text of the Kaiser’s message -was: “With God’s gracious assistance, Duke Albrecht and his splendid -army have gained a glorious victory. You will join me in thanking the -Almighty. I have bestowed on Albrecht the Iron Cross of the First and -Second Class.—<span class="smcap">Wilhelm.</span>” God’s gracious assistance!</p> - -<p>The ruthless and utterly inexcusable barbarities committed by the German -army were surely without parallel in the whole history of the world. The -spectacle of racial degeneration which Germany displayed staggered -civilization, and this awful story of murder, cruelty, and debauchery -will surely remain for all time as a record of infamies which have -eternally disgraced the German nation. About the apportionment of blame -there must be no mistake. The Kaiser could have prevented it by a single -word. But, condemned by his own speech, he and his people are alike -responsible for the acts of the troops, and no differentiation can be -made by right-thinking people.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a>{21}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_b_021fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_b_021fp_sml.jpg" width="400" height="292" alt="[Image unavailable: THE BELGIAN COMMISSION. Photo, Barratt. - -Face p. 21." /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">THE BELGIAN COMMISSION. Photo, Barratt. -<br /> -<small>Face p. 21.</small></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II.</h2> - -<p class="cb">My Interview with Belgian Ministers of State.</p> - -<p>In order that the civilized world should be acquainted with the terrible -atrocities committed in Belgium, the King of the Belgians, who had -served in the trenches with his men, disguised as a private soldier, -appointed a Mission to proceed to the President of the United States and -lay the case before him. The members of the Mission were:—</p> - -<div class="blockindd"><p><b>M. Carton de Wiart, Chief of the Mission, who is the Belgian -Minister of Justice;</b></p> - -<p><b>M. de Sadeleer, Leader of the Conservative Party;</b></p> - -<p><b>M. Pau Hemans, Leader of the Liberal Party;</b></p> - -<p><b>M. Emile Van der Velde, Leader of the Socialist Party.</b></p></div> - -<p><b>All these men are Belgian Ministers of State, and were accompanied by -Count de Lichtervelde, who acted as Secretary to the Mission.</b></p> - -<p>The members of this Mission first came to London to present an Address -to the King. On the evening of the day these gentlemen were received by -His Majesty, and later by Sir Edward Grey, I had the privilege of a -private interview with them.</p> - -<p>I had a long talk with M. Carton de Wiart, during which he unfolded to -me many frightful details, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a>{22}</span></p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>These abominable crimes against humanity and civilization call for -condign reprobation in the face of the civilized world.... Let us -hear no more whining about German ‘culture.’ But let us make it -known that we will make the world ring with our sense of -horror.</b>”—<i>Frederic Harrison.</i></p></div> - -<p class="nind">explained the reason for the appointment of a committee of inquiry. He -described to me scenes he himself had witnessed. He laid stress upon the -bombardment and destruction of open towns—that is, towns unprotected -and undefended by any military works—such as Malines and Louvain; while -Antwerp, being a fortified place, ought to have had twenty-four hours’ -notice given to its inhabitants before it was attacked with bombs, yet -no such notice was given. On the contrary, attacks by Zeppelins had been -made without warning in the dead of night. He also described to me the -atrocities committed by the Germans in the bombardment and setting fire -to small villages without any military reason or necessity whatever. He -related harrowing details of the massacre of perfectly innocent people, -non-combatants, men, women, and children.</p> - -<p>He showed me a letter from a person of repute in Belgium who had motored -from Brussels to Louvain by the Tervueren road, in which I read: “After -I got to a village named Veerde St. George I saw only burning villages; -peasants beside themselves with terror threw up their arms in sign of -submission on my approach.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a>{23}</span> When I got to Louvain I found the whole town -in ruins, and soldiers were still piling straw against buildings which -had escaped the flames and igniting them.”</p> - -<h3>Authenticated Documents.</h3> - -<p>The mass of documents which the Mission were carrying to America, he -informed me, were all signed statements of persons who had been -eye-witnesses of the atrocities, as well as those of many who had -suffered.</p> - -<p>In a chat I also had with M. Emile Van der Velde, another member of the -Delegation and the leader of the Belgian Socialists, he said: “I went to -Malines after the fighting, in order to investigate the state of -affairs. I found only eight Belgian people in the town, but even then -the Germans were bombarding the deserted houses, apparently with the -sole object of destroying them. The whole object of the Germans,” he -added, “had been to create such a reign of terror that the whole -population of Belgium should flee into Antwerp, and so render it -impossible for the people congregated there to be fed. I myself examined -the bodies of a peasant and his son which had been cut to pieces by -bayonet thrusts.”</p> - -<p>Another member of the Delegation told me that he had learned from -several wounded persons how a druggist living near Tirlemont, on -refusing to act as guide to the Uhlans, was shot three times and then -bayoneted; and further, in the same hospital, wounded soldiers had told -him how that while lying upon the battlefield many had been bayoneted or -shot.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a>{24}</span></p> - -<p>The Delegation had, earlier in the day on which I had this interview -with them, presented an Address to His Majesty at Buckingham Palace, the -text of which has been published. It ran:—</p> - -<div class="blockindd"><p>“<span class="smcap">Sire</span>,—Belgium, having had to choose between the sacrifice of her -honour and the peril of war, did not hesitate. She opposed the -brutal aggression committed by a Power which was one of the -guarantors of her neutrality.</p> - -<p>“In this critical situation it was for our country an inestimable -tower of strength to see coming forth the resolute and immediate -intervention by great and powerful England.</p> - -<p>“Commissioned by His Majesty the King of the Belgians with a -Mission to the President of the United States, we have considered -it to be our duty to make a stay in the capital of the British -Empire to convey to your Majesty the respectful and ardent -expression of gratitude of the Belgian nation....</p> - -<p>“Our adversary, after invading our territory, has decimated the -civil population, massacred women and children, carried into -captivity inoffensive peasants, put to death wounded, destroyed -undefended towns, burned churches, historical monuments, and the -famous library of the University of Louvain. All these facts are -established by authenticated documents. Each we shall have the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a>{25}</span> -honour of submitting to the Government of your Majesty.</p> - -<p>“In spite of all this suffering in Belgium, which has been made the -personification of outraged right, the country is resolute in -fulfilling to the utmost her duties towards Europe. Whatever may -happen, she must defend her existence, her honour, and her -liberty.”</p></div> - -<p>The King, in reply, said that he would support Belgium, and expressed -his horror at the shocking report of German brutality.</p> - -<h3>The Belgian Minister’s Statements.</h3> - -<p>The delegation was subsequently received by Sir Edward Grey at the -Foreign Office, where they outlined some of the violations of -international law and of humanity committed by Germany, viz.:—</p> - -<div class="blockindd"><p>1. Violation of Belgium’s neutrality.</p> - -<p>2. Taking of several millions of francs from the private National -Bank at Liége and Hasselt.</p> - -<p>3. Bombardment of the open towns of Louvain and Malines and the -bombardment of Antwerp at night by airship without the twenty-four -hours’ notice due in international law to the inhabitants of a -fortified town.</p> - -<p>4. Bombardment and burning of villages and the massacre of -non-combatant inhabitants, including women and children.</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a>{26}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III.</h2> - -<p class="cb">Our own Press Bureau issued on the 25th August the following statement -to the English Press:—</p> - -<p>“The Belgian Minister has made the following statement:—</p> - -<p>“In spite of solemn assurances of good will and long-standing treaty -obligations, Germany has made a sudden savage and utterly unwarranted -attack on Belgium.</p> - -<p>“However sorely pressed she may be, Belgium will never fight unfairly -and never stoop to infringe the laws and customs of legitimate warfare. -She is putting up a brave fight against overwhelming odds; she may be -beaten, she may be crushed, but, to quote our noble King’s words, ‘She -will never be enslaved.’</p> - -<p>“When German troops invaded our country, the Belgian Government issued -public statements, which were placarded in every town, village, and -hamlet, warning all civilians to abstain scrupulously from hostile acts -against the enemy’s troops. The Belgian Press daily published similar -notices broadcast through the land. Nevertheless, the German authorities -have issued lately statements containing grave imputations against the -attitude of the Belgian civilian population, threatening us at the same -time with dire reprisals. These imputations<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a>{27}</span> are contrary to the real -facts of the case, and as to threats of further vengeance, no menace of -odious reprisals on the part of the German troops will deter the Belgian -Government from protesting before the civilized world against the -fearful and atrocious crimes committed wilfully and deliberately by the -invading hosts against helpless non-combatants, old men, women, and -children.</p> - -<p>“Long is the list of outrages committed by the German troops and -appalling the details of atrocities, as vouched for by the Committee of -Inquiry recently formed by the Belgian Minister of Justice and presided -over by him. This committee comprises the highest judicial and -University authorities of Belgium, such as Chief Justice Van Iseghem, -Judge Nys, Professors Cottier, Wodon, etc.</p> - -<p>“The following instances and particulars have been established by -careful investigations, based in each case on the evidence of reliable -eye-witnesses:—</p> - -<p>“German cavalry occupying the village of Linsmeau were attacked by some -Belgian infantry and two gendarmes. A German officer was killed by our -troops during the fight and subsequently buried at the request of the -Belgian officer in command. No one of the civilian population took part -in the fighting at Linsmeau. Nevertheless, the village was invaded at -dusk on August 10th by a strong force of German cavalry, artillery, and -machine guns.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a>{28}</span></p> - -<p>“In spite of the formal assurances given by the Burgomaster of Linsmeau -that none of the peasants had taken part in the previous fight, two -farms and six outlying houses were destroyed by gun fire and burnt. All -the male inhabitants were then compelled to come forward and hand over -whatever arms they possessed. No recently discharged firearms were -found.</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"> - -<p>“<b>Nevertheless, the invaders divided these peasants into three groups; -those in one group were bound, and eleven of them placed in a ditch, -where they were afterwards found dead, their skulls fractured by the -butts of German rifles.</b></p> - -<p>“<b>During the night of August 10th German cavalry entered Velm in great -numbers. The inhabitants were asleep. The Germans, without provocation, -fired on M. Deglimme Gevers’ house, broke into it, destroyed furniture, -looted money, burnt barns, hay and corn stacks, farm implements, six -oxen, and the contents of the farmyard. They carried off Mrs. Deglimme, -half naked, to a place two miles away. She was then let go, and was -fired upon as she fled, without being hit. Her husband was carried away -in another direction and fired upon. He is dying. The same troops sacked -and burned the house of a railway watchman.</b></p> - -</div> - -<p>“Farmer Jef Dierick, of Neerhespen, bears witness to the following acts -of cruelty committed by German<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a>{29}</span> cavalry at Orsmael and Neerhespen on -August 10th, 11th, and 12th:—</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"> - -<p>“<b>An old man of the latter village had his arm sliced in three -longitudinal cuts; he was then hanged head downwards and burned alive. -Young girls have been raped and little children outraged at Orsmael, -where several inhabitants suffered mutilations too horrible to describe. -A Belgian soldier belonging to a battalion of cyclist carabiniers, who -had been wounded and made prisoner, was hanged; whilst another, who was -tending his comrade, was bound to a telegraph pole on the St. Trond road -and shot.</b></p> -</div> - -<p>“On Wednesday, August 12th, after an engagement at Haelen, Commandant -Van Damme, so severely wounded that he was lying prone on his back, was -finally murdered by German infantrymen firing their revolvers into his -mouth.</p> - -<p>“On Monday, August 10th, at Orsmael, the Germans picked up Commandant -Knapen, very seriously wounded, propped him up against a tree, and shot -him. Finally they hacked his corpse with swords.</p> - -<p>“In different places, notably at Hollogue sur Geer, Barchon, Pontisse, -Haelen, and Zelck, German troops have fired on doctors, ambulance -bearers, ambulances, and ambulance wagons carrying the Red Cross.</p> - -<p>“At Boncelles a body of German troops marched into battle carrying a -Belgian flag.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a>{30}</span></p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p class="c">WHY THE GERMANS COMMIT ATROCITIES.</p> - -<p>“<b>True strategy consists in hitting your enemy, and hitting him -hard. Above all you must inflict on the inhabitants of invaded -towns the maximum of suffering, so that they may become sick of the -struggle and may bring pressure to bear on their Government to -discontinue it. You must leave the people through whom you march -only their eyes to weep with.</b></p> - -<p>“<b>In every case the principle which guided our general was that war -must be made terrible to the civil population, so that it may sue -for peace.</b>”</p> - -<p class="r"> -<b>BISMARCK.</b><br /> -</p></div> - -<p>“On Thursday, August 6th, before a fort at Liége, German soldiers -continued to fire on a party of Belgian soldiers (who were unarmed, and -had been surrounded while digging a trench) after these had hoisted the -white flag.</p> - -<p>“On the same day, at Vottem, near the fort of Loncin, a group of German -infantry hoisted the white flag. When Belgian soldiers approached to -take them prisoners the Germans suddenly opened fire on them at close -range.</p> - -<p>“Harrowing reports of German savagery at Aerschot have reached the -Belgian Government at Antwerp from official local sources. Thus on -Tuesday, August 18th, the Belgian troops occupying a position in front -of Aerschot received orders to retire without engaging the enemy. A -small force was left behind to cover the retreat. This force resisted -valiantly against overwhelming<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a>{31}</span> German forces, and inflicted serious -losses on them. Meanwhile, practically the whole civilian population of -Aerschot, terrorized by the atrocities committed by the Germans in the -neighbouring villages, had fled from the town.</p> - -<p>“Next day, Wednesday, August 19th, German troops entered Aerschot, -without a shot having been fired from the town and without any -resistance whatever having been made. The few inhabitants that remained -had closed their doors and windows in compliance with the general orders -issued by the Belgian Government. Nevertheless, the Germans broke into -the houses and told the inhabitants to quit.</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"> -<p>“<b>In one single street the first six male inhabitants who crossed their -thresholds were seized and shot at once, under the very eyes of their -wives and children.</b></p> -</div> - -<p>“The German troops then retired for the day, only to return in greater -numbers on the next day, Thursday, August 20th.</p> - -<p>“They then compelled the inhabitants to leave their houses and marched -them to a place two hundred yards from the town. There, without more -ado, they shot M. Thielemans, the Burgomaster, his fifteen-year-old son, -the clerk of the local judicial board, and ten prominent citizens. They -then set fire to the town and destroyed it.</p> - -<p>“The following statement was made by Commandant<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a>{32}</span> Georges Gilson, of the -9th Infantry of the Line, now lying in hospital at Antwerp:—</p> - -<p>“I was told to cover the retreat of our troops in front of Aerschot. -During the action fought there on Wednesday, August 19th, between six -and eight o’clock in the morning, suddenly I saw on the high road, -between the German and Belgian forces, which were fighting at close -range, a group of four women, with babies in their arms, and two little -girls clinging to their skirts. Our men stopped firing till the women -got through our lines, but the German machine guns went on firing all -the time, and one of the women was wounded in the arm.</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"> -<p>“<b>These women could not have got through the neighbouring German lines -and been on the high road unless with the consent of the enemy.</b></p> - -<p>“<b>All the evidence and circumstances seem to point to the fact that these -women had been deliberately pushed forward by the Germans to act as a -shield for their advance guard, and in the hope that the Belgians would -cease firing for fear of killing the women and children.</b></p> -</div> - -<p>“This statement was made and duly certified in the Antwerp hospital on -August 22nd by Commandant Gilson in the presence of the Chevalier Ernst -N. Bunswyck, Chief Secretary to the Belgian Minister of Justice, and M. -de Cartier de Marchienne, Belgian Minister to China.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a>{33}</span></p> - -<p>“Further German atrocities were continuously being brought to notice and -made the subject of official and expert inquiry by the proper -authorities.</p> - -<p>“In publishing the above statements the only comment the Press Bureau -can offer is, that these atrocities appear to be committed in villages -and throughout the countryside with the deliberate intention of -terrorizing the people, and so making it unnecessary to leave troops in -occupation of small places, or to protect lines of communication. <i>In -larger places, like Brussels, where the diplomatic representatives of -neutral Powers are eye-witnesses, there appear to have been no -excesses.</i>”</p> - -<p><b>Such was the document issued by the Press Bureau. I have quoted it word -for word</b> (emphasizing only in italics or in heavy type certain -passages).</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p class="c">PRIMITIVE SAVAGERY.</p> - -<p>“<b>Their utter contempt for the established usages of international -intercourse, and even for the ordinary decencies of life, was -displayed in their brutal treatment of the French and Russian -Ambassadors, in the stripping naked of the wives of Russian -officials, in the atrocities they have since committed in Belgium, -in their seizure of hostages, in their homicidal mine-laying in the -North Sea. In all these matters one seems to discern a sudden lapse -into primitive savagery.</b>”</p> - -<p class="c"> -—Dr. Dillon in the <i>Contemporary Review</i>.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a>{34}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV.</h2> - -<p>The following is the second report issued by the Belgian Commission of -Inquiry, and which was published by the British Official Press Bureau on -September 15th, 1914.</p> - -<h3>Second Report of the Belgian Committee of Inquiry.</h3> - -<p class="nind">To M. Carton de Wiart, Minister of Justice, Antwerp.</p> - -<p>Sir,—The Commission of Inquiry has the honour to make the following -report on acts of which the town of Louvain, the neighbourhood, and the -district of Malines have been the scene.</p> - -<p>The German Army entered Louvain on Wednesday, August 19th, after having -burned down the villages through which it had passed.</p> - -<p>As soon as they had entered the town of Louvain the Germans -requisitioned food and lodging for their troops. They went to all the -banks of the town and took possession of the cash in hand. German -soldiers burst open the doors of houses which had been abandoned by -their inhabitants, pillaged them, and committed other excesses.</p> - -<p>The German authorities took as hostages the mayor of the city, Senator -Van der Kelen, the Vice-Rector of the Catholic University, and the -senior priest of the city,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a>{35}</span> besides certain magistrates and aldermen. -All the weapons possessed by the inhabitants, even fencing swords, had -already been given up to the municipal authorities and placed by them in -the Church of St. Pierre.</p> - -<p>In a neighbouring village, Corbeek Loo, on Wednesday, August 19th, a -young woman, aged twenty-two, whose husband was with the Army, and some -of her relations, were surprised by a band of German soldiers. The -persons who were with her were locked up in a deserted house, while she -herself was dragged into another cottage, where she was assaulted by -five soldiers.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Fate of 16-year-old Girl.</b></p> - -<p>In the same village on Thursday, August 20, German soldiers fetched from -their house a young girl, about sixteen years old, and her parents. They -conducted them to a small deserted country house, and while some of them -held back the father and mother, others entered the house, and, finding -the cellar open, forced the girl to drink. They then brought her on to -the lawn in front of the house and assaulted her. Finally they stabbed -her in the breast with their bayonets.</p> - -<p>When this young girl had been abandoned by them after these abominable -deeds, she was brought back to her parents’ house, and the following -day, in view of the gravity of her condition, she received extreme -unction<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a>{36}</span> from the parish priest and was taken to the hospital of -Louvain, as her life was despaired of.</p> - -<p>On August 24 and 25 Belgian troops made a sortie from the entrenched -camp of Antwerp and attacked the German army before Malines. The Germans -were thrown back on Louvain and Vilvorde.</p> - -<p>On entering the villages which had been occupied by the enemy the -Belgian army found them devastated. The Germans, as they retired, had -pillaged and burnt the villages, taking with them the male inhabitants, -whom they forced to march in front of them.</p> - -<p>Belgian soldiers entering Hofstade on August 25 found the body of an old -woman who had been killed by bayonet thrusts. She still held in her hand -the needle with which she was sewing when she was killed. A woman and -her fifteen or sixteen year old son lay on the ground, pierced by -bayonets. A man had been hanged.</p> - -<p>At Sempst, a neighbouring village, were found the bodies of two men -partially carbonised. One of them had his legs cut off at the knees; the -other had the arms and legs cut off. A workman, whose burnt body has -been seen by several witnesses, had been struck several times with -bayonets, and then, while still alive, the Germans had poured petroleum -over him and thrown him into a house to which they set fire. A woman who -came out of her house was killed in the same way.</p> - -<p>A witness, whose evidence has been taken by a reliable<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a>{37}</span> British subject, -declares that he saw, on August 26, not far from Malines, during the -last Belgian attack, an old man tied by the arms to one of the rafters -in the ceiling of his farm. The body was completely carbonised, but the -head, arms, and feet were unburnt. Further on, a child of about fifteen -was tied up, the hands behind the back, and the body was completely torn -open with bayonet wounds. Numerous corpses of peasants lay on the ground -in positions of supplication, their arms lifted and their hands clasped.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Facts about Louvain.</b></p> - -<p>At nightfall on August 26 the German troops, repulsed by our soldiers, -entered Louvain panic-stricken. Several witnesses affirm that the German -garrison which occupied Louvain was erroneously informed that the enemy -were entering the town. Men of the garrison immediately marched to the -station, shooting haphazard the while, and there met the German troops -who had been repulsed by the Belgians, the latter having just ceased the -pursuit.</p> - -<p>Everything tends to prove that the German regiments fired on one -another. At once the Germans began bombarding the town, pretending that -civilians had fired on the troops, a suggestion which is contradicted by -all the witnesses, and could scarcely have been possible, because the -inhabitants of Louvain had had to give up their arms to the municipal -authorities several days before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a>{38}</span></p> - -<p>The bombardment lasted till about ten o’clock at night. The Germans then -set fire to the town. Wherever the fire had not spread, the German -soldiers entered the houses and threw fire grenades, with which some of -them seemed to be provided. The greater part of the town of Louvain was -thus a prey to the flames, particularly the quarters of the upper town, -comprising the modern buildings, the ancient Cathedral of St. Pierre, -the university buildings, together with the university library, its -manuscripts and collections, and the municipal theatre.</p> - -<p>The Commission considers it its duty to insist, in the midst of all -these horrors, on the crime committed against civilisation by the -deliberate destruction of an academic library which was one of the -treasures of Europe.</p> - -<p>The corpses of many civilians encumbered the streets and squares. On the -road from Tirlemont to Louvain alone a witness counted more than fifty. -On the doorsteps of houses could be seen carbonised bodies of -inhabitants, who, hiding in their cellars, were driven out by the fire, -tried to escape, and fell into the flames. The suburbs of Louvain -suffered the same fate.</p> - -<p>We can affirm that the houses in all the districts between Louvain and -Malines, and most of the suburbs of Louvain itself, have practically -been destroyed.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Thousands Sent to Germany.</b></p> - -<p>On Wednesday morning, August 26th, the Germans brought to the station -squares of Louvain a group of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a>{39}</span> more than seventy-five persons, including -several prominent citizens of the town, among whom were Father Coloboet -and another Spanish priest, and also an American priest.</p> - -<p>The men were brutally separated from their wives and children, and after -having been subjected to the most abominable treatment by the Germans, -who several times threatened to shoot them, they were forced to march to -the village of Campenhout in front of the German troops. They were shut -up in the village church, where they passed the night.</p> - -<p>About four o’clock the next morning a German officer told them they had -better go to confession, as they would be shot half an hour later. About -half-past four they were liberated. Shortly afterwards they were again -arrested by a German brigade, which forced them to march before them in -the direction of Malines. In reply to a question of one of the -prisoners, a German officer said they were going to give them a taste of -the Belgian quickfirers before Antwerp. They were at last released on -the Thursday afternoon at the gates of Malines.</p> - -<p>It appears from other witnesses that several thousand male inhabitants -of Louvain, who had escaped the shooting and the fire, were sent to -Germany for a purpose which is still unknown to us.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Eye-Witness’s Account.</b></p> - -<p>The fire at Louvain burnt for several days. An eye-witness who left -Louvain on August 30th gave the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a>{40}</span> following description of the town at -that time:—“Leaving Weert St. George’s, I only saw burnt-down villages -and half-crazy peasants, who on meeting anyone held up their hands as a -sign of submission. Before every house, even those burnt down, hung a -white flag, and the burnt rags of them could be seen among the ruins.</p> - -<p>“At Weert St. George’s I questioned the inhabitants on the causes of the -German reprisals, and they affirmed most positively that no inhabitant -had fired a shot, that in any case the arms had been previously -collected, but that the Germans had taken vengeance on the population -because a Belgian soldier belonging to the gendarmerie had killed an -Uhlan.</p> - -<p>“The population still remaining in Louvain have taken refuge in the -suburb of Héverlé, where they are extremely crowded. They have been -cleared out of the town by the troops and the fire.</p> - -<p>“The fire started a little beyond the American College, and the town is -<i>entirely</i> destroyed, except for the town hall and the station. -Furthermore, the fire was still burning to-day, and the Germans, far -from taking any steps to stop it, seemed to feed it with straw, an -instance of which I observed in the street adjoining the town hall.</p> - -<p>“The cathedral and the theatre are destroyed and have fallen in, as also -the library; in short, the town has<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a>{41}</span> the appearance of an ancient ruined -city, in the midst of which only a few drunken soldiers move about, -carrying bottles of wine and liqueurs, while the officers themselves, -seated in arm-chairs round the tables, drink like their men.”</p> - -<p>The Commission has not yet been able to obtain information about the -fate of the Mayor of Louvain and of the other notables who were taken as -hostages.</p> - -<p>The Commission is able to draw the following conclusions from the facts -which have so far been brought to its notice:—</p> - -<p>In this war, the occupation of any place is systematically accompanied -and followed, sometimes even preceded, by acts of violence towards the -civil population, which acts are contrary both to the usages of war and -to the most elementary principles of humanity.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Brutality Everywhere.</b></p> - -<p>The German procedure is everywhere the same. They advance along a road, -shooting inoffensive passers-by—particularly bicyclists—as well as -peasants working in the fields.</p> - -<p>In the towns or villages where they stop they begin by requisitioning -food and drink, which they consume till intoxicated.</p> - -<p>Sometimes from the interior of deserted houses they let off their rifles -at random and declare that it was the inhabitants who fired. Then the -scenes of fire, murder,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a>{42}</span> and especially pillage begin, accompanied by -acts of deliberate cruelty, without respect to sex or age. Even where -they pretend to know the actual person guilty of the acts they allege, -they do not content themselves with executing him summarily, but they -seize the opportunity to decimate the population, pillage the houses, -and then set them on fire.</p> - -<p>After a preliminary attack and massacre they shut up the men in the -church, and then order the women to return to their houses and to leave -their doors open all night.</p> - -<p>From several places the male population has been sent to Germany, there -to be forced, it appears, to work at the harvest, as in the old days of -slavery. There are many cases of the inhabitants being forced to act as -guides and to dig trenches and entrenchments for the Germans. Numerous -witnesses assert that during their marches, and even when attacking, the -Germans place civilians, men and women, in their front ranks, in order -to prevent our soldiers firing.</p> - -<p>The evidence of Belgian officers and soldiers shows that German -detachments do not hesitate to display either the white flag or the Red -Cross flag in order to approach our troops with impunity. On the other -hand, they fire on our ambulances and maltreat the ambulance men. They -maltreat and even kill the wounded. The clergy seem to be particularly -chosen as subjects for their brutality.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a>{43}</span></p> - -<p>Finally, we have in our possession expanding bullets which had been -abandoned by the enemy at Werchter, and we possess doctors’ certificates -showing that wounds must have been inflicted by bullets of this kind.</p> - -<p>The documents and evidence on which these conclusions rest will be -published in due course.</p> - -<div class="blockindd"><p class="c">(Signed)</p> - -<p class="hang">The President, <span class="smcap">Cooreman</span>.</p> - -<p class="hang">Members of the Commission, <span class="smcap">Count Goblet d’Alviella</span>, <span class="smcap">Ryckmans</span>, -<span class="smcap">Strauss</span>, <span class="smcap">Van Cutsem</span>.</p> - -<p class="hang">Secretaries, <span class="smcap">Chev. Ernst de Bunswyck</span>, <span class="smcap">Orts</span>.</p></div> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>The report of the Belgian Commission of Inquiry into the German -atrocities in Belgium is perhaps the most appalling document that -has ever been submitted to civilised man. It reveals a cruelty more -perverse than that of the Boxer or Bashi-Bazuk, and it covers the -reputation of the German soldiery with eternal shame.... They -themselves have transgressed every law of God and man.</b>”</p> - -<p class="r"> -—From the <i>Daily Mail</i>.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a>{44}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V.</h2> - -<p class="cb">Can These Things Be True?</p> - -<p>Can these cold-blooded deeds of atrocity be true? Is it a fact that they -have been proved to the satisfaction of the most exacting critics? Is -this “welter of fire, blood, and destruction” to be written finally on -the pages of history?</p> - -<p>I can only say this:</p> - -<p>1. These stories came to us first from responsible correspondents of all -our leading newspapers, who took them down for the most part at first -hand from eye-witnesses and from the poor victims themselves.</p> - -<p>2. A committee of eminent lawyers, assisted by the Belgian Minister of -Justice, made a searching inquiry, sifting vague reports from actual -facts.</p> - -<p>3. The evidence of the atrocities thus collected was formulated in an -Official Report to be presented to the President of the United States by -the Belgian Delegation of Ministers of State, now on their way to -America.</p> - -<p>4. The British Official Press Bureau issued, on the 25th August, a -statement of the representations made to them, which I have already -quoted.</p> - -<p>5. The Report of the Belgian Government was confirmed by the French -protest against German atrocities<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a>{45}</span> which was addressed on September 2nd -to the Powers by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.</p> - -<p>6. Mr. Richard Harding Davis, an eminent American author and -correspondent in Belgium of the <i>New York Tribune</i>, has entirely -confirmed, in cables sent to this leading American journal, things he -has seen with his own eyes.</p> - -<p>7. I have narrated the information given to me verbally by M. Van der -Velde himself. “I myself examined the bodies of a peasant and his son -which have been cut to pieces by bayonet thrusts.”</p> - -<p>8. While at first the reports of these atrocities were received in this -country with some reserve, the accumulated and overwhelming evidence, -aggravated from day to day since the very commencement of the war, has -provoked the public men of England, and every responsible newspaper in -the country, as well as all our leading weeklies like the <i>Spectator</i>, -the <i>Saturday Review</i>, the <i>Nation</i>, the <i>British Weekly</i>, and others, -into a passionate protest against the inhuman and barbarous methods of -warfare that have stained the name of Germany for ever.</p> - -<p>9. Germany herself has admitted her wanton deeds, and sought to excuse -them in a way that makes her guilt all the more deplorable. We are told -that these barbarian atrocities against the civil population and -unoffending peasants, the sacking, looting, and burning of towns and -villages, are part of the general plan of attack, and that they are -accomplished in cold blood for<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a>{46}</span> purely strategical considerations. -Unfortunately they are not merely the riotous and isolated outbursts of -marauding and buccaneering soldiers.</p> - -<p>“The only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil population -has been to interfere with unrelenting severity and to create examples -which by their frightfulness would be a warning to the whole country.” -To prevent “surprise attacks” tortures were inflicted on helpless old -men, women, and children, peaceful villagers were hanged, innocent -children were savagely sabred by German officers, wounded soldiers and -officers shot and mutilated. There was the burning of Visé and the -terrible massacre at Seraing, the sacking and plundering of many another -harmless village, the bombardment of Malines, and the crowning sacrilege -of all, the burning and sacking of Louvain, the torture and massacre of -its defenceless people. Abler pens than mine have told the story of -these blood-guilty ruffians, and abler historians will yet chronicle for -future generations the record of the modern Huns of Attila. “For every -vile deed wrought under the impious benedictions of the monarch who is -ravaging Europe ample reparation will be exacted.... The memory of them -will burn in the heart and mind of every Englishman.” So said the -<i>Times</i>. I affirm this is the feeling of every true Britisher.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a>{47}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI.</h2> - -<p><b>It is specially forbidden “To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid -down his arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at -discretion. To make improper use of a flag of truce, of the national -flag, or of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy.”—Hague -Convention, Article XXIII.</b></p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Wanton Brutality.</b></p> - -<p>I have made it plain from the official documents I have quoted that the -German troops violated every item of this article. But in addition to -cases of brutality already cited in the official document, the Belgian -Mission, while in London, gave me the following:—</p> - -<p>On August 19th Aerschot, in North Brabant, with about five thousand -inhabitants, was, as already reported, destroyed. It appears that during -the three days the German soldiery massacred and pillaged the town, -which had not resisted, although there was no military force there -whatever.</p> - -<p>In the neighbouring village of Diest many of the inhabitants were put to -the sword. The wife of Francis Luyckx, aged forty-five, and her -daughter, twelve years of age, had, in their terror, taken refuge in a -sewer. They were discovered, dragged out, and shot.</p> - -<p>The little daughter of Jean Oyyen, a pretty child of nine, was shot, and -a man named Andre Willem, aged<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a>{48}</span> twenty-three, the village sexton, was -bound to a tree and burned alive.</p> - -<p>In the village of Schaffen, near Diest, two men, named Lodts and Marken, -both aged forty, were captured and entombed. When exhumed, it was found -that they had been buried alive, head downwards. These -occurrences—which are only a few of a very long list—had been fully -inquired into, and confirmed by the committee of investigation, which -was composed of the highest magistrates of Belgium and the chief -professors of the Universities.</p> - -<p>Statements were made that aged villagers in many places on the -Franco-German frontier were hanged to trees; others, after being killed, -had their eyes gouged out. In one place fifteen bodies were found -mutilated in a heap, and along the whole frontier from Luxemburg to -Basle outrages were committed on women, girls, and children.</p> - -<p>Mlle. Marie Malet, the daughter of a judicial official in Brussels, who -had been sent to London with a party of Belgian girls for safety, stated -that she had seen a little girl, a friend of hers, aged ten, savagely -sabred by a German officer, merely because she made a remark that the -Germans were bullies. The child died an hour afterwards. Mlle. Malet -stated that she had been sent from near Brussels with her sister, owing -to the insults to which Belgian girls were subjected by German soldiers. -Her mother had been wounded and her home looted of food and valuables.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a>{49}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_b_049fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_b_049fp_sml.jpg" width="400" height="261" alt="[Image unavailable: BELGIAN PEASANTS WATCHING THE DESTRUCTION OF THEIR HOMES -BY THE RUTHLESS INVADER. - -Photo, Daily Mirror." /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">BELGIAN PEASANTS WATCHING THE DESTRUCTION OF THEIR HOMES -BY THE RUTHLESS INVADER. -<br /> -<small>Photo, Daily Mirror.</small></span> -</div> - -<p>The record of German atrocities in Belgium, indeed, rivals that of Alva -in the Netherlands in the sixteenth century. The worst Balkan methods -were being pursued by the army of the pious Kaiser. At Pontillac, -between Liége and Namur, the Burgomaster officially reported that the -men of the 17th Hussars from Mecklenburg entered the place, met with no -resistance, and demanded food, which the inhabitants at once gave them. -After eating and drinking to their full, to the surprise of everyone -they rode wildly through the streets emptying their carbines at the -windows of the houses. Two Belgian soldiers who were secreted in the -village returned their fire. A hot fusillade ensued, and then the -Germans deliberately shot down all the villagers they could find. They -also seized a M. Lahaye, a member of the Communal Council, and dragged -him through the streets with a rope round his neck.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Drunken German Soldiers.</b></p> - -<p>Further details regarding the wild savagery at Aerschot reached the -Belgian Government after the issuing of the official report printed in -the foregoing pages. It seems that the population of the Belgian -provinces overrun by the Germans suffered, not only from the outrages of -the troops acting under the orders of their officers, but also from -atrocities due to drunken soldiers.</p> - -<p>In one town some of them fired their rifles openly into the air and -afterwards declared that the inhabitants had<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a>{50}</span> fired on them. On this -pretext the people were dragged from their houses, which were then set -on fire, and in many cases women and girls were outraged and the men -shot. At Aerschot the troops—upon whom the Kaiser and the Austrian -Emperor were beseeching God’s blessing—stabled their horses in the -church, one of the most beautiful in Belgium, while the troops were set -to work to destroy the pictures and fittings in the noble edifice. The -Germans accused the son of the Burgomaster of killing the son of a -German colonel. This was denied by the Burgomaster’s son, who only fired -to defend his mother and sister from gross insults by the soldiery.</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>For every evil and unwarrantable act committed in the Western -theatre, ample vengeance will be exacted at the other -end.</b>”—<i>Times.</i></p></div> - -<p>The Germans, however, surrounded the town. The inhabitants were then -dragged from their homes and the women separated from the men. The -latter were divided into batches and forced to run towards the river, -the troops laughing at them and firing at them as they ran. One man who -escaped by feigning death afterwards returned and counted forty-one -bodies of his friends. Many of them had been stabbed by bayonets after -being wounded. About one hundred and fifty of the male inhabitants of -this place were compelled to watch the German troops shoot the -Burgomaster, his son, and the Burgomaster’s brother.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a>{51}</span></p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Women Mutilated.</b></p> - -<p>Mr. Adolph Coussmaekrs, a well-known resident of Antwerp, wrote giving -nine cases of atrocities committed by the Germans in the districts of -Orsmael and Barchon.</p> - -<p>I do not reproduce here the nine cases instanced by this gentleman. The -wanton mutilation on women and children is revolting and seems -incredible.</p> - -<p>In addition, there were criminal assaults on women which I cannot dwell -upon in these pages; they have been narrated by unimpeachable persons. -Mothers had their daughters dragged away from them by shameless officers -to a fate that must have driven them to despair. Women and young -children were injured by bayonet-thrusts and revolver-shots, and were -still suffering from their wounds.</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>In no war of modern times has an enemy so distinguished himself by -war on civilians as in this. The brutality of the methods employed -by the Prussian apostles of ‘culture’ is only equalled by its -futility.</b>”—<i>Daily Telegraph.</i></p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a>{52}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII.</h2> - -<p class="cb">300 Men Shot in Cold Blood.</p> - -<p>A terrible story of the holocaust at Liége was told to the correspondent -of the <i>Daily Mail</i> by a wealthy Dutch cigarette manufacturer who had -lived for a long time in Belgium, and was married to a Belgium woman. He -stated that on the day of their entry the Germans posted an order on the -streets that all arms in possession of private persons must be -immediately delivered, under the threat of being shot. The inhabitants -complied with the order. Among others, collections of old arms were -brought, valued sometimes at hundreds of pounds. The new vandals -destroyed all these pitilessly.</p> - -<p>“During the first days the Germans paid for everything they took. But -later on soldiers produced valueless pieces of paper, on which something -had been scribbled which could hardly be read. On Sunday, August 23rd, -at midnight, the inhabitants were suddenly awakened by soldiers knocking -at the doors. ‘We need immediately two hundred and fifty mattresses, two -hundred pounds of coffee, two hundred and fifty loaves of bread, and -five hundred eggs,’ they said. ‘If these are not delivered in an hour’s -time your hostages will be shot.’ Everybody rushed to the market-place, -many people in their night clothes. There stood the mayor, half-dressed.</p> - -<p>“After the inhabitants had brought in everything which was demanded they -were informed that the whole was a mistake and that they could go to -bed. The old<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a>{53}</span> mayor, however, was detained the whole night in the -street.</p> - -<p>“One day when the soldiers sat down to dinner, an alarm was suddenly -beaten in the streets. Soldiers from all the houses were summoned to -their regiments. Immediately after, the bombardment of the houses began. -The informant took refuge with his wife and children in a cellar, which -was constantly filled with smoke from the neighbouring houses, which had -caught fire. On Wednesday morning the bombardment ceased and they -ventured to the station.</p> - -<p>“Here, notwithstanding his protests, and proposals to produce papers, -showing that he was a Dutch subject, the cigarette manufacturer was -separated from his family, of whom he has since lost sight. He was -surrounded by soldiers, who bound his hands behind his back, and with -other refugees he was kept at the station many hours. During this time -he saw a party of three hundred Belgian civilians, among whom were old -men and lads of fourteen or fifteen, driven at the point of the bayonet -to a remote spot near the station, where they were all shot before his -eyes.</p> - -<p>“After a terrible night, he and his group of seventy-six men were set -free. They had had nothing to eat or drink for thirty-six hours. All -streets and roads in and round Liége were strewn, according to the -witness, with bodies of men, women, and children. Among those shot were -the mayor, two aldermen, the rector of the University, two deans, and -many police inspectors.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a>{54}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII.</h2> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>Our German people will be the grand block on which the good God -may complete His work of civilizing the world.</b>”</p> - -<p class="r"> -From a speech of <i>The Kaiser’s</i>.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p> </p> -<p class="cb">The Inferno at Visé.</p> - -<p>A correspondent of the <i>Handelsblad</i> was an eye-witness of the scenes in -Visé, near Liége, when it was burned, and told a tale of German -barbarity, and of the murder and torture of its helpless inhabitants, of -a nature to make one’s blood run cold. As summarized in the <i>Daily News</i> -the story is as follows:—</p> - -<p>“It was an awful sight. Every house was a mass of flames, through which -the streets were hardly visible.</p> - -<p>“At the entrance of the Grand Hotel were three disarmed soldiers bound -hand and foot. Entering the hotel, I found the floor covered with dead -bodies. In that hall of the dead several soldiers stood guard. From this -awful, nauseating scene I hurried back to the blinding glare and -suffocating heat of the burning villages.</p> - -<p>“The correspondent describes how a colleague supported an aged lady -found lying near her blazing house. She pleaded, ‘Let me die.’ Poor, -unhappy creature, bereft of home and even of adequate clothing, the -aged<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a>{55}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_b_055fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_b_055fp_sml.jpg" width="400" height="264" alt="[Image unavailable: SHOWING THE DESTRUCTION IN THE CHURCH AT VISÉ. - -Photo, Sport and General." /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">SHOWING THE DESTRUCTION IN THE CHURCH AT VISÉ. -<br /> -<small>Photo, Sport and General.</small></span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">and defenceless victim of the Kaiser’s gallant army! He adds: ‘We fled -from the scene that must for ever blur the scutcheon of the Kaiser, and -I pray as long as I live it will never be my task to see such an inferno -again.’</p> - -<p>“Absolutely incredible was the picture of incidents connected with the -burning of Visé by the Germans and the shooting given in private letters -which arrived from Eysden, on the Dutch frontier, and seen by the -<i>Telegraaf</i>. According to these letters, the Germans alleged that the -citizens had fired on the troops. All the inhabitants were then hunted -out of their houses to spend the night in the square watching the -burning. Men were taken prisoners, and possibly shot, and the rest were -driven out of the town, which was given to the flames. Eysden is filled -with refugees—one hundred and fifty in one canteen and two hundred and -fifty in the Protestant Church, while four hundred have been sent to -Maastricht.</p> - -<p>“Two trainloads of refugees came into Brussels from the Tirlemont -district. The scenes I have witnessed,” telegraphs a Press Association -correspondent, “and the stories told by these poor people would melt a -heart of stone. Removal from the face of the earth—a phrase of the -German papers themselves—continues to be the invader’s idea of how best -to deal with unarmed, unoffending villages, the only crime of whose -people is that they have fallen in his path.</p> - -<p>“The Germans entered Tirlemont, in the vicinity of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a>{56}</span> which they have been -for some days. They were in strong force, mostly cavalry and artillery. -The big guns shelled the place, and the cavalry played at war by -attacking the flying and panic-stricken populace, shooting and stabbing -them at random.</p> - -<p>“Never have I seen such a picture of woe as a peasant woman and five -children who stood bewildered in the Place de la Gare here, all crying -as if their hearts would break. It was a terrible story the woman had to -tell. ‘They shot my husband before my eyes,’ she said, ‘and trampled two -of my children to death.’</p> - -<p>“A German knocked at the door of the house of the Burgomaster at Venne, -near the Dutch frontier, and when the Burgomaster’s wife opened the door -she was knocked down and killed with the butt end of a rifle.</p> - -<p>“A solicitor, who was a member of the Belgian Chamber, and who was -staying in the house, rushed to the front door, and he also was -instantly knocked down and killed with a bayonet thrust. On hearing of -these atrocities the population fled in terror.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Lancer’s Fiendish Act.</b></p> - -<p>M. Isadore Felix Cruls, a Belgian refugee who arrived in London, had a -tragic story to tell. He carried on a prosperous printing business at -Saint Jossé, a suburb of Brussels. When hostilities broke out he was -called up for service in the Civil Guard, and stationed on the Chaussée -de Louvain, the road between Louvain and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a>{57}</span> Brussels. As reported in the -<i>Daily Telegraph</i>, he stated:—</p> - -<p>“At midnight on August 19th-20th I was on duty on the Chaussée de -Louvain watching the refugees come in from the various towns and -villages. The road was blocked when I got near. I saw that a party of -German Lancers were at the rear of the procession of refugees. I saw one -of the Lancers prodding a woman, who had four or five children walking -by her side.</p> - -<p>“There was an old woman, evidently the mother of the young woman, -walking with them. One of the Lancers was amusing himself by pricking -this old woman with his lance in order to make her walk along more -quickly. The young woman turned round and shouted something at the -Lancer, either by way of remonstrance or insult. I was not near enough -to hear what she said. The Lancer took up his lance and ran it through -one of the little girls who was walking along, clutching the hand of her -mother. She was a fair-haired girl of about seven or eight years of age. -When the crowd saw this they became infuriated, and a panic ensued. The -Lancers bore down upon the people, scattering them in all directions. -What became of these people I do not know.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a>{58}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX.</h2> - -<p class="cb">The Maiden Tribute.</p> - -<p>Another story M. Cruls related was told to him by the mother herself. At -a village called Leau a squadron of about five hundred Uhlans was -marching through the town when they declared that someone had fired at -them. On going round to all the houses, searching for firearms, they -came to one where the family circle consisted of a grandfather, the -father, mother, and a girl of seventeen or eighteen, and a young boy, -who, upon seeing the approach of the German soldiers, fled and hid -himself. The soldiers came in, and without any questioning fired at and -killed the father. They were going to shoot the grandfather when the -mother and daughter fell on their knees and begged the soldiers to spare -the life of the old man. The officer, or under-officer, of the party -then said, “Yes, we won’t trouble about the old people,” and touching -the cheek of the young girl with his fingers, he added, with a -significant laugh, “Pretty youth is better.” The sequel need not be -written here, although the mother of the girl has told it.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>A Governess Hanged.</b></p> - -<p>A well-known family in Brussels were staying at their villa at Genck, -about six kilometres from the capital. On arrival of the Germans there -they entered the villa,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a>{59}</span> smashed everything they could, and stole -whatever was of value, “even taking away the wedding-ring that the -husband wore on his finger.” They took away the men first, and nobody -knows what has become of them. A member of the family and two servants -fled from the house in terror, but returned when they saw the German -soldiers going.</p> - -<p>This is what they saw: “The body of an old lady of seventy years of age -lying on the floor with her throat cut. A governess, about thirty years -of age—I cannot tell you her nationality—was found hanging from a -tree, stark naked and mutilated.”</p> - -<p>Although this happened within six kilometres of Brussels, yet no -atrocities were known to have been committed in the capital, the -Kaiser’s unrestrained savages being there under the eyes of the -representatives of the Powers.</p> - -<p>A Dutch gentleman named Couzy, of Amsterdam, was staying at Mont, a -village in the hills above Comblain au Pont, when war broke out. Having -missed the last train which the Belgians ran to Dinant, he was obliged -to return to Mont, where he witnessed the arrival of thousands of Uhlans -and many batteries of German artillery. Mr. Couzy declared that the -treatment of the Belgians by the enemy was merciless. He was witness of -many horrible scenes. He was present when, after the discovery of the -bodies of two German officers in a horse-dealer’s yard at Comblain au -Pont, seventy villagers were brought before the commanding officer. -Without question,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a>{60}</span> the officer selected thirty, who were shot without -any form of trial whatever. Several of these men were known to Mr. Couzy -as honest and trustworthy citizens.</p> - -<p>On another occasion a number of villagers were searched for weapons. A -young Dutchman, also known to Mr. Couzy, had upon him a razor which he -used daily. Immediately he was placed against a wall and shot.</p> - -<p>A refugee arriving at Maastricht from Bassenge stated that ten thousand -Germans came from the direction of Louvain, and began to burn everything -that had been left standing and shoot everyone opposed to them. Two -hundred of the villagers were driven out by the Germans and ordered to -hold their hands above their heads. Anyone who dropped his hands for an -instant was shot, and anyone who looked at or showed sympathy with the -victims shared the same fate. They were marched for two hours, and -during that time many shots whistled over their heads. The Germans then -stopped and threatened that the first who looked back would be shot.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>A Senator’s Story.</b></p> - -<p>“M. Leon Hiard, senator of Hainaut, one of the largest manufacturers in -Belgium, lived at Haine Saint Pierre, where before the battle of Mons -the Germans requisitioned everything. He states that, revolver in hand, -threatening death for unpunctuality or disobedience, the German officers -spread terror into the hearts of the inhabitants. At Peronne the mayor, -M. Gravis, had very imprudently caused all the arms of the inhabitants -to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a>{61}</span> deposited at his house instead of the town-hall. He also carried -a revolver, and some of his carts had been used to bar a road.” The -<i>Daily Express</i> correspondent continues—</p> - -<p>“He was taken before the German general at the town-hall with his -secretary. The séance was short. ‘Vous fusillé,’ said the general, and -the unfortunate man was led out blindfolded and shot. As the secretary -was following him a more kindly officer said in his ear, ‘Mais -filez-donc, imbécile,’ and pushed him on one side.</p> - -<p>“The body of M. Gravis was propped up against a wall for forty-eight -hours as an example to the town. Men were billeted in all the houses, -and although in the better houses the officers behaved with some -restraint, in the peasants’ cottages unbridled licence was the rule.</p> - -<p>“Women were treated infamously, indescribable scenes of debauchery -taking place, while all the possessions of the unfortunates were -wilfully wasted and destroyed. The fiery-tempered people were being -driven to reprisals, so that an excuse for further cruelty might be -found.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>What General von Boehn said.</b></p> - -<p>I take the following extract from a long dispatch in the <i>Daily -Chronicle</i>, from Mr. E. Alexander Powell, the Special Correspondent of -the <i>New York World</i>:—</p> - -<p>“Three weeks ago the Government of Belgium requested me to place before -the American people, through the medium of the <i>New York World</i>, a list -of specific<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a>{62}</span> and authenticated atrocities committed by German armies -upon Belgian non-combatants.</p> - -<p>“To-day General von Boehn, commanding the Ninth Imperial Field Army, and -acting as mouthpiece of the German General Staff, has asked me to place -before the American people the German version of the incidents in -question....</p> - -<p>“General von Boehn began by asserting that the accounts of the -atrocities perpetrated on Belgian non-combatants were a tissue of lies.</p> - -<p>“ ‘Look at these officers about you,’ he said; ‘they are gentlemen like -yourselves. Look at the soldiers marching past in the road out there. -They are most of them the fathers of families. Surely you do not believe -that they would do the things they have been accused of.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘Three days ago, General,’ I said, ‘I was in Aerschot. The whole town -is now but a ghastly, blackened, bloodstained ruin!’</p> - -<p>“ ‘When we entered Aerschot,’ he replied, ‘the son of the Burgomaster -came into the room, drew a revolver, and assassinated my Chief of Staff. -What followed was only retribution. The townspeople only got what they -deserved!’</p> - -<p>“ ‘But why wreak your vengeance on women and children?’</p> - -<p>“ ‘None have been killed,’ the General asserted positively.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a>{63}</span></p> - -<p>“ ‘I’m sorry to contradict you, General,’ I asserted, with equal -positiveness, ‘but I have myself seen their mutilated bodies. So has Mr. -Gibson, Secretary of the American Legation at Brussels, who was present -during the destruction of Louvain.’</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>“It is War!”</b></p> - -<p>“ ‘Of course, there is always danger of women and children being killed -during street fighting,’ said the General, ‘if they insist on coming -into the street. It is unfortunate, but it is war.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘But how about the woman whose body I saw with the hands and feet cut -off? How about the white-haired man and his son whom I helped to bury -outside of Sempst, and who had been killed merely because the retreating -Belgians had shot a German soldier outside their house? There were 22 -bayonet wounds in the old man’s face. I counted them. How about the -little girl, two years old, shot while in her mother’s arms by a Uhlan, -and whose funeral I attended at Heyst-op-den-Berg? How about the old man -that was hung from the rafters of his house by the hands and roasted to -death by a bonfire being built under him?’</p> - -<p>“The General seemed somewhat taken aback by the amount and exactness of -my data. ‘Such things are horrible if they are true,’ he said. ‘Of -course, our soldiers, like soldiers in all armies, sometimes get out of -hand, and do things which we would never tolerate if we knew it. At -Louvain, for example, I sentenced two<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a>{64}</span> soldiers to 12 years’ penal -servitude apiece for assaulting a woman.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘Apropos of Louvain,’ I remarked, ‘why did you destroy the library? It -was one of the literary store-houses of the world.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘We regretted that as much as anyone else,’ answered the General. ‘It -caught fire from the burning houses, and we could not save it.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘But why did you burn Louvain at all?’ I asked.</p> - -<p>“ ‘Because the townspeople fired on our troops. We actually found -machine-guns in some of the houses; and,’ smashing his fist down upon -the table, ‘whenever civilians fire upon our troops we will teach them a -lasting lesson. If the women and children insist on getting in the way -of bullets, so much the worse for women and children.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘How do you explain the bombardment of Antwerp by Zeppelins?’ I -queried.</p> - -<p>“ ‘The Zeppelins have orders to drop their bombs only on fortifications -and soldiers,’ he answered.</p> - -<p>“ ‘As a matter of fact,’ I remarked, ‘they destroyed only private houses -and innocent civilians, several of them women. If one of those bombs had -dropped 200 yards nearer my hotel I wouldn’t be smoking one of your -excellent cigars to-day.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘That is a calamity which, thank God, didn’t happen,’ he replied.</p> - -<p>“ ‘If you feel for my safety as deeply as that, General,’<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a>{65}</span> I said -earnestly, ‘you can make quite sure of my coming to no harm by sending -no more Zeppelins.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘Well, Herr Powell,’ said he, laughing, ‘we will think about it, and,’ -he continued gravely, ‘I trust that you will tell the American people -through your great paper what I have told you to-day. Let them hear our -side of this atrocity business. It is only justice that they should be -made familiar with both sides of the question.’</p> - -<p>“I have quoted my conversation with General von Boehn as nearly verbatim -as I can remember it. I have no comments to make.</p> - -<p>“I will leave it to the readers of the <i>World</i> to decide for themselves -just how convincing are the answers of the German General to the Belgian -accusations.”</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>We cannot doubt their (the Belgian Commission) competency for the -task entrusted to them; nor can we mistrust their good faith. And -of what nature is the story which their report, item by item, -unrolls? They recount a series of acts committed by the German -soldiery which, if even a half or a quarter be true, are enough to -condemn them to everlasting shame as barbarians grosser and more -criminal than Huns or Visigoths, or the hordes led by Yenghis Khan -or Tamerlane the Great.</b>”</p> - -<p class="r"> -—From the <i>Daily Telegraph</i>.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a>{66}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X.</h2> - -<p class="cb">Atrocities Around Liége.</p> - -<p>Belgian officials reported from Liége devilish atrocities committed in -the town and suburbs. In the Place de l’Université, the Rue des -Pitteurs, and the Quai des Pecheurs most of the houses were burned. The -occupants, who had been awakened by the acrid smoke, fled in terror, and -fifteen persons, men, women, and children, were killed as they ran, -while in one instance a family were called together, and father and son -were killed and then mutilated in front of them. Apparently many of the -soldiers breaking into <i>cafés</i> were drunk, and after firing accused the -inhabitants of it, taking vengeance by burning and murders without -restraint. This indeed appeared to be part of the German campaign, for -not only in Belgium, but also in France, the same inhuman and dastardly -excuses were resorted to in order to attempt to justify the awful crimes -which these “cultured” barbarians committed.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Road Strewn with Dead.</b></p> - -<p>Georges Just, a restaurant-keeper at Chenee, province of Liége, said: -“When we heard of the German approach my wife and I fled across the -river into Liége. It seems now like a dream. Just before they entered -the town the Germans committed all kinds of outrages. Never shall I -forget the terrible sights along the roadside.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a>{67}</span> Mutilated corpses of -people I knew, and many wounded and dying, lay strewn in our path. In -some places we saw the dead piled in heaps fifteen feet high.”</p> - -<p>A letter written by a niece of Mr. John Redmond, M.P., who was living in -a Belgian town occupied by the Germans, contained the following:—</p> - -<p>“They are absolute barbarians, and treat the women like dogs. For the -least thing the inhabitants are shot, and they all live in fear of their -lives. The town’s most prominent men, in relays of three, guarded by -soldiers, guarantee with their lives the good behaviour of the people. -My husband is one of the guarantors. On Wednesday night he spent his -hours of vigil in the town hall. Imagine my feelings.</p> - -<p>“The Germans take everything. No matter how well they are treated and -received, they behave filthily and brutally, officers and men alike. -Empty houses they smash from top to bottom.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>What an Eye-Witness Saw.</b></p> - -<p>Another eye-witness was Mr. Henry Frenkel, a Russian living in Antwerp, -who volunteered in the</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>The Belgian people are enduring the horrors of war, and after -making every allowance for the source from which our information -comes, we do not doubt that they are enduring them in a form which -ought to be impossible amongst civilized nations.</b>”—<i>Bonar Law.</i></p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a>{68}</span></p> - -<p class="nind">6th regiment of the line to serve with his -Belgian friends. While the Germans were in Liége he was sent there upon -an important mission. This is how he tells his story:—</p> - -<p>“I got into Liége by Holland. I went first to Rosendael, then to -Maastricht, last to Eysden, and then openly passed the frontier. I will -not describe Visé, Mouland, Berneau, and other places, all burned, -sacked, and devastated in the most horrible fashion. Although all I have -seen has hardened my nerve, I still shiver when I think of it. One -cannot grasp the idea of all that has really taken place there. The -Germans, mad with rage on account of the resistance which we opposed to -them, have acted like wild beasts, to give it a mild name. I have seen -men, women, and children hanged or horribly mutilated. I have seen heaps -of corpses, of which no trace will be left in a few hours, as the -inhabitants round Liége have been commandeered to bury them in lots. Ah! -the Prussians will have to render us a terrible account. I witnessed an -incident on the Place Lambert, in Liége. A Belgian chauffeur was arguing -with a German officer. Visibly, the Belgian chauffeur could not -understand what was wanted of him. The crowd gathered, and I could not -follow the rest of the scene; but I heard a revolver shot. Then German -soldiers rushed out of the palace to stop the crowds, and I saw the -chauffeur, with blood-covered face, carried into a house by two -soldiers. Not a sign of revolt from the crowd. The rifles are loaded, -ready to go off. At my side a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a>{69}</span> German said, laughingly: ‘Ach, das ist -nichts! Eine kleinigkeit.’ (‘Oh! that’s nothing. Only a small thing.’)”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Dinant Destroyed.</b></p> - -<p>It was at Dinant, one of the most famous beauty spots of Belgium, and -which is so well known to English tourists, who flock to it in great -numbers every year, that some particularly atrocious outrages took -place. According to the message of Reuter’s correspondent at Ostend, the -women were confined in convents whilst hundreds of men were shot. A -hundred prominent citizens were shot in the Place d’Armes. M. Hummers, -manager of a large weaving factory employing two thousand men, and M. -Poncelet, son of a former Senator, were both shot, the latter in the -presence of his six children. The Germans appeared at the branch of the -National Bank, where they demanded all the cash in the safe. When the -manager refused to give them the money they tried to blow the safe open. -Not succeeding in this they demanded the combination for the lock. The -manager refused. On this the Germans shot him immediately, together with -his two sons. Dinant was afterwards destroyed by shell-fire and -incendiarism.</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>The modern Attila respects neither the laws of nations nor the -laws of God. His evil deeds cry aloud to Heaven and to the -horror-struck watching nations.</b>”—<i>Times.</i></p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a>{70}</span></p> - -<p>The wanton destruction of this ancient and beautiful town is a crime -second only to that committed at Louvain.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Children Outraged.</b></p> - -<p>A Belgian soldier who fought at Dinant was eye-witness of a terrible -scene. Several German infantrymen had entered a house in a small village -on the Meuse, and he, with four other Belgians, lay in wait for them. -The Germans emerged with a young woman, whom they subjected to brutal -ill-usage. The Belgians feared that if they fired they might hit the -woman, but presently one of the Kaiser’s savages drew his bayonet and -plunged it into the poor girl’s breast, whereupon she sank down uttering -a piteous cry.</p> - -<p>At Harseet the Uhlans suddenly descended upon the village, shot the -first men they came across, numbering seven; this was followed by -outrages on women, and twenty-two men were carried off as prisoners. Two -Uhlans demanded a fowl from a peasant, who replied that he had none. -They found one, and promptly shot him.</p> - -<p>Because two Jesuit professors at Louvain University were found with -newspapers upon them, telling of German atrocities, one was shot, while -thirty of the Jesuits were taken away in carts to an unknown fate.</p> - -<p>In La Préville a number of Uhlans who broke open a <i>café</i> and satiated -themselves with drink saw a little boy of seven playing with a toy gun. -Because he pointed it at a German soldier he was shot.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a>{71}</span></p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Base Act of Ingratitude.</b></p> - -<p>Many Belgian refugees, after weary wanderings, found themselves in -Paris, and some of them were given shelter in the vast Cirque de Paris, -where straw was laid upon the floor upon which those made homeless and -destitute by the Kaiser’s savage barbarians made their bed.</p> - -<p>One old grey-haired man, bent and travel-stained, was found by a -correspondent seated alone and silently weeping. A kindly Red Cross -nurse inquired the reason of his despondency. He said: “My name is Jean -Beauzon. I kept a little coffee-house just across the river from Liége, -in the town of Grivegnee. When the army was mobilized my two sons, both -strapping fine fellows, went off to join the regiment. I have two -daughters, one left with my old father and the other here”; so saying he -pointed to a bright-eyed girl of sixteen, whose face and head were -swathed in bandages.</p> - -<p>“You see,” he went on, “that poor dear face. Well, a German did that. -They burst into my place and demanded wine, which I gave them. What -happened then I cannot exactly remember. It all seems like a horrible -nightmare. We subsequently left our home and wandered away in the -opposite direction from the terrible cannonading that was going on.</p> - -<p>“After walking in the dark for two hours my other daughter became too -tired to go any farther and sat down in despair by the roadside.</p> - -<p>“This girl here and I then went on to try to find some<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a>{72}</span> means of -conveyance for her. A little way down the road we came upon a riderless -horse, which we managed with great difficulty to catch and mount. We -then went back to find my other daughter. We had not left her for more -than half an hour, but she was no longer there. We spent the rest of the -night looking for her, but found no sign or trace of her, and in the end -were obliged to give up the search.</p> - -<p>“Finally we got into a train, which brought us here. I was cared for by -the Red Cross. I don’t know where they found me or anything else except -that I have prayed all the time to the Blessed Virgin to return my -cherished lamb to me undefiled.”</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>What kind of soldiers can these be who slaughter old women with -bayonet thrusts, who violate young girls and then murder them, who -strip and stab young boys, who hang and burn old men, and who -subject to degradation and insult innocent and unoffending -priests?</b>”</p> - -<p class="r"> -—From the <i>Daily Telegraph</i>.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a>{73}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_b_073fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_b_073fp_sml.jpg" width="400" height="264" alt="[Image unavailable: HOW THE GERMAN VANDALS DEALT WITH THE WORLD-FAMED LIBRARY -OF LOUVAIN. - -Photo, Central News. - -Face p. 73." /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">HOW THE GERMAN VANDALS DEALT WITH THE WORLD-FAMED LIBRARY -OF LOUVAIN. -<br /> -<small>Photo, Central News. -<br /> -Face p. 73.</small></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI.</h2> - -<p class="cb">The Crime of Louvain.</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"> -<p>“<b>In destroying the ancient town of Louvain, the German troops have -committed a crime for which there can be no atonement, and Humanity has -suffered a loss which can never be repaired.</b>”—<i>Press Bureau.</i></p> -</div> - -<p>No words can adequately describe the wave of disgust which swept over -the whole of the civilized communities of the world when it became known -that the Germans had reduced to ashes the beautiful old city of Louvain. -Mr. Asquith has described the sack of Louvain as</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"> -<p class="nind">“<b>the greatest crime committed against civilization and culture since the -Thirty Years’ War. With its buildings, its pictures, its unique library, -its unrivalled associations, a shameless holocaust of irreparable -treasures lit up by blind barbarian vengeance.</b>”</p> -</div> - -<p>This ancient city, the Oxford of Belgium, has been reduced by the new -Huns to a heap of ashes. “Every traveller in Belgium,” says Sir William -Robertson Nicoll, “will remember the ancient mediæval town, its -wonderful Hotel de Ville, the most perfect piece of architecture in -Belgium, the Church of St. Peter, begun in 1425, and the University with -its priceless library. All have perished, and why? The civil population -had been disarmed, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a>{74}</span> in a night skirmish German soldiers accidentally -fired on their own guard, and it was decided in the panic of the hour to -destroy the whole town. A town of forty-five thousand inhabitants, the -intellectual metropolis of the Low Countries since the fifteenth -century, is now no more than a heap of ashes.”</p> - -<p>The wanton destruction of this ancient seat of learning, rich in -historic associations, was an act of vandalism almost without parallel -in history, a crime not only against humanity, but against the -generations of future years.</p> - -<p>The restrained and dignified words in which our own Official Press -Bureau made known the ruthless sacking of Louvain constitute a fearful -indictment of German Militarism, which can give official sanction to -such an appalling deed. Here are the words of the Press Bureau:—</p> - -<p>“Ancient and beautiful Louvain, a town of forty-five thousand people, a -seat of learning, famous for its ancient and beautiful churches and -other buildings, many of them dating from the fifteenth century, has -been utterly destroyed by one of the Kaiser’s commanders in a moment of -passion to cover the blunder of his own men. The excuse for this -unpardonable act of barbarity and vandalism is that a discomfited band -of German troops returning to Louvain were fired upon by the people of -the town, who had been disarmed a week earlier. The truth is that the -Germans, making for the town in disorder,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a>{75}</span> were fired upon by their -friends in occupation of Louvain, a mistake by no means rare in war. The -assumption of the German commander was, in the circumstances, so wide of -probability that it can only be supposed that in the desire to conceal -the facts the first idea which occurred to him was seized upon as an -excuse for an act unparalleled in the history of civilized people.</p> - -<p>“The Emperor William has stated that the only means of preventing -surprise attacks from the civil population has been to interfere with -unrelenting severity and to create examples which, by their -frightfulness, would be a warning to the whole country. The case of -Louvain is such an ‘interference,’ without even the miserable excuse -suggested. Louvain is miles from the scene of real fighting. In -International Law it is recognized that ‘the only legitimate end which -the States should aim at in war is the weakening of the military forces -of the enemy.’ And the rules under the annex to Convention IV. of 1907, -which expand and demand the provision of the Declaration of Brussels, -lay down that any destruction or seizure of enemies’ property, not -imperatively called for by military necessities, is forbidden.</p> - -<p>“In destroying the ancient town of Louvain, the German troops have -committed a crime for which there can be no atonement, and Humanity has -suffered a loss which can never be repaired.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Incredible Wickedness.</b></p> - -<p>But even the above statement does not relate one half<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a>{76}</span> of the fearful -crimes against property and human life committed by these uniformed -ruffians in the ill-fated city, perpetrated by hosts of armed men -against innocent and helpless non-combatants, aged men, defenceless -women, and children. The houses and buildings of the town were without -doubt deliberately set on fire. Helped by petrol poured on by brutal -Teuton soldiers, the flames spread rapidly and fiercely.</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>For every vile deed wrought under the impious benedictions of the -monarch who is ravaging Europe ample reparation shall be -exacted.</b>”—<i>Times.</i></p></div> - -<p>Everyone who offered opposition was killed; everyone found in the -possession of arms shot. Wives saw their husbands murdered before their -eyes, mothers their sons. Men were brutally dragged away from their -weeping wives and children, propped up against a wall and shot, or -ruthlessly cut down where they stood. German soldiers, encouraged by -their officers, looted where and how they liked; the inhabitants were in -some cases driven to take refuge on the roofs of their houses, which -were set on fire. From burning houses were to be heard the agonized -cries of those perishing in the conflagration, which was destined to -reduce the city to ashes.</p> - -<p>Many authenticated stories of these terrible happenings have reached -London. At first they seemed unbelievable, but each day brings further -corroboration.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a>{77}</span> I take the liberty of reproducing a despatch of Mr. Hugh -Martin, the special correspondent of the <i>Daily News and Leader</i>, whose -vivid narrative brings home to us the details of the sufferings of the -poor victims of these abominable proceedings:—</p> - -<p>“Stories of the sacking of Louvain, which are almost unbelievable in -their horror, reach here (Rotterdam) from the frontier. One of the most -vivid is that of an assistant in a bicycle shop, who, though a Dutchman, -was given special facilities for escape owing to his being mistaken for -a German.</p> - -<p>“ ‘At mid-day last Tuesday,’ he begins, ‘a fearful uproar broke out in -the streets while we were at dinner, and the crackle of musketry was -soon followed by the roar of artillery near at hand.</p> - -<p>“ ‘Hearing shrieks from the inhabitants of our streets, I rushed to the -window and saw that several houses were already in flames. Soldiers were -smashing the shop windows and looting in all directions.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Shot Down Like Rabbits.</b></p> - -<p>“ ‘As the people rushed into the streets from the burning houses they -were shot down like rabbits. With my governor, his wife, and little boy, -we fled to the cellar, where I and the boy hid under a pile of tyres, -while the manager crept into a chest, and his wife far into a drain, -where she stood with water up to her waist for many hours.</p> - -<p>“ ‘Night fell and the sound of shooting in the streets<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a>{78}</span> became brisker. I -crept out of my hiding-place to get some water, and, peeping out of the -window, saw, to my horror, that almost the whole street was in ruins. -Then we found that our own house was alight, and it was necessary to -choose between bolting and being burnt to death where we were.</p> - -<p>“ ‘I decided to make a dash for it, but the moment I was outside the door -three Germans held me up with their revolvers and asked me where I was -going. My reply was that I was a German, and that my master and his wife -were Germans who had been trapped in the burning house.</p> - -<p>“ ‘Apparently my German was good enough to make them believe my -statement, for they promised to give us safe conduct out of the town. -Our walk through the streets to the railway station I shall always -remember as a walk through hell.</p> - -<p>“ ‘The beautiful town, with its noble buildings, was a sea of flame. Dead -bodies lay thick in the streets. Dreadful cries came from many of the -houses. It was half-past five on Wednesday morning when we reached the -railway station. Soldiers were even then still going about the streets -with lighted brands and explosives in their hands, setting alight any -buildings that still remained intact.</p> - -<p>“ ‘In the parks they had already begun to bury the dead, but in many -cases so shallow were the graves that a large part of each body was -still visible. At the railway<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a>{79}</span> station we witnessed a truly harrowing -spectacle. Fifty citizens, both men and women, had been brought from -houses from which the soldiers swore that shots had been fired.</p> - -<p>“ ‘They were lined up in the street, protesting with tears in their eyes -that they were innocent. Then came a firing squad. Volley followed -volley, and the fifty fell dead where they stood.’</p> - -<p>“This appalling story is fully confirmed by an independent despatch from -a Dutch journalist who happened to be at Louvain on his way to Brussels. -He states that he was standing on Tuesday evening near the railway -station at Louvain talking to a German officer, when he was strongly -advised to leave the spot, owing to the great danger.</p> - -<p>“A group of some five hundred men and women described as hostages were -ranked in the open space by the station, and they were informed that for -every soldier fired on in the town ten of them would be shot. This -arrangement was carried out with true German regard for the punctilious -observation of all rules.</p> - -<p>“The wretched people sobbed and wrung their hands and fell on their -knees, but they might as well have appealed to men of stone.</p> - -<p>“Ten by ten as the night wore on they were brought from the ranks and -slaughtered, without regard to age or sex, before the eyes of those who -remained.</p> - -<p>“Accounts differ widely as to the origin of the trouble,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a>{80}</span> some declaring -that the German patrols in the city fired on the German troops -retreating before a sortie from Antwerp, while others state that stray -shots were fired at a commissariat train passing through the town.</p> - -<p>“I would draw special attention to the fact that so far as the main -facts are concerned both my informants are Dutchmen, who can have no -object in spreading anti-German lies.”</p> - -<p>Further terrible details are supplied by a cigar manufacturer who -happened to be in Louvain about that time. Taken prisoner, he was -escorted by German soldiers from the town, which was then one mass of -flames, to the neighbouring village of Campenhout, where they witnessed -the shooting of seven priests.</p> - -<p>“Altogether we were seventy-three men, handcuffed like criminals,” he -says, “and we were locked in the church, and had to lie on the cold -floor. Fresh prisoners arrived at intervals. Outside we could hear the -cries and lamentations of women and children. Inside an imprisoned -priest gave us absolution.</p> - -<p>“When we left the church, Campenhout was burning fiercely. We were told -we should be freed, but must return to Louvain. On returning, we were -once more taken prisoners and driven in front of German soldiers across -country without rest or food, and used as a cover for the troops.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>The “Black Hole” Outdone.</b></p> - -<p>Incredible inhuman treatment was accorded to some<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a>{81}</span> twelve hundred people -who were captured by the German barbarians in the act of fleeing from -the doomed city. The men were separated from the women and children, and -marched back to Louvain. Then began for them a terrible journey—a -journey that drove many mad and others to self-destruction.</p> - -<p>“Like so many brutes,” says the <i>Times</i> correspondent, “these burgesses -of Louvain, among them merchants, brewers, advocates, engineers, and -representatives of all social grades, were herded into wagons which had -served for the transport of horses and were inches deep in filth. Into -each wagon ninety men were crushed at the point of the bayonet by -soldiers who seemed to glory in the maltreatment of their fellow-men. -The unhappy prisoners had, of course, to stand, and to add to the -horrors of the fetid atmosphere, the doors were shut, and only fugitive -rays of light filtered through the chinks.</p> - -<p>“For two hours they were kept like this at Louvain station, after which -the train left for Cologne. The journey occupied about fifty hours, and -the Belgians during this awful time were given neither food nor drink. -‘After such an experience,’ states one of them, ‘hell itself can have no -terrors.’</p> - -<p>“Once strong physically and prosperous, he who spoke is now a nervous -wreck and destitute, living on the charity of friends who do not know -but what it may be their turn to-morrow.</p> - -<p>“Arrived at Cologne, the prisoners were marched<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a>{82}</span> through jeering crowds -to the Exhibition Gardens. Men and women surged round the pitiful band, -hurling at them vile epithets, and shouting, ‘Zum Tod, zum Tod!’ (‘Kill -them, kill them!’) Even the children joined in kicking the prisoners as -they passed. The Belgians could gather no idea as to why they had been -dragged off to Germany, and even feared the worst. The night was passed -in the open, and in the morning they broke their prolonged fast on a -small portion of black bread.</p> - -<p>“Suddenly the German authorities changed their minds. Back the prisoners -must go to Belgium, and, four abreast, the motley column regained the -station. A passenger train awaited them, but each compartment for nine -people was made to hold eighteen or nineteen. In some ways the home -journey was more terrible than the outward. For two days and three -nights the unfortunate inhabitants of Louvain were jolted about between -Cologne and the capital of their own country, again absolutely without -food.</p> - -<p>“On rare occasions the guard exhibited a glimmering of pity, and -permitted the prisoners a mouthful of water. At the Gare du Nord, in -Brussels, compatriots smuggled food through the windows. The train only -stopped a short time here, and was off again to Schaerbeek.</p> - -<p>“Completely at a loss what to do with their charges, the Prussian -officers ordered them out of the train, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a>{83}</span> under an armed guard -marched them on foot through Vilvorde and Pont Brulé and on to Malines. -When crossing the fields the prisoners tore up turnips and beetroots and -ate them ravenously. At Malines the officer in charge of the escort told -the half-dead men they were free, and by different routes they reached -Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, and other places in territory unoccupied by the -enemy.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>The Massacre of Innocents.</b></p> - -<p>The stories of the poor panic-stricken women of Louvain who emerged -alive from the night of terror cannot fail to arouse horror. One woman -upon whose face were marks of the intense suffering through which she -had passed told how she tore down the curtains from her windows, wrapped -them round some wearing apparel, and ran from the house with her two -children. In the street she became involved in a stampede of men, women, -and children rushing away from their burning town, whither she knew not.</p> - -<p>This miserable refugee’s story was so disjointed, so interspersed with -hysterical sobs and exclamations, that it is impossible to make a full -and coherent narrative of it.</p> - -<p>“Ah!” she exclaimed, with a convulsive shudder, “I will tell you of the -burning of Louvain. We had pulled down some of the buildings so that the -Germans should not mount guns on them when they came. I believe that was -the reason. We were in a state of terror, because<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a>{84}</span> we had heard of the -cruelties of the Germans. But all we had heard of them was not so bad as -we experienced. In the streets people were cruelly butchered, and then -on all sides flames began to rise. We were prepared for what we regarded -as the worst, but never had we anticipated that they would burn us in -our homes. People rushed about frantic to save their property. They were -shot down by rifle volleys, struck down by sabres, and pierced by -lances. My God! What have we not suffered?”</p> - -<p>Two young Oxford undergraduates who were present tell a graphic story, -in a letter to the <i>Times</i>, of the sack of the town and the burning of -the neighbouring village. Leaving Aix-la-Chapelle on the Wednesday in -question, they set off for Louvain. As they passed through the little -hamlet of Cortenbergh they encountered a body of German troops who had -been dispatched to destroy the village. Taken prisoners, they were -guarded while the inhuman soldiers of the Kaiser made use of the -cartloads of straw which they had brought with them for their terrible -purpose. Soon every house was a mass of flames.</p> - -<p>“This was in the afternoon,” they relate, “and from three to six o’clock -we had to stand at the end of the street while the firing went on. It -was a terrible spectacle, and our first glimpse of the horrors of war, -for we saw five civilians, as they left their burning homes, ruthlessly -shot down by German soldiers. Neither of us will ever forget the -spectacle Louvain presented when we reached<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a>{85}</span> it the following morning. -The whole town had apparently capitulated to the Germans, although -occasionally we heard the sound of firing. The greater part of the town -was in flames. Houses were falling, telegraph and telephone poles were -tumbling into the streets, and the picture of desolation was complete, -while German soldiers were looting among the ruins. Dead bodies littered -the streets.... Some German soldiers told us that they had taken four -hundred English prisoners from among those who had attacked their -troop-trains, and three hundred and thirty of them had been shot that -morning because they were found in possession of dum-dum bullets.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>A Refugee’s Plight.</b></p> - -<p>The pathetic tale of a Belgian woman, who reached a place of safety -after almost inconceivable hardship, was told in words which were few, -but pregnant with tragedy and suffering. “Panic-stricken, we women fled -from the burning town, and, half-running and half-walking, hurried from -the dreadful scene. Mile after mile we covered, until our feet seemed as -lead and our senses reeled. I am told we walked over seventy miles -before we came to a railway. I wanted to bow down and kiss the cold iron -rails. I fell exhausted, having carried my two children in turn. -Footsore, broken-hearted, after the first joy of sighting the railway, I -felt my head whirling, and I wondered whether it was all worth while. -Then I thought of my deliverance, and thanked God.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a>{86}</span></p> - -<p>“What did Louvain look like? Like what it was—a mass of flame devouring -our homes, our property, and our relatives. Most of us women were -deprived of our husbands. In the town everybody who offered any -opposition was killed, and everyone found to be armed in any way was -shot. Wives saw their husbands shot in the streets. I myself saw the -Burgomaster shot, and I saw another man dragged roughly away from his -weeping wife and children and shot through the head.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>An American’s Story.</b></p> - -<p>A vivid word-picture of the scene is given by Mr. Gerald Morgan, an -American, in the <i>Daily Telegraph</i>. “An hour before sunset we entered -Louvain,” he says, “and found the city a smoking furnace. The railway -station was crowded with troops, drunk with loot and liquor, and rapine -as well. From house to house, acting under orders, groups of soldiers -were carrying lighted straw, placing it in the basement, and then -passing on to the next. It was not one’s idea of a general -conflagration, for each house burned separately—hundreds of individual -bonfires—while the sparks shot up like thousands of shooting stars into -the still night-air. It was exactly like a display of fireworks or -Bengal lights and set-pieces at a grand display in Coney Island.</p> - -<p>“Meanwhile, through the station arch we saw German justice being -administered. In a square outside, where the cabs stand, an officer -stood, and the soldiers drove the citizens of Louvain into his presence, -like so many<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a>{87}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_b_087fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_b_087fp_sml.jpg" width="400" height="269" alt="[Image unavailable: WRECKAGE IN THE STUDENTS’ QUARTER OF LOUVAIN. - -Photo, Newspaper Illustrations, Ld. - -Face p. 87." /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">WRECKAGE IN THE STUDENTS’ QUARTER OF LOUVAIN. -<br /> -<small>Photo, Newspaper Illustrations, Ld. -<br /> -Face p. 87.</small></span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">unwilling cattle on a market day. Some of the men, after a few words -between the officer and the escorts, were marched off under fixed -bayonets behind the railway station. Then we heard volleys, and the -soldiers returned. Then the train moved out, and the last we saw of the -doomed city was an immense red glare in the gathering darkness.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>What M. Carton de Wiart Told Me.</b></p> - -<p>Before leaving the subject of Louvain it is necessary for me to -chronicle the following, which was told me by M. Carton de Wiart, the -Belgian Minister of Justice. “As to the sacking of Louvain,” he stated, -“we have here a statement dated August 30th, which has been handed to -the Commission by a person of universal repute in Belgium, and which has -been telegraphed to us. On August 30th that person went from Brussels to -Louvain. On the high-road, when he got to a place called Weerde St. -George, he saw only burning villages and peasants beside themselves with -terror. When he reached Louvain and got to the American College—a large -number of American students, young priests, and medical students come to -Louvain—he found that fire had destroyed the whole town except the town -hall and city station. This gentleman noted that on Sunday last the -Germans kept on kindling new fires and placing straw so as to carry the -fire farther. The cathedral and the theatre had been destroyed, and had -collapsed completely. So had the famous library, one of the most -precious in the world,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a>{88}</span> especially as regards manuscripts and works of -art. The town,” he says, “presents the aspect of an old ruined city, a -city like Pompeii. In the midst of this scene of desolation the only -people you could see were drunken soldiers carrying bottles of wine and -liqueurs in their arms, and officers themselves sitting in the streets -around tables drinking like their men.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>The “Times” Speaks Out.</b></p> - -<p>Finally I give a quotation from the <i>Times</i>:—</p> - -<p>“Deep and deadly must be the vengeance which the defenders of -civilization will exact from these new apostles of brutality. Even -Attila had his better side. He spared Milan. It has been said of him -that, though he destroyed cities without remorse, he respected the laws -of nations as they were understood in his day. The modern Attila -respects neither the laws of nations nor the laws of God. His evil deeds -cry aloud to Heaven and to the horror-struck watching nations. The -infamous crime of the destruction of Louvain is without a parallel even -in the dark ages. The harmless civil population had been disarmed a week -ago. The German garrison at the gates of the town fired upon another -force of their own countrymen. To conceal their blunder, they laid the -blame upon the helpless townspeople. No denials were listened to. Some -of the men of Louvain were shot, the rest were made prisoners, the women -and children were flung into trains and carried off to an unknown -destination, and the city was razed to the ground.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a>{89}</span> Louvain has ceased -to exist. A town of forty thousand inhabitants, bigger than Crewe or -Dover or Colchester or Keighley, has been completely wiped out. The -wickedness of this abominable act shall be expiated to the uttermost -when the day of reckoning comes.</p> - -<p>“Until now we have maintained an attitude of deliberate reserve upon the -innumerable tales of German atrocities which have reached us. We -published without comment the unanswerable list of shocking excesses -committed by the German troops, which was sent to England by the Belgian -authorities. When a German Zeppelin cast bombs upon ill-fated women -asleep in their beds at Antwerp, we did no more than explain the -bearings of international law upon conduct which has met with universal -reprobation in Europe and America. But now the real object of German -savagery is self-revealed, not only by the effacement of Louvain, but by -the shameful admissions sent forth from the wireless station at Berlin. -Last Thursday night the following official notification regarding -Belgium came vibrating through the air:—</p> - -<p>“ ‘The only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil -population has been to interfere with unstinting severity and to create -examples which by their frightfulness would be a warning to the whole -country.’</p> - -<p>“Such is the cynical nature of the German apologia for the destruction -of Louvain. Such is the character of the warfare of the modern Huns. -They seek to strike<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a>{90}</span> terror into the hearts of their foes by methods -which belong to the days of the old barbaric hosts, who were thought to -have vanished from the world for ever. There must be no mistake about -the opportionment of blame for this and numberless other crimes. We have -listened too long to the bleatings of professors bemused by the false -glamour of a philosophy which the Germans themselves have thrust aside.</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"> -<p>“<b>The Kaiser and his people are alike responsible for the acts of their -Government and their troops, and there can be no differentiation when -the day of reckoning comes. The Kaiser could stop these things with a -word. Instead, he pronounces impious benedictions upon them. Daily he -appeals for the blessings of God upon the dreadful deeds which are -staining the face of Western Europe—the ravaged villages, the hapless -non-combatants hanged or shot, the women and children torn from their -beds by cowards and made to walk before them under threats of all the -infamies which have eternally disgraced German ‘valour.’</b>”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a>{91}</span></p> -</div> - -<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII.</h2> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>Just for a word—‘neutrality’—just for a scrap of paper Great -Britain was going to make war.</b>”—<i>The German Chancellor.</i></p> - -<p class="nind"><i>The “scrap of paper” was the Powers’ treaty guaranteeing Belgium -neutrality.</i></p></div> - -<p class="cb">French Protest to the Powers.</p> - -<p>So numerous and so terrible were the outrages committed by Germans on -French territory that the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, on -September 2nd—a month after the outbreak of hostilities—was compelled -to address a communication to the Powers which set forth a large number -of authenticated cases of barbarity. In the course of this official -statement it was explained that the indisputable facts set out were -selected merely as examples, and that it was impossible to bring to the -notice of the Powers every act contrary to the laws of war of which -accounts were being received day by day. The series of memoranda were -sufficient to establish the two following classes of facts:—</p> - -<div class="blockindd"><p>“First. The Armies and Government of Germany profess the deepest -scorn for International Law, and for treaties solemnly recognised -for Germany.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a>{92}</span></p> - -<p>“Secondly. The devastations of the invaded countries (incendiarism, -murder, pillage, and atrocities) appear to be systematically -pursued by order of the leaders, and are not due to acts of -indiscipline.</p> - -<p>“It is necessary to emphasise this two-fold characteristic of the -German proceedings. They constitute a negation of every human and -International law, and bring back modern warfare, after centuries -of civilisation, to the methods of barbaric invasions. We are -confident that such facts will arouse the indignation of neutral -States, and will help to make clear the meaning of the struggle -which we are carrying on in the respect of law and independence of -nations.”</p></div> - -<p>To this <i>communiqué</i> were attached ten separate memoranda, setting forth -various specific charges against the Germans, and showing, among other -things, how the Kaiser’s troops were killing the French wounded, and had -even shot Red Cross nurses.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>A Dead Man’s Diary.</b></p> - -<p>“In the fifth of these memoranda,” says Reuter’s correspondent, “the -German allegation that the civilian population had taken part in the war -was strongly denied, and was declared to be nothing but a pretext put -forward by the German troops to give them the appearance of reprisals. -From the beginning of the war the Germans had made a practice of burning -undefended<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a>{93}</span> villages and of assassinating the inhabitants, and evidence -of this was to be found in letters and notebooks which had been taken -from Germans, dead or prisoners.”</p> - -<p>A notebook found on a corpse of a German lieutenant contained the -following remark:—“We have fired the church of Villerupt and shot the -inhabitants. We pretended that scouts had taken refuge in the tower of -the church and had fired on us from there. The fact was, it was not the -inhabitants of Villerupt, but Customs officers and forest guards who -fired on us.”</p> - -<p>The sixth memorandum gave detailed evidence in support of the charge -that a systematic devastation of the country had been ordered by the -German leaders. Letters found on German soldiers made it clear that the -burning of villages and the shooting of the inhabitants were general -measures, and that the orders were given by superior officers.</p> - -<p>Attention was called to this violation of The Hague Convention, and it -was pointed out that it was on the proposal of the German delegates at -the second Hague Conference that an article was inserted declaring that -the belligerent guilty of such violation should be liable to pay an -indemnity.</p> - -<p>In the remaining memoranda information was given as to the destruction -of villages in the region of Paris, and the burning of Affleville, under -circumstances of particular brutality.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a>{94}</span></p> - -<p>The statement concluded: “The Government of the Republic, respecting -International conventions which it has ratified, protests against those -violations of International law, and holds up to reprobation before the -opinion of the world the behaviour of an enemy who respects no rule and -goes back on his signature affixed to International agreements.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>The Red Hand of Destruction.</b></p> - -<p>Upon the Franco-German frontier the red hand of destruction was indeed -laid heavily, and it seemed incredible that a civilised nation should -resort to the methods of savages. Yet it was, alas, true, as was proved -in hundreds of cases. Atrocities were committed everywhere; civilians, -women, and children were shot down in blind rage. A German officer -captured by the French near Blamont admitted that the Germans wanted no -prisoners, and that the wholesale massacre of peaceful villagers was -according to orders.</p> - -<p>German infantrymen belonging to the Bavarian regiments systematically -set fire to the villages through which they passed in the region of -Barras, Harbone, and Montreux, for during the engagement no artillery -fire could have caused such conflagrations. In the same district they -forced the inhabitants to precede their scouts. According to the same -report the German troops were daily massacring peaceful villagers, and -actually made children march before them when debouching from the -villages upon the field of battle.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a>{95}</span></p> - -<p>An official report was made by M. Mirman, Prefect of the Meurthe and -Moselle, to the French Minister of the Interior, after a visit paid to -the districts of Bardonviller, Cirey, and Blamont, in the Luneville -area. He stated that it was impossible to cite all the acts of savagery -and brutality on the part of the German troops which had come under his -notice. He could make out a long list of women, young girls, and old men -and women who had been executed without the least reason and upon the -slightest pretext. Houses had been systematically burned by order of the -German officers as they advanced, and then again as they retreated.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Petrol on Burning Houses.</b></p> - -<p>At Bardonviller, where one of the Kaiser’s sons was with the troops, -eleven of the inhabitants had been murdered, among whom was the wife of -the mayor, and a woman with her infant child, while seventy-eight houses -were burned with petrol and specially-prepared faggots. After pillaging -the town and looting everything they could, they fired on and demolished -the church, and took fifteen of the inhabitants, including a magistrate, -away as hostages.</p> - -<p>At Bremeuil the Prefect found a pitiful and shameful state of affairs. -There, five inhabitants, one a little lad, were butchered, as well as an -old man of seventy-four, who was “trussed and shot like a rabbit.” The -Communal building was destroyed, and nearly the whole town swept away, -not during battle, but by the soldiers on their arrival.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a>{96}</span></p> - -<p>The French troops in Lorraine had seized an entire mail, letters written -by German soldiers to their families. In these it was shown that the -chief occupation of the troops was eating and drinking, and in more than -twenty of the letters it was stated that all French civilians were shot -if they only looked suspicious or evil-disposed. All the men, and even -boys under age, were shot.</p> - -<p>Another official statement issued by the French Ministry of War stated -that two Uhlans who were reconnoitring on the frontier entered the -little village of Affleville. They were ejected by a patrol of three -mounted riflemen. On the following day a detachment of Uhlans returned, -set fire to a farmhouse, and killed the farmer, who attempted to save -his property. The inhabitants protested that their village had not -interfered with the enemy, but later that evening a further squadron of -Uhlans arrived while all the villagers were attending service in the -church, and after sprinkling the houses with petroleum set the whole -place on fire. The terrified inhabitants fled without money or other -property to Verdun, the parish priest being shot.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>“We Kill Everyone.”</b></p> - -<p>Many other sensational indictments of the blood-lust of the Kaiser’s -savage hordes reached the French Ministry of Justice. The Curé of -Pillon, in the Metz district, states that on August 10th fifteen Germans -entered his house and pointed their rifles at him. He was dragged into -the road and brought before the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a>{97}</span> General. On the way there he was -hurried along with the butts of his captors’ rifles. When he stopped -they hit him. He took out his handkerchief, and they confiscated it. He -shouted: “You are a set of brutes. Take me before one of your officers -who speaks French.” An officer replied in French, “It’s all up with -you.” A French shell burst not far from the German troops. The Germans -threw themselves down, but compelled the priest to remain standing.</p> - -<p>Seven lads from French Lorraine at Baroncourt saw a body of Uhlans -driving before them old men, women, and children. They struck those that -would not or could not walk. Three Uhlans moved aside to a field where a -boy of fifteen was tending a herd of cows. The youth attempted to -prevent the seizure of the cattle. The troopers shot him point-blank, -and he fell without a cry.</p> - -<p>In Lorraine a large number of letters written by German soldiers were -captured, and these letters are full of descriptions of acts of wanton -cruelty. Most of the writers make reference to food and drink. One says, -“We have no need for money. We simply take.” In another it is written, -“Before burning the village we took away everything that was eatable or -drinkable,” and again, “The first village across the frontier was -completely destroyed. It was a sight which was both sad and agreeable.” -In another letter it is stated, “We have shot the inhabitants of from -fourteen to sixty years old. There were thirty of them.” In twenty other -letters the phrases recur, “All were shot. We kill everyone.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a>{98}</span></p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>The efforts directed towards the abolition of war must not only be -termed foolish, but absolutely immoral, and must be described as -unworthy of the human race.</b>”—<i>Gen. Von Bernhardi.</i></p></div> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Village Ruthlessly Bombarded.</b></p> - -<p>Refugees from Lorraine had a pathetic story to tell. The village of -Pontsurseille was burned on August 21st by the Germans. Like several -others in the neighbourhood, it was close to the border-line, and -courteous relations continued between its inhabitants and the enemy, -even after the first days of the war. But on August 14th a body of -Uhlans suddenly appeared and commandeered a number of things. They were -supplied at once with 200 chickens, a quantity of oats, and some other -provisions. The Guard Champêtre himself delivered the objects -commandeered, and took them across the border into the German camp. He -was not allowed to return immediately, and was detained for two days. On -Monday, August 17th, when the Guard Champêtre had returned, a shell -suddenly burst over the village. It exploded a few yards from a place -where a couple of women were engaged in milking the cows. Other shells -followed. They came from a battery erected on the other side of the -border.</p> - -<p>No French soldier had been seen at the village for three days. They had -made their appearance only for a short time, and had fallen back. The -firing stopped<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a>{99}</span> after a while, but was resumed during the night and -continued for several nights following. All the able-bodied men had left -for the garrisons, and only the women, the children, and some aged men -remained. The Guard Champêtre was the only person with any authority -that remained, and he took over the administration of the commune. -Meanwhile he was compelled every day to go back and forwards between the -village and the German camp and supply the provisions that were -commandeered.</p> - -<p>A young seminarist acted as secretary at the Mairie, and the wife of the -Guard Champêtre took charge of the fire-engine and tried to put out the -fire caused by the shells with the help of some other women.</p> - -<p>On the night of August 20th it became evident that the Germans intended -to lay the village in ruins. The bombardment was continued all night and -the following day. The inhabitants took refuge in the cellars, which -protected them against the shells. About forty of them found shelter in -a big cellar belonging to a rich farmer, M. François Michel.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Helpless Children.</b></p> - -<p>There were small children of three, six, and nine years, and infants -only a few months old. The Guard Champêtre, assisted by his wife, -directed everything. He had the openings protected by mattresses, which -prevented the Germans from discharging their rifles into the cellar.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a>{100}</span></p> - -<p>By making a hole in one of the walls he secured a retreat into an -adjoining cellar. Suddenly an officer came, had the door opened, and -ordered everybody to come out at once. M. François Michel was the first -to step out, and he was instantly shot down by a group of soldiers -standing by. Next a boy of six, a nice little lad, stepped out. He was -also shot down. Everybody in the cellar then rushed back, amid cries of -horror raised by the wife of M. Michel and his children.</p> - -<p>The Germans shouted, “Come out, or we shall burn you alive,” and fired a -volley down the steps of the cellar. The soldiers poured petroleum down -the cellar and on the mattresses, and set fire to it. The people inside -took refuge in the adjoining cellar, and the Guard Champêtre and his -wife were the last to leave. From this cellar they finally escaped and -fled across the field. The soldiers meanwhile had seized the young -seminarist, and another young man, aged twenty, and shot them, declaring -that they were of age for military service.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a>{101}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_b_101fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_b_101fp_sml.jpg" width="400" height="264" alt="[Image unavailable: THE CHURCH AT TERMONDE IN RUINS. - -Photo, Sport and General. - -Face p. 101" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">THE CHURCH AT TERMONDE IN RUINS. -<br /> -<small>Photo, Sport and General. -<br /> -Face p. 101</small></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII.</h2> - -<p class="cb">The Desecration of Churches.</p> - -<p>Other refugees from Lorraine had harrowing stories to tell of German -brutalities, and many made statements which were officially registered. -Whole villages, they said, had been put to fire and sword. One man told -an official of the Catholic Society that he had, with his own eyes, seen -two German soldiers chop off the arms of a child which clung to its -mother’s skirts. Other narratives show once more that the Germans -entered closed houses and shot or bayoneted the inmates on the pretence -that they had been fired upon by them. Miners had in many places been -wilfully entombed, and other miners had been forced to dig trenches for -the enemy under the threat of being shot. Germans had stabled their -horses in churches, which they desecrated, and even covered their -animals with priests’ vestments.</p> - -<p>Under their usual plea the Germans burned the town of Burzweiler, in -Alsace-Lorraine, blowing up its factories.</p> - -<p>An eye-witness, M. Gaudefroy-Demonhynes, who was attempting to return to -France from Baden, made a sworn statement to a Paris magistrate, -explaining how he had found himself on August 1st detained with other -Frenchmen and some Russians at the railway station of Lorrach, in Baden, -a few miles from the French frontier. The party were arrested by -soldiers and taken to the police<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a>{102}</span> station, where they and their luggage -were searched. They were then led under guard through the town amid -hostile demonstrations by the inhabitants to the square in front of the -railway station, where they found another party of about thirty -Frenchmen and twenty Russians.</p> - -<p>One of this party, a French commercial traveller, a stout man aged about -forty, suddenly shouted “Vive la France!” Instantly the two soldiers -guarding him took him before an officer or a non-commissioned officer, -standing a few paces away from a group of officers. People standing -between M. Demonhynes and the scene prevented him from hearing what was -said, but a few seconds later a shot—only one shot—rang out.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know who fired,” the witness says, “but I know that just before -the report the Frenchman was standing before my eyes against the wall of -a restaurant facing the station, held fast by his two guards in the -position of one who is about to be executed.</p> - -<p>“Hardly had the shot rang out than protests arose from our little band. -Among those who protested most vigorously were three young Frenchmen -from eighteen to twenty years old. They looked to me like students -leaving Germany, like myself. I did not speak to them and do not know -their names. Just as the soldiers seized him and his comrades one of the -young Frenchmen tried to speak to an officer who was wearing a large, -light grey cloak. This officer did not listen to him. Some order must -have been given, I don’t know by whom.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a>{103}</span></p> - -<p>“One of the three Frenchmen, who must have been told of the fate -awaiting him, cried out in German ‘Don’t hold us. We aren’t afraid; we -are Frenchmen!’</p> - -<p>“This time the officer replied coarsely, half turning round, ‘Shut up.’ -The three Frenchmen of their own accord placed themselves against the -wall of the same restaurant. Two lines of soldiers were drawn up on -either side of them at right angles to the wall. Other soldiers—how -many I did not count—took up their position in front of them about -eight yards away. A volley rang out. The three Frenchmen fell.</p> - -<p>“Fresh cries arose from our party. Horror-stricken women began to weep. -I did not see the bodies removed, but I saw them fall to the ground.</p> - -<p>“At this moment a great uproar broke out. Another Frenchman, a big man -with a great black beard, whose age and appearance I forget and whom I -did not know, began to shout, ‘Cowards! Murderers!’ Soldiers surrounded -him. He struggled with them. They speedily overcame him, and, without -taking the trouble to stand him up against the wall, without the -intervention of any officer, one of the soldiers thrust the barrel of -his rifle against his body and shot him down point blank before my eyes.</p> - -<p>“I saw these same soldiers dragging his body along the ground. The man -was struggling still. I had not the strength to look any more. I heard -other shots. I don’t know if there were any other victims.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a>{104}</span></p> - -<p>The German troops allowed no considerations of religion or respect for -antiquity to interfere with their scheme of devastation. Great works of -art and architecture and ancient churches were destroyed by fire or -shell, and in more than one instance it is stated that cathedrals were -used for stabling horses. To-day many are the ruined churches in -Belgium. Of the beautiful cathedral of Louvain only the walls stand, for -the interior is reported to have been ruthlessly shelled, pillaged, and -finally set on fire. Other churches in the ill-fated city similarly -suffered, while at Malines, too, bare walls and loose masonry are all -that remain of what were until recently sacred edifices of exceptional -interest to visitors by reason of their ancient treasures.</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>We believe that some of the generals and some of the officers have -encouraged these crimes, which would be impossible without such -countenance. Yet we trust that there are still German officers -whose characters can be respected.</b>”</p> - -<p class="r"> -—From the <i>Morning Post</i>.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a>{105}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV.</h2> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>It is not a fair fight. Germany is fighting foully; she is defying -not only the rules of war, but the rules of humanity.</b>”—<i>Mr. -Richard Harding Davis</i>, the great American author.</p></div> - -<p class="cb">Treatment of English Travellers.</p> - -<p>The treatment meted out to English travellers and residents in Germany -at the time of the outbreak of the war was equally in keeping with the -modern culture of the nation. British subjects arriving in England were -loud in their protest of the manner in which they were treated, and even -British, French, and Russian Consuls were treated like criminals. In -regard to the latter, a mock formality of presenting the Consuls with -passports was gone through before their departure, but, provided with -these so-called guarantees of safe conduct, they were subjected to the -grossest insults on the way, the women being the chief object of the -mob’s fury. Insulting inscriptions were scribbled on the walls of their -compartments, and they were the objects of very hostile demonstrations. -At every station brave soldiers of the Kaiser presented their revolvers -at the heads of the travellers, came up to the carriage windows, jeered -at the occupants, and often threw rubbish into the compartments.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a>{106}</span></p> - -<p>Mr. Drummond Hay, the British Consul at Dantzig, the French Consul, M. -Michel, and the Russian Consul were, with their families, turned out -from their consulates at an hour’s notice. They were told that they -would be taken to the Russian frontier, but in reality they were -conveyed to Bentheim, near the Dutch frontier, <i>via</i> Stettin, a journey -which occupied three days. During the journey they were not given nor -allowed to buy any food, and when the train reached Bentheim the -travellers were curtly told to get out, and the Consuls were immediately -separated from their families. The women and children were housed in a -mean tavern under strict military guard, and the men, together with Mr. -Drummond Hay’s sixteen-year-old son, were taken to the local prison. -They were all put into one small cell, which they found already tenanted -by M. Vassel, an attaché of the French Consulate at Bentheim, who had -been imprisoned some days previously. M. Vassel had been arrested when -looking after the luggage of the French Consul at Bentheim, who had just -left for Holland.</p> - -<p>In prison the Consuls were treated as though they belonged to the worst -class of criminals. They were obliged to sleep on the floor, without -covering of any kind, and with only a few wisps of straw between them -and the cold stones, and their only food was the black bread which is -served out to the ordinary convicts.</p> - -<p>Having fallen ill on the journey, M. Michel asked to be allowed to see a -doctor, but, in lieu of medical advice,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a>{107}</span> he was given a very strong dose -of castor oil, which made him very much worse. The conditions under -which these four men and a boy lived cannot be described. The gaolers -would not allow them nor anyone else to clean out the cell. Night and -day the unfortunate prisoners were herded together. Their only -recreation, a daily walk of half an hour’s duration, was taken in -company with the convicts.</p> - -<p>Ten days after leaving Dantzig Mr. Drummond Hay was set free, but the -others were detained amid the awful surroundings which have been -described.</p> - -<p>It was ascertained that there were forty-eight other foreigners—among -them fifteen Frenchmen—who are being kept in the town of Bentheim under -the strictest military observation.</p> - -<p>The state of affairs in Dantzig when the Consuls left was terrible; many -people were being shot daily, often upon the very scantiest suspicion.</p> - -<p>If the Germans treated responsible Government officials in the manner -described above, how much worse was the case of unfortunate girls and -women stranded alone in Germany. In many cases English governesses in -German families were cast adrift, to starve and endure the insults of -the savage enemy. Hundreds of English men and women, many of them -tourists, were thrown into prison without any trial, and suffered the -same indignities as did our Consul at Dantzig.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a>{108}</span></p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Englishwoman’s Experience.</b></p> - -<p>A well-authenticated story was related by the headmistress of a London -elementary school, who was in Switzerland when the war broke out and who -returned to England prostrate with shock at the horror of scenes she -witnessed while passing through Germany. The train, she said, was -packed; all windows were closed, and the blinds drawn, and the -passengers were forbidden on peril of their lives to raise them. -Glimpses of troop trains were caught at intervals, and to allow these to -pass frequent stops were made. The pace was slow, and the crowded, -unventilated carriages became unendurably close. In the same compartment -as the lady in question were two English women, whom she learned to be -teachers in the provinces. One of these became ill, and at last, when -the train came to a stop at a countryside place between stations—there -was no means of locating it—her friend helped the sick girl to alight -in order to breathe some fresh air. Instantly bullets hailed upon them, -and both were shot dead. Their travelling companions dared make no -attempt to recover the bodies, and when the train passed on they were -left beside the line.</p> - -<p>Two teachers of another London girls’ school state that a woman -travelling with them through Germany was shot for failing to show her -passport, and her body thrown out upon the line. Other ladies in the -same train stated that they had been stripped by German officers on the -pretence of searching them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a>{109}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_b_109fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_b_109fp_sml.jpg" width="400" height="260" alt="[Image unavailable: A MALINES RED-CROSS WARD WHICH WAS SHELLED BY THE -GERMANS. - -Photo, Sport and General. - -Face p. 109." /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">A MALINES RED-CROSS WARD WHICH WAS SHELLED BY THE -GERMANS. -<br /> -<small>Photo, Sport and General. -<br /> -Face p. 109.</small></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV.</h2> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>France must be so completely crushed that she can never again come -across our path.</b>”—<i>Gen. Von Bernhardi.</i> (This statement was made -long before war was declared.)</p></div> - -<p> </p> - -<p class="cb"><b>What Our Soldiers Say.</b></p> - -<p>By innumerable acts of treachery and appalling savagery on the -battlefield the German soldiers have forfeited for ever the right to the -courtesies usually extended to an honourable foe. The opening phases of -the war have shown them in the light of cold-blooded barbarians, rather -than honourable soldiers. The well-attested stories of their shocking -brutality have no parallel in the history of the world. And in -practically every case these incredible acts of cruelty have been -committed with the knowledge and approval of their officers. They are -carrying out to the letter the advice of the Kaiser to act like the Huns -of Attila.</p> - -<p>British soldiers who have returned wounded from the front are emphatic -in their assertions that the German gunners deliberately fired on the -hospitals and Red Cross men. One man remarked, “They seemed to take a -delight in aiming at hospitals, which had the Red Cross over them. In -fact, anything with the Red Cross acted<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a>{110}</span> as a target. A church was being -used as a hospital, and one of our officers, who had a flesh wound, was -taken inside for medical attention. Whilst he was there a shell blew -away the roof of the church, and injured him a second time. Fifty men -went out under the Red Cross to pick up wounded. They were fired on, and -only two of them came back.”</p> - -<p>A member of the Red Cross organisation stated that the Germans have -treated with actual brutality the British wounded who fell into their -hands. Twenty-seven British soldiers who were being removed from the -field in an ambulance were dragged away and made to march to the Town -Hall of Mons, two falling unconscious in the streets on their way.</p> - -<p>A resident of Ostend, in a letter to this country, put into words the -prevailing opinion in Belgium. “These Germans are not true soldiers,” he -writes, “they are murderers in uniform. They kill the wounded and shoot -the women and children. At one of the charges at Liége the Colonel of -the 9th Regiment of the Line was shot through the head, and when his -body was recovered later in the day it was found that these German -cowards had inflicted at least twenty bayonet stabs on the already dead -body.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Helpless Soldiers Maimed.</b></p> - -<p>These terrible allegations are borne out by information which has been -received by a British officer from his son at the front, who states that -the enemy, on coming<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a>{111}</span> across wounded British soldiers, proceed to stab -them through the right hand with a bayonet, with a view to rendering the -hand useless for holding a rifle again.</p> - -<p>A horrible story is told by a wounded British sergeant. Struck down by a -bullet, he lay on his back on the battlefield of Mons, unable to move, -around him many wounded men. The German soldiers advanced over their -bodies, stabbing at them with their bayonets. Realising that his only -chance of saving his life was to feign death, the wounded “Tommy” closed -his eyes and kept perfectly still. As the Germans passed one struck him -on the body a heavy blow with the butt of a rifle, with the result that -one of his ribs was smashed. Clenching his teeth to prevent crying out -he lay rigid, hoping against hope that the barbarous enemy would not see -that he still lived. Then to his relief they passed on, but not before -one of them had plunged his bayonet into his shoulder.</p> - -<p>Such stories as these make one’s blood boil, but they are by no means -isolated instances. Many wounded soldiers who have returned have -declared that after the battle of Mons the Germans, especially officers -and non-commissioned officers, passed over the ground and thrust their -swords at the wounded men. One man escaped by hiding for twenty-four -hours under sheaves of corn.</p> - -<p>Yet another story is told by a wounded soldier who was also in the -fighting near Mons. He said, “We had had to retire a short distance, -leaving some killed and wounded behind. We saw the Germans come along.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a>{112}</span> -They carried away some of our men who were lying on the ground we had -left. They placed them—and I am positively sure there were wounded as -well as killed among them—on a hayrick. Then the rick was set on fire. -It made us desperately wild, and we long to get at those Germans. If we -only could have charged! As it was, we had to stay where we were, but I -think we got in a good few shots of vengeance which found their billet.”</p> - -<p>A lieutenant of an infantry regiment stated that the Germans captured a -party of his men outside Liége, and in order to prevent their escape -crushed their feet with the butts of their rifles. They then took one -man and held him against a tree while their comrades beat him about the -back with rifle butts. An infantryman named Legrande, who was in the -trenches beside his brother at a point where the fighting was furious, -and who is now in hospital at Brussels, told the following story. His -brother was mortally wounded by a German bullet, and died in his arms. -He himself was shot in the thigh, and almost at the same moment some -German Uhlans rode over him, leaving him unconscious. When he recovered -his senses he made an endeavour to crawl back to his own lines, which in -the meantime had been drawn in. He was discovered by some German -infantrymen, who stripped him, taking his water-bottle and everything. -Legrande had to wait in a state of utter nudity until the middle of the -night, and then strip the dead bodies of his comrades in order to clothe -himself. Eventually he<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a>{113}</span> regained the ranks of his comrades in an almost -dying condition.</p> - -<p>Again the Germans, having despoiled dead Belgian soldiers of their -uniforms, clothed some of their men in them and placed them at the head -of their troops when an attack was made upon the Belgian troops.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>The Khaki Uniform Trick.</b></p> - -<p>The treacherous use by the Germans of British uniforms is instanced by -one of the wounded men at present in England. “What made matters worse -for us was the treachery of the enemy,” he stated, in the course of an -account of the fight in which he had sustained his hurt. “We were -compelled to fall back at one point, and left behind us our haversacks -and greatcoats, which we had taken off to allow us to fight the better. -Some time afterwards a body of men came towards us wearing the familiar -khaki-coloured coats, and naturally we took them for friends. But they -were Germans who had seized our coats and put them on in order to -disguise themselves, and no sooner were they near us than they sent a -murderous fire into our ranks. Later, when there was a lull in the -fighting, we found a large number of Germans killed wearing the clothes -of British soldiers, showing that they must either have stripped our -dead or the British prisoners they had captured and used their clothes.”</p> - -<p>A number of Belgian soldiers arriving in Folkestone have also described -the behaviour of the enemy as too<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a>{114}</span> brutal for any civilised nation, and -most of them had seen Belgian villagers drawn in front of the Germans to -act as a screen for them. A favourite trick of the Germans was to -terrify Belgian villagers by driving them along immediately in front of -their heavy guns, where, owing to the elevation of the guns, they were -really quite safe. Their experience had been that the Germans had no -respect for the Red Cross, and that in fact they waited until the -wounded had been picked up and would then fire. They confirmed the -stories which had been told about the manner in which the Germans had -killed wounded men.</p> - -<p>In another case a French soldier, after the engagement at Spincourt, -related that while he was on the ground with a bullet in his foot the -Germans, seeing he was not dead, fired at him with a rifle, twice, -point-blank, hitting him in the hip and shoulder, whereupon he became -unconscious. The Germans, thinking he was dead, left him.</p> - -<p>Many of the British wounded affirm that the Germans pay no respect to -the Red Cross flag, but continually fire upon it and upon Red Cross men. -The enemy have also frequently violated the rules of the white flag. -These statements are supported by the Ostend correspondent of the -Central News, who was the eye-witness of the disgraceful incident which -he described in the following message:—“When I was in the neighbourhood -of Malines the forts were under bombardment. From the Willebroek fort -the Belgians were placing shells into<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a>{115}</span> a wood four miles distant, with -the object of forcing out a detachment of Uhlans. Presently a party of -Uhlans, exhibiting a white flag, came forward towards the Belgian -trenches with a request for a cessation of fire for the purpose of -collecting wounded. The temporary truce was agreed to. A Red Cross wagon -came forward to collect wounded, and a party from the Belgian trenches -went out for a similar purpose.</p> - -<p>“Suddenly the German Red Cross van opened, and from out of it a -mitrailleuse poured its deadly fire with such effect that some ninety of -the Belgians fell dead. The retribution was swift and complete. The -Belgian artillery again opened fire, and with well-directed shells laid -low at least 200 of the treacherous Germans.</p> - -<p>“Another incident of like character came beneath my immediate notice. A -party of German cyclists, entering the village of Willebroek, shot down -a child of seven years of age. The Belgian infantry opened fire upon the -cyclists, and an armoured motor-car, carrying a captain and four men, -pursued the marauders. It is with satisfaction that I can record that -eight of the Germans will fight no more.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>France Makes a Formal Protest.</b></p> - -<p>An official <i>communiqué</i> issued by the War Office of Paris contains the -following references to these outrages. It draws to the attention of the -Powers signatory of The Hague Convention the following facts, -constituting on the part of the German military authorities<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a>{116}</span> a violation -of the Conventions signed on October 10th, 1907, by the Imperial German -Government:—</p> - -<p>“According to a report dated August 10th, 1914, sent by the General -Commanding the Army in the East,” it continues, “the German troops have -finished off a large number of wounded men by shots fired into their -faces at close quarters, as has been demonstrated by the dimensions of -the wounds. Other wounded men were deliberately trampled upon.</p> - -<p>“On the 10th August the Bavarian infantry systematically set fire to the -villages which they went through in Barbas, Montigny, Montreux, and -Paruse districts, at a time also when no artillery fire on either side -could have provoked such action. In the same district they compelled the -inhabitants to go in front of their scouts.”</p> - -<p>Another report, dated August 11th, 1914, says: “The German troops are -burning villages, massacring inhabitants, and making the women and -children march in front of them when they come out of the villages on to -the battlefields. This was done notably at Billy, in the fighting on the -10th. They are finishing off the wounded and killing prisoners.</p> - -<p>“The Government of the Republic, in view of such proceedings, which must -be repudiated by the universal conscience of mankind, leaves it to the -civilised Powers to make complete appreciation of these criminal acts, -which are eternally dishonouring for a belligerent.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a>{117}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI.</h2> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>The wrong—I speak openly—that we are committing I will endeavour -to make good as soon as our military goal is achieved.</b>”</p> - -<p> -From a speech by <i>The German Chancellor</i>.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p> </p> -<p class="cb">The Antwerp Outrage.</p> - -<p>Next to the tragic and infamous destruction of Louvain, and the -attendant atrocities committed in that beautiful old town, nothing has -called forth more passionate denunciation than the cowardly attempt made -by Zeppelin airships to drop bombs at Antwerp in the dead of night on -its sleeping inhabitants. For the first time in history a death-dealing -airship has attacked a city in this way. As a weapon the Zeppelin -dropping bombs may be as destructive as great shells fired from siege -howitzers. The horror of aircraft is, however, more terrorizing than -that of any siege gun, because bombs can be thrown down from the sky on -defenceless and sleeping cities. The civilized world has greeted with -execration this inhuman method of prosecuting war.</p> - -<p>Before even a fortified town can be bombarded, the rules of war provide -for twenty-four hours’ notice before the commencement of actual -bombardment. Here we have a great airship sailing high over a sleeping -city.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a>{118}</span> Without warning her crew drop death-dealing bombs from the sky in -the dead of night. Surely the killing of unsuspecting men, innocent -women, and sleeping children in this way is the most ruthless outrage -ever attempted in war.</p> - -<p>Piloted by a German who knew the city well—one of the many to whom the -city opened wide its doors in the days before the war—the huge airship -had for its objective the Palais du Roi, where the Queen of Belgium, the -little Princes, and Princess Marie-José lay sleeping. Aided by the -darkness, the crew of the Zeppelin felt confident of their ability to -carry out their murderous programme. They had mapped out a career of -terrifying destruction. In a track of devastation they meant to leave in -ruins the Palais du Roi (which would also have involved the death of the -Royal Family), the Bourse, the Palais de Justice, the Banque, and the -Minerva Motor Works. But in no case was the treacherous aim attained. -The cowardly raid proved a complete and utter failure, the only -consolation provided the Kaiser being the slaughter of seven innocent -persons and the wounding of some twenty others.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Girls Horribly Mutilated.</b></p> - -<p>The bombs which were to have killed the Queen and her family and to have -shattered the Bourse fell into an adjoining street, wrecked a house, and -injured two women. That destined for the destruction of the Banque -struck the attic of a house near by, killed a servant as<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a>{119}</span> she slept, and -injured two others. Of the other bombs one fell into a shrubbery, dug a -deep, funnel-shaped hole, uprooted shrubs, and plucked from their frames -windows of the St. Elizabeth Hospital, where the wounded lay. -Another—and the most successful bomb—struck a private house inhabited -by poor people, murdered a woman, and horribly mutilated three girls, -killed two Civic Guards, and seriously injured another. It was at a -private house just off the Place de Meir that a bomb wrought much -destruction to life and property. It tore off the top storey and split -up the front.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Screams of Dying Women.</b></p> - -<p>“As I arrived on the scene,” says a <i>Daily Telegraph</i> correspondent, “a -woman tottered out covered with lime dust, crying out, ‘Docteur, -docteur!’ Beneath the ruins of the house two Civic Guards were dead. -Within the house pitiful screams came from three girls who had been -roused from sleep by receiving dreadful wounds on the face and body. One -girl had half her face blown away; the two others were seriously wounded -on the face. Evidently their bodies had been somewhat protected by the -bed-clothes.”</p> - -<p>The Zeppelin at the time of this appalling incident was almost -stationary in the sky, some seven hundred feet from the ground. Needless -to say, a panic at once ensued, and thousands of people took refuge in -their cellars, while others dashed out into the streets in their night -attire. Time after time the earth trembled as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a>{120}</span> terrible bombs fell, -causing devastation everywhere, the spots being signalled, it is said, -from the roofs of houses occupied by prominent Germans, of whom there -was a large colony in Antwerp. Truly it was a night of terror, for the -populace through the hours of tension did not know from one moment to -another that they might not be blown to atoms. Ten bombs struck ten -different streets. One which fell in the Rue des Navets made a hole six -feet six inches in diameter and twenty-two inches deep. It was probably -filled with shot, for all the houses in the vicinity were riddled by -bullets, and presented the appearance of having been fired upon, all the -doors and windows being broken and the ceilings having fallen in.</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>The best protection of undefended cities against German Zeppelins -is that a repetition of the Antwerp occurrence will be greeted with -execration by the whole civilized world.</b>”—<i>Times.</i></p></div> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Enormous Damage to Property.</b></p> - -<p>It was calculated that about nine hundred houses were more or less -damaged and about sixty houses destroyed. In a single house four persons -were found dead. Indeed, in one room two people had been blown to atoms. -Three men were walking in the Rue de la Corne, when one of the bombs -fell. One was killed and the other two mortally wounded, while another -passer-by had his leg blown off. All the bombs, which created a terrific -explosion,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a>{121}</span> were found to have been in a steel cover one and a half -inches thick and about a foot in diameter. The Zeppelin was, of course, -fired upon from the forts with guns and rifles, but having launched its -deadly missiles it moved off into the darkness.</p> - -<p>A subsequent examination of the projectiles thrown showed that they had -a double covering, the two covers being joined together by -mushroom-shaped rivets, which act the part of bullets, and must cause -horrible injuries, as the two covers or envelopes are torn to fragments -by the explosive.</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>If Germany had fought fairly we should have retained the respect -for her which we had in the past; but her barbarous method of -conducting war by sea and land has made all the nations of the Old -World and the New regard her as the enemy of the human race.</b>”</p> - -<p class="r"> -—<span class="smcap">Military Correspondent</span> of <i>The Times</i>.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>A Miraculous Escape.</b></p> - -<p>The story of that terrible night would not, however, be complete without -a reference to the miraculous escape of M. Vamberg, a cigarette-maker. -Had he slept in the bed he usually occupied, he would now be a dead man. -But for some reason he chose another bed in another room, his wife being -absent in the country, and so saved his life. The bed which Mme. Vamberg -occupies when at home was crushed by the falling roof. More than that,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a>{122}</span> -having been aroused by the sound of the cannon, and having jumped out of -bed and rushed down to the first floor, M. Vamberg found himself -suddenly hanging from the window, the house having fallen about his -ears. He was rescued from this position by the firemen.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>More Cowardly Raids.</b></p> - -<p>But, as though not satisfied with the success of the first attempt, the -Germans determined upon another dastardly raid. A few nights after the -first outrage a Zeppelin again appeared over the city in the dead of -night. Ten bombs were discharged, and damaged a number of houses. No -lives were lost, however. A boy of fifteen had his right arm injured by -a flying splinter, while his father and sister and one or two others -were slightly injured. A graphic description of the raid is given by the -<i>Daily Telegraph</i> correspondent. “I was awakened,” he relates, “by the -rattle of rifle-fire from neighbouring roofs and the hideous crash of -exploding bombs. Hurriedly descending into the Place Verte, I was just -in time to see an airship disappearing southward. She was at a -tremendous height, but could be clearly seen in the rays of the -searchlight. There was an incessant rattle of shots from rifles and -machine guns from the darkened town, and shrapnel could be seen -exploding like meteorites in the trail of the flying marauder. All round -the Place Verte from the roadway, and from points of vantage on the high -buildings, spurts of flame indicated the efforts of the firers to bring -down the hated<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a>{123}</span> ship. Immediately the searchlights fixed upon her the -Zeppelin made off at great speed.”</p> - -<p> </p> -<p class="nind"><b>Worse than the Boxers.</b></p> - -<p>Surgeon-Major Seaman, of the United States Army Reserve Corps, who -helped to tend the wounded, was so indignant with these cowardly tactics -on the part of the Germans that he communicated with his Government, -asking it to join at once in exacting reparation from Germany for such -infamies. He declared that in all his eight campaigns, of which one was -against the Boxers in China, he had never seen an act of war so -ruthless, so horrible, as the sight of three young girls mutilated and -defaced, and of the dead young mother, all attacked in their beds at -night. And with him the civilized world will agree.</p> - -<p>Other airship and aeroplane raids were made on Antwerp and also upon -Paris, but fortunately none has been attended with either great loss of -life or destruction of property. But that such should be the case -affords no excuse for crimes which rank among the greatest committed by -the ruthless German army.</p> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>At this moment the words ‘German culture’ are synonymous for -rapine, murder, and hideous cruelty. This is a state of things -which ought to be grasped by the people of Germany.</b>”</p> - -<p class="r"> -—From the <i>Morning Post</i>.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a>{124}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII.</h2> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p>“<b>Against ordinary though severe reprisals upon civilians who have -fired upon the German troops we have not a word to utter; but -outrage, mutilation, burning alive, and so forth are not reprisals; -they are atrocities which make the name of Germany stink in the -nostrils of mankind. It is hard to believe that a civilized nation -should have so reverted to savagery, but unfortunately the facts -admit of no dispute.</b>”—From the <i>Globe</i>.</p></div> - -<p> </p> -<p class="c"><b>“The Hussar-like Stroke.”</b></p> - -<p>The laying of mines in neutral waters in contravention of the rules by -which civilized warfare was to be conducted was in itself a most -dastardly act. To place contact mines in the open sea and then to skulk -behind them was declared by the Kaiser’s wireless press bureau to be a -“Hussar-like stroke.” The Kaiser himself referred with satisfaction to -the fact that his navy had sown the North Sea with death. The laying of -mines is only admissible for the purpose of guarding estuaries and -harbours, and by The Hague Convention it was specifically laid down that -neutral waters must not be mined. In consequence of this cruel action of -the enemy many crews of British and Danish trawlers, the hard toilers of -the sea, were sent to their deaths, while the Wilson liner <i>Runo</i>, on a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a>{125}</span> -voyage to Archangel, and His Majesty’s ships <i>Amphion</i> and <i>Speedy</i> were -sent to the bottom with great loss of life. In addition, several -trawlers, while engaged in mine-sweeping operations, were also -destroyed. All craft and cunning in naval warfare was, of course, -admissible, including the alteration and extinguishing of lights, the -removal of landmarks and buoys, and the disguising of warships as -merchantmen; but to scatter death indiscriminately along a neutral -waterway was a stab-in-the-back method worthy, indeed, of the pinchbeck -Napoleon.</p> - -<div class="blockquottb"> -<p><b>Such is the case against the German Soldier—the terrible and -overwhelming record which makes the very heart sick with horror, and the -blood run chill. One of our great poets called upon the human race to -“move upward, working out the beast, and let the ape and tiger die.” -Apes and tigers are noble creatures beside the living apostle of German -“culture.” He has built himself a monument upon the heights of infamy, a -monument from which, through all the ages yet to come, every honest man -will turn away in loathing and disgust.</b><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a>{126}</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="boxxedd"><p class="nind"><b>JOHN RUSKIN’S words:</b>—</p> - -<p>“<b>For blessing is only for the meek and merciful, and a German -cannot be either; he does not understand even the meaning of the -words ... but a German, selfish in the purest states of virtue and -morality ... but no quantity of learning ever makes a German -modest....</b></p> - -<p>“<b>Accordingly, when the Germans get command of Lombardy, they -bombard Venice, steal her pictures (which they can’t understand a -single touch of), and entirely ruin the country, morally and -physically, leaving behind them misery, vice, and intense hatred of -themselves, wherever their accursed feet have trodden. They do -precisely the same thing by France—crush her, rob her, leave her -in misery of rage and shame, and return home, smacking their lips, -and singing Te Deums.</b>”—<i>Fors Clavigera.</i></p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a>{127}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="THE_DAY" id="THE_DAY"></a>THE DAY</h2> - -<p class="cb">By THE “BATH RAILWAY POET”</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>[This very striking poem, which we reproduce below by kind -permission of the <i>Daily Express</i>, is published in leaflet form at -a halfpenny, for the benefit of the National Relief Fund. The -author is Mr. Henry Chappell, a railway porter at Bath. Mr. -Chappell is known to his comrades as the “Bath Railway Poet.” The -<i>Express</i> acclaims the author of “The Day” as a national poet—an -opinion which is very largely shared by the general Press.]</p></div> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0"><big><big>Y</big></big>OU boasted the Day, and you toasted the Day,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And now the Day has come.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Blasphemer, braggart, and coward all,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Little you reck of the numbing ball,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The blasting shell, or the “white arm’s” fall,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">As they speed poor humans home.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You spied for the Day, you lied for the Day,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And woke the Day’s red spleen.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Monster, who asked God’s aid Divine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then strewed His seas with the ghastly mine;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not all the waters of the Rhine<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Can wash thy foul hands clean.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a>{128}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You dreamed for the Day, you schemed for the Day;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Watch how the Day will go.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Slayer of age and youth and primes<br /></span> -<span class="i0">(Defenceless slain for never a crime),<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thou art steeped in blood as a hog in slime,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">False friend and cowardly foe.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You have sown for the Day, you have grown for the Day;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Yours is the harvest red.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Can you hear the groans and the awful cries?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Can you see the heap of slain that lies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And sightless turned to the flame-split skies,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The glassy eyes of the dead?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">You have wronged for the Day, you have longed for the Day<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That lit the awful flame.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">’Tis nothing to you that hill and plain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yield sheaves of dead men amid the grain;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That widows mourn for their loved ones slain,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And mothers curse thy name.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">But after the Day there’s a price to pay<br /></span> -<span class="i2">For the sleepers under the sod,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And He you have mocked for many a day—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Listen and hear what He has to say:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”<br /></span> -<span class="i2">What can you say to God?<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of German Atrocities, by William le Queux - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN ATROCITIES *** - -***** This file should be named 52082-h.htm or 52082-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/8/52082/ - -Produced by Brian Coe, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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