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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #55442 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55442)
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook, German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of
-Civilians, Edited by Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke)
-Sellery, and August C. (August Charles) Krey
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions 
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at 
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-
-Title: German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of Civilians
-
-
-Editor: Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke) Sellery, and August
-C. (August Charles) Krey
-
-Release Date: August 27, 2017  [eBook #55442]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN WAR PRACTICES, PART 1:
-TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS***
-
-
-E-text prepared by Brian Coe, Graeme Mackreth, and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made
-available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org)
-
-
-
-Note: Images of the original pages are available through
-      Internet Archive. See
-      https://archive.org/details/germanwarpractic00munriala
-
-
-
-
-
-GERMAN WAR PRACTICES
-
-PART I
-
-TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS
-
-Edited by
-
-DANA C. MUNRO
-Princeton University
-
-GEORGE C. SELLERY     and      AUGUST C. KREY
-University of Wisconsin      University of Minnesota
-
-
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Issued by
-The Committee on Public Information
-          The Secretary of State
-          The Secretary of War
-          The Secretary of the Navy
-          George Creel
-
-November 15, 1917
-
-
-
-
-EXECUTIVE ORDER.
-
-
-I hereby create a Committee on Public Information, to be composed of
-the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the
-Navy, and a civilian who shall be charged with the executive direction
-of the Committee. As civilian Chairman of the Committee I appoint Mr.
-George Creel.
-
-The Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the
-Navy are authorized each to detail an officer or officers to the work
-of the Committee.
-
-  WOODROW WILSON.
-
-April 14, 1917.
-
-
-
-
-INTRODUCTION.
-
-
-[Sidenote: Germany pledged to Hague regulations.]
-
-For many years leaders in every civilized nation have been trying to
-make warfare less brutal. The great landmarks in this movement are the
-Geneva and Hague Conventions. The former made rules as to the care
-of the sick and wounded and established the Red Cross. At the first
-meeting at Geneva, in 1864, it was agreed, and until the present war
-it has been taken for granted, that the wounded, and the doctors and
-nurses who cared for them, would be safe from all attacks by the enemy.
-The Hague Conventions, drawn up in 1899 and 1907, made additional rules
-to soften the usages of war and especially to protect noncombatants
-and conquered lands. Germany took a prominent part in these meetings
-and with the other nations solemnly pledged her faith to keep all the
-rules except one article in the Hague Regulations. This was article
-44, which forbade the conqueror to force any of the conquered to give
-information. All the other rules and regulations she accepted in the
-most binding manner.
-
-[Sidenote: German policy of frightfulness.]
-
-But Germany's military leaders had no intention of keeping these solemn
-promises. They had been trained along different lines. Their leading
-generals for many years had been urging a policy of frightfulness. In
-the middle of the nineteenth century von Clausewitz was looked upon as
-the greatest military authority, and the methods which he advocated
-were used by the Prussian army in its successful wars of 1866-1871.
-Consequently, because these wars had been successful, the wisdom of von
-Clausewitz's methods seemed to the Prussian army to be fully proven.
-
-Now, the essence of von Clausewitz's teachings was that successful war
-involves the ruthless application of force. In the opening chapter of
-his master work, _Vom Kriege_ (_On War_), he says:
-
- "Violence arms itself with the inventions of art and science. * * *
- Self-imposed restrictions, almost imperceptible and hardly worth
- mentioning, termed usages of international law, accompany it without
- essentially impairing its power. * * * Now, philanthropic souls
- might easily imagine that there is a skillful method of disarming or
- subduing an enemy without causing too much bloodshed, and that this
- is the true tendency of the art of war. However plausible this may
- appear, still it is an error which must be destroyed; for in such
- dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of
- 'good-naturedness' are precisely the worst. As the use of physical
- force to the utmost extent by no means excludes the cooperation of the
- intelligence, it follows that he who uses force ruthlessly, without
- regard to bloodshed, must obtain a superiority, if his enemy does not
- so use it."
-
-In 1877-78, in the course of a series of articles upon "Military
-necessity and humanity," Gen. von Hartmann wrote, in the same spirit as
-von Clausewitz:
-
-[Sidenote: Frightfulness advocated by German generals.]
-
- "The enemy State must not be spared the want and wretchedness of
- war; these are particularly useful in shattering its energy and
- subduing its will." "Individual persons may be harshly dealt with
- when an example is made of them, intended to serve as a warning. * *
- * Whenever a national war breaks out, terrorism becomes a necessary
- military principle." "It is a gratuitous illusion to suppose that
- modern war does not demand far more brutality, far more violence,
- and an action far more general than was formerly the case." "When
- international war has burst upon us, terrorism becomes a principle
- made necessary by military considerations."
-
-In 1881 von Moltke, who had been commander in chief of the Prussian
-army in the Franco-Prussian War, declared:
-
- "Perpetual peace is a dream and not even a beautiful dream. War is
- an element in the order of the world established by God. By it the
- most noble virtues of man are developed, courage and renunciation,
- fidelity to duty and the spirit of sacrifice--the soldier gives his
- life. Without war, the world would degenerate and lose itself in
- materialism." "The soldier who endures suffering, privation, and
- fatigue, who courts dangers, can not take only 'in proportion to the
- resources of the country.' He must take all that is necessary to his
- existence. One has no right to demand of him anything superhuman."
- "The great good in war is that it should be ended quickly. In view of
- this, every means, except those which are positively condemnable,
- must be permitted. I can not, in any way, agree with the Declaration
- of St. Petersburg when it pretends that 'the weakening of the military
- forces of the enemy constitutes the only legitimate method of
- procedure in war. No! One must attack all the resources of the enemy
- government, his finances, his railroads, his stock of provisions and
- even his prestige. * * *"
-
-[Sidenote: Kaiser's "Hun" speech in 1900.]
-
-Many other examples might be cited from the writings of German
-generals. The very best illustration of this attitude, however, is
-to be found in the Emperor's various speeches, and especially in his
-speech to his soldiers on the eve of their departure for China in
-1900. On July 27 the Kaiser went to Bremerhaven to bid farewell to
-the German troops. As they were drawn up, ready to embark for China,
-he addressed to them a last official message from the Fatherland. The
-local newspaper reported his speech in full. In it appeared this advice
-and admonition from the Emperor, the commander in chief of the army,
-the head of all Germany.
-
- "As soon as you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No
- mercy will be shown! No prisoners will be taken! As the Huns, under
- King Attila, made a name for themselves, which is still mighty in
- traditions and legends to-day, may the name of German be so fixed in
- China by your deeds that no Chinese shall ever again dare even to look
- at a German askance. * * * Open the way for _Kultur_ once for all."
-
-[Sidenote: Opposition in Reichstag.]
-
-Even the imperial councillors seem to have been shocked at the
-Emperor's speech, and efforts were promptly made to suppress the
-circulation of his exact words. The efforts were only partly
-successful. A few weeks later, when letters from the German soldiers
-in China were being published in local German papers, the leading
-socialist newspaper, _Vorwärts_, excerpted from them reports of
-atrocities under the title "Letters of the Huns." Many of the leaders
-in the Reichstag felt very keenly the brutality of the Emperor's
-speech. The obnoxious word "Huns" had excited almost universal
-condemnation. When the Reichstag met, in November, the speech was
-openly discussed. Herr Lieber, of the Center (the Catholic party),
-after quoting the "no mercy" portion of the speech, added, "There
-are, alas, in Germany groups enough who have regarded the atrocities
-told in the letters which have been published as the dutiful response
-of soldiers so addressed and encouraged." The leader of the Social
-Democrats, Herr Bebel, spoke even more pointedly. Toward the end of a
-two-hour address on the atrocities committed by the German soldiers in
-China and on the speech of the Emperor he said:
-
- "If Germany wishes to be the bearer of civilization to the world, we
- will follow without contradiction. But the ways and means in which
- this world policy has been carried on thus far, in which it has
- been defined by the Emperor * * * are not, in our opinion, the way
- to preserve the world position of Germany, to gain for Germany the
- respect of the world."
-
-The consequences of the Emperor's speech Bebel aptly described:
-
- "By it a signal was given, garbed in the highest authority of the
- German Empire, which must have most weighty consequences, not only for
- the troops who went to China but also for those who stayed at home."
- "An expedition of revenge so barbarous as this has never occurred in
- the last hundred years and not often in history; at least, nothing
- worse than this has happened in history, either done by the Huns, by
- the Vandals, by Genghis Khan, by Tamerlane, or even by Tilly when he
- sacked Magdeburg."
-
-[Sidenote: Atrocities in China.]
-
-These stories of atrocities in China or "Letters of the Huns" continued
-to be published in the _Vorwärts_ for several years and appeared
-intermittently in the debates of the Reichstag as late as 1906. At that
-time the socialist, Herr Kunert, reviewing the procedure in a trial
-of which he had been the victim in the previous summer, stated that
-he had offered to prove "that German soldiers in China had engaged in
-wanton and brutal ravaging; that plunder, pillage, extortion, robbery,
-as well as rape and sexual abuses of the worst kind, had occured on a
-very large scale and that German soldiers had participated in them."
-He had not been given an opportunity to prove his allegations, but had
-been sentenced to prison for three months for assailing the honor of
-the "whole German Army." The outrageousness of this sentence was made
-clear by the revelations, made in the Reichstag shortly afterwards, of
-similar atrocities committed by German officials and soldiers in Africa
-in the campaign against the Hereros.
-
-The teachings of Treitschke and Nietzsche and their evil influence
-upon the present generation in Germany are well known. The minds of
-the responsible officials were filled with ideas wholly different from
-those to which Germany had agreed at The Hague. The cult of might, and
-of war as its expression, found many disciples who flooded the press
-with pamphlets and panegyrics on war and its place in the natural and
-political development of a nation. Before the war the average number of
-volumes concerning war published each year in Germany was 700, and the
-vast majority of those written by the German Army officers advocated
-the ruthless policy of von Clausewitz, von Hartmann, and von Moltke.
-
-These ideas, which have come to control the minds of the military
-class, are best shown in the _German War Book_ (_Kriegsbrauch im
-Landkriege_), published in 1902. The tone of this authoritative book
-may be judged from the following extracts:
-
-[Sidenote: Teachings of the German War Book.]
-
- "But since the tendency of thought in the last century was dominated
- essentially by humanitarian considerations which not infrequently
- degenerated into sentimentality and flabby emotion (_Sentimentalität
- und weichlicher Gefühlschwärmerei_), there have not been wanting
- attempts to influence the development of the usages of war in a way
- which was in fundamental contradiction with the nature of war and its
- object. Attempts of this kind will also not be wanting in the future,
- the more so as these agitations have found a kind of moral recognition
- in some provisions of the Geneva Convention and the Brussels and Hague
- Conferences."
-
- "By steeping himself in military history an officer will be able to
- guard himself against excessive humanitarian notions; it will teach
- him that certain severities are indispensable to war, nay more, that
- the only true humanity very often lies in a ruthless application of
- them."
-
-For the guidance of the officers in case the inhabitants of conquered
-territory should take up arms against the German Army, the _German War
-Book_ quotes with approval the letter Napoleon sent to his brother
-Joseph, when the inhabitants of Italy were attempting to revolt against
-him:
-
- "The security of your dominion depends on how you behave in the
- conquered province. Burn down a dozen places which are not willing to
- submit themselves. Of course, not until you have first looted them;
- my soldiers must not be allowed to go away with their hands empty.
- Have three to six persons hanged in every village which has joined the
- revolt; pay no respect to the cassock" [that is, to members of the
- clergy.]
-
-[Sidenote: German war proclamations in French translations.]
-
-Some of the rules laid down in the _German War Book_ are illustrated
-and their spirit made more definite in _L'Interprète Militaire_. _Zum
-Gebrauch im Feindesland_ (Military Interpreter for Use in the Enemy's
-Country). This is a manual edited at Berlin in 1906. "It contains,"
-says the introduction, "the French translation of the greater part of
-the documents, letters, and proclamations, and some orders of which
-it may be necessary to make use in time of war." Thus, eight years
-before this war began, the German military authorities were not only
-preparing their officers to wage war in a manner wholly contrary to the
-Hague regulations, but also were looking forward to the use of these
-proclamations in French or Belgian territory. Among its forms, ready
-for use by inserting names, date, and place, are the following:
-
- "A fine of 600,000 marks in consequence of an attempt made by ---- to
- assassinate a German soldier, is imposed on the town of O. By order of
- ----.
-
- "Efforts have been made, without result, to obtain the withdrawal of
- the fine.
-
- "The term fixed for payment expires to-morrow, Saturday, December 17,
- at noon ----.
-
- "Bank notes, cash, or silver plate will be accepted."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- "I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 7th of this
- month, in which you bring to my notice the great difficulty which you
- expect to meet in levying the contributions. * * * I can but regret
- the explanations which you have thought proper to give me on this
- subject; the order in question which emanates from my Government is so
- clear and precise, and the instructions which I have received in the
- matter are so categorical that if the sum due by the town of R---- is
- not paid the town will be burned down without pity!"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- "On account of the destruction of the bridge of F----, I order: The
- district shall pay a special contribution of 10,000,000 francs by
- way of amends. This is brought to the notice of the public who are
- informed that the method of assessment will be announced later and
- that the payment of the said sum will be enforced with the utmost
- severity. The village of F---- will be destroyed immediately by fire,
- with the exception of certain buildings occupied for the use of the
- troops."
-
-These forms have been of great use to the German commanders in Belgium
-and northern France. The closeness with which they have been followed
-in these conquered lands, during the present war, may be seen by
-reading the following proclamations and the other proclamations which
-are printed elsewhere in this pamphlet.
-
- "The City of Brussels, exclusive of its suburbs, has been punished by
- an additional fine of 5,000,000 francs on account of the attack made
- upon a German soldier by Ryckere, one of its police officials.
-
-  "The Governor of Brussels,
-  "BARON VON LUETTWITZ.
-
- "_November 1, 1914._"
-
-Placard posted on the walls of Lunéville by order of the German
-authorities:
-
- "Notice to the People.
-
- "Some of the inhabitants of Lunéville made an attack from ambuscade on
- the German columns and wagons (_trains_). The same day [some of the]
- inhabitants shot at sanitary formations marked with the Red Cross. In
- addition, German wounded and the military hospital containing a German
- ambulance were fired upon.
-
- "Because of these acts of hostility a fine of 650,000 francs is
- imposed upon the commune of Lunéville. The mayor is ordered to pay
- this sum in gold or silver up to 50,000 francs, September 6, 1914,
- at nine o'clock in the morning, to the representative of the German
- military authority. All protests will be considered null and void. No
- delay will be granted.
-
- "If the commune does not punctually obey the order to pay the sum of
- 650,000 francs, all property that can be levied upon will be seized.
-
- "In case of non-payment, visits from house to house will be made
- and all the inhabitants will be searched. If anyone knowingly has
- concealed money or attempted to hold back his goods from the seizure
- by the military authorities, or if anyone attempts to leave the city,
- he will be shot.
-
- "The Mayor and the hostages taken by the military authorities will be
- held responsible for the exact execution of the above orders.
-
- "The Mayor is ordered to publish immediately this notice to the
- Commune.
-
- "Hénaménil, Sept. 3, 1914.
-
-  "The General in Chief,
-
-  "VON FASBENDER."
-
-The German officers were provided with the forms to be used in
-terrorizing the conquered people. The common soldiers were provided
-with phrase books which would enable them to impose their will upon the
-terrified people. Minister Brand Whitlock in his report to the State
-Department on September 12, 1917, writes:
-
- "The German soldiers were provided with phrase books giving alternate
- translations in German and French of such sentences as:
-
- "'Hands up.' (It is the very first sentence in the book.)
-
- "'Carry out all the furniture.
-
- "'I am thirsty. Bring me some beer, gin, rum.
-
- "'You have to supply a barrel of wine and a keg of beer.
-
- "'If you lie to me, I will have you shot immediately.
-
- "'Lead me to the wealthiest inhabitants of this village. I have orders
- to requisition several barrels of wine.
-
- "'Show us the way to ----. If you lead us astray, you will be shot.'"
-
-[Sidenote: The system of frightfulness.]
-
-The quotations and proclamations printed above show clearly the
-attitude of mind of the German military authorities. The policy of
-frightfulness had been exalted into a system with every minute detail
-worked out in advance. The _German War Book_ with its "cold-blooded
-doctrines of the nature of war and of the means which may be employed
-in prosecuting war," did its work in training the German military
-officials. Of this book it has been well said: "It is the first time in
-the history of mankind that a creed so revolting has been deliberately
-formulated by a great civilized State." The generals gave their
-sanction to this policy of frightfulness. Gen. von Bernhardi was quoted
-in an interview in the _Neue Freie Presse_ of Vienna, as follows:
-
- "One cannot make war in a sentimental fashion. The more pitiless the
- conduct of the war, the more humane it is in reality, for it will run
- its course all the sooner. The war which of all wars is and must
- be most humane is that which leads to peace with as little delay as
- possible."
-
-This interview was reproduced in the _Berliner Tageblatt_ of November
-20, 1914.
-
-Mr. F.C. Walcott, of the Belgian Relief Commission, tells, in the
-_Geographical Magazine_ for May, 1917, of meeting Gen-von Bernhardi:
-
-[Sidenote: Interview with Bernhardi.]
-
- "As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert
- artillery-man, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the
- next morning, and he asked me if I had read his book, _Germany and the
- Next War_.
-
- "I said I had. He said, 'Do you know, my friends nearly ran me out of
- the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat out of the
- bag." I said, "No, I have not, because nobody will believe it." 'What
- did you think of it?'
-
- "I said, 'General, I did not believe a word of it when I read it, but
- I now feel that you did not tell the whole truth;' and the old general
- looked actually pleased."
-
-Speaking on August 29, 1914, at Münster, of the extreme measures which
-the Germans had felt obliged to take against the civil population of
-Belgium, Gen. von Bissing said:
-
-[Sidenote: Statement by von Bissing.]
-
- "The innocent must suffer with the guilty. * * * In the repression
- of infamy, human lives cannot be spared, and if isolated houses,
- flourishing villages, and even entire towns are annihilated,
- that is assuredly regrettable, but it must not excite ill-timed
- sentimentality. All this must not in our eyes weigh as much as
- the life of a single one of our brave soldiers--the rigorous
- accomplishment of duty is the emanation of a high _Kultur_, and in
- that, the population of the enemy countries can learn a lesson from
- our army."
-
-Gen. von Bissing, after his appointment as governor general of Belgium,
-repeated in substance the above opinion to a Dutch journalist. The
-interview is published in the _Düsseldorfer Anzeiger_ of December 8,
-1914.
-
-Irvin S. Cobb states his conclusions on the responsibility of the
-higher German command for the atrocities:
-
- "But I was an eyewitness to crimes which, measured by the standards of
- humanity and civilization, impressed me as worse than any individual
- excess, any individual outrage, could ever have been or can ever be;
- because these crimes indubitably were instigated on a wholesale basis
- by order of officers of rank, and must have been carried out under
- their personal supervision, direction, and approval. Briefly, what I
- saw was this: I saw wide areas of Belgium and France in which not a
- penny's worth of wanton destruction had been permitted to occur, in
- which the ripe pears hung untouched upon the garden walls; and I saw
- other wide areas where scarcely one stone had been left to stand upon
- another; where the fields were ravaged; where the male villagers had
- been shot in squads; where the miserable survivors had been left to
- den in holes, like wild beasts.
-
- "Taking the physical evidence offered before our own eyes, and
- buttressing it with the statements made to us, not only by natives
- but By German soldiers and German officers, we could reach but one
- conclusion, which was that here, in such and such a place, those in
- command had said to the troops: 'Spare this town and these people.'
- And there they had said: 'Waste this town and shoot these people.'
- And here the troops had discriminately spared, and there they had
- indiscriminately wasted, in exact accordance with the word of their
- superiors." Irvin S. Cobb, _Speaking of Prussians_, New York, 1917,
- pp. 32-34.
-
-These ideas, then, were systematically impressed upon the military and
-official classes. It was necessary, however, to work upon the minds of
-the German people, so that they might lend themselves to the inhuman
-policies advocated by the military leaders. To do this was difficult,
-for, as has been shown above, many of the civilian leaders of public
-opinion, time and again, expressed their horror of the new spirit which
-was animating the military authorities. The Reichstag debates give
-ample evidence of this, and the task of the military leaders would have
-been still more difficult if the Reichstag had had any real power. (See
-War Information Series, No. 3, _The Government of Germany_; see also
-Gerard's _My Four Years in Germany_, Chap. II.)
-
-[Sidenote: Hatred against Belgians.]
-
-The military authorities and those in sympathy with them have done all
-in their power to stimulate a hatred of other peoples in the minds of
-the Germans. A campaign of education before the war was carried on with
-the object of impressing upon the minds of the Germans the treacherous
-nature of the peoples against whom the military leaders were anxious
-to wage war. Not only were the Germans gradually led to believe that
-it was necessary to fight a defensive war against unscrupulous foes,
-but also that these foes would violate every precept of humanity,
-and consequently must be crushed without mercy as a measure of
-self-defense. The fruits of this campaign of suspicion and hatred
-became evident when almost at the outbreak of the war many Germans
-became possessed with the belief that the whole population of Belgium,
-the first country to be invaded, had violated every rule of honorable
-warfare, that the _francs-tireurs_ (guerillas) were everywhere present
-doing their deadly work in secrecy or under the cover of darkness; that
-women and even children were mutilating and killing the wounded or
-helpless prisoners.
-
-The effect of the fables upon the popular mind may be seen in the
-following extracts from German letters:
-
-Extract from a letter written by a German soldier to his brother. (This
-letter, now in the possession of the United States Government, was
-obtained for this pamphlet from Mr. J.C. Grew, formerly secretary to
-the United States Embassy at Berlin.)
-
-  "NOVEMBER 4, 1914.
-
- "The battles are everywhere extremely tenacious and bloody. The
- Englishmen we hate most and we want to get even with them for once.
- While one now and then sees French prisoners, one hardly ever
- beholds French black troops or Englishmen. These good people are not
- overlooked by our infantrymen; that sort of people is mowed down
- without mercy. The losses of the Englishmen must be enormous. There is
- a desire to wipe them out, root and all."
-
-Extract from another letter to a brother:
-
-  "SCHLESWIG, 25, 8, 14 [Aug. 25, 1914].
-
- "DEAR BROTHER, * * * You will shortly go to Brussels with your
- regiment, as you know. Take care to protect yourself against these
- _Civilians_, especially in the villages. Do not let anyone of them
- come near you. _Fire without pity on everyone of them who comes
- too near._ They are very clever, cunning fellows, these Belgians;
- even the women and children are armed and fire their guns. Never go
- inside a house, especially alone. If you take anything to drink make
- the inhabitants drink first, and keep at a distance from them. _The
- newspapers relate numerous cases in which they have fired on our
- soldiers whilst they were drinking._ You soldiers must spread around
- so much fear of yourselves that no civilian will venture to come near
- you. Remain always in the company of others. _I hope that you have
- read the newspapers and that you know how to behave. Above all have no
- compassion for these cut-throats. Make for them without pity with the
- butt-end of your rifle and the bayonet._ * * *
-
-  "Your brother,
-
-  "WILLI."
-
-The Emperor gave his sanction to the reports of the brutal acts of the
-Belgians in a telegram to President Wilson.
-
-[Sidenote: Emperor's telegram.]
-
-  "BERLIN, VIA COPENHAGEN, _Sept. 7, 1914_.
-
-  "SECRETARY OF STATE,
-
-  "_Washington_.
-
- "Number 53. September 7. I am requested to forward the following
- telegram from the Emperor to the President:
-
- "'I feel it my duty, Mr. President, to inform you as the most
- prominent representative of principles of humanity, that after taking
- the French fortress of Longwy, my troops discovered there thousands
- of dumdum cartridges made by special government machinery. The
- same kind of ammunition was found on killed and wounded troops and
- prisoners, also on the British troops. You know what terrible wounds
- and suffering these bullets inflict and that their use is strictly
- forbidden by the established rules of international law. I therefore
- address a solemn protest to you against this kind of warfare, which,
- owing to the methods of our adversaries has become one of the most
- barbarous known in history. Not only have they employed these
- atrocious weapons, but the Belgian Government has openly encouraged
- and since long carefully prepared the participation of the Belgian
- civil population in the fighting. The atrocities committed even by
- women and priests in this guerilla warfare, also on wounded soldiers,
- medical staff and nurses, doctors killed, hospitals attacked by rifle
- fire, were such that my generals finally were compelled to take the
- most drastic measures in order to punish the guilty and to frighten
- the blood-thirsty population from continuing their work of vile murder
- and horror. Some villages and even the old town of Loewen [Louvain],
- excepting the fine hôtel de ville, had to be destroyed in self-defense
- and for the protection of my troops. My heart bleeds when I see that
- such measures have become unavoidable and when I think of the numerous
- innocent people who lose their home and property as a consequence of
- the barbarous behavior of those criminals. Signed. William, Emperor
- and King.'
-
-  "GERARD.      _Berlin._"
-
-Lorenz Müller in the German Catholic review, _Der Fels_, February,
-1915, made the following statement in regard to the Emperor's telegram:
-
-[Sidenote: Refutation by a German.]
-
- "Officially no instance has been proven of persons having fired with
- the help of priests from the towers of churches. All that has been
- made known up to the present, and that has been made the object of
- inquiry, concerning alleged atrocities attributed to Catholic priests
- during this war, has been shown to be false and altogether imaginary,
- without any exception. Our Emperor telegraphed to the President of the
- United States of America that even women and priests had committed
- atrocities during this guerilla warfare on wounded soldiers, doctors
- and nurses attached to the field ambulances. How this telegram can be
- reconciled with the fact stated above we shall not be able to learn
- until after the war."
-
-The _Vorwärts_, of Berlin, October 22, 1914, said:
-
-[Sidenote: Refutation by Vorwärts.]
-
- "We have already been able to establish the falseness of a great
- number of assertions which have been made with great precision and
- published everywhere in the press, concerning alleged cruelties
- committed, by the populations of the countries with which Germany is
- at war, upon German soldiers and civilians. We are now in a position
- to silence two others of these fantastic stories.
-
- "The War Correspondent of the _Berliner Tageblatt_ spoke a few weeks
- ago of cigars and cigarettes filled with powder alleged to have
- been given out or sold to our soldiers with diabolical intent. He
- even pretended that he had seen with his own eyes hundreds of this
- kind of cigarettes. We learn from an authentic source that this
- story of cigars and cigarettes is nothing but a brazen invention.
- Stories of soldiers whose eyes are alleged to have been torn out
- by francs-tireurs are circulated throughout Germany. Not a single
- case of this kind has been officially established. In every instance
- where it has been possible to test the story its inaccuracy has been
- demonstrated.
-
- "It matters little that reports of this nature bear an appearance
- of positive certitude, or are even vouched for by eyewitnesses. The
- desire for notoriety, the absence of criticism, and personal error
- play an unfortunate part in the days in which we are living. Every
- nose shot off or simply bound up, every eye removed, is immediately
- transformed into a nose or eye torn away by the francs-tireurs.
- Already the _Volkszeitung_ of Cologne has been able, contrary to the
- very categorical assertions from Aix-la-Chapelle, to prove that there
- was no soldier with his eyes torn out in the field ambulance of this
- town. It was said, also, that people wounded in this way were under
- treatment in the neighborhood of Berlin, but whenever enquiries have
- been made in regard to these reports, their absolute falsity has been
- demonstrated. At length these reports were concentrated at Gross
- Lichterfelde. A newspaper published at noon and widely circulated
- in Berlin printed a few days ago in large type the news that at the
- Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone there were 'ten German soldiers, only
- slightly wounded, whose eyes had been wickedly torn out.' But to a
- request for information by comrade Liebknecht the following written
- reply was sent by the chief medical officer of the above-mentioned
- field hospital, dated the 18th of the month:
-
- "'SIR,
-
- 'Happily there is no truth whatever in these stories.
-
-  'Yours obediently,
-
-  'PROFESSOR RAUTENBERG.'"
-
-[Sidenote: German soldiers protest against atrocities.]
-
-Thus the teachings of the _German War Book_ and of the German apostles
-of frightfulness, suspicion, and hatred, had now begun to bear their
-natural fruit. But the voice of protest was not entirely silent. A
-considerable number of letters by German soldiers who were shocked by
-the German atrocities were sent to Ambassador Gerard, because he was
-the representative of the United States, the leading neutral nation.
-The three letters which follow, in translation, were received by the
-American ambassador from German soldiers. They were obtained for this
-pamphlet from Secretary Grew; they illustrate both the system and the
-horror of it, which the writers felt.
-
-Here is the protest of a German soldier, an eyewitness of the slaughter
-of Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes and swamps:
-
- "It was frightful, heart-rending, as these masses of human beings
- were driven to destruction. Above the terrible thunder of the cannon
- could be heard the heart-rending cries of the Russians: 'O Prussians!
- O Prussians!'--but there was no mercy. Our Captain had ordered: 'The
- whole lot must die; so rapid fire.' As I have heard, five men and one
- officer on our side went mad from those heart-rending cries. But most
- of my comrades and the officers joked as the unarmed and helpless
- Russians shrieked for mercy while they were being suffocated in the
- swamps and shot down. The order was: 'Close up and at it harder!' For
- days afterwards those heart-rending yells followed me and I dare not
- think of them or I shall go mad. There is no God, there is no morality
- and no ethics any more. There are no human beings any more, but only
- beasts. Down with militarism.
-
- "This was the experience of a Prussian soldier. At present wounded;
- Berlin, October 22, 1914.
-
- "If you are a truth-loving man, please receive these lines from a
- common Prussian soldier."
-
-Here is the testimony of another German soldier on the Eastern front.
-
-  "RUSSIAN POLAND, _December 18, '14_.
-
- "In the name of Christianity I send you these words.
-
- "My conscience forces me as a Christian German soldier to inform you
- of these lines.
-
- "Wounded Russians are killed with the bayonet according to orders.
-
- "And Russians who have surrendered are often shot down in masses
- according to orders, in spite of their heart-rending prayers.
-
- "In hope that you, as the representative of a Christian State will
- protest against this, I sign myself,
-
-  "A GERMAN SOLDIER AND CHRISTIAN.
-
- "I would give my name and regiment, but these words could get me
- court-martialed for divulging military secrets."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The third letter, from the Western front, shows the same horror of the
-system of which the writer was a witness.
-
-  "To the
-  "AMERICAN GOVERNMENT,
-  "_Washington, U.S.A._
-
- "Englishmen who have surrendered are shot down in small groups. With
- the French one is more considerate. I ask whether men let themselves
- be taken prisoner in order to be disarmed and shot down afterwards? Is
- that chivalry in battle? It is no longer a secret among the people;
- one hears everywhere that few prisoners are taken; they are shot down
- in small groups. They say naïvely: 'We don't want any unnecessary
- mouths to feed. Where there is no one to enter complaint, there is no
- judge.' Is there then no power in the world which can put an end to
- these murders and rescue the victims? Where is Christianity? Where is
- right? Might is right.
-
- "A SOLDIER AND MAN WHO IS NO BARBARIAN."
-
-[Sidenote: Socialists oppose system.]
-
-Many of the Germans, as has been already indicated, do not believe
-the reports of the atrocities committed by the Belgian civilians and
-refuse to accept the system of frightfulness. The _Vorwärts_, the
-leading socialistic paper, which has a very wide circle of readers, has
-opposed the policy of frightfulness. All honor to its editors who have
-so courageously opposed powerful military authority! Its editorial,
-entitled "Our Foes," published August 23, 1914, reads as follows:
-
- "We wish to show ourselves humane and friendly towards those whom the
- fortune of war has played into our hands as prisoners. But we wish
- also to be humane towards our foes on the field. We must fight them.
- * * * But fighting does not mean murdering. It does not mean being
- barbarous. * * *
-
- "What should one say when even such an organ as the _Deutsches
- Offizier-Blatt_ expresses its sympathy with a demand that 'the
- beasts' who are taken as francs-tireurs should not be killed but only
- wounded so that they may then be left to a fate 'which makes any help
- impossible?' Or what should we say when the _Deutsches Offizier-Blatt_
- states that 'a punitive destruction even of whole regions' cannot
- 'afford full recompense for the bones of a single murdered Pomeranian
- grenadier' Those are the desires of blood-thirsty fanatics and we
- are thoroughly ashamed of ourselves because it is possible that
- there are people among us who urge such things. Such disclosures in
- themselves, even if they are not followed out, are likely to place our
- fighting quite in the wrong before all the world. * * * Let us show
- knightliness even though we are of the proletariat. Let us take such
- pains that when the fight has finally been fought it will also not
- be so difficult again to work in common as brothers with our class
- associates on the other side of the border."
-
-On the following day, August 24, 1914, the _Vorwärts_ returned to the
-attack in an editorial "Against Barbarism."
-
-[Sidenote: Some Germans demand "orgies of barbarism."]
-
- * * * "One might, in the first place, possibly believe that such a
- demand for a bloody vengeance [against alleged Belgian outrages]
- emanates from a single disease-racked brain; but it appears that whole
- groups among certain classes who represent German _Kultur_ want to
- indulge in orgies of barbarism and to devise a whole system for the
- purpose of organizing 'a war of revenge.'
-
- "What of law and custom! Such thoughts do not stir a 'great nation'.
- Thus in a leading article of the _Berliner Neueste Nachrichten_, the
- demand is made that all the authorities in Brussels--one, the second
- Burgomaster, is generously excepted--should be immediately seized and
- subjected to trial in order to expiate the wrongs which, according
- to fragmentary and highly uncertain reports, were said to have been
- committed by the people. They demand that the captured city should
- immediately pay a fine of 500,000,000 marks; that all stores of the
- conquered territory be requisitioned without paying the inhabitants a
- single penny for them."
-
-Three years later, August 26, 1917, the _Vorwärts_ quoted the following
-passage from the _Deutsche Tagezeitung_:
-
-[Sidenote: Still hold same opinions.]
-
- "We have a ring of politicians who hold that might makes right
- (_Machtpolitiker_) who despise the forces of the inner life and
- believe that they must eliminate all ethical points of view * * * from
- foreign and social politics. For them, Germany of the present and of
- the future is the country of the Krupps and Borsigs, of the Zeppelins
- and the U-boats. Any idea of a connection between politics and morals
- is rejected and any reference to the right of a moral method of
- consideration is ridiculed as delusion and sentimentality."
-
-[Sidenote: Belgian warning of danger.]
-
-Naturally the reports of the atrocities committed by the Germans and
-the Emperor's declaration that the war would henceforth assume a
-terrible character (_grausamen Charakter_) caused grave anxiety among
-the Belgians. In order to avoid the danger of reprisals, the Belgian
-Government, at the beginning of the invasion, had every Belgian
-newspaper publish each day the following notice on its first page, in
-large print:
-
- "TO CIVILIANS.
-
- "The Minister of the Interior advises civilians in case the enemy
- should show himself in their district:
-
- "Not to fight;
-
- "To utter no insulting or threatening words;
-
- "To remain within their houses and close the windows; so that it will
- be impossible to allege that there was any provocation;
-
- "To evacuate any houses or isolated hamlet which the soldiers may
- occupy in order to defend themselves, so that it cannot be alleged
- that civilians have fired;
-
- "An act of violence committed by a single civilian would be a crime
- for which the law provides arrest and punishment. It is all the more
- reprehensible in that it might serve as a pretext for measures of
- oppression, resulting in bloodshed or pillage, or the massacre of the
- innocent population with the women and children."
-
-In the hope of arousing the sympathy and securing the aid of the
-neutral nations, the Belgian Government appointed a committee to
-ascertain the facts about the German practices. The evidence collected
-by the Belgian commissioners is detailed and explicit, and their
-reports give names, places, and dates. It is not possible, however, to
-include in this pamphlet more than the following summary of the charges
-they make against the Germans:
-
- "1. That thousands of unoffending civilians, including women and
- children, were murdered by the Germans.
-
- "2. That women had been outraged.
-
- "3. That the custom of the German soldiers immediately on entering a
- town was to break into wineshops and the cellars of private houses and
- madden themselves with drink.
-
- "4. That German officers and soldiers looted on a gigantic and
- systematic scale, and, with the connivance of the German authorities,
- sent back a large part of the booty to Germany.
-
- "5. That the pillage had been accompanied by wanton destruction and by
- bestial and sacrilegious practices.
-
- "6. That cities, towns, villages, and isolated buildings were
- destroyed.
-
- "7. That in the course of such destruction human beings were burnt
- alive.
-
- "8. That there was a uniform practice of taking hostages and thereby
- rendering great numbers of admittedly innocent people responsible for
- the alleged wrongdoings of others.
-
- "9. That large numbers of civilian men and women had been virtually
- enslaved by the Germans, being forced against their will to work for
- the enemies of their country, or had been carried off like cattle into
- Germany, where all trace of them had been lost.
-
- "10. That cities, towns, and villages had been fined and their
- inhabitants maltreated because of the success gained by the Belgian
- over the German soldiers.
-
- "11. That public monuments and works of art had been wantonly
- destroyed by the invaders.
-
- "12. And that generally the Regulations of the Hague Conference and
- the customs of civilized warfare had been ignored by the Germans,
- and that amongst other breaches of such regulations and customs, the
- Germans had adopted a new and inhuman practice of driving Belgian men,
- women, and children in front of them as a screen between them and the
- allied soldiers."
-
-The German authorities undertook to defend themselves against the
-terrible indictment in the report published by the Belgian Government
-and appointed a German commission, which collected a huge mass of
-materials designed to show that their acts of cruelty were merely acts
-of reprisal necessitated by the deeds of the Belgians. This mass of
-testimony was published in a _German White Book_ with the title _Die
-völkerrechtswidrige Führung des Belgischen Volkskriegs_.
-
-The German commission declared in its findings that the German soldiers
-had acted with humanity, restraint, and Christian forbearance. But the
-sworn statements of German soldiers, which the commission published,
-show the reverse to be true.
-
-[Sidenote: German White Book reveals atrocities.]
-
-It has been well said that the publication of this _German White Book_
-was "an amazing official blunder." The neutral world, whose good
-opinion Germany sought, was not convinced by it that the Belgians had
-committed the atrocities with which the Germans charged them. On the
-other hand, this _White Book_, published by the German Government, will
-be accepted by everyone as conclusive evidence of the massacres and
-other brutal deeds which were carried out as "reprisals" by the orders
-of the German military authorities in Belgium. The names of the German
-officers who gave the terrible orders are published officially, and
-"frequently the very men themselves come forward and depose coldly and
-callously to acts which have degraded the German Army and left a stain
-upon its banners that [future] generations of chivalry will not efface."
-
-Indeed, in the light of the admissions of the _German White Book_, it
-is not too much to say that the time has already come which was spoken
-of by President Wilson in his dispatch to President Poincaré, September
-19, 1914, when he said (speaking for "a nation which abhors inhuman
-practices in the conduct of a war"):
-
- "The time will come when this great conflict is over and when the
- truth can be impartially determined. When that time arrives those
- responsible for violations of the rules of civilized warfare, if
- such violations have occurred, and for false charges against their
- adversaries, must of course bear the burden of the judgment of the
- world."
-
-
-
-
-CHARACTER OF THE MATERIAL USED IN THIS PAMPHLET.
-
-
-[Sidenote: German sources.]
-
-In this pamphlet throughout, as in the preceding pages, the evidence
-is drawn mainly from German and American sources. The German sources
-include official proclamations and other official utterances, letters
-and diaries of German soldiers, and quotations from German newspapers.
-The diaries which are so frequently quoted form a unique source. The
-_Rules for Field Service_ of the German Army advises each soldier to
-keep such a diary while on active service. Very many German soldiers
-who have been taken prisoner had kept such diaries, and these have been
-confiscated by the captors. Many have been published, frequently with
-facsimile reproductions to guarantee their authenticity. The best known
-collection was made by Bédier, whom Prof. Hollmann, of the University
-of Berlin, properly described as "the distinguished Prof. Joseph Bédier
-of the Collège de France." Of Bédier's publication Prof. Nyrop, of the
-University of Copenhagen, says:
-
- "He has translated the diaries and commented upon them just as one
- does with all old historical documents, and, in order that everyone
- may be in a position to check up his work, he has also accompanied
- the account with facsimile copies of the documents he used. Here,
- accordingly, at the outset every proof of the evidence which he has
- employed is provided. No falsification is possible. The accounts
- are those of eyewitnesses, and these eyewitnesses are Germans. They
- tell what they themselves or their comrades have done, and Bédier
- accompanies their remarks with running comments which show that not
- only have common law and the Hague Conventions been violated, but sins
- have also been committed against the most elementary laws of humanity.
- Both the material and the presentation are unassailable. The details
- which are provided by the German soldiers in regard to their own
- violent acts are horror-striking."
-
-Prof. Hollmann attempted to prove that Bédier had made mistakes in
-translating and interpreting, but he did not deny the genuineness of
-the diaries. "These notebooks," he says, "may well be authentic and I
-accept this without further comment for all those which are provided
-with the name of their authors and whose authenticity can in any case
-be established after the war."
-
-[Sidenote: American sources.]
-
-The American evidence is drawn mainly from material in the archives
-of the State Department. In addition, statements from our ambassadors
-and ministers and other well-known officials and authors are given.
-Messrs. Hoover, Kellogg, and Walcott have written statements especially
-for this pamphlet. All of this material is essentially the testimony
-of neutrals, for it is based wholly on observations made before the
-United States entered the war. Occasionally official documents and well
-authenticated facts from foreign sources are used.
-
-[Sidenote: Frightfulness as a system.]
-
-The purpose of this pamphlet is to show that the system of
-frightfulness, which is itself the greatest atrocity, is the definite
-policy of the German Government, against which more humane German
-soldiers themselves revolted at times. For this reason it has not
-seemed necessary to set forth the individual acts of cruelty; such
-acts are cited only when necessary to illustrate the system. Anyone
-who wishes to read chapters of horrors can find them in the _Report of
-the Committee on Alleged German Outrages_, presided over by the former
-British Ambassador to this country and therefore generally known as
-"the Bryce report;" in the official reports by the Belgian _Commission
-d'Enquête_; in the official French reports compiled under the auspices
-of the French minister for foreign affairs; in many other publications,
-and especially in the conclusive admissions of the official _German
-White Book_ cited above. The last, published by the German Government,
-is the most damning testimony concerning the system of frightfulness.
-
-
-I. MASSACRES.
-
-[Sidenote: Protection of noncombatants agreed to by Germany.]
-
-[Sidenote: But her military leaders did not acquiesce.]
-
-In the wars waged in ancient times it was taken for granted that
-conquered peoples might be either killed, tortured, or held as slaves;
-that their property would be taken and that their lands would be
-devastated. "_Vae victis!_--woe to the conquered!" For two centuries
-or more there has been a steady advance in introducing ideas of
-humanity and especially in confining the evils of warfare to the
-combatants. The ideal seemed to have become so thoroughly established
-as a part of international law that the powers at The Hague thought it
-sufficient merely to state the general principles in Article XLVI of
-the regulations: "Family honors and rights, the lives of persons and
-private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must
-be respected. Private property can not be confiscated." Germany, in
-common with the other powers, solemnly pledged her faith to keep this
-article, but her military leaders had no intention of doing so. They
-had been trained in the ideas voiced by Gen. von Hartmann 40 years
-ago: "Terrorism is seen to be a relatively gentle procedure, useful
-to keep the masses of the people in a state of obedience." This had
-been Bismarck's policy, too. According to Moritz Busch, Bismarck's
-biographer, Bismarck, exasperated by the French resistance, which was
-still continuing in January, 1871, said:
-
-[Sidenote: Bismarck's idea in 1871.]
-
- "If in the territory which we occupy, we can not supply everything for
- our troops, from time to time we shall send a flying column into the
- localities which are recalcitrant. We shall shoot, hang, and burn.
- After that has happened a few times, the inhabitants will finally come
- to their senses."
-
-The frightfulness taught by the German leaders had held full sway
-in Belgium. This is best seen in the entries in the diaries of the
-individual German soldiers.
-
-
-EXTRACTS FROM GERMAN WAR DIARIES.
-
-"During the night of August 15-16 Engineer Gr---- gave the alarm in the
-town of Visé. Everyone was shot or taken prisoner, and the houses were
-burnt. The prisoners were made to march and keep up with the troops."
-(From the diary of noncommissioned officer Reinhold Koehn of the Second
-Battalion of Engineers, Third Army Corps.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"A horrible bath of blood. The whole village burnt, the French thrown
-into the blazing houses, civilians with the rest." (From the diary of
-Private Hassemer, of the Eighth Army Corps.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"In the night of August 18-19 the village of Saint-Maurice was punished
-for having fired on German soldiers by being burnt to the ground by
-the German troops (two regiments, the 12th Landwehr and the 17th). The
-village was surrounded, men posted about a yard from one another, so
-that no one could get out. Then the Uhlans set fire to it, house by
-house. Neither man, woman, nor child could escape; only the greater
-part of the live stock was carried off, as that could be used. Anyone
-who ventured to come out was shot down. All the inhabitants left in the
-village were burnt with the houses." (From the diary of Private Karl
-Scheufele, of the Third Bavarian Regiment of Landwehr Infantry.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"At 10 o'clock in the evening the first battalion of the 178th marched
-down the steep incline into the burning village to the north of Dinant.
-A terrific spectacle of ghastly beauty. At the entrance to the village
-lay about fifty dead civilians, shot for having fired upon our troops
-from ambush. In the course of the night many others were also shot, so
-that we counted over 200. Women and children, lamp in hand, were forced
-to look on at the horrible scene. We ate our rice later in the midst
-of the corpses, for we had had nothing since morning. When we searched
-the houses we found plenty of wine and spirit, but no eatables. Captain
-Hamann was drunk." (This last phrase in shorthand.) (From the diary
-of Private Philipp, of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Regiment of
-Infantry, Twelfth Army Corps.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"Aug. 6th crossed frontier. Inhabitants on border very good to us and
-give us many things. There is no difference noticeable.
-
-"Aug. 23rd, Sunday (between Birnal and Dinant, village of Disonge).
-At 11 o'clock the order comes to advance after the artillery has
-thoroughly prepared the ground ahead. The Pioneers and Infantry
-Regiment 178 were marching in front of us. Near a small village the
-latter were fired on by the inhabitants. About 220 inhabitants were
-shot and the village was burnt--artillery is continuously shooting--the
-village lies in a large ravine. Just now, 6 o'clock in the afternoon,
-the crossing of the Maas begins near Dinant * * * All villages,
-châteaux, and houses are burnt down during this night. It was a
-beautiful sight to see the fires all round us in the distance.
-
-"Aug. 24th. In every village one finds only heaps of ruins and many
-dead. (From the diary of Matbern, Fourth Company, Eleventh Jäger
-Battalion, Marburg.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"A shell burst near the 11th Company, and wounded seven men, three very
-severely. At 5 o'clock we were ordered by the officer in command of
-the regiment to shoot all the male inhabitants of Nomény, because the
-population was foolishly attempting to stay the advance of the German
-troops by force of arms. We broke into the houses, and seized all who
-resisted, in order to execute them according to martial law. The houses
-which had not been already destroyed by the French artillery and our
-own were set on fire by us, so that nearly the whole town was reduced
-to ashes. It is a terrible sight when helpless women and children,
-utterly destitute, are herded together and driven into France." (From
-the diary of Private Fischer, Eighth Bavarian Regiment of Infantry,
-Thirty-third Reserve Division.)
-
-Other German soldiers, too, we are glad to see, show their horror at
-the foul deeds.
-
-"The inhabitants have fled in the village. It was horrible. There was
-clotted blood on all the beards, and what faces one saw, terrible to
-behold! The dead, sixty in all, were at once buried. Among them were
-many old women, some old men and a half-delivered woman, awful to see;
-three children had clasped each other, and died thus. The altar and
-the vaults of the church are shattered. They had a telephone there
-to communicate with the enemy. This morning, September 2, all the
-survivors were expelled, and I saw four little boys carrying a cradle,
-with a baby five or six months old in it, on two sticks. All this
-was terrible to see. Shot after shot! Thunderbolt after thunderbolt!
-Everything is given over to pillage; fowls and the rest all killed.
-I saw a mother, too, with her two children; one had a great wound on
-the head and had lost an eye." (From the diary of Lance-Corporal Paul
-Spielmann, of the Ersatz, First Brigade of Infantry of the Guard.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-* * * In the night the inhabitants of Liége became mutinous. Forty
-persons were shot and 15 houses demolished, 10 soldiers shot. The
-sights here make you cry.
-
-"On the 23rd August everything quiet. The inhabitants have so far
-given in. Seventy students were shot, 200 kept prisoners. Inhabitants
-returning to Liége.
-
-"Aug. 24th. At noon with 36 men on sentry duty. Sentry duty is A 1, no
-post allocated to me. Our occupation, apart from bathing, is eating and
-drinking. We live like God in Belgium." (From the diary of Joh. van der
-Schoot, reservist of the Tenth Company, Thirty-ninth Reserve Infantry
-Regiment, Seventh Reserve Army Corps.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"August 17th. In the afternoon I had a look at the little château
-belonging to one of the King's secretaries (not at home). Our men had
-behaved like regular vandals. They had looted the cellar first, and
-then they had turned their attention to the bedrooms and thrown things
-about all over the place. They had even made fruitless efforts to smash
-the safe open. Everything was topsy-turvy--magnificent furniture,
-silk, and even china. That's what happens when the men are allowed to
-requisition for themselves. I am sure they must have taken away a heap
-of useless stuff simply for the pleasure of looting."
-
-"Aug. 23rd. * * * Our men came back and said that at the point where
-the valley joined the Meuse we could not get on any further as the
-villagers were shooting at us from every house. We shot the whole
-lot--16 of them. They were drawn up in three ranks; the same shot did
-for three at a time.
-
-"* * * The men had already shown their brutal instincts; * * *
-
-"The sight of the bodies of all the inhabitants who had been shot
-was indescribable. Every house in the whole village was destroyed.
-We dragged the villagers one after another out of the most unlikely
-corners. The men were shot as well as the women and children who were
-in the convent, since shots had been fired from the convent windows;
-and we burnt it afterwards.
-
-"The inhabitants might have escaped the penalty by handing over the
-guilty and paying 15,000 francs.
-
-"The inhabitants fired on our men again. The division took drastic
-steps to stop the villages being burnt and the inhabitants being shot.
-The pretty little village of Gue d'Ossus, however, was apparently set
-on fire without cause. A cyclist fell off his machine and his rifle
-went off. He immediately said he had been shot at. All the inhabitants
-were burnt in the houses. I hope there will be no more such horrors.
-
-"At Leppe apparently 200 men were shot. There must have been some
-innocent men among them. In future we shall have to hold an inquiry as
-to their guilt instead of shooting them.
-
-"In the evening we marched to Maubert-Fontaine. Just as we were having
-our meal the alarm was sounded--everyone is very jumpy.
-
-"September 3rd. Still at Rethel, on guard over prisoners. * * * The
-houses are charming inside. The middle class in France has magnificent
-furniture. We found stylish pieces everywhere and beautiful silk, but
-in what a state * * * Good God! * * * Every bit of furniture broken,
-mirrors smashed. The Vandals themselves could not have done more
-damage. This place is a disgrace to our army. The inhabitants who fled
-could not have expected, of course, that all their goods would have
-been left intact after so many troops had passed. But the column
-commanders are responsible for the greater part of the damage, as they
-could have prevented the looting and destruction. The damage amounts to
-millions of marks; even the safes have been attacked.
-
-"In a solicitor's house, in which, as luck would have it, all was in
-excellent taste, including a collection of old lace and Eastern works
-of art, everything was smashed to bits.
-
-"I could not resist taking a little memento myself here and there. * *
-* One house was particularly elegant, everything in the best taste. The
-hall was of light oak; I found a splendid raincoat under the staircase
-and a camera for Felix." (From the diary of an officer in the One
-Hundred Seventy-eighth Regiment, Twelfth Saxon Corps.)
-
-But this horror apparently was not shared by the German commander in
-chief, as is evident from the following:
-
- "ORDER.
-
-  "_To the People of Liége._
-
- "The population of Andenne, after making a display of peaceful
- intentions towards our troops, attacked them in the most treacherous
- manner. With my authorisation, the General commanding these troops has
- reduced the town to ashes and has had 110 persons shot.
-
- "I bring this fact to the knowledge of the people of Liége in order
- that they may know what fate to expect should they adopt a similar
- attitude.
-
- "Liége, 22nd August, 1914.
-
-  "GENERAL VON BÜLOW."
-
-The following "Order of the Day" shows how the town of Huy escaped a
-like fate. Drunken German soldiers were frightened and began to shoot
-men and burn houses. The commanding officer condemned this because it
-was not done by his order and because two German soldiers were wounded.
-It is evident that massacres and arson were permitted only when
-commanded by the officers.
-
- "Last night a shooting affray took place. There is no evidence that
- the inhabitants of the towns had any arms in their houses, nor is
- there evidence that the people took part in the shooting; on the
- contrary, it seems that the soldiers were under the influence of
- alcohol, and began to shoot in a senseless fear of a hostile attack.
-
- "The behavior of the soldiers during the night, with very few
- exceptions, makes a scandalous impression.
-
- "It is highly deplorable when officers or noncommissioned officers set
- houses on fire without permission or order of the commanding, or, as
- the case may be, the senior officer, or when by their attitude they
- encourage the rank and file to burn and plunder.
-
- "I require that everywhere strict instructions shall be given with
- regard to the treatment of the life and property of the civilian
- population.
-
- "I prohibit all shooting in the towns without the order of an officer.
-
- "The miserable behaviour of the men caused a noncommissioned officer
- and a private to be seriously wounded by German bullets.
-
-  "The Commanding Officer,
-  "MAJOR VON BASSEWITZ."
-
-In his report of September 12, 1917, to the Secretary of State,
-Minister Whitlock has much to tell of the policy of frightfulness. The
-following passages refer to the subject of massacres:
-
-[Sidenote: Germans force wives to witness husbands' executions.]
-
- "Summary executions took place [at Dinant] without the least semblance
- of judgment. The names and number of the victims are not known, but
- they must be numerous. I have been unable to obtain precise details
- in this respect and the number of persons who have fled is unknown.
- Among the persons who were shot are: Mr. Defoin, mayor of Dinant;
- Sasserath, first alderman; Nimmer, aged 70; consul for the Argentine
- Republic, Victor Poncelet, who was executed in the presence of his
- wife and seven children; Wasseige and his two sons; Messrs. Gustave
- and Léon Nicaise, two very old men; Jules Monin and others were shot
- in the cellar of their brewery. Mr. Camille Pistte and son, aged 17;
- Phillippart, Piedfort, his wife and daughter; Miss Marsigny. During
- the execution of about forty inhabitants of Dinant, the Germans placed
- before the condemned their wives and children. It is thus that Madame
- Albin who had just given birth to a child, three days previously, was
- brought on a mattress by German soldiers to witness the execution of
- her husband; her cries and supplications were so pressing that her
- husband's life was spared."
-
- "On the 26th of August German soldiers entered various streets [of
- Louvain] and ordered the inhabitants of the houses to proceed to the
- Place de la Station, where the bodies of nearly a dozen assassinated
- persons were lying. Women and children were separated from the men
- and forced to remain on the Place de la Station during the whole day.
- They had to witness the execution of many of their fellow-citizens,
- who were for the most part shot at the side of the square, near the
- house of Mr. Hemaide. The women and children, after having remained on
- the square for more than 15 hours, were allowed to depart. The Gardes
- Civiques of Louvain were also taken prisoners and sent to Germany, to
- the camp of Münster, where they were held for several weeks.
-
- "On Thursday, August 27th, order was given to the inhabitants to
- leave Louvain because the city was to be bombarded. Old men, women,
- children, the sick, priests, nuns, were driven on the roads like
- cattle. More than 10,000 of the inhabitants were driven as far as
- Tirlemont, 18 kilometers from Louvain."
-
- "One of the most sorely tried communities was that of the little
- village of Tamines, down in what is known as the Borinage, the coal
- fields near Charleroi. Tamines is a mining village in the Sambre; it
- is a collection of small cottages sheltering about 5,000 inhabitants,
- mostly all poor laborers.
-
- [Sidenote: Massacres in Tamines.]
-
- "The little graveyard in which the church stands bears its mute
- testimony to the horror of the event. There are hundreds of new-made
- graves, each with its small wooden cross and its bit of flowers; the
- crosses are so closely huddled that there is scarcely room to walk
- between them. The crosses are alike and all bear the same date, the
- sinister date of August 22d, 1914."
-
- "But whether their hands were cut off or not, whether they were
- impaled on bayonets or not, children were shot down, by military
- order, in cold blood. In the awful crime of the Rock of Bayard, there
- overlooking the Meuse below Dinant, infants in their mother's arms
- were shot down without mercy. The deed, never surpassed in cruelty by
- any band of savages, is described by the Bishop of Namur himself:
-
- [Sidenote: Slaughter of the innocents at Rocher Bayard.]
-
- "One scene surpasses in horror all others; it is the fusillade of the
- Rocher Bayard near Dinant. It appears to have been ordered by Colonel
- Meister. This fusillade made many victims among the nearby parishes,
- especially those of des Rivages and Neffe. It caused the death of
- nearly 90 persons, without distinction of age or sex. Among the
- victims were babies in arms, boys and girls, fathers and mothers of
- families, even old men.
-
- "It was there that 12 children under the age of 6 perished from the
- fire of the executioners, 6 of them as they lay in their mothers' arms:
-
-  "The child Fiévet, 3 weeks old.
-  "Maurice Bétemps, 11 months old.
-  "Nelly Pollet, 11 months old.
-  "Gilda Genon, 18 months old.
-  "Gilda Marchot, 2 years old.
-  "Clara Struvay, 2 years and 6 months.
-
- "The pile of bodies comprised also many children from 6 to 14 years.
- Eight large families have entirely disappeared. Four have but one
- survivor. Those men that escaped death--and many of whom were riddled
- with bullets--were obliged to bury in a summary and hasty fashion
- their fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters; then after having been
- relieved of their money and being placed in chains they were sent to
- Cassel [Prussia]."
-
-Mr. Hugh Gibson, the secretary of our legation in Belgium, visited
-Louvain during its systematic destruction by the Germans. In _A Journal
-from our Legation in Belgium_, New York, 1917, pages 164-165, he
-relates what the German officers told him:
-
- "It was a story of clearing out civilians from a large part of the
- town, a systematic routing out of men from cellars and garrets,
- wholesale shootings, the generous use of machine guns, and the free
- application of the torch--the whole story enough to make one see red.
- And for our guidance it was impressed on us that this would make
- people respect Germany and think twice about resisting her."
-
-German pastors and professors far from the excitement of the firing
-have defended this policy of frightfulness, e.g.:
-
-[Sidenote: Pastor defends frightfulness.]
-
- "We are not only compelled to accept the war that is forced upon us
- * * * but are even compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a
- ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device, unknown in any
- previous war." Pastor D. Baumgarten, in _Deutsche Reden in schwerer
- Zeit_, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- "The fate that Belgium has called down upon herself is hard for
- the individual, but not too hard for this political structure
- (_Staatsgebilde_), for the destinies of the immortal great nations
- stand so high that they cannot but have the right, in case of need,
- to stride over existences that cannot defend themselves, but live,
- as parasites, upon the rivalries of the great." Prof. H. Oncken, in
- _Süddeutsche Monatsheft_, "South German Monthly."
-
-Would they have dared to defend such a policy if they could have seen
-the announcement sent out by the parish of St. Hadelin with its silent
-eloquence?
-
-This is an invitation to a service in memory of 60 men and women from
-one parish, of whom all but two were killed by the Germans in the
-massacre of August 5 and 6, 1914. The closing sentences are:
-
- PRAY TO GOD FOR THE REPOSE OF THEIR SOULS.
-
-  Gentle Heart of Mary, be my refuge.
-  Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
-  St. Joseph, patron of Belgium, pray for us.
-  St. Hadelin, patron of the parish, pray for us.
-  Sainte Barbe, patroness of kindly death, pray for us.
-
-After reading such ghastly accounts, many of them written by German
-eyewitnesses, and knowing that similar tales were published widely in
-the German newspapers, it is difficult to read with patience such words
-as these:
-
- "The German Army (in which I of course include the Navy) is to-day the
- greatest institute for moral education in the world."
-
- "The German soldiers alone are thoroughly disciplined, and have never
- so much as hurt a hair of a single innocent human being." Houston
- Stewart Chamberlain, in _Kriegsaufsätze_, "War Essays", 1914.
-
- "We see everywhere how our soldiers respect the sacred defencelessness
- of woman and child." Prof. G. Roethe, in _Deutsche Reden in Schwerer
- Zeit_, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."
-
-
-II. HOSTAGES AND SCREENS.
-
-The massacres described above were a part of the German system of
-frightfulness. Another feature of this system was the use of civilians
-as hostages and for screens.
-
-In discussing the use of hostages the _German War Book_ (_Kriegsbrauch
-im Landkriege_) says:
-
-[Sidenote: Views of the German General Staff.]
-
- "By hostages are understood those persons who, as security or bail for
- the fulfillment of treaties, promises, or other claims, are taken or
- detained by the opposing State or its army. Their provision has been
- less usual in recent wars, as a result of which some professors of the
- law of nations have wrongly decided that the taking of hostages has
- disappeared from the practice of civilized nations. * * *
-
- "A new application of 'hostage right' was practiced by the German
- Staff in the war of 1870, when it compelled leading citizens from
- French towns and villages to accompany trains and locomotives in order
- to protect the railway communications which were threatened by the
- people. Since the lives of peaceable inhabitants were, without any
- fault on their part, thereby exposed to grave danger, every writer
- outside Germany has stigmatised this measure as contrary to the law of
- nations and as unjustified towards the inhabitants of the country."
-
-Although their deeds in the Franco-Prussian war had been universally
-condemned, as they themselves admitted, the leaders did not intend
-to abandon such a useful measure of frightfulness. In _L'Interprète
-Militaire_ the forms were provided for such acts in the next war. Both
-in Belgium and in France the Germans have constantly used hostages. The
-evidence is contained in the proclamations of the governing authorities
-and also in the diaries of the German soldiers. A few examples from
-these will illustrate the system which was employed.
-
-A specimen of the arbitrariness and cruelty is furnished by the
-proclamation of Maj. Dieckmann, from which the following sections are
-presented:
-
- FROM A PROCLAMATION BY MAJ. DIECKMANN, SEPTEMBER, 1914.
-
- "4. After 9 a.m. on the 7th September, I will permit the houses in
- Beyne-Heusay, Grivegnée, and Bois-de-Breux to be inhabited by the
- persons who lived in them formerly, as long as these persons are not
- forbidden to frequent these localities by official prohibition.
-
- [Sidenote: Maj. Dieckmann seizes hostages.]
-
- "5. In order to be sure that the above-mentioned permit will not
- be abused, the Burgomasters of Beyne-Heusay and of Grivegnée must
- immediately prepare lists of prominent persons who will be held as
- hostages for 24 hours each at Fort Fléron. September 6th, 1914, for
- the first time [the period of detention shall be] from 6 p.m. until
- September 7th at midday.
-
- "The life of these hostages depends on the population of the
- above-mentioned Communes remaining quiet under all circumstances.
-
- "During the night it is severely forbidden to show any luminous
- signals. Bicycles are permitted only between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. (German
- time).
-
- "6. From the list which is submitted to me I shall designate prominent
- persons who shall be hostages from noon of one day until the following
- midday. If the substitute is not there in due time, the hostage must
- remain another 24 hours at the fort. After these 24 hours the hostage
- will incur the penalty of death, if the substitute fails to appear.
-
- "7. Priests, burgomasters, and the other members of the Council are to
- be taken first as hostages.
-
- "8. I insist that all civilians who move about in my district * * *
- show their respect to the German officers by taking off their hats,
- or lifting their hands to their heads in military salute. In case of
- doubt, every German soldier must be saluted. Anyone who does not do
- this must expect the German military to make themselves respected by
- every means."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- A PROCLAMATION BY VON BÜLOW. IN NAMUR, AUGUST, 1914.
-
- "1. The Belgian and French soldiers must be delivered as prisoners of
- war before 4 o'clock in front of the prison. Citizens who do not obey
- will be condemned to hard labor for life in Germany.
-
- "The rigorous inspection of houses will commence at 4 o'clock. Every
- soldier found will be immediately shot.
-
- "2. Arms, powder, and dynamite must be given up at 4 o'clock. Penalty,
- being shot.
-
- "Citizens who know of a store of the above must inform the
- burgomaster, under penalty of hard labor for life.
-
- [Sidenote: Von Bülow takes hostages in every street.]
-
- "3. Every street will be occupied by a German guard, who will take ten
- hostages from each street, whom they will keep under surveillance. If
- there is any rising in the street, the ten hostages will be shot.
-
- "4. Doors may not be locked, and at night after 8 o'clock there must
- be lights at three windows in every house.
-
- "5. It is forbidden to be in the street after 8 o'clock. The
- inhabitants of Namur must understand that there is no greater and more
- horrible crime than to compromise the existence of the town and the
- life of its citizens by risings against the German Army.
-
-  "The Commander of the Town,
-  "VON BÜLOW.
-
-  "NAMUR, _25th August, 1914_. (Printed by Chantraine)."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- PROCLAMATION POSTED AT BRUSSELS AND ELSEWHERE, OCTOBER 5, 1914.
-
- "September 25th, in the evening, the railroad track and telegraph were
- destroyed on the line Lovenjoul-Vertryck. * * *
-
- [Sidenote: Hostages are made responsible for railroads.]
-
- "Henceforth the villages situated nearest the spot where such events
- take place--it is of no consequence whether they are guilty or
- not--will be punished without mercy. For this purpose hostages have
- been taken from all places in the vicinity of railways in danger of
- similar attacks; and at the first attempt to destroy any railway,
- telegraph, or telephone line they will be immediately shot.
-
- "Furthermore, all troops entrusted with the protection of railways
- have received orders to shoot anyone approaching railways or telegraph
- or telephone lines in a suspicious manner.
-
- "The Governor General of Belgium,
-
-  "BARON VON DER GOLTZ,
-  "_Field-Marshal_."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- PROCLAMATION TO THE POPULATION OF RHEIMS.
-
- "In order to insure sufficiently the safety of our troops and the
- tranquility of the population of Rheims, the persons mentioned have
- been seized as hostages by the Commander of the German Army. These
- hostages will be shot if there is the least disorder. On the other
- hand, if the town remains perfectly calm and quiet these hostages and
- inhabitants will be placed under the protection of the German Army.
-
-  "THE GENERAL COMMANDING.
-
-  "RHEIMS, _12th September, 1914_."
-
-[Sidenote: Over 80 hostages in Rheims.]
-
-Beneath this proclamation there were posted the names of 81 hostages
-and a statement that others had also been seized as hostages. The lives
-of all these men depended in reality upon the interpretation which the
-German military authorities might give to the elastic phrase, "the
-least disorder," in the proclamation.
-
-Hugh Gibson, in _A Journal from our Legation in Belgium_, page 184,
-explains what was likely to happen:
-
- "Another thing is, that on entering a town, they hold the burgomaster,
- the procureur du roi, and other authorities as hostages to insure good
- behavior by the population. Of course, the hoodlum class would like
- nothing better than to see their natural enemies, the defenders of law
- and order, ignominiously shot, and they do not restrain themselves a
- bit on account of the hostages."
-
- STATEMENT FROM DIARY OF BOMBARDIER WETZEL.
-
- "Aug. 8th. First fight and set fire to several villages.
-
- "Aug. 9th. Returned to old quarters; there we searched all the houses
- and shot the mayor and shot one man down from the chimney pot, and
- then we again set fire to the village.
-
- "On the 18th August Letalle (?) captured 10 men with three priests
- because they have shot down from the church tower. They were brought
- to the village of Ste. Marie.
-
- [Sidenote: Hostages at Willekamm.]
-
- "Oct. 5th. We were in quarters in the evening at Willekamm. Lieut.
- Radfels was quartered in the mayor's house and there had two prisoners
- (tied together) on a short whip, and in case anything happened they
- were to be killed.
-
- "Oct. 11th. We had no fight, but we caught about 20 men and shot
- them." (From the diary of Bombardier Wetzel, Second Mounted Battery,
- First Kurhessian Field Artillery, Regiment No. 11.)
-
-The Germans also found it convenient on many occasions to secure
-civilians, both men and women, who could be forced to march or stand in
-front of the troops, so that the countrymen of the civilians would be
-compelled first to kill their own people if they resisted the Germans.
-This usage is illustrated in the following:
-
- LETTER OF LIEUT. EBERLEIN.
-
-  "OCTOBER 7, 1914.
-
- [Sidenote: Civilians used as screens.]
-
- "But we arrested three other civilians, and then I had a brilliant
- idea. We gave them chairs, and we then ordered them to go and sit out
- in the middle of the street. On their part, pitiful entreaties; on
- ours, a few blows from the butt end of the rifle. Little by little
- one becomes terribly callous at this business. At last they were all
- seated outside in the street. I do not know what anguished prayers
- they may have said but I noticed that their hands were convulsively
- clasped the whole time. I pitied these fellows, but the method was
- immediately effective.
-
- "The flank fire from the houses quickly diminished, so that we were
- able to occupy the opposite house and thus to dominate the principal
- street. Every living being who showed himself in the street was shot.
- The artillery on its side had done good work all this time, and when,
- toward 7 o'clock in the evening, the brigade advanced to the assault
- to relieve us I was in a position to report that Saint Dié had been
- cleared of the enemy.
-
- "Later on I learned that the regiment of reserve which entered Saint
- Dié further to the north had tried the same experiment. The four
- civilians whom they had compelled in the same way to sit out in the
- street were killed by French bullets. I myself saw them lying in the
- middle of the street near the hospital."
-
-  "A. EBERLEIN,
-  "_First-Lieutenant_."
-
- Letter published on the 7th October, 1914, in the "Vorabendblatt" of
- the _Münchner Neueste Nachrichten_.
-
-Minister Whitlock, in his report of September 12, 1917, to the
-Secretary of State, gives an instance of this German practice of
-seeking protection.
-
-[Sidenote: "No respect to the cassock."]
-
-"The Germans attacked Hougaerde on the 18th August; the Belgian troops
-were holding the Gette Bridge in the village. The Germans forced the
-parish priest of Autgaerden to walk in front of them as a shield. As
-they neared the barricade the Belgian soldiers fired and the priest
-was killed. After the retreat of the Belgians the Germans shot 4 men,
-burned 50 houses, and looted 100."
-
-Hugh Gibson, in _A Journal from our Legation in Belgium_, page 155,
-gives another incident:
-
-"Two old priests have staggered into the ---- legation more dead than
-alive after having been compelled to walk ahead of the German troops
-for miles as a sort of protecting screen. One of them is ill, and it is
-said that he may die as a result of what he has gone through."
-
- STATEMENTS OF CARDINAL MERCIER AND HIS FELLOW BISHOPS.
-
- "At the time of the invasion Belgian civilians, in twenty places, were
- made to take part in operations of war against their own country. At
- Termonde, Lebbeke, Dinant, and elsewhere in many places, peaceable
- citizens, women, and children were forced to march in front of German
- regiments or to make a screen before them.
-
- [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier's judgment on the system of hostages.]
-
- "The system of hostages was carried out with a fierce cruelty.
- The proclamation of August 4th, quoted above, declared, without
- circumlocution: 'Hostages will be freely taken.'
-
- "An official proclamation, posted at Liége, in the early days of
- August, ran thus: 'Every aggression committed against the German
- troops by any persons other than soldiers in uniform not only exposes
- the guilty person to be immediately shot, but will also entail the
- severest reprisals against all the inhabitants, and especially against
- those natives of Liége who have been detained as hostages in the
- citadel of Liége by the commandant of the German troops.'
-
- "These hostages are Monsignor Rutten, Bishop of Liége; M. Kleyer,
- burgomaster of Liége; the senators, representatives, and the permanent
- deputy and sheriff of Liége."
-
-The above quotation is taken from _An Appeal to Truth_, addressed Nov.
-24, 1915, by Cardinal Mercier and the other bishops of Belgium to the
-cardinals, archbishops, and bishops of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
-
-[Sidenote: Will Irwin on brutality of German drive through Belgium.]
-
- "Some ten or a dozen American correspondents, of whom I was one,
- witnessed the First German drive through Belgium. Most of us were so
- appalled and horrified by what we saw as to become anti-German for
- life." Will Irwin, in _Saturday Evening Post_, Oct. 6, 1917, p. 41.
-
-
-III. FINES.
-
-The contracting nations, including Germany, who signed the Conventions
-of the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, 1907, pledged themselves
-to the following:
-
-[Sidenote: Germany's promises in Hague conventions.]
-
- "Article L. No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be
- inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals
- for which they can not be regarded as jointly and severally
- responsible."
-
- "Article LII. Requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded
- from municipalities or inhabitants except for the deeds of the army
- of occupation. They shall be in proportion to the resources of the
- country, and of such a nature as not to involve the inhabitants in the
- obligation of taking part in military operations against their own
- country."
-
-[Sidenote: German violations of Hague conventions.]
-
-The German authorities have violated these articles from the very
-beginning. As soon as they invaded Belgium, heavy fines were laid upon
-individual communities as reprisals for some act against the German
-Army or its regulations which was committed within their boundaries. In
-_An Appeal to Truth_ Cardinal Mercier cites the following cases:
-
- "Malines, a working-class town, without resources, has had a fine of
- 20,000 marks inflicted on it because the burgomaster did not inform
- the military authority of a journey which the Cardinal, deprived of
- the use of his motor car, had been obliged to make on foot. In fact,
- upon the flimsiest pretexts heavy fines are inflicted on communes.
- The commune of Puers was subjected to a fine of 3,000 marks because
- a telegraph wire was broken, although the inquiry showed that it had
- given way through wear."
-
-In addition to such arbitrary, sporadic exactions, in December, 1914,
-the Germans demanded 40,000,000 francs ($8,000,000) a month to be paid
-by the Belgian Provinces jointly.
-
-Concerning this enormous imposition Cardinal Mercier says, in the
-_Appeal to Truth_:
-
- "The essential condition of the legality of a contribution of this
- kind, according to the Hague Convention, is that it should bear
- _relation to the resources of the country_, article 52.
-
- [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier's comments.]
-
- "Now, in December, 1914, Belgium was devastated. Contributions of
- war imposed on the towns and innumerable requisitions in kind had
- exhausted her. The greater part of the factories were idle, and in
- those, which were still at work, raw materials were, contrary to all
- law, being freely commandeered.
-
- "It was on this impoverished Belgium, living on foreign charity, that
- a contribution of nearly 500,000,000 francs was imposed."
-
-[Sidenote: The crushing fine is increased.]
-
-The German authorities were not satisfied with this impoverishing levy.
-In November, 1915, one month before the expiration of the twelve-month
-period fixed for the levy, they decreed that this contribution of
-40,000,000 francs a month should be paid for an indefinite period. In
-November, 1916, they increased the levy to 50,000,000 francs a month,
-in May, 1917, to 60,000,000 francs a month. In addition, the German
-authorities have continued to levy fines upon towns and villages for
-acts committed in their neighborhood, although they had no proof that
-these acts had been committed by any inhabitant of the city or village
-thus fined. (Compare taking of hostages, noted above.)
-
-The German military rulers have also made the families responsible
-for acts committed by or charged against members as is shown in the
-following examples, which are quoted from the _Appeal to Truth_, cited
-above.
-
-[Sidenote: Family made responsible.]
-
- "The Belgian Government has sent orders to rejoin the army to the
- militiamen of several classes. * * * All those who receive these
- orders are strictly forbidden to act upon them. * * * _In case of
- disobedience the family of the militiaman will be held equally
- responsible._"
-
- "A warning of the Governor General, dated January 26th, 1915, renders
- the _members of the family_ responsible if a Belgian fit for military
- service, between the ages of 16 and 40, goes to Holland."
-
-The Commander in Chief of the German army in Belgium posted a
-proclamation declaring:
-
- [Sidenote: Villages made responsible.]
-
- "The villages where acts of hostility shall be committed by the
- inhabitants against our troops _will be burned_.
-
- "For all destruction of roads, railways, bridges, etc., _the villages
- in the neighborhood_ of the destruction _will be held responsible_.
-
- "The punishments announced above will be carried out severely and
- without mercy. _The whole community will be held responsible._
- Hostages will be taken in large numbers. The heaviest war taxes will
- be levied."
-
-At the end of the _Appeal to Truth_ Cardinal Mercier says:
-
- "But we can not say all here, nor quote all.
-
- [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier has proofs.]
-
- "If, however, our readers wish for the proof of the accusations * * *
- we shall be glad to furnish them. There is not in our letter, nor in
- the four annexes [to the _Appeal to Truth_], one allegation of which
- we have not the proofs in our records."
-
-A striking illustration of the German methods is contained in the
-archives of the State Department, because the Prince of Monaco appealed
-to President Wilson against the injustice of a fine imposed upon a
-small and impoverished village. The following documents from the State
-Department archives tell the story. They need no comments.
-
-  "PARIS, _Oct. 27, 1914_.
-
-  "SECRETARY OF STATE,
-  "_Washington_.
-
- "Prince of Monaco called this morning and asked that the following
- case be submitted to the President:
-
- [Sidenote: The case of Sissonne.]
-
- "Prince states that General von Bülow for weeks has been inhabiting
- Prince's ancestral château near Rheims, historical monument,
- containing works of art and family heirlooms; that von Bülow has
- imposed fine of five hundred thousand francs on village of Sissonne
- some miles distant from château, because broken glass found on road
- near village. Sissonne being unable alone to pay has raised with a
- number of other neighboring villages one hundred twenty-five thousand
- francs but von Bülow has sent two messengers from Sissonne to Prince
- that unless latter pays fine for Sissonne the château and adjoining
- village, as well as Sissonne, will be destroyed on November first.
- Prince has answered refusing to pay sum now but willing to give his
- word to German Emperor that amount would be paid after removal of
- danger of fresh war incidents. Prince now fearful lest returning
- messengers, as well as male employees on his estate, be shot because
- of refusal to pay.
-
- "I have arranged meeting this afternoon between Spanish Ambassador and
- Prince, to whom I have suggested that matter be presented to German
- Government through Spanish Ambassador at Berlin inasmuch as Prince's
- threatened property is in France.
-
-  "HERRICK."
-
-  "ARMY HEADQUARTERS,
-  "_Warmériville, Sept. 19th, 1914_.
-
-  "TO the MAYOR OF THE COMMUNE OF SISSONNE,
-  "_Sissonne_.
-
- [Sidenote: Von Bülow's levy on Sissonne.]
-
- "It has been conclusively proven that the road between Sissonne and
- the railway station of Montaigu was, on September 18th, strewn with
- broken glass along a distance of one kilometre and at intervals of 50
- metres, for the purpose, no doubt, of impeding automobile traffic.
-
- "I hold the commune of Sissonne responsible for this act of hostility
- on the part of its inhabitants and I punish the said commune by
- levying upon it a contribution of 500,000 francs (five hundred
- thousand francs).
-
- "This sum must be entirely paid into the Treasury of the Etape by
- October 15th.
-
- "The Inspection of the Etape now at Montcornet has been directed to
- enforce execution of this order.
-
- "The General Commander in Chief of the Army.
-
-  "VON BÜLOW."
-
- LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE GERMAN EMPEROR.
-
-  "MONACO, _Oct. 22nd, 1914_.
-
-  "SIRE:
-
- "I forward to Your Majesty several documents relating to a very grave
- and urgent matter.
-
- [Sidenote: Prince of Monaco writes Emperor William.]
-
- "The General von Bülow has caused to be occupied since one month and
- a half my residence of Marchais, situated at five kilometres from the
- village of Sissonne. The general has levied upon the fifteen hundred
- inhabitants of this poor ruined village a war contribution of five
- hundred thousand francs, of which they are unable to pay more than
- one-quarter. Moreover, he has sent to me two emissaries bearing a
- document in which he threatens to destroy my property and the village
- of Marchais, over and above that of Sissonne, in the event of my not
- disbursing myself the sum in question before the end of the month of
- October.
-
- "That is how a Prussian general treats a reigning Prince who for 45
- years has been a friend to Germany, and who in all the countries of
- the world is surrounded with respect and gratitude for his work.
-
- "In reply to the summons of the General von Bülow I have given my
- word of honor to complete the above contribution in order to avert
- a horrible action accomplished in cold blood, but adding that as a
- sovereign Prince I submit this matter to the judgment of the Emperor
- by declaring that the said sum shall be paid when the Château de
- Marchais will be free from the danger of intentional destruction.
-
- "I am, with great respect, Your Majesty's devoted servant and cousin,
-
-  "ALBERT, _Prince of Monaco_."
-
- LETTER ADDRESSED TO GEN. VON BÜLOW.
-
-  "MONACO, _Oct. 22nd, 1914_.
-
-  "GENERAL:
-
- "To avert from the Commune of Sissonne and that of Marchais the
- rigorous treatment with which you have threatened them, I give my word
- of honor to remit to His Majesty the Emperor William, should the war
- come to an end without intentional damage being caused to my residence
- or to these two communes, the necessary sum to complete the amount of
- five hundred thousand francs imposed by you upon Sissonne.
-
- "As a Sovereign Prince, I wish to deal in this matter with the
- Sovereign who, during fifteen years, called me his friend and has
- decorated me with the Order of the Knight of the Black Eagle.
-
- [Sidenote: Prince comments on German treatment of monuments.]
-
- "My conscience and my dignity place me above fear, as also my personal
- will shall elevate me above regret; but should you destroy the Château
- de Marchais which is one of the centers of universal science and
- charity, should you reserve to this archeological and historical gem
- the treatment you have given to the Cathedral of Rheims--when no
- reprehensible action has been committed there--the whole world will
- judge between you and myself.
-
- "I tender to Your Excellency the expression of my high regard.
-
-  "ALBERT, _Sovereign Prince of Monaco_."
-
-
-IV. DEPORTATIONS AND FORCED LABOR.
-
-[Sidenote: Advance in humanity--until August, 1914.]
-
-Until the present war the whole civilized world has boasted of its
-advance in humanity. This advance had been marked in many fields, and
-in none had greater progress been made than in the protection to be
-given to the private citizen in an invaded country. As far back as
-1863, in the _Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United
-States in the Field_ the United States declared:
-
-[Sidenote: United States treatment of civilians, 1863.]
-
- "22. Nevertheless, as civilization has advanced during the last
- centuries, so has likewise steadily advanced, especially in war on
- land, the distinction between the private individual belonging to a
- hostile country and the hostile country itself, with its men in arms.
- The principle has been more and more acknowledged that the unarmed
- citizen is to be spared in person, property, and honor as much as the
- exigencies of war will admit.
-
- "23. Private citizens are no longer murdered, enslaved, or carried
- off to distant parts, and the inoffensive individual is as little
- disturbed in his private relations as the commander of the hostile
- troops can afford to grant in the overruling demands of a vigorous war.
-
- "24. The almost universal rule in remote times was, and continues
- to be with barbarous armies, that the private individual of the
- hostile country is destined to suffer every privation of liberty and
- protection, and every disruption of family ties. Protection was, and
- still is with uncivilized people, the exception."
-
-[Sidenote: German Government's reversion to barbarism.]
-
-These declarations were made in the midst of our Civil War--one of
-the world's fiercest conflicts. A half-century later, after more than
-50 years of progress, the German Government has gone back to the
-methods used by "barbarous armies" and "uncivilized people." It has
-deliberately adopted the policy of deporting men and women, boys and
-girls, and of forcing them to work for their captors; it has even
-compelled them to make arms and munitions for use against their allies
-and their own flesh and blood.
-
-No other act of the German Government has aroused such horror and
-detestation throughout the civilized world. Thousands of helpless men
-and women, boys and girls, have been enslaved. Families have been
-broken up. Girls have been carried off to work--or worse--in a strange
-land, and their relatives have not known where they have been taken, or
-what their fate has been.
-
-This system of forced labor and deportation embraced the whole of
-Belgium, Poland, and the occupied lands of France.
-
-The plan for setting forth the essential facts of the deportations and
-forced labor is as follows: the documents, that is to say, a small
-fraction of those which could be cited, will be allowed to tell the
-story, and only such comments will be added as are needed to enable the
-reader easily to grasp the connection of events.
-
-
-BELGIUM.
-
- "The deportations * * * were the most vivid, shocking, convincing,
- single happening in all our enforced observation and experience of
- German disregard of human suffering and human rights in Belgium."
- Vernon Kellogg, in _Atlantic Monthly_, October, 1917.
-
-A summary of the whole situation, down to January, 1917, can be
-obtained by reading continuously the report of Minister Whitlock, taken
-from the files of the State Department, which is given in italics on
-pages 48-49, 53, 54-55, 67-68, 74-75, 78. The insertion of his report
-at appropriate points has made it possible to avoid all but a minimum
-of repetition.
-
-  "_Legation of the United States of America_,
-  "_Brussels, January 16th, 1917_.
-
-  "_The Honorable the Secretary of State_,
-  "_Washington_.
-
- [Sidenote: Horrifying behavior of the Germans in Belgium.]
-
- "_Sir: I have had it in mind, and I might say, on my conscience, since
- the Germans began to deport Belgian workmen early in November, to
- prepare for the Department a detailed report on this latest instance
- of brutality, but there have been so many obstacles in the way of
- obtaining evidence on which a calm and judicious opinion could be
- based, and one is so overwhelmed with the horror of the thing itself,
- that it has been, and even now is, difficult to write calmly and
- justly about it. I have had to content myself with the fragmentary
- despatches I have from time to time sent to the Department and with
- doing what I could, little as that can be, to alleviate the distress
- that this gratuitous cruelty has caused the population of this unhappy
- land._
-
- [Sidenote: Belgian Government wished to support unemployed Belgians.]
-
- "_In order to understand fully the situation it is necessary to go
- back to the autumn of 1914. At the time we were organizing the relief
- work, the Comité National--the Belgian relief organization that
- collaborates with the Commission for Relief in Belgium--proposed an
- arrangement by which the Belgian Government should pay to its own
- employees left in Belgium, and other unemployed men besides, the wages
- they had been accustomed to receive. The Belgians wished to do this
- both for humanitarian and patriotic purposes; they wished to provide
- the unemployed with the means of livelihood, and, at the same time,
- to prevent their working for the Germans. I refused to be connected
- in any way with this plan, and told the Belgian committee that it had
- many possibilities of danger; that not only would it place a premium
- on idleness, but that it would ultimately exasperate the Germans.
- However, the policy was adopted, and has been continued in practice,
- and on the rolls of the Comité National have been borne the names of
- hundreds of thousands--some 700,000, I believe--of idle men receiving
- this dole, distributed through the communes._
-
- [Sidenote: German cupidity excited.]
-
- "_The presence of these unemployed, however, was a constant temptation
- to German cupidity. Many times they sought to obtain the lists of
- the chômeurs, but were always foiled by the claim that under the
- guarantees covering the relief work, the records of the Comité
- National and its various suborganizations were immune. Rather than
- risk any interruption of the ravitaillement, for which, while loath to
- own any obligation to America, the Germans have always been grateful,
- since it has had the effect of keeping the population calm, the
- authorities never pressed the point, other than with the burgomasters
- of the communes. Finally, however, the military party, always brutal,
- and with an astounding ignorance of public opinion and of moral
- sentiment, determined to put these idle men to work._
-
- "_General von Bissing and the civil portion of his entourage had
- always been and even now are opposed to this policy and I think have
- sincerely done what they could, first, to prevent its adoption, and
- secondly, to lighten the rigors of its application._"
-
- (Continued on page 53.)
-
-In the early days of the German advance into Belgium, the people had
-learned to fear the worst. This was particularly true in Antwerp. In
-order to alleviate their fears and to obtain guarantees which might
-hasten the restoration of settled conditions, Cardinal Mercier secured
-from the German governor of Antwerp promises, and in a circular letter
-dated October 16th, 1914, asked the clergy of the Province of Antwerp
-to communicate them to the people:
-
-[Sidenote: Solemn promises of Germans not to exploit Belgians.]
-
- "The governor of Antwerp, Baron von Hoiningen, General von Huene,
- has authorized me to inform you in his name and to communicate by
- your obliging intermediary to our populations the three following
- declarations:
-
- "(1) The young men need not fear being taken to Germany, either to be
- enrolled into the army or to be employed at forced labors.
-
- "(2) If individual infractions of police regulations are committed,
- the authorities will institute a search for the responsible authors
- and will punish them, without placing the responsibility on the entire
- population.
-
- "(3) The German and Belgian authorities will neglect nothing to see
- that food is assured to the population."
-
-These promises were not kept, as Cardinal Mercier and his colleagues
-show by abundant evidence in the _Appeal to Truth_.
-
- "On March 23rd, at the arsenal at Luttre the German authority posted
- a notice demanding return to work. On April 21st, 200 workmen were
- called for. On April 27th soldiers went to fetch the workmen from
- their homes and take them to the arsenal. In the absence of a workman,
- a member of the family was arrested.
-
- [Sidenote: Violation of German promises.]
-
- "However, the men maintained their refusal to work, 'because they were
- unwilling to co-operate in acts of war against their country.'
-
- "On April 30th, the requisitioned workmen were not released, but shut
- up in the railway carriages.
-
- "On May 4th, 24 workmen detained in prison at Nivelles were tried at
- Mons by a court-martial, 'on the charge of being members of a secret
- society, having for its aim to thwart the carrying out of German
- military measures.' They were condemned to imprisonment.
-
- [Sidenote: Early deportations.]
-
- "On May 8th, 1915, 48 workmen were shut up in a freight car and taken
- to Germany.
-
- "On May 14th, 45 men were deported to Germany.
-
- "On May 18th a fresh proclamation announced that the prisoners would
- receive only dry bread and water, and hot food only every four days.
- On May 22nd three cars with 104 workmen were sent towards Charleroi."
-
- "A similar course was adopted at _Malines_, where, by various methods
- of intimidation, the German authorities attempted to force the workers
- at the arsenal to work on material for the railways, as if it were not
- plain that this material would become war material sooner or later.
-
- "On May 30th, 1915, the Governor General announced that he 'would be
- obliged to punish the town of Malines and its suburbs by stopping all
- commercial traffic if by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 2nd, 500 workmen
- had not presented themselves for work at the arsenal.'
-
- "On Wednesday, June 2nd, not a single man appeared. Accordingly, a
- complete stoppage took place of every vehicle within a radius of
- several kilometres of the town."
-
- "Several workmen were taken by force and kept two or three days at the
- arsenal."
-
- [Sidenote: Belgians asked to make barbed wire.]
-
- "The commune of _Sweveghem_ (Western Flanders) was punished in June,
- 1915, because the 350 workmen at the private factory of M. Bekaert
- refused to make barbed wire for the German Army.
-
- "The following notice was placarded at _Menin_ in July-August,
- 1915: 'By order: From to-day the town will no longer afford aid of
- any description--including assistance to their families, wives,
- and children--to any operatives except those who work _regularly_
- at _military work_, and other tasks assigned to them. All other
- operatives and their families can henceforward not be helped in any
- fashion.'
-
- [Sidenote: Punished for refusal to work for German Army.]
-
- "Similar measures were taken in October, 1915, at
- Harlebekelez-Courtrai, Bisseghem, Lokeren and Mons. From Harlebeke
- 29 inhabitants were transported to Germany. At Mons, in M. Lenoir's
- factory, the directors, foremen, and 81 workmen were imprisoned for
- having refused to work in the service of the German Army. M. Lenoir
- was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the five directors to a
- year each, 6 foremen to 6 months, and the 81 workmen to eight weeks.
-
-[Sidenote: Interference with Red Cross.]
-
- "The General Government had recourse also to _indirect_ methods of
- compulsion. It seized the Belgian Red Cross, confiscated its property,
- and changed its purpose arbitrarily. It attempted to make itself
- master of the public charities and to control the National Aid and
- Food Committee.
-
-[Sidenote: Trickiness of German rulers of Belgium.]
-
- "If we were to cite _in extenso_ the decree of the Governor General
- of August 4th, 1915, _concerning measures intended to assure the
- carrying out of works of public usefulness_, and that of August 15th,
- 1915, '_concerning the unemployed, who, through idleness, refrain from
- work_,' it would be seen by what tortuous means the occupying Power
- attempts to attack at once the masters and the men."
-
-October 12th, 1915, the German authorities took a long step in the
-development of their policy of forcing the Belgians to aid them in
-prosecuting the war. The decree of that date reveals the matter and
-openly discloses a contempt for international law.
-
- DECREE OF OCTOBER 12, 1915.
-
- "Article 1. Whoever, without reason, refuses to undertake or to
- continue work suitable to his occupation, and in the execution of
- which the military administration is interested, such work being
- ordered by one or more of the military commanders, will be liable to
- imprisonment not exceeding one year. He may also be transported to
- Germany.
-
- [Sidenote: Germans flout international law and order Belgians to work
- for them.]
-
- "Invoking Belgian laws or even international conventions to the
- contrary, can, in no case, justify the refusal to work.
-
- "On the subject of the lawfulness of the work exacted, the military
- commandant has the sole right of forming a decision.
-
- "Article 2. Any person who by force, threats, persuasion, or other
- means attempts to influence another to refuse work as pointed out in
- Article 1, is liable to the punishment of imprisonment not exceeding
- five years.
-
- "Article 3. Whoever knowingly by means of aid given or in any other
- way abets a punishable refusal to work, will be liable to a maximum
- fine of 10,000 marks, and in addition may be condemned to a year's
- imprisonment.
-
- "If communes or associations have rendered themselves guilty of such
- offence the heads of the communes will be punished.
-
- "Article 4. In addition to the penalties stated in Articles 1 and 3,
- the German authorities may, in case of need, impose on communes,
- where, without reason, work has been refused, a fine or other coercive
- police measures.
-
- "This present decree comes into force immediately.
-
-  "Der Etappeinspekteur,
-  "VON UNGER,
-  "Generalleutnant.
-
- "GHENT, _October 12th, 1915_."
-
-Cardinal Mercier's brief comment is as follows: "The injustice and
-arbitrariness of this decree exceed all that could be imagined. Forced
-labor, collective penalties and arbitrary punishments, all are there.
-It is slavery, neither more nor less."
-
-[Sidenote: October 3, 1916, German Government inaugurates wholesale
-deportations.]
-
-Cardinal Mercier was in error, for the German authorities were able
-to imagine a much more terrible measure. In October, 1916, when the
-need for an additional labor supply _in Germany_ had become urgent,
-the German government established the system of forced labor _and
-deportation_ which has aroused the detestation of Christendom.
-The reader will not be misled by the clumsy effort of the German
-authorities to mask the real purpose of the decree.
-
- THE DECREE OF OCTOBER 3, 1916.
-
- "DECREE CONCERNING THE LIMITING OF THE BURDENS ON PUBLIC CHARITY....
-
- [Sidenote: German verbal camouflage.]
-
- "I. People able to work may be compelled to work even outside the
- place where they live, in case they have to apply to the charity of
- others for the support of themselves or their dependents on account of
- gambling, drunkenness, loafing, unemployment, or idleness.
-
- "II. Every inhabitant of the country is bound to render assistance in
- case of accident or general danger, and also to give help in case of
- public calamities as far as he can, even outside the place where he
- lives; in case of refusal he may be compelled by force.
-
- "III. Anyone called upon to work, under Articles I or II, who shall
- refuse the work, or to continue at the work assigned him, will incur
- the penalty of imprisonment up to three years and of a fine up to
- 10,000 marks, or one or other of these penalties, unless a severer
- penalty is provided for by the laws in force.
-
- "If the refusal to work has been made in concert or in agreement with
- several persons, each accomplice will be sentenced, as if he were a
- ringleader, to at least a week's imprisonment.
-
- "IV. The German military authorities and Military Courts will enforce
- the proper execution of this decree.
-
-  "The Quartermaster General, SAUBERZWEIG.
-  "GREAT HEADQUARTERS, _3d October, 1916_."
-
-[Sidenote: Hindenburg's responsibility for deportations.]
-
-The responsibility for this atrocious program rests upon the military
-rulers of Germany, who had labored so zealously to infect the army and
-the people with the principles of ruthlessness. It is significant that
-the decree of October 3, 1916, followed hard upon the elevation of
-Hindenburg to the supreme command with Ludendorf as his chief of staff.
-In his long report of January 16, 1917, Minister Whitlock says:
-
- REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued)
-
- [Sidenote: Was Bissing against deportations?]
-
- "_Then, in August, von Hindenburg was appointed to the supreme
- command. He is said to have criticized von Bissing's policy as too
- mild; there was a quarrel; von Bissing went to Berlin to protest,
- threatened to resign, but did not. He returned, and a German official
- here said that Belgium would now be subjected to a more terrible
- régime--would learn what war was. The prophecy has been vindicated.
- Recently I was told that the drastic measures are really of
- Ludendorf's inspiration; I do not know. Many German officers say so._"
- (Continued on p. 54.)
-
-If von Bissing had opposed the policy of deportation when his own
-judgment was overruled, he consented to become the "devil's advocate"
-and defended the system in public. Especially instructive is the
-following conversation reported by Mr. F.C. Walcott:
-
- VON BISSING'S CONVERSATION WITH MR. WALCOTT.
-
- "I went to Belgium to investigate conditions, and while there I had
- opportunity * * * to talk one day with Governor General von Bissing,
- who died three or four weeks ago, a man 72 or 73 years old, a man
- steeped in the 'system,' born and bred to the hardening of the heart
- which that philosophy develops. There ought to be some new word coined
- for the process that a man's heart undergoes when it becomes steeped
- in that system.
-
- "I said to him, 'Governor, what are you going to do if England and
- France stop giving these people money to purchase food?'
-
- "He said, 'We have got that all worked out and have had it worked out
- for weeks, because we have expected this system to break down at any
- time.'
-
- [Sidenote: Bissing says deportation plans were carefully prepared.]
-
- "He went on to say, 'Starvation will grip these people in 30 to 60
- days. Starvation is a compelling force, and we would use that force to
- compel the Belgian workingmen, many of them very skilled, to go into
- Germany to replace the Germans, so that they could go to the front and
- fight against the English and the French.'
-
- "'As fast as our railway transportation could carry them, we would
- transport thousands of others that would be fit for agricultural work,
- across Europe down into southeastern Europe, into Mesopotamia, where
- we have huge, splendid irrigation works. All that land needs is water
- and it will blossom like the rose.'
-
- "'The weak remaining, the old and the young, we would concentrate
- opposite the firing line, and put firing squads back of them, and
- force them through that line, so that the English and French could
- take care of their own people.'
-
- "It was a perfectly simple, direct, frank reasoning. It meant that the
- German Government would use any force in the destruction of any people
- not its own to further its own ends." (Frederic C. Walcott, in _The
- National Geographic Magazine_, May, 1917.)
-
-A brief general view of the character of the deportations can perhaps
-be gained best from the report of Minister Whitlock.
-
- REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).
-
- "_The deportations began in October in the Étape, at Ghent, and at
- Bruges, as my brief telegrams indicated. The policy spread; the rich
- industrial districts of Hainaut, the mines and steel works about
- Charleroi were next attacked; now they are seizing men in Brabant,
- even in Brussels, despite some indications and even predictions of the
- civil authorities that the policy was about to be abandoned._
-
- [The étapes were the parts of Belgium under martial law, and included
- the province of western Flanders, part of eastern Flanders, and the
- region of Tournai. The remainder of the occupied part of Belgium was
- under civil government.]
-
- [Sidenote: The deportations begin.] [Sidenote: Pitiable scenes.]
-
- "_During the last fortnight men have been impressed here in Brussels,
- but their seizures here are made evidently with much greater care
- than in the provinces, with more regard for the appearances. There
- was no public announcement of the intention to deport, but suddenly
- about ten days ago certain men in towns whose names are on the list
- of chômeurs received summons notifying them to report at one of the
- railway stations on a given day; penalties were fixed for failure to
- respond to the summons and there was printed on the card an offer of
- employment by the German Government either in Germany or Belgium. On
- the first day out of about 1,500 men ordered to present themselves
- at the Gare du Midi about 750 responded. These were examined by
- German physicians and 300 were taken. There was no disorder, a large
- force of mounted Uhlans keeping back the crowds and barring access
- to the station to all but those who had been summoned to appear. The
- Commission for Relief in Belgium had secured permission to give to
- each deported man a loaf of bread, and some of the communes provided
- warm clothing for those who had none and in addition a small financial
- allowance. As by one of the ironies of life the winter has been more
- excessively cold than Belgium has ever known it, and while many of
- those who presented themselves were adequately protected against the
- cold, many of them were without overcoats. The men shivering from cold
- and fear, the parting from weeping wives and children, the barriers of
- brutal Uhlans, all this made the scene a pitiable and distressing one._
-
- "_It was understood that the seizures would continue here in Brussels,
- but on Thursday last, a bitter cold day, those that had been convoked
- were sent home without examination. It is supposed that the severe
- weather has moved the Germans to postpone the deportations._"
- (Continued on page 67.)
-
- Cardinal Mercier attempted to persuade the German authorities to
- abandon their terrible plans, reminding them of their solemn promises
- in the past:
-
-  "MALINES, _19th October, 1916_.
-
-  "Mr. GOVERNOR GENERAL:
-
- [Sidenote: Another "Scrap of Paper."]
-
- "The day after the surrender of Antwerp the frightened population
- asked itself what would become of the Belgians of age to bear arms
- or who would reach that age before the end of the occupation. The
- entreaties of the fathers and mothers of families determined me
- to question the governor of Antwerp, Baron von Huene, who had the
- kindness to reassure me and to authorize me in his name to reassure
- the agonized parents. The rumor had spread at Antwerp, nevertheless,
- that at Liége, Namur, and Charleroi young men had been seized and
- taken by force to Germany. I therefore begged Governor von Huene to
- be good enough to confirm to me in writing the guarantee which he had
- given to me orally, to the effect that nothing similar would happen
- at Antwerp. He said to me immediately that the rumors concerning
- deportations were without basis, and unhesitatingly he sent me in
- writing, among other statements, the following: 'Young men have no
- reason to fear that they will be taken to Germany, either to be there
- enrolled in the army or employed for forced labor.'
-
- "This declaration, written and signed, was publicly transmitted to the
- clergy and to those of the Faith of the province of Antwerp, as Your
- Excellency can see from the document enclosed herewith, dated October
- 16th, 1914, which was read in all the churches. [Printed on preceding
- pages.]
-
- "Upon the arrival of your predecessor, the late Baron von der Goltz,
- at Brussels I had the honor of presenting myself at his house and
- requested him to be good enough to ratify for the entire country,
- without time limit, the guarantees which General von Huene had given
- me for the province of Antwerp. The Governor General retained this
- request in his possession in order to examine it at his leisure.
- The following day he was good enough to come in person to Malines
- to bring me his approval, and confirmed to me, in the presence of
- two aides-de-camp and of my private secretary, the promise that the
- liberty of Belgian citizens would be respected.
-
- "To doubt the authority of such undertakings would have been to
- reflect upon the persons who had made them, and I therefore took steps
- to allay, by all the means of persuasion in my power, the anxieties
- which persisted in the interested families.
-
- "Notwithstanding all this, your Government now tears from their homes
- workmen reduced in spite of their efforts to a state of unemployment,
- separates them by force from their wives and children and deports
- them to enemy territory. Numerous workmen have already undergone this
- unhappy lot; more numerous are those who are threatened with the same
- acts of violence.
-
- [Sidenote: Mercier's moving appeal.]
-
- "In the name of the liberty of domicile and the liberty of work of
- Belgian citizens; in the name of the inviolability of families; in
- the name of moral interests which the measures of deportation would
- gravely compromise; in the name of the word given by the Governor of
- the Province of Antwerp and by the Governor General, the immediate
- representative of the highest authority of the German Empire, I
- respectfully beg Your Excellency to be good enough to withdraw the
- measures of forced labor and of deportation announced to the Belgian
- workmen, and to be good enough to reinstate in their homes those who
- have already been deported.
-
- "Your Excellency will appreciate how painful for me would be the
- weight of the responsibility that I would have to bear as regards
- these families, if the confidence which they have given you through my
- agency and at my request were lamentably deceived.
-
- "I persist in believing that this will not be the case.
-
- "Accept, Mr. Governor General, the assurance of my very high
- consideration.
-
-  "D.J. CARDINAL MERCIER,
-  "_Arch. of Malines_."
-
-Municipal governments in Belgium appealed to the German authorities
-to observe their solemn promises. The two documents which follow
-illustrate Belgian appeals and German answers.
-
-
- RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI, OCTOBER 20, 1916.
-
- "In the matter of the requisition made by the German authorities on
- October 20, 1916 (requisition of a list of workmen to be drawn up by
- the municipality) * * *
-
- "The municipal council resolves to maintain its attitude of refusal.
-
- "It further feels it its duty to place on record the following:
-
- "The city of Tournai is prepared to submit unreservedly to all the
- exigencies authorised by the laws and customs of war. Its sincerity
- can not be questioned. For more than two years it has submitted to
- the German occupation, during which time it has lodged and lived at
- close quarters with the German troops, yet it has displayed perfect
- composure and has refrained from any act of hostility, proving thereby
- that it is animated by no idle spirit of bravado.
-
- [Sidenote: Council of Tournai refuses immoral and illegal demands.]
-
- "But the city could not bring itself to provide arms for use against
- its own children, knowing well that natural law and the law of nations
- (which is the expression of natural law) both forbid such action.
-
- "In his declaration dated September 2, 1914, the German Governor
- General of Belgium declared: 'I ask none to renounce his patriotic
- sentiments.'
-
- "The city of Tournai reposes confidence in this declaration, which it
- is bound to consider as the sentiment of the German Emperor, in whose
- name the Governor General was speaking. In accepting the inspiration
- of honor and patriotism, the city is loyal to a fundamental duty, the
- loftiness of which must be apparent to any German officer.
-
- "The city is confident that the straightforwardness and clearness of
- this attitude will prevent any misunderstanding arising between itself
- and the German Army."
-
- GERMAN REPLY TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI.
-
-  "TOURNAI, _23rd October, 1916_.
-
- [Sidenote: And is roundly lectured and fined.]
-
- "In permitting itself, through the medium of municipal resolutions, to
- oppose the orders of the German military authorities in the occupied
- territory, the city is guilty of an unexampled arrogance and of a
- complete misunderstanding of the situation created by the state of war.
-
- "The 'clear and simple situation' is in reality the following:
-
- "The military authorities order the city to obey. Otherwise the city
- must bear the heavy consequences, as I have pointed out in my previous
- explanations.
-
- "The General Commanding the Army has inflicted on the city--on account
- of its refusal, up to date, to furnish the lists demanded--a punitive
- contribution of 200,000 marks, which must be paid within the next six
- days, beginning with to-day. The General also adds that until such
- time as all the lists demanded are in his hands, for every day in
- arrears, beginning with December 31, 1916, a sum of 20,000 marks will
- be paid by the city.
-
-  "HOPFER, _Major General_,
-  "_Etappen-Kommandant_."
-
-The Commission Syndicale of Belgian workingmen also attempted to induce
-the German authorities to abandon their terrible plans.
-
-  "COMMISSION SYNDICALE OF BELGIUM,
-  "_Brussels, 30th Oct., 1916_.
-
-  [TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF BELGIUM.]
-
- "EXCELLENCY: The measures which are being planned by your
- administration to force the unemployed to work for the invading power,
- the deportation of our unhappy comrades which has begun in the region
- of the étapes, move most profoundly the entire working class in
- Belgium.
-
- "The undersigned, members and representatives of the great central
- socialist and independent syndicates of Belgium, would consider that
- they had not fulfilled their duty did they not express to you the
- painful sentiments which agitate the laborers and convey to you the
- echo of their touching complaints.
-
- "They have seen the machinery taken from their factories, the most
- diverse kind of raw materials requisitioned, the accumulation of
- obstacles to prevent the resumption of regular work, the disappearance
- one by one of every public liberty of which they were proud.
-
- [Sidenote: Workmen recite their wrongs at German hands.]
-
- "For more than two years the laboring class more than any other has
- been forced to undergo the most bitter trials, experiencing misery
- and often hunger, while its children far away fight and die, and the
- parents of these children can never convey to them the affection with
- which their hearts are overflowing.
-
- "Our laboring class has endured everything with the utmost calm and
- the most impressive dignity, repressing its sufferings, its complaints
- and heavy trials, sacrificing everything to its ideal of liberty
- and independence. But the measures which have been announced will
- make the population drain the dregs [of the cup] of human sorrow;
- the proletariat, _the poor upon whom unemployment has been forced_,
- citizens of a modern state, are to be condemned to forced labor
- without having disobeyed any regulation or order.
-
- [Sidenote: And appeal for decent treatment.]
-
- "In the name of the families of workmen among which the most painful
- anxiety reigns at present, whose mothers, whose fiancées, and whose
- little children are destined to shed so many more tears, we beg Your
- Excellency to prevent the accomplishment of this painful act, contrary
- to international law, contrary to the dignity of the working classes,
- contrary to everything which makes for worth and greatness in human
- nature.
-
- "We beg Your Excellency to pardon our emotion and we offer you the
- homage of our distinguished consideration.
-
- "(Appended are signatures of members of the National Committee and the
- Commission Syndicale.)"
-
-Von Bissing in his reply, November 3rd, practically admitted the truth
-of the complaint by attempting to justify the measures protested
-against. The arguments which he used are taken up and refuted in the
-letter of the Commission Syndicale, November 14, which follows:
-
-  "COMMISSION SYNDICALE OF BELGIUM,
-  "_Brussels, 14th Nov., 1916_.
-
-  "To His Excellency BARON VON BISSING,
-  "_Governor General in Belgium_.
-
- "EXCELLENCY: The Secretaries and representatives of the socialistic
- and independent labor Unions of Belgium have, with a painful
- disappointment, taken cognizance of the answer which you were good
- enough to make to their petition of October 30th, concerning the
- deportation of laborers to Germany, and it is in the name of the
- working classes as a united whole that we are making a final effort
- to prevent the consummation of an act, without precedent, directed
- against its liberty, its sentiments, and its dignity.
-
- [Sidenote: Socialists refute Bissing's arguments.]
-
- "You say that many industrial works have been closed on account of
- the lack of raw materials brought about by the blockade by the enemy.
- Permit us, Excellency, to remind you that the allied powers manifested
- very clearly their intention to permit the importation into Belgium
- of raw materials required by our industries, provided, with a very
- natural provision, that no requisitions should be made, except those
- mentioned in Article 52 of the Hague Convention, that is to say
- those necessary to the 'occupying army,' and that an international
- commission, the Commission for Relief in Belgium, should have the
- right to supervise the destination of the manufactured products.
-
- "Instead of agreeing to such a proposal, we have seen the occupying
- authorities systematically remove the machinery, implements, machines
- of all kinds, the engines and raw materials, metals, leather, and
- wool, limit production, aggravate continually the difficulties of
- transactions. When communes or committees have desired to employ
- workmen without employment on works of public utility, obstacles have
- been thrown in their way and finally in many cases their undertakings
- have been stopped and broken. In a word, as fast as the most tireless
- efforts were strained to employ as many hands as possible, other men
- were constantly thrown out of work.
-
- [Sidenote: And proudly praise the Belgian workman.]
-
- "You state also that unemployment is caused by the laborers' hostility
- to work. The whole past of our working class protests against this
- accusation with every bit of energy that still remains in them. Where
- is there to be found in the whole world a working class which has made
- of such a small country such a great industrial and commercial power?
- And we, who for the last 25 years have been the enthusiastic witnesses
- of the magnificent efforts of our brother workmen, in the matter of
- their material and moral betterment, we proudly affirm that it is
- not among their ranks that one can find men so degraded as to prefer
- to receive a charitable assistance which barely furnishes them with
- sufficient food to an honest wage given in remuneration for free and
- fruitful work.
-
- "What is true, however, is that the Belgian workmen, conforming to the
- same article 52 of the Hague Convention which only admits requisitions
- of labor 'for the needs of the army of occupation and in case these
- requisitions do not imply an obligation to take part in the war
- against their country,' have refused the most tempting offers, not
- wishing to build trenches nor to repair forts nor to work in factories
- which manufacture war materials. This was their right and their duty.
- Their attitude deserved respect and not the most humiliating of
- punishments.
-
- "You refer to your decrees of August 15th, 1915, and of May 15th,
- 1916, in which are mentioned the possible punishment of any workmen
- who receive support and refuse work suited to their capacities and
- carrying with it a proper wage. Those who know with what care and with
- what minute detail the conditions, under which the unemployed have
- the right to receive assistance, have been established might perhaps
- think that these menaces were, to say the least, useless. But as you
- yourself say, these decrees declare in their article 2 that every
- motive of refusal to work will be considered valid if it is admitted
- by international law.
-
- [Sidenote: Laborers see through the German scheme.]
-
- "For these cases of refusal, the German Authorities reserved the
- right to cause these recalcitrants to appear before Belgian tribunals
- and later before German military tribunals. It is therefore certain
- that the unemployed have the right to refuse to work for any motive
- approved by international law. When summoned before the tribunal they
- have the right to employ counsel in their defense and to state clearly
- their reasons for refusal. One might, of course, say that it is not a
- question obliging the workmen to participate in military enterprise;
- but it is only too evident that every Belgian deported to Germany will
- take the place there of a man who to-morrow will go to reinforce the
- ranks of the enemy. We should like to know, Excellency, whether these
- tribunals carry on their functions.
-
- "You fear that continued unemployment may depreciate the physical and
- moral status of the workmen. We, who know them, have more confidence
- in them. We have seen them suffer with a stoicism which exists only
- in proud and high souls. Did not the splendid idea come from them, of
- organizing throughout the entire country a vast chain of educational
- work for the unemployed in order to develop their technical knowledge
- and to increase their professional value? The _Comité National_ was
- not, alas, authorized to undertake this magnificent enterprise. Is
- it the idea that it is through forced labor, performed with black
- despair, like slaves, that our unhappy brothers will keep up their
- physical and moral energy?
-
- [Sidenote: The Germans have no right to talk about unemployment of
- Belgians.]
-
- "You fear also that 'the assistance which they receive will at length
- weigh down Belgian economic life.' We can with difficulty believe that
- Belgians, as you say, have had the smallness of soul to grudge in that
- form the bitter piece of bread and the little soup which have formed
- the food of so many working families for so many months; and what,
- after all, do the twelve million francs amount to that are distributed
- each month to from 500,000 to 600,000 unemployed, in comparison
- with the destruction, beyond reckoning, of goods and lives which the
- horrors of a war in which it has not the slightest responsibility have
- cost and still cost our country? With the most unshakable faith in
- our destinies; we, the most nearly interested, know that in the near
- future Flanders and _Wallonie_ will rise again, glorious, in history.
-
- [Sidenote: All Belgians understand the German scheme.]
-
- "Excellency, our heart and our reason refuse, then, to believe that it
- is for the good of our class and to avoid an additional calamity to
- our country, that thousands of workers are suddenly torn from their
- families and transported to Germany. Public sentiment has not been
- deceived and in reply to the grievous complaints of the victims, there
- echo the indignant protests of the entire population, as expressed by
- its representatives, its communal magistrates, and those persons who
- constitute the highest incarnation of law in our country.
-
- "Furthermore, the arbitrary and brutal manner employed in the
- execution of these sad measures has raised all kinds of doubts
- regarding the object in view: the need, above all, is to obtain
- workmen in Germany, for Germany's profit, and for the success of its
- arms.
-
- "While at Antwerp they did not take any young men from 17 to 31 years
- who were under the régime of control, in the Borinage they call all
- the men from 17 to 50 years of age; in Walloon Brabant all men over
- 17 years, without making any distinction between the employed and
- unemployed. Men of all professions and of all conditions have been
- taken--bakers, who have never ceased to work in our co-operatives
- of the Borinage, for example; mechanics, who always had employment;
- agricultural workmen, merchants * * * At Lessines on the 6th instant,
- 2,100 persons were taken away, all workmen up to 50 years of age.
- Several cases are cited where old men with five or six of their sons
- have been exiled thus by force.
-
- [Sidenote: The tears of the mothers and the children.]
-
- "Distressing scenes occur everywhere. The unhappy ones gathered
- together in the public squares are rapidly divided into gangs. They
- had been directed to bring a small amount of baggage; they are taken
- at once to the railway station and loaded in cattle cars. They are not
- allowed to say good-bye to their families. No opportunity is given
- to them to put their affairs in order, even the most pressing ones.
- They do not know where they are going, nor for what work, nor for
- how long. Taken away at the beginning of the winter, after two years
- of privations, having no further resources and no means to provide
- themselves with warm clothing or with other indispensable articles,
- what privations are they going to endure? How will they live there?
- In what state will they return? This mystery and this anxiety are the
- cause of the ceaseless tears of the mothers and little children.
- Distress and despair reign in the homes.
-
- "Listen, Excellency, to these tears and these sobs. Do not permit
- our past of liberty and independence to be ruined. Do not permit
- human rights to be violated in its holy of holies. Do not permit the
- dignity of our working classes, which has been acquired after so many
- centuries of effort, to be trodden under foot.
-
- "It is to law and humanity that we appeal, solemnly and with the hope
- of being heard, for we have the profound conviction that by our voice,
- at this tragic hour, the great voice of the working class of the
- entire civilized world expresses its sorrow and its protest.
-
- "Accept, Excellency, the homage of our most distinguished
- consideration."
-
-(Here follow the signatures of the Members of the _Comité Nationale_
-and of the _Commission Syndicale_.)
-
- "We transmit this letter and previous correspondence to the Ministers
- and representatives of Foreign powers at Brussels, as well as to our
- comrades of the Commission Syndicale des Syndicats in Holland."
-
-The files of the State Department contain authentic copies of very many
-such moving protests. The foregoing ones are taken from this pathetic
-collection, and from it may be cited, by way of further illustration,
-some passages from two others:
-
- PROTEST OF BELGIAN MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.
-
-  "BRUSSELS, _9th November, 1916_.
-
-  "To his Excellency, BARON VON BISSING,
-  "_Governor General in Belgium_.
-
- [Sidenote: Belgian legislators recite the wrongs of Belgium.]
-
- "EXCELLENCY: It seemed that no suffering could be added to those under
- which we have already been weighed down since the occupation of our
- country. Our banished liberty, our destroyed industry and commerce,
- our raw products and instruments of work taken out of the country, the
- public fortune ruined, want succeeding to wealth in families formerly
- most prosperous, privations, anxieties, and mourning. * * *
-
- [Sidenote: The "summary and sorrowful" procedure of the Germans.]
-
- "Is there need to relate the scenes which the region of the étape
- has been the theater of for several weeks, and which are now being
- reenacted, during the past days, in the territory of the Government
- General, where this scourge threatens to extend from commune to
- commune until its victims are counted by hundreds of thousands?
- The notices posted on the walls and reproduced in the papers tell
- sufficiently what it is. Everywhere the same procedure, summary and
- sorrowful: arrests in mass, men classified arbitrarily among the
- unemployed, herded together, divided into groups, sent toward the
- unknown. * * *
-
- "The authorities prefer to give them work in Germany, where the
- representatives of the [German] Industrial Bureau promise them 'good
- wages,' if they consent to work there 'voluntarily,' and where they
- may expect, in case of refusal, famine wages. What physical and moral
- depression is counted on in order to force their hand?
-
- [Sidenote: Everyone knows what Germany wants Belgian workers for.]
-
- "True, it has been asserted that the work which is offered to them
- will be nonmilitary in character; but voices have replied on every
- side: 'in taking the place of a German workman, the Belgian workman
- permits Germany to increase the numerical forces of its armies.'
- The most odious work is that whose results are used against the
- fatherland. To serve Germany is to fight against their own country.
- To compel our workmen to do this is nothing else than an act of force
- contrary to international law (referred to by Your Excellency in your
- proclamation of August 15th, 1915), and contrary also to the spirit,
- if not to the text, of the Fourth Convention of the Hague of 1907. * *
- *
-
- "They adjure Your Excellency to employ with the military authorities
- the high prerogatives which are yours from your position to prevent
- the consummation of an act without precedent in the history of
- modern wars, and they beg you to accept the assurance of their most
- distinguished consideration."
-
-  [Signatures of Belgian Senators and Deputies.]
-
- PROTEST OF CARDINAL MERCIER.
-
-  "ARCHBISHOPRIC OF MALINES,
-  "_Malines, 10th November, 1916_.
-
-  "Mr. GOVERNOR GENERAL:
-
- "I refrain from expressing to Your Excellency the sentiments which
- have been evoked in me by your letter of reply to the letter which
- I had the honor to address to you on October 19th, relative to the
- deportation of the unemployed.
-
- [Sidenote: German perfidy.]
-
- "I have recalled with melancholy the words which Your Excellency,
- dwelling upon each syllable, pronounced in my presence, after your
- arrival at Brussels: 'I hope that our relations will be loyal * * * I
- have received the mission of dressing the wounds of Belgium.'
-
- "My letter of October 19th recalled to Your Excellency the engagement
- taken by Baron von Huene, military governor of Antwerp, and ratified
- a few days later by Baron von der Goltz, your predecessor as Governor
- General at Brussels. The engagement was explicit, absolute, unlimited
- as to time: 'The young men need not fear being taken to Germany,
- either to be enrolled in the army _or to be employed at forced labor_.'
-
- "This engagement is being violated every day--thousands of times in
- the last fortnight.
-
- "Baron von Huene and the late Baron von der Goltz did not say
- conditionally, as your despatch of the 26th of October would seek to
- imply: 'If the occupation does not last longer than two years men
- fit for military duty shall not be taken into captivity;' they said
- categorically: 'Young men, and with greater reason, men who have
- reached an advanced age, shall not _at any moment of the occupation,
- either be made prisoners or employed at forced labor_.' * * *
-
- "The decrees, posters, and comments of the press, which were intended
- to prepare public opinion for the measures now being taken, pleaded
- especially two considerations: The unemployed, so they declared, are a
- danger to public security; they are a charge upon governmental charity.
-
- [Sidenote: The Belgians have got no charity from the Germans.]
-
- "It is not true, I said in my letter of October 19th, that our
- workmen have troubled, or even anywhere threatened the public peace.
- Five million Belgians and hundreds of Americans are the astonished
- witnesses of the dignity and the flawless patience of our working
- class. It is not true that the workmen deprived of work are a charge
- upon the occupying power for the charity which is dispensed by
- their administration. The _Comité National_, in which the occupying
- government has no active part, is the sole purveyor of subsistence to
- the victims of enforced idleness. * * *
-
- [Sidenote: The German plan makes Belgians war against their own
- country.]
-
- "Each Belgian workman will liberate a German workman who will add
- one more soldier to the German army. There, in all its simplicity,
- is the fact which dominates the situation. The author of the letter
- himself feels this burning fact, for he writes: 'nor is the measure
- one which affects the conduct of war _properly speaking_ (_proprement
- dite_)'. It is, then, connected with the war _improperly speaking_
- (_improprement dite_); which can only mean that the Belgian workman,
- although he does not bear arms, will free the hands of a German
- workman who will take up the arms. The Belgian workman is forced to
- co-operate, in an indirect but evident manner, in the war against
- his country. This is manifestly contrary to the spirit of the Hague
- Conventions.
-
- "Here is another statement: _unemployment is not caused either by the
- Belgian workman or by England; it is brought about by the régime of
- the German Occupation_.
-
- [Sidenote: No disorder is caused by Belgians.]
-
- "The occupying government has seized considerable supplies of raw
- material intended for our national industry; it has seized and
- shipped to Germany the machinery, tools, and metals of our factories
- and our workshops. The possibility of national labor being thus
- suppressed, there remained one alternative to the workman: to work
- for the German Empire, either here or in Germany; or to remain
- idle. Some thousands of workmen, under the pressure of fright or of
- hunger, accepted, with regret for the most part, work for the enemy;
- but four hundred thousand workmen and workwomen preferred to resign
- themselves to unemployment, with its privations, rather than injure
- the interests of the fatherland; they lived in poverty, with the aid
- of a meager relief allowed them by the _Comité national de secours et
- d' alimentation_, under the supervision of the protecting ministers
- of Spain, America, and Holland. Calm, dignified, they bore without
- a murmur their painful lot. In no part of the country was there a
- revolt or even the semblance of one. Employers and employees awaited
- with patience the end of our long martyrdom. Meanwhile, the communal
- administrations and private initiative endeavored to alleviate the
- undoubted inconveniences of unemployment. But the occupying power
- paralyzed their efforts. The _Comité National_ attempted to organize
- a professional school for the use of the unemployed. This practical
- instruction, respectful of the dignity of our workmen, was meant to
- keep up their skill, increase their capacity for work, and prepare for
- the restoration of the country. Who opposed this noble movement, the
- plan of which had been elaborated by our large manufacturers? Who? The
- occupying government.
-
- [Sidenote: Communes not allowed to furnish work for unemployed.]
-
- "Notwithstanding all this, the communes made every effort to give
- work to the unemployed upon undertakings of public utility; but the
- governor general made these enterprises depend upon permission which,
- as a general rule, he refused. There are numerous cases, I am assured,
- where the General Government authorized undertakings of this kind upon
- the express condition that they should not be undertaken by unemployed.
-
- "They were seeking to create unemployment. They were recruiting the
- army of the unemployed. * * *
-
- "The letter of October 26th says that the first responsibility for the
- unemployment of our workmen rests upon England, because she has not
- allowed raw materials to enter Belgium.
-
- [Sidenote: England not to blame.]
-
- "England generously allows foodstuffs to enter Belgium for the
- revictualling [of the country], under the control of neutral
- States--Spain, the United States, and Holland. She would allow raw
- materials necessary for industry to enter the country under the same
- control if Germany were willing to agree to leave them to us, and not
- to seize the finished products of our industrial work.
-
- [Sidenote: Germany robs Belgians and inflicts privations.]
-
- "But Germany, by various proceedings, notably by the organization of
- its _Centrales_, over which neither the Belgians nor our protecting
- ministers can exercise any efficacious control, absorbs a considerable
- portion of the products of agriculture and of the industry of our
- country. The result is a considerable increase in the cost of living,
- which causes painful privations for those who have no savings. * * *
-
- [Sidenote: Deportation is slavery.]
-
- "Deportation is slavery, and the heaviest penalty of the penal code
- after that of death. Has Belgium, who never did you any wrong,
- deserved at your hands this treatment which cries to heaven for
- vengeance?
-
- "Mr. Governor General, in the beginning of my letter I recalled the
- noble words of Your Excellency: 'I have come into Belgium with the
- mission of dressing the wounds of your country.'
-
- "If Your Excellency could penetrate into the homes of workingmen, as
- we priests do, and hear the lamentations of wives and mothers whom
- your orders cast into mourning and into dismay, you would realize far
- better that the wound of the Belgian people is gaping.
-
- [Sidenote: Cold calculation of Germans.]
-
- "Two years ago, we hear people say, it was death, pillage, fires,
- but it was war! To-day it is no longer war, it is cold calculation,
- intentional destruction, the victory of force over right, the
- debasement of human personality, a cry of defiance to humanity.
-
- "It depends upon you, Excellency, to silence these cries of a revolted
- conscience; may the good God, whom we call upon with all the ardor of
- our soul for our oppressed people, inspire you with the pity of the
- good Samaritan!
-
- "Accept, Mr. Governor General, the homage of my highest consideration.
-
-  "D.J. CARD. MERCIER,
-  "_Arch. of Malines_."
-
-In less moving phrases, but in deadly corroboration, the continuation
-of the report of Minister Whitlock says:
-
- REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).
-
- [Sidenote: Appalling stories of German behavior.]
-
- "_The rage, the terror, and despair excited by this measure all over
- Belgium were beyond anything we had witnessed since the day the
- Germans poured into Brussels. The delegates of the Commission for
- Relief in Belgium, returning to Brussels, told the most distressing
- stories of the scenes of cruelty and sorrow attending the seizures.
- And daily, hourly almost, since that time appalling stories have been
- related by Belgians coming to the Legation. It is impossible for us
- to verify them, first, because it is necessary for us to exercise all
- possible tact in dealing with the subject at all, and secondly because
- there is no means of communication between the Occupations-Gebiet and
- the Etappen-Gebiet. Transportation everywhere in Belgium is difficult,
- the vicinal railways scarcely operating any more because of the lack
- of oil, while all the horses have been taken. The people who are
- forced to go from one village to another must do so on foot or in
- vans drawn by the few miserable horses that are left. The wagons of
- the breweries, the one institution that the Germans have scrupulously
- respected, are hauled by oxen._
-
- [Sidenote: A foul deed.]
-
- "_The well-known tendency of sensational reports to exaggerate
- themselves, especially in time of war, and in a situation like that
- existing here, with no newspapers to serve as a daily clearing house
- for all the rumours that are as avidly believed as they are eagerly
- repeated, should of course be considered; but even if a modicum of all
- that is told is true there still remains enough to stamp this deed as
- one of the foulest that history records._
-
- "_I am constantly in receipt of reports from all over Belgium that
- tend to bear out the stories one constantly hears of brutality and
- cruelty. A number of men sent back to Mons are said to be in a dying
- condition, many of them tubercular. At Malines and at Antwerp returned
- men have died, their friends asserting that they have been victims of
- neglect and cruelty, of cold, of exposure, of hunger._" (Continued on
- page 74.)
-
-A vivid sketch of the deportations from Mons, drawn by a participant,
-may well be cited here:
-
- [Sidenote: "The woes of slavery."]
-
- "I will take the 18th of November of last year [1916]. A week or so
- before that a placard was placed on the walls telling my capital
- city of Mons that in seven days all the men of that city who were
- not clergymen, who were not priests, who did not belong to the city
- council, would be deported.
-
- "At half past five, in the gray of the morning on the 18th of
- November, they walked out, six thousand two hundred men at Mons,
- myself and another leading them down the cobblestones of the street
- and out where the rioting would be less than in the great city, with
- the soldiers on each side, with bayonets fixed, with the women held
- back.
-
- "The degradation of it! The degradation of it as they walked into this
- great market square, where the pens were erected, exactly as if they
- were cattle--all the great men of that province--the lawyers, the
- statesmen, the heads of the trades, the men that had made the capital
- of Hainaut glorious during the last twenty years.
-
- "There they were collected; no question of who they were, whether they
- were busy or what they were doing, or what their position in life. 'Go
- to the right! Go to the left! Go to the right!' So they were turned to
- the one side or the other.
-
- "Trains were standing there ready, steaming, to take them to Germany.
- You saw on the one side the one brother taken, the other brother left.
- A hasty embrace and they were separated and gone. You had here a man
- on his knees before a German officer, pleading and begging to take his
- old father's place; that was all. The father went and the son stayed.
- They were packed in those trains that were waiting there.
-
- "You saw the women in hundreds, with bundles in their hands beseeching
- to be permitted to approach the trains, to give their men the last
- that they had in life between themselves and starvation--a small
- bundle of clothing to keep them warm on their way to Germany. You saw
- women approach with a bundle that had been purchased by the sale of
- the last of their household effects. Not one was allowed to approach
- to give her man the warm pair of stockings or the warm jacket, so
- there might be some chance of his reaching there. Off they went!" John
- H. Gade, in _The National Geographic Magazine_, May, 1917.
-
-The Belgian women sent a touching appeal to Minister Whitlock:
-
- THE APPEAL OF THE BELGIAN WOMEN.
-
-  "BRUSSELS,
-  "_November 18, 1916, 46 Rue de la Madeleine_.
-
-  "His Excellency Mr. BRAND WHITLOCK,
-  "_Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
-  of the United States of America_.
-
-  "MR. MINISTER:
-
- "From the depths of our well of misery our supplication rises to you.
-
- "In addressing ourselves to you, we denounce to your Government, as
- well as to our sisters, the women of the nation which you represent
- in our midst, the criminal abuse of force of which our unhappy and
- defenseless people is a victim.
-
- "Since the beginning of this atrocious war we have looked on
- impotently and with our hearts torn with every sorrow at terrible
- events which put our civilization back into the ages of the barbarian
- hordes.
-
- [Sidenote: No shadow of excuse for deportations.]
-
- "Mr. Minister, the crime which is now being committed under your eyes,
- namely, the deportation of thousands of men compelled to work on enemy
- soil against the interests of their country, can not find any shadow
- of excuse on the ground of military necessity, for it constitutes a
- violation by force of a sacred right of human conscience.
-
- "Whatever may be the motive it can not be admitted that citizens may
- be compelled to work directly or indirectly _for_ the enemy _against_
- their brothers who are fighting.
-
- "The Convention of The Hague has consecrated this principle.
-
- "Nevertheless, the occupying power is forcing thousands of men to this
- monstrous extremity, which is contrary to morals and international
- law, both these men who have already been taken to Germany and those
- who to-morrow will undergo the same fate, if from the outside, from
- neutral Europe and the United States, no help is offered.
-
- [Sidenote: The women of Belgium have kept back their tears.]
-
- "Oh! The Belgian women have also known how to carry out their duty in
- the hour of danger; they have not weakened the courage of the soldiers
- of honor by their tears.
-
- "They have bravely given to their country those whom they loved. * * *
- The blood of mothers is flowing on the battle-fields.
-
- "Those who are taken away to-day do not go to perform a glorious
- duty. They are slaves in chains who, in a dark exile, threatened by
- hunger, prison, death, will be called upon to perform the most odious
- work--service to the enemy against the fatherland.
-
- "The mothers can not stand by while such an abomination is taking
- place without making their voices heard in protest.
-
- "They are not thinking of their own sufferings, their own moral
- torture, the abandonment and the misery in which they are to be placed
- with their children.
-
- [Sidenote: The rights of honor and conscience.]
-
- "They address you in the name of the inalterable rights of honor and
- conscience.
-
- "It has been said that women are 'all powerful suppliants.'
-
- "We have felt authorized by this saying, Mr. Minister, to extend our
- hands to you and to address to your country a last appeal.
-
- "We trust that in reading these lines you will feel at each word the
- unhappy heartbeats of the Belgian women and will find in your broad
- and humane sympathy imperative reasons for intervention.
-
- "Only the united will of the neutral peoples energetically expressed
- can counterbalance that of the German authorities.
-
- "This assistance which the neutral nations can and, therefore, ought
- to lend us, will it be refused to the oppressed Belgians?
-
- "Be good enough to accept, Mr. Minister, the homage of our most
- distinguished consideration."
-
- (Signed by a number of Belgian women and 24 societies.)
-
-The United States Government did not fail to respond to this touching
-appeal and to others of a similar nature. The American Embassy at
-Berlin promptly took up the burning question of the deportations with
-the Chancellor and other representatives of the German Government. In
-an interview with the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr.
-Grew was handed an official statement of the German plans, which is, in
-translation, as follows:
-
- THE GERMAN MEMORANDUM ON BELGIAN "UNEMPLOYMENT."
-
- [Sidenote: More German camouflage.]
-
- "Against the unemployed in Belgium, who are a burden to public
- charity, in order to avoid friction arising therefrom, compulsory
- measures are to be adopted to make them work so far as they are not
- voluntarily inclined to work, in accordance with the regulation
- issued May 15, 1916, by the Governor General. In order to ascertain
- such persons the assistance of the municipal authorities is required
- for the district of the Governor General in Brussels, while in the
- districts outside of the General Government, i.e., in the provinces of
- Flanders, lists were demanded from the presidents of the local relief
- committees containing the names of persons receiving relief. For the
- sake of establishing uniform procedure the competent authorities have,
- in the meantime, been instructed to make the necessary investigations
- regarding such persons also in Flanders through the municipal
- authorities; furthermore, presidents of local relief committees who
- may be detained for having refused to furnish such lists will be
- released."
-
-Mr. Grew pointed out that the deportations were a breach of faith and
-would injure the German cause abroad. In his official summary of the
-negotiations which he carried on he says:
-
- [Sidenote: Mr. Grew points out that Germany excites public opinion
- against her.]
-
- "I then discussed in detail with the Under Secretary of State for
- Foreign Affairs the unfortunate impression which this decision would
- make abroad, reminding him that the measures were in principle
- contrary to the assurances given to the Ambassador by the Chancellor
- at General Headquarters last spring and dwelling on the effect which
- the policy might have on England's attitude towards relief work in
- Belgium. I said I understood that the measures had been promulgated
- solely by the military government in Belgium and that I thought the
- matter ought at least to be brought to the Chancellor's personal
- attention in the light of the consequences which the new policy would
- entail. Herr Zimmermann intimated in reply that the Foreign Office had
- very little influence with the military authorities and that it was
- unlikely that the new policy in Belgium could be revoked. He stated,
- however, in answer to my inquiry, that he would not disapprove of my
- seeing the Chancellor about the matter."
-
-[Sidenote: Mr. Grew appeals to the Chancellor]
-
-Mr. Grew accordingly took up the whole question with the Chancellor,
-and among other arguments urged the promises which the German
-Government had solemnly made to the Belgian civilians through Baron
-von Huene and Baron von der Goltz. [These pledges are set forth in
-detail in Cardinal Mercier's letter of October 19th, 1916, quoted in
-full on preceding pages.] Mr. Grew found it impossible to persuade the
-Chancellor to secure the abandonment of the policy of deportations,
-and thereupon urged that the policy should be modified. His formal
-statement of this phase of the negotiations is as follows:
-
- "The points of amelioration which I then suggested as a concession to
- Belgian national feeling and foreign opinion were as follows:
-
- "1. Only actual unemployed to be taken, involving a more deliberate
- and careful selection.
-
- "2. Married men or heads of families not to be taken.
-
- "3. Employees of the Comité National not to be taken.
-
- [Sidenote: and asks certain concessions]
-
- "4. The lists of the unemployed not to be required of the Belgian
- authorities, but to be determined by the German authorities
- themselves, as a concession to Belgian national feeling, and the
- Belgians, who had already been imprisoned for refusing to supply these
- lists, released.
-
- "5. Deported persons to be permitted to correspond with their families
- in Belgium.
-
- "6. Places of work or concentration camps of deported persons to be
- voluntarily opened by the German Government to inspection by neutral
- representatives.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- "A few days later Count Zech, the Chancellor's adjutant, called on me
- and communicated to me informally and orally the following replies to
- the various suggestions which I had made for concessions and points of
- amelioration:
-
- [Sidenote: but with slight success.]
-
- "1. Only actual unemployed were to be taken. The selections would be
- made in a careful and deliberate manner.
-
- "2. Married men or heads of families could not in principle be
- exempted, but each case would be considered carefully on its merits.
-
- "3. Employees of the _Comité National_ are regarded as actually
- employed and therefore exempt.
-
- "4. It was essential that the Belgian authorities should co-operate
- with the German authorities in furnishing lists of unemployed, in
- order to avoid mistakes. Only one Belgian had been imprisoned for
- refusing to give such lists, and orders had now been given for his
- release.
-
- "5. Deported persons would be permitted to correspond with their
- families in Belgium.
-
- "6. Places of work and concentration camps would in principle be open
- to inspection by Spanish diplomatic representatives.
-
- "American inspection might also be informally arranged if desired.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- "On December 2nd, the Minister at Brussels communicated to me the text
- of a telegram which he had sent to the Department on November 28th,
- stating that he had been encouraged by the report of the results of my
- interview with the Chancellor." * * *
-
-The telegram to which Mr. Grew refers was the following:
-
- MINISTER WHITLOCK'S TELEGRAM OF NOVEMBER 28, 1916.
-
-  "BRUSSELS, VIA THE HAGUE, _November 28, 1916_.
-
-  "SECRETARY OF STATE,
-  "_Washington_.
-
- [Sidenote: Germans are deporting the skilled Belgian workmen.]
-
- "We are naturally encouraged by Grew's telegrams concerning his
- conversations with the Chancellor. It is probable that the orders
- [for softening the rigors of the deportations] have not yet been put
- into effect, as the recruiting of Belgian workmen continues without
- distinction as between the employed and unemployed. I have received
- creditable information that choice is made with great rapidity, which
- allows no time for examination. Mayor in the Province of Namur had
- given a list of unemployed as one hundred. Practically none of the
- persons in this list were taken by the Germans, but from the same
- district hundreds of employed were taken. Apparently the choice is
- based entirely on the skill and physical fitness of the workmen. There
- is a great demand for blacksmiths and iron workers. The identification
- cards from the Commission for Relief in Belgium issued to men working
- for the _Comité National_ were respected in Antwerp; nine men holding
- them were taken at Mons; over thirty at Namur, and a few each day
- in various parts of the country. Over forty thousand are engaged in
- various departments of relief work, however, and this is but a small
- percentage. It is reliably reported that very bad conditions exist
- in the Province of Valenciennes, and that many men have been taken
- there. They have been without food for sixty-three hours and have
- no blankets. Apparently they have been deprived of food in order to
- oblige them to work for the Germans.
-
-  "WHITLOCK,
-  "_American Minister_."
-
-The American minister and the representatives of other powers were able
-to secure some lessening of the severity of the deportations. Minister
-Whitlock says:
-
- REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).
-
- [Sidenote: Neutral representatives are allowed to request
- reconsideration of special cases.]
-
- [Sidenote: They run into high figures.]
-
- "_We have, of course, done all that was in our power to ameliorate the
- conditions without in any way seeming officially to intervene. I have
- already reported to the Department the conversations I have had with
- the officials. Recently I induced the Political Department to request
- that we bring to their attention any case of flagrant injustice, and
- on the basis of this admission we have been sending from time to time
- to the German authorities the names of certain deported Belgians who
- were working at the time of their seizure and therefore did not come
- within the purview of the rule laid down by the German Government
- that the unemployed should be deported. Other neutral Legations in
- Brussels have done the same, and the work has assumed proportions
- that are so large that I fear they may defeat its ends. The Legations
- of Spain and Holland have organized similar bureaus, and so many
- requests for repatriation are received that I have been compelled to
- rent rooms in a vacant house, across the street from the Legation
- in the rue Belliard, to carry on the work. The necessary staff and
- supplies for the work have been furnished by the Comité National,
- which has organized a central bureau that investigates all reports
- received by the Legations in order to determine whether or not the
- persons mentioned have received financial assistance since the war,
- and, as well, to avoid duplication in representations. Inasmuch as it
- is difficult to make exceptions, I fear, as I said before, that the
- very mass of these requests will prevent their being examined with
- any care. So far as we are able to determine, about 100,000 have been
- deported, and of those less than 2,000 have returned._
-
- "_The Spanish Legation which, because of the fact that Spain is
- charged with the protection of Belgian interests in Germany, claims
- precedence in this matter, * * * makes a demand for the return of each
- and every one who applies, and sends in about two hundred names each
- day. The Dutch Legation * * * forwards each request that is presented,
- and, owing to the fact that after the fall of Antwerp, assurances
- were given by the German Authorities through the Dutch Government to
- Belgian refugees in Holland that they would not be deported should
- they return to Belgium, they are receiving a great many. I am told
- that they submit over fifteen hundred each day._ * * *
-
- "_We have a great many requests, and although we try not to
- discriminate we attempt to pick out the most deserving cases, though
- now that I have written that phrase I feel a certain shame in it
- because all the cases are deserving._
-
- [Sidenote: Germans rarely allow food packages to reach deported
- Belgians.]
-
- "_I have had requests from the burgomasters of ten communes from La
- Louvière, asking that permission be obtained to send to the deported
- men in Germany packages of food similar to those that are being sent
- to prisoners of war. Thus far the German authorities have refused
- to permit this except in special instances, and returning Belgians
- claim that even when such packages are received they are used by the
- camp authorities only as another means of coercing them to sign the
- agreements to work._
-
- "_It is said that, in spite of the liberal salary promised those who
- would sign voluntarily, no money has as yet been received in Belgium
- from workmen in Germany._" (Concluded on p. 78.)
-
-The American Government was not content with informal recommendations
-to the German Government, and on December 5, 1916, the American
-representative at Berlin laid this formal protest before the German
-chancellor:
-
- FORMAL PROTEST OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.
-
- [Sidenote: A solemn protest by United States.]
-
- "The Government of the United States has learned with the greatest
- concern and regret of the policy of the German Government to deport
- from Belgium a portion of the civilian population with the result
- of forcing them to labor in Germany, and is constrained to protest
- in a friendly spirit but most solemnly against this action which is
- in contravention of all precedent and those humane principles of
- international practice which have long been accepted and followed by
- civilized nations in their treatment of noncombatants in conquered
- territory. Furthermore, the Government of the United States is
- convinced that the effect of this policy if pursued will in all
- probability be fatal to the Belgian relief work so humanely planned
- and so successfully carried out, a result which would be generally
- deplored and which, it is assumed, would seriously embarrass the
- German Government."
-
-[Sidenote: Other neutrals support American protest.]
-
-This protest was followed by those of the Pope, the King of Spain, the
-Government of Switzerland, and other neutrals. They were of no avail,
-except, perhaps, to lead the German authorities to draw a tighter veil
-over their detestable proceedings. But the evidence has in some measure
-come through, although the full facts will not be known until the
-liberation of heroic Belgium.
-
-In the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_ of December 2, 1916, the
-following protests appeared, made, respectively, by Socialist Deputy
-Haase and Deputy Dittmann, members of the Reichstag:
-
- PROTESTS AGAINST DEPORTATIONS HEARD IN REICHSTAG.
-
- "Thousands of workmen in the occupied territory have been compelled
- to forced labor; we earnestly ask the government to restore to these
- workmen their liberty, especially in Belgium. In truth, we [the
- Germans] find no sympathy in neutral countries; even the Pope has made
- a protest against this procedure, and several neutral states have done
- the same. Common sense itself demands that we abandon this procedure
- which moreover is in opposition to the Hague Convention to which we
- have agreed."
-
- "In opposition to the Secretary of State, I must recall that when
- formerly the Belgian workmen who had fled to Holland returned to
- Belgium, Governor General von Bissing promised that these Belgian
- workmen would under no circumstances be deported to Germany. This
- reassuring promise has not been kept."
-
-Ambassador Gerard's interesting testimony appears in his recent book:
-
- AMBASSADOR GERARD'S EVIDENCE.
-
- [Sidenote: American indignation at deportations.]
-
- "The President [during my visit to America in 1916] impressed upon me
- his great interest in the Belgians deported to Germany. The action
- of Germany in thus carrying a great part of the male population
- of Belgium into virtual slavery had roused great indignation in
- America. As the revered Cardinal Farley said to me a few days before
- my departure, 'You have to go back to the times of the Medes and
- the Persians to find a like example of a whole people carried into
- bondage.'
-
- "Mr. Grew had made representations about this to the Chancellor and,
- on my return, I immediately took up the question.
-
- [Sidenote: Gerard not permitted to visit deported Belgians.]
-
- "I was informed that it was a military measure, that Ludendorf had
- feared that the British would break through and overrun Belgium and
- that the military did not propose to have a hostile population at
- their backs who might cut the rail lines of communication, telephones
- and telegraphs, and that for this reason the deportation had been
- decided on. I was, however, told I would be given permission to visit
- these Belgians. The passes, nevertheless, which alone made such
- visiting possible were not delivered until a few days before I left
- Germany.
-
- [Sidenote: Some of them call on him.]
-
- "Several of these Belgians who were put to work in Berlin managed to
- get away and come to see me. They gave me a harrowing account of how
- they had been seized in Belgium and made to work in Germany at making
- munitions to be used probably against their own friends.
-
- "I said to the Chancellor, 'There are Belgians employed in making
- shells contrary to all rules of war and the Hague Conventions.' He
- said, 'I do not believe it.' I said, 'My automobile is at the door. I
- can take you, in four minutes, to where thirty Belgians are working on
- the manufacture of shells.' But he did not find time to go.
-
- "Americans must understand that the Germans will stop at nothing to
- win this war, and that the only thing they respect is force." James W.
- Gerard, _My Four Years in Germany_, 1917, pp. 351-52.
-
-A similar point of view is expressed in an article entitled "Vae
-Victis" from the Hungarian newspaper _Nepszawa_ of Budapest (quoted in
-K.G. Ossiannilsson, _Militarism at Work in Belgium and Germany_, 1917,
-pp. 53-54).
-
- HUNGARIAN OPINION ON DEPORTATIONS.
-
- "Mechanical skill, and especially qualified mechanical skill, is
- for the moment a more important factor than usual, and as it must
- be obtained where it can be obtained, Belgium has had to suffer in
- accordance with the old saying which always holds good: _Vae victis_
- (woe to the vanquished). In Poland, mechanical skill and the arms
- which exist there are mobilized under 'the glorious and fortunate
- banners of Poland'; in Belgium under 'the banner of necessity.'"
-
- [Sidenote: The Germans are using the Belgians for war work.]
-
- "* * * The question remains: for what kind of work will the Germans
- use the Belgians? * * * Every kind of work in Germany is war work,
- whether it is called agricultural or industrial work. As the deported
- Belgians have not given their consent, their use is contrary to
- international law, and the policy of the Germans in Belgium and Poland
- is equally to be deplored. Instead of aiming at bringing us nearer
- peace, it serves to embitter our opponents and to rouse more hatred
- towards us amongst the neutrals. Many times and more and more we have
- had occasion to observe that the neutrals show more sympathy for
- Belgium than for any other belligerent."
-
-[Sidenote: Belgians still being deported, September, 1917.]
-
-The news dispatches indicate that the deportation and forced labor of
-Belgians still continue. In a dispatch from Havre (New York _Evening
-Post_, September 13, 1917) it is stated: "The removal of the civilian
-population of Belgium continues, according to advices received here.
-The town of Roulers, immediately behind the battle line in Flanders,
-has been evacuated completely. Ostend is being emptied gradually, and
-two thousand persons already have been sent from Courtrai." In another
-dispatch from Havre (_Washington Post_, September 24, 1917) it is
-stated that "the German military authorities at Bruges, Belgium, are
-conscripting forcibly all the boys and men of that city between the
-ages of 14 and 60 to work in munition factories and shipyards. The
-rich and poor, shopkeepers and workmen, all are being taken, only the
-school-teachers, doctors, and priests escaping."
-
- REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (concluded).
-
- [Sidenote: German capacity for blundering.]
-
- "_One interesting result of the deportations remains to be noted,
- a result that once more places in relief the German capacity for
- blundering, almost as great as the German capacity for cruelty. Until
- the deportations were begun there was no intense hatred on the part
- of the lower classes, i.e., the workingmen and the peasants. The
- old Germans of the Landsturm had been quartered in Flemish homes;
- they and the inmates spoke nearly the same language; they got alone
- fairly well; they helped the women with the work, the poor and the
- humble having none of those hatreds of patriotism that are among the
- privileges of the upper classes. It is conceivable that the Flemish
- population might have existed under German rule; it was Teutonic in
- its origin and anti-French always. But now the Germans have changed
- all that._
-
- [Sidenote: Germans will be hated for generations.]
-
- "_They have dealt a mortal blow to any prospect they may ever have
- had of being tolerated by the population of Flanders; in tearing away
- from nearly every humble home in the land a husband and a father or a
- son and brother they have lighted a fire of hatred that will never go
- out; they have brought home to every heart in the land, in a way that
- will impress its horror indelibly on the memory of three generations,
- a realization of what German methods mean, not, as with the early
- atrocities, in the heat of passion and the first lust of war, but by
- one of those deeds that make one despair of the future of the human
- race, a deed coldly planned, studiously matured, and deliberately and
- systematically executed, a deed so cruel that German soldiers are
- said to have wept in its execution, and so monstrous that even German
- officers are now said to be ashamed._
-
-  "WHITLOCK."
-
-Mr. Hoover's mature conclusions on the German practices in Belgium,
-which he has written for this pamphlet, reinforce the detailed evidence
-already presented.
-
- MR. HOOVER'S CONCLUSIONS.
-
-  SEPTEMBER, 1917.
-
- I have been often called upon for a statement of my observation of
- German rule in Belgium and Northern France.
-
- I have neither the desire nor the adequate pen to picture the scenes
- which have heated my blood through the two and a half years that I
- have spent in work for the relief of these 10,000,000 people.
-
- [Sidenote: Belgian atrocities are the result of the "system."]
-
- The sight of the destroyed homes and cities, the widowed and
- fatherless, the destitute, the physical misery of a people but
- partially nourished at best, the deportation of men by tens of
- thousands to slavery in German mines and factories, the execution of
- men and women for paltry effusions of their loyalty to their country,
- the sacking of every resource through financial robbery, the battening
- of armies on the slender produce of the country, the denudation of the
- country of cattle, horses and textiles; all these things we had to
- witness, dumb to help other than by protest and sympathy, during this
- long and terrible time--and still these are not the events of battle
- heat, but the effects of a grinding heel of a race demanding the
- mastership of the world.
-
- All these things are well known to the world--but what can never be
- known is the dumb agony of the people, the expressionless faces of
- millions whose souls have passed the whole gamut of emotions. And why?
- Because these, a free and democratic people, dared plunge their bodies
- before the march of autocracy.
-
- I myself believe that if we do not fight and fight now, all these
- things are possible to us--but even should the broad Atlantic prove
- our present defender, there is still Belgium. Is it worth while for
- us to live in a world where this free and unoffending people is to be
- trampled into the earth and to raise no sword in protest?
-
-  HERBERT HOOVER.
-
-
-FRANCE.
-
-[Sidenote: German practices were the same in all occupied regions.]
-
-In France the German system of forced labor and deportations, with its
-attendant callousness, brutalities, and horrors, was the same as in
-Belgium. Inasmuch as the German system in action has been adequately
-illustrated in the foregoing pages on Belgium, it will suffice in this
-part simply to show the real identity of German practice in the two
-occupied regions. This can be done from the official documents and from
-a summary by Ambassador Gerard. The harrowing details may be gathered
-from the scores of depositions which accompany the note addressed by
-the French Government to the Governments of the neutral powers July 25,
-1916. These are on file in the State Department, and have also been
-translated, along with the official documents, in _The Deportation of
-Women and Girls from Lille_, New York, Doran.
-
- PROCLAMATION OF THE GERMAN MILITARY COMMANDANT OF LILLE.
-
- "The attitude of England makes the provisioning of the population more
- and more difficult.
-
- "To reduce the misery, the German authorities have recently asked for
- volunteers to go and work in the country. This offer has not had the
- success that was expected.
-
- [Sidenote: German proclamation at Lille, April, 1916.]
-
- "In consequence of this the inhabitants will be deported by order
- and removed into the country. Persons deported will be sent to the
- interior of the occupied territory in France, far behind the front,
- where they will be employed in agricultural labor, and not on any
- military work whatever. By this measure they will be given the
- opportunity of providing better for their subsistence.
-
- "In case of necessity, provisions can be obtained through the German
- depots. Every person deported will be allowed to take with him 30
- kilograms of baggage (household utensils, clothes, etc.), which it
- will be well to make ready at once.
-
- "I therefore order that no one, until further orders, shall change
- his place of residence. No one may absent himself from his declared
- legal residence from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. (German time), unless he is in
- possession of a permit in due form.
-
- "Inasmuch as this is an irrevocable measure, it is in the interest of
- the population itself to remain calm and obedient.
-
-  "COMMANDANT.
-
-  "LILLE, _April, 1916_."
-
- NOTICE DISTRIBUTED TO HOUSES IN LILLE.
-
- "All the inhabitants of the house, with the exception of children
- under fourteen and their mothers, and also of old people, must prepare
- themselves for transportation in an hour and a half's time.
-
- [Sidenote: Inhabitants of Lille given 90 minutes to get ready to
- depart.]
-
- "An officer will decide definitely what persons will be taken to the
- concentration camps. For this purpose all the inhabitants of the house
- must assemble in front of it; in case of bad weather they may remain
- in the passage. The door of the house must remain open. All protests
- will be useless. No inmate of the house, even those who are not to be
- transported, may leave the house before 8 a.m. (German time).
-
- "Each person will be permitted to take 30 kilograms of baggage; if
- anyone's baggage exceeds that weight, it will all be rejected without
- further consideration. Packages must be separately made up for each
- person and must bear an address legibly written and firmly affixed.
- This address must contain the surname and the Christian name and the
- number of the identity card.
-
- [Sidenote: Must carry their own cooking utensils.]
-
- "It is absolutely necessary that each person should, in his own
- interest, provide himself with eating and drinking utensils, as well
- as with a woolen blanket, good shoes, and body linen. Everyone must
- carry his identity card on his person. Anyone attempting to evade
- transportation will be punished without mercy.
-
-  "ETAPPEN-KOMMANDANTUR."
-
-  [LILLE, _April, 1916_.]
-
- PROTEST OF BISHOP CHAROST, OF LILLE, ADDRESSED TO GENERAL VON
- GRAEVENITZ.
-
- "MONSIEUR LE GÉNÉRAL: It is my duty to bring to your notice the fact
- that a very agitated state of mind exists among the population.
-
- "Numerous removals of women and girls, certain transfers of men and
- youth, and even of children, have been carried out in the districts of
- Tourcoing and Roubaix without judicial procedure or trial.
-
- [Sidenote: The Bishop protests against deportations.]
-
- "The unfortunate people have been sent to unknown places. Measures
- equally extreme and on a larger scale are contemplated at Lille. You
- will not be surprised, Monsieur le Général, that I intercede with you
- in the name of the religious mission confided to me. That mission
- lays on me the burden of defending with respect but with courage, the
- Law of Nations, which the law of war must never infringe, and that
- eternal morality whose rules nothing can suspend. It makes it my duty
- to protect the feeble and the unarmed, who are as my family to me and
- whose burdens and sorrows are mine.
-
- [Sidenote: Appeals to the humanity of the commander.]
-
- "You are a father; you know that there is not in the order of humanity
- a right more honorable or more holy than that of the family. For every
- Christian the inviolability of God, who created the family, attaches
- to it. The German officers who have been billeted for a long time in
- our homes know how deep in our hearts we of the North hold family
- affection and that it is the sweetest thing in life to us. Thus to
- dismember the family by tearing youths and girls from their homes is
- not war; it is for us tortures and the worst of tortures--unlimited
- moral torture.
-
- [Sidenote: The methods of deportation a danger to morals.]
-
- [Sidenote: Hopes for restoration of the deported.]
-
- "The violation of family rights is doubled by a violation of the
- sacred demands of morality. Morality is exposed to perils, the mere
- idea of which is revolting to every honest man, from the promiscuity
- which inevitably accompanies removals _en masse_, involving mixture
- of the sexes, or, at all events, of persons of very unequal moral
- standing. Young girls of irreproachable life, who have never committed
- any worse offense than that of trying to pick up some bread or a few
- potatoes to feed a numerous family, and who have besides paid the
- light penalty for such trespass, have been carried off. Their mothers,
- who have watched so closely over them and had no other joy than that
- of keeping their daughters beside them, in the absence of father and
- sons fighting or killed at the front--these mothers are now alone.
- They bring to me their despair and their anguish. I am speaking of
- what I have seen and heard. I know that you have no part in these
- harsh measures. You are by nature inclined toward justice; that is
- why I venture to turn to you; I beg you to be good enough to forward
- without delay to the German High Military Command this letter from a
- Bishop, whose deep grief they will easily imagine. We have suffered
- much for the last twenty months, but no stroke of fortune could be
- comparable to this; it would be as undeserved as it is cruel and
- would produce in all France an indelible impression. I cannot believe
- that the blow will fall. I have faith in the human conscience and I
- preserve the hope that the young men and girls of respectable families
- will be restored to their homes in answer to the demand for their
- return and that sentiments of justice and honor will prevail over all
- lower considerations.
-
-  "ALEXIS ARMAND,
-  "_Bishop_."
-
- ADDRESS OF PROMINENT CITIZENS OF ROUBAIX AND TOURCOING TO THE
- PRESIDENT OF FRANCE.
-
-  "To Monsieur RAYMOND POINCARÉ,
-  "_President of the French Republic, Paris_.
-
- "SIR: We have the honor to express again our most sincere gratitude to
- you for your most kind reception, a few days ago, of the deputation
- which went with feelings of legitimate emotion to inform you of the
- deportation of lads and girls, which the German authorities have just
- carried out in the invaded districts.
-
- "We have collected some details on the subject from the lips of an
- honorable and trustworthy person, who succeeded in leaving Tourcoing
- about ten days ago; we think it our duty to bring these details to
- your notice by reproducing textually the declarations which have been
- made to us:
-
- "'These deportations began towards Easter. The Germans announced that
- the inhabitants of Roubaix, Tourcoing, Lille, etc., were going to be
- transported into French districts where their provisioning would be
- easier.
-
- [Sidenote: The procedure of the deportations.]
-
- "'At night, at about 2 o'clock in the morning, a whole district of
- the town was invested by the troops of occupation. To each house
- was distributed a printed notice, of which we give below an exact
- reproduction, preserving the style and spelling. [See second document,
- above.]
-
- "'The inhabitants so warned were to hold themselves ready to depart an
- hour and a half after the distribution of the proclamation.
-
- "'Each family, drawn up outside the house, was examined by an officer,
- who pointed out haphazard the persons who were to go. No words can
- express the barbarity of this proceeding nor describe the heartrending
- scenes which occurred; young men and girls took a hasty farewell of
- their parents--a farewell hurried by the German soldiers who were
- executing the infamous task--rejoined the group of those who were
- going, and found themselves in the middle of the street, surrounded by
- other soldiers with fixed bayonets.
-
- [Sidenote: Sometimes a kind-hearted officer could not carry out the
- brutal orders.]
-
- "'Tears of despair on the part of parents and children so ruthlessly
- separated did not soften the hearts of the brutal Germans. Sometimes,
- however, a more kind-hearted officer yielded to too great a despair,
- and did not choose all the persons whom he should--by the terms of his
- instructions--have separated.
-
- "'These girls and lads were taken in street cars to factories, where
- they were numbered and labelled like cattle and grouped to form
- convoys. In these factories they remained twelve, twenty-four, or
- thirty-six hours until a train was ready to remove them.
-
- "'The deportation began with the villages of Roncq, Halluin, etc.,
- then Tourcoing and Roubaix. In towns the Germans proceeded by
- districts.
-
- [Sidenote: Numbers deported.]
-
- "'In all about 30,000 persons are said to have been carried off up
- to the present. This monstrous operation has taken eight to ten days
- to accomplish. It is feared, unfortunately, that it may begin again
- soon. The departures took place in freight cars to the sound of the
- "Marseillaise."
-
- "'The reason given by the German authorities is a humanitarian (?)
- one. They have put forward the following pretexts: provisioning is
- going to break down in the large towns in the north and their suburbs,
- whereas in the Ardennes the feeding is easy and cheap.
-
- [Sidenote: Young men and girls lodged in "disgraceful promiscuity."]
-
- "'It is known from the young men and girls, since sent back to
- their families for reasons of health, that in the Department of the
- Ardennes the victims are lodged in a terrible manner, in disgraceful
- promiscuity; they are compelled to work in the fields. It is
- unnecessary to say that the inhabitants of our towns are not trained
- to such work. The Germans pay them 1.50 m. But there are complaints of
- insufficient food.
-
- "'They were very badly received in the Ardennes. The Germans had told
- the Ardennais that these were "volunteers" who were coming to work,
- and the Ardennais proceeded to receive them with many insults, which
- only ceased when the forcible deportation, of which they were the
- victims, became known.
-
- "'Feeling ran especially high in our towns. Never has so iniquitous a
- measure been carried out. The Germans have shown all the barbarity of
- slave drivers.
-
- "'The families so scattered are in despair and the morale of the
- whole population is gravely affected. Boys of 14, schoolboys in
- knickerbockers, young girls of 15 to 16 have been carried off, and the
- despairing protests of their parents failed to touch the hearts of the
- German officers or rather executioners.
-
- "'One last detail: The persons so deported are allowed to write home
- once a month; that is to say, even less often than military prisoners.'
-
- "Such are the declarations which we have collected and which, without
- commentary, confirm in an even more striking way the facts which we
- took the liberty of laying before you.
-
- "We do not wish here to enter into the question of provisioning in the
- invaded districts; others, better qualified than ourselves, give you,
- as we know, frequent information. It is enough for us to describe in a
- few words the situation from this aspect:
-
- "The provisioning is very difficult; food, apart from that supplied by
- the Spanish-American Committee, is very scarce and terribly dear. * *
- * People are hungry and the provisioning is inadequate by at least a
- half; our population is suffering constant privations and is growing
- noticeably weaker. The death rate, too, has increased considerably.
-
- [Sidenote: People rely on the neutral powers.]
-
- "Sometimes inhabitants of the invaded territories speak with a note
- of discouragement, crying apparently: 'We are forsaken by everyone.'
- We, on the other hand, are hopeful, Monsieur le Président, that the
- energetic intervention on the part of Neutrals, which the French
- Government is sure to evoke, will soon bring to an end these measures
- which rouse the wrath of all to whom humanity is not an empty word. *
- * *
-
- "With all confidence in the sympathy of the Government we venture
- to address a new and pressing appeal to your generous kindness and
- far-reaching influence in the name of those who are suffering on
- behalf of the whole country."
-
- (Signed on behalf of various specified organizations by Toulemonde,
- Charles Droulers, Léon Hatine-Dazin, and Louis Lorthiois.)
-
-  "PARIS, _15th June, 1916, 3, rue Taitbout_."
-
- AMBASSADOR GERARD'S STATEMENT.
-
- [Sidenote: Barbarity of deportations.]
-
- "It seems that the Germans had endeavored to get volunteers from the
- great industrial towns of Lille, Roubaix, and Tourcoing to work these
- fields; that after the posting of the notices calling for volunteers
- only fourteen had appeared. The Germans then gave orders to seize
- a certain number of inhabitants and send them out to farms in the
- outlying districts to engage in agricultural work. The Americans told
- me that this order was carried out with the greatest barbarity; that
- a man would come home at night and find that his wife or children had
- disappeared and no one could tell him where they had gone except that
- the neighbours would relate that German noncommissioned officers and
- a file of soldiers had carried them off. For instance, in a house
- of a well-to-do merchant who had perhaps two daughters of fifteen
- and seventeen and a man servant, the two daughters and the servant
- would be seized and sent off together to work for the Germans in some
- little farm house whose location was not disclosed to the parents. The
- Americans told me that this sort of thing was causing such indignation
- among the population of these towns that they feared a great uprising
- and a consequent slaughter and burning by the Germans.
-
- [Sidenote: Chancellor says that the military authorities ordered the
- deportations.]
-
- "That night at dinner I spoke to the Chancellor about this and told
- him that it seemed to me absolutely outrageous; and that, without
- consulting with my government, I was prepared to protest in the name
- of humanity against a continuance of this treatment of the civil
- population of occupied France. The Chancellor told me that he had not
- known of it, that it was the result of orders given by the military,
- that he would speak to the Emperor about it, and that he hoped to be
- able to stop further deportations. I believe that they were stopped,
- but twenty thousand or more who had been taken from their homes were
- not returned until months afterwards. I said in a speech that I made
- in May on my return to America that it required the joint efforts of
- the Pope, the King of Spain, and our President to cause the return of
- these people to their homes; and I then saw that some German press
- agency had come out with an article that I had made false statements
- about this matter because these people were not returned to their
- homes as a result of the representations of the Pope, the King of
- Spain, and our President, but were sent back because the Germans had
- no further use for them. It seems to me that this denial makes the
- case rather worse than before." James W. Gerard, _My Four Years in
- Germany_, 1917, pp. 333-335.
-
-
-POLAND.
-
-The systematic exploitation of human misery by the German authorities
-in Poland followed the general plan with which the reader has become
-only too familiar. In order to prove the identity of procedure it will
-be enough to present the detailed report specially written for this
-pamphlet by Mr. Frederic C. Walcott. A fuller and in some ways more
-touching treatment is given in his article, "Devastated Poland," in the
-_National Geographic Magazine_ for May, 1917.
-
- POLAND AND THE PRUSSIAN SYSTEM.
-
-  SEPTEMBER, 1917.
-
- Poland--Russian Poland--is perishing. And the German high command,
- imbued with the Prussian system, is coolly reckoning on the
- necessities of a starving people to promote its imperial ends.
-
- West Poland, which has been Prussian territory more than a hundred
- years, is a disappointment to Germany; its people obstinately remain
- Poles. This time they propose swifter measures. In two or three years,
- by grace of starvation and frightfulness, they calculate East Poland
- will be thoroughly made over into a German province.
-
- [Sidenote: Devastation of Poland.]
-
- In the great Hindenburg drive one year ago, the country was completely
- devastated by the retreating Russian army and the oncoming Germans.
- A million people were driven from their homes. Half of them perished
- by the roadside. For miles and miles, when I saw the country, the
- way was littered with mudsoaked garments and bones picked clean by
- the crows--though the larger bones had been gathered by the thrifty
- Germans to be ground into fertilizer. Wicker baskets--the little
- basket in which the baby swings from the rafters in every peasant
- home--were scattered along the way, hundreds and hundreds, until one
- could not count them, each one telling a death.
-
- Warsaw, which had not been destroyed--once a proud city of a million
- people--was utterly stricken. Poor folks by thousands lined the
- streets, leaning against the buildings, shivering in snow and rain,
- too weak to lift a hand, dying of cold and hunger. Though the rich
- gave all they had, and the poor shared their last crust, they were
- starving there in the streets in droves.
-
- In the stricken city, the German governor of Warsaw issued a
- proclamation. All able-bodied Poles were bidden to go to Germany to
- work. If any refused, let no other Pole give him to eat, not so much
- as a mouthful, under penalty of German military law.
-
- [Sidenote: The policy of starvation.]
-
- It was more than the mind could grasp. To the husband and father
- of broken families, the high command gave this decree: Leave your
- families to starve; if you stay, we shall see that you do starve--this
- to a high-strung, sensitive, highly organized people, this from the
- authorities of a nation professing civilization and religion to
- millions of fellow Christians captive and starving.
-
- [Sidenote: Country to be restocked with Germans.]
-
- General von Kries, the governor, was kind enough to explain.
-
- Candidly, they preferred not quite so much starvation; it might get on
- the nerves of the German soldiers. But, starvation being present, it
- must work for German purpose. Taking advantage of this wretchedness,
- the working men of Poland were to be removed; the country was to be
- restocked with Germans. It was country Germany needed--rich alluvial
- soil--better suited to German expansion than distant possessions. If
- the POLAND that was had to perish, so much the better for Germany.
-
- Remove the men, let the young and weak die, graft German stock on the
- women. See how simple it is: with a crafty smile, General von Kries
- concluded, "By and by we must give back freedom to Poland. Very good;
- it will reappear as a German province."
-
- Slowly, I came to realize that this monstrous, incredible thing was
- the PRUSSIAN SYSTEM, deliberately chosen by the circle around the
- all-highest, and kneaded into the German people till it became part of
- their mind.
-
- German people are material for building the State--of no other
- account. Other people are for Germany's will to work upon. Humanity,
- liberty, equality, the rights of others--all foolish talk. Democracy,
- an idle dream. The true Prussian lives only for this, that the German
- State may be mighty and great.
-
- [Sidenote: German system of frightfulness everywhere.]
-
- All the woes in the long count against Germany are part of the
- Prussian system. The invasion of Belgium, the deportations, the
- starving of subject people, the Armenian massacres, atrocities,
- frightfulness, sinking the Lusitania, the submarine horrors, the
- enslavement of women--all piece into the monstrous view. The rights of
- nations, the rights of men, the lives and liberties of all people are
- subordinate to the German aim of dominion over all the world.
-
-  FREDERICK C. WALCOTT.
-
-
-
-
-CONCLUSION.
-
-STATEMENT OF MR. VERNON KELLOGG, SEPTEMBER, 1917.
-
-(Prepared for this pamphlet.)
-
-
-[Sidenote: The graves of the massacred.]
-
-It was my privilege--and necessity--in connection with the work of
-the Commission for Relief in Belgium to spend several months at the
-Great Headquarters of the German armies in the west, and later to
-spend more months at Brussels as the Commission's director for Belgium
-and occupied France. It was an enforced opportunity to see something
-of German practice in the treatment of a conquered people, part of
-whom (the French and the inhabitants of the Belgian provinces of
-East and West Flanders) were under the direct control of the German
-General Staff and the several German armies of the west, and part, the
-inhabitants of the seven other Belgian provinces, under the quasi-civil
-government of Governor General von Bissing. I did not enter the
-occupied territories until June, 1915, and so, of course, saw none of
-the actual invasion and overrunning of the land. I saw only the graves
-of the massacred and the ruins of their towns. But I saw through the
-long, hard months much too much for my peace of mind of how the Germans
-treated the unfortunates under their control after the occupation.
-
-It would be an unnecessary repetition to describe again the scenes in
-Louvain, Dinant, Visé, Andenne, Tamines, Aerschot, and the rest of
-the familiar long list of the ruined Belgian towns. But too little
-has been said of the many, many ruined villages all over the extent
-of the occupied French territory from Lille in the north to Longwy in
-the south, and from the eastern boundary of France to the fatal trench
-lines of the extreme western front.
-
-As chief representative for the Commission, it was my duty to cover
-this whole territory repeatedly in long motor journeys in company with
-the German officer assigned for my protection--and for the protection
-of the German army against any too much seeing. As I had opportunity
-also to cover most of Belgium in repeated trips from Brussels into
-the various provinces, I necessarily had opportunity to compare the
-destruction wrought in the two regions.
-
-[Sidenote: Towns untouched by war but ruined.]
-
-I could understand why certain towns and villages along the Meuse and
-along the lines of the French and English retreat were badly shot to
-pieces. There had been fighting in these towns and the artillery of
-first one side and then the other had worked their havoc among the
-houses of the inhabitants. But there were many towns in which there
-had been no fighting and yet all too many of these towns also were in
-ruins. It was not ruin by shells, but ruin by fire and explosions.
-There were the famous "punished" towns. Either a citizen or perhaps
-two or three citizens had fired from a window on the invaders--or were
-alleged to have. Thereupon a block, or two or three blocks, or half the
-town was methodically and effectively burned or blown to pieces. There
-are many of these "punished" towns in occupied France. And between
-these towns and along the roadways are innumerable isolated single
-farm houses that are also in ruins. It is not claimed that there was
-any sniping from these farmhouses. They were just destroyed along the
-way--and by the way, one may say. When the roll of destroyed villages
-and destroyed farmhouses in occupied France is made known, the world
-will be shocked again by this evidence of German thoroughness.
-
-[Sidenote: Heartlessness of German rule.]
-
-The rigor of the control over the inhabitants of the occupied French
-territory is almost inconceivable. The lines delimiting the regions
-occupied by the various distinct German armies are lines of impassable
-steel for the inhabitants. If a member of the family in one town was
-visiting friends or relatives in another town a few kilometers away at
-the time of the outbreak of the war that family has remained separated
-through all the long months that have since elapsed. No messages can
-pass except by dangerous subterranean ways from town to town.
-
-[Sidenote: False receipts for requisitioned property.]
-
-The requisitioning of everything from food to furniture, from farm
-animals to the blankets and mattresses from the beds, has been carried
-to such an extent that the people live on nothing, amid nothing. These
-requisitions in the earlier days had a more or less official seeming
-in that quartermaster's _bons_ were given for the things taken. Even
-then the German sense of humor too often made the _bon_ a crude jest.
-The _bons_ were written in the German language in German script,
-illegible and beyond the understanding of the simple natives. A _bon_
-might be given for a chicken when it was a pair of horses that was
-taken. But later, when these jests palled on the German soldiers, the
-requisitioning was simplified by the omission of _bon_-giving. Where
-the villagers and peasants had tried to save something that could be
-buried or concealed, the searching out of these pitiful hiding places
-became a great game with the German soldiers. One ingenious Frenchman
-had secreted a few choice bottles of wine in a famous tomb on heights
-above the Meuse. But these bottles found their way to special tables
-at the Great Headquarters.
-
-In the spring of 1916 the army authorities devised the plan of
-deporting a number of men and women from Lille and the industrial towns
-near it to the agricultural regions further south. These French were
-to work in the fields and help produce food for the German army. As a
-matter of fact this plan had at bottom something to recommend it. The
-congestion in the industrialized northern region made the food problem
-there very difficult. Our Commission had more trials in connection
-with the provisioning of the great city of Lille and the lesser but
-crowded towns of Valenciennes, Roubaix, and Tourcoing than with all the
-rest of the occupied territory. Also these people had no work to do,
-as the great factories were still. To come south and work in the open
-air in the fields and be allowed a fair ration would have been a real
-advantage to these people. It would also have helped in the whole food
-supply situation.
-
-[Sidenote: Horrors of deportations.]
-
-But the horrible methods of that deportation were such that we,
-although trying to hold steadfast to a rigorous neutrality, could not
-but protest. Mr. Gerard, our Ambassador to Berlin, happened at the
-very time of this protest to make a visit to the Great Headquarters in
-the west and the matter was brought to the attention of certain high
-officers at Headquarters on the very day of Mr. Gerard's visit and in
-his hearing. So that he added his own protest to that of Mr. Poland,
-our director at the time, and further deportations were stopped. But
-a terrible mischief had already been done. Husbands and fathers had
-been taken from their families without a word of good-bye; sons and
-daughters on whom perhaps aged parents relied for support were taken
-without pity or apparent thought of the terrible consequences. The
-great deportations of Belgium have shocked the world. But these lesser
-deportations--that is, lesser in extent, but not less brutal in their
-carrying out--are hardly known.
-
-[Sidenote: No American can fail to oppose Prussianism.]
-
-I went into Belgium and occupied France a neutral and I maintained
-while there a steadfastly neutral behavior. But I came out no neutral.
-I can not conceive that any American enjoying an experience similar to
-mine could have come out a neutral. He would come out, as I came, with
-the ineradicable conviction that a people or a government which can do
-what the Germans did and are doing in Belgium and France to-day must
-not be allowed, if there is power on earth to prevent it, to do this a
-moment longer than can be helped. And they must not be allowed ever to
-do it again.
-
-[Sidenote: Civilization must crush Prussian system.]
-
-I went in also a hater of war, and I came out a more ardent hater of
-war. But, also, I came out with the ineradicable conviction, again,
-that the only way in which Germany under its present rule and in its
-present state of mind can be kept from doing what it had done is by
-force of arms. It can not be prevented by appeal, concession, or
-treaties. Hence, ardently as I hope that all war may cease, I hope
-that this war may not cease until Germany realizes that the civilized
-world simply will not allow such horrors as those for which Germany is
-responsible in Belgium and France to be any longer possible.
-
-  VERNON KELLOGG.
-
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-
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-D.C.)
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-
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-
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- explained from August, 1914, to April, 1917; Appendix: the President's
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-4. President's Flag Day Speech with Evidence of Germany's Plans.
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- explained by carefully selected notes giving the proofs of German
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- FACTS, all gathered from original sources. 32 Pages.
-
-5. Conquest and Kultur.
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-<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of
-Civilians, Edited by Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke)
-Sellery, and August C. (August Charles) Krey</h1>
-<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
-and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
-restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
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-href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>.  If you are not
-located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the
-country where you are located before using this ebook.</p>
-<p>Title: German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of Civilians</p>
-<p>Editor: Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke) Sellery, and August C. (August Charles) Krey</p>
-<p>Release Date: August 27, 2017  [eBook #55442]</p>
-<p>Language: English</p>
-<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
-<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN WAR PRACTICES, PART 1: TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS***</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<h4>E-text prepared by Brian Coe, Graeme Mackreth,<br />
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-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<hr class="pg" />
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-
-<p class="ph1"> <span class="doubleUnderline">
-<i>GERMAN<br />
-WAR PRACTICES</i></span></p>
-
-<p class="ph3">PART I<br />
-TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS</p>
-
-<p class="ph4" style="margin-top: 5em;"><small>EDITED BY</small><br />
-DANA C. MUNRO<br />
-PRINCETON UNIVERSITY</p>
-
-<p class="ph4">GEORGE C. SELLERY&nbsp; &nbsp;  <small><i>and</i></small>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; AUGUST C. KREY<br />
-UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA</p>
-
-<p class="center">
-<img src="images/illus01.jpg" alt="mark"  />
-</p>
-
-
-<p class="ph5"><small>ISSUED BY</small><br />
-THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 8em;">THE SECRETARY OF STATE</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 7.5em;">THE SECRETARY OF WAR</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 10.5em;">THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">GEORGE CREEL</span></p>
-
-<p><i>November 15, 1917</i>
-</p>
-
-
-<div class="bbox" style="margin-top: 10em;">
-
-<p class="ph2">EXECUTIVE ORDER.</p>
-
-
-<p>I hereby create a Committee on Public Information, to be composed of
-the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the
-Navy, and a civilian who shall be charged with the executive direction
-of the Committee. As civilian Chairman of the Committee I appoint Mr.
-George Creel.</p>
-
-<p>The Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the
-Navy are authorized each to detail an officer or officers to the work
-of the Committee.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 10em;">WOODROW WILSON.</span><br />
-</p>
-
-<p>April 14, 1917.</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<p class="ph2">INTRODUCTION.</p>
-
-
-<div class="sidenote">Germany pledged to Hague regulations.</div>
-
-<p>For many years leaders in every civilized nation have been trying to
-make warfare less brutal. The great landmarks in this movement are the
-Geneva and Hague Conventions. The former made rules as to the care
-of the sick and wounded and established the Red Cross. At the first
-meeting at Geneva, in 1864, it was agreed, and until the present war
-it has been taken for granted, that the wounded, and the doctors and
-nurses who cared for them, would be safe from all attacks by the enemy.
-The Hague Conventions, drawn up in 1899 and 1907, made additional rules
-to soften the usages of war and especially to protect noncombatants
-and conquered lands. Germany took a prominent part in these meetings
-and with the other nations solemnly pledged her faith to keep all the
-rules except one article in the Hague Regulations. This was article
-44, which forbade the conqueror to force any of the conquered to give
-information. All the other rules and regulations she accepted in the
-most binding manner.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German policy of frightfulness.</div>
-
-<p>But Germany's military leaders had no intention of keeping these solemn
-promises. They had been trained along different lines. Their leading
-generals for many years had been urging a policy of frightfulness. In
-the middle of the nineteenth century von Clausewitz was looked upon as
-the greatest military authority, and the methods which he advocated
-were used by the Prussian army in its successful wars of 1866-1871.
-Consequently, because these wars had been successful, the wisdom of von
-Clausewitz's methods seemed to the Prussian army to be fully proven.</p>
-
-<p>Now, the essence of von Clausewitz's teachings was that successful war
-involves the ruthless application of force. In the opening chapter of
-his master work, <i>Vom Kriege</i> (<i>On War</i>), he says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"Violence arms itself with the inventions of art and science. * * *
-Self-imposed restrictions, almost im<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>perceptible and hardly worth
-mentioning, termed usages of international law, accompany it without
-essentially impairing its power. * * * Now, philanthropic souls
-might easily imagine that there is a skillful method of disarming or
-subduing an enemy without causing too much bloodshed, and that this
-is the true tendency of the art of war. However plausible this may
-appear, still it is an error which must be destroyed; for in such
-dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of
-'good-naturedness' are precisely the worst. As the use of physical
-force to the utmost extent by no means excludes the cooperation of the
-intelligence, it follows that he who uses force ruthlessly, without
-regard to bloodshed, must obtain a superiority, if his enemy does not
-so use it."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In 1877-78, in the course of a series of articles upon "Military
-necessity and humanity," Gen. von Hartmann wrote, in the same spirit as
-von Clausewitz:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Frightfulness advocated by German generals.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The enemy State must not be spared the want and wretchedness of
-war; these are particularly useful in shattering its energy and
-subduing its will." "Individual persons may be harshly dealt with
-when an example is made of them, intended to serve as a warning. * *
-* Whenever a national war breaks out, terrorism becomes a necessary
-military principle." "It is a gratuitous illusion to suppose that
-modern war does not demand far more brutality, far more violence,
-and an action far more general than was formerly the case." "When
-international war has burst upon us, terrorism becomes a principle
-made necessary by military considerations."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In 1881 von Moltke, who had been commander in chief of the Prussian
-army in the Franco-Prussian War, declared:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"Perpetual peace is a dream and not even a beautiful dream. War is
-an element in the order of the world established by God. By it the
-most noble virtues of man are developed, courage and renunciation,
-fidelity to duty and the spirit of sacrifice&mdash;the soldier gives his
-life. Without war, the world would degenerate and lose itself in
-materialism." "The soldier who endures suffering, privation, and
-fatigue, who courts dangers, can not take only 'in proportion to the
-resources of the country.' He must take all that is necessary to his
-existence. One has no right to demand of him anything superhuman."
-"The great good in war is that it should be ended quickly. In view of
-this, every means, except those which are positively condemnable,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
-must be permitted. I can not, in any way, agree with the Declaration
-of St. Petersburg when it pretends that 'the weakening of the military
-forces of the enemy constitutes the only legitimate method of
-procedure in war. No! One must attack all the resources of the enemy
-government, his finances, his railroads, his stock of provisions and
-even his prestige. * * *"</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Kaiser's "Hun" speech in 1900.</div>
-
-<p>Many other examples might be cited from the writings of German
-generals. The very best illustration of this attitude, however, is
-to be found in the Emperor's various speeches, and especially in his
-speech to his soldiers on the eve of their departure for China in
-1900. On July 27 the Kaiser went to Bremerhaven to bid farewell to
-the German troops. As they were drawn up, ready to embark for China,
-he addressed to them a last official message from the Fatherland. The
-local newspaper reported his speech in full. In it appeared this advice
-and admonition from the Emperor, the commander in chief of the army,
-the head of all Germany.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"As soon as you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No
-mercy will be shown! No prisoners will be taken! As the Huns, under
-King Attila, made a name for themselves, which is still mighty in
-traditions and legends to-day, may the name of German be so fixed in
-China by your deeds that no Chinese shall ever again dare even to look
-at a German askance. * * * Open the way for <i>Kultur</i> once for all."</p></blockquote>
-
-
-
-<p>Even the imperial councillors seem to have been shocked at the
-Emperor's speech, and efforts were promptly made to suppress the
-circulation of his exact words. The efforts were only partly
-successful. A few weeks later, when letters from the German soldiers
-in China were being published in local German papers, the leading
-socialist newspaper, <i>Vorwärts</i>, excerpted from them reports of
-atrocities under the title "Letters of the Huns." Many of the leaders
-in the Reichstag felt very keenly the brutality of the Emperor's
-speech. The obnoxious word "Huns" had excited almost universal
-condemnation. When the Reichstag met, in November, the speech was
-openly discussed. Herr Lieber, of the Center (the Catholic party),
-after quoting the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> "no mercy" portion of the speech, added, "There are,
-alas,<span class="sidenote">Opposition in Reichstag.</span> in Germany groups enough who have regarded the atrocities told
-in the letters which have been published as the dutiful response of
-soldiers so addressed and encouraged." The leader of the Social Democrats,
-Herr Bebel, spoke even more pointedly. Toward the end of a two-hour
-address on the atrocities committed by the German soldiers in China and
-on the speech of the Emperor he said:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"If Germany wishes to be the bearer of civilization to the world, we
-will follow without contradiction. But the ways and means in which
-this world policy has been carried on thus far, in which it has
-been defined by the Emperor * * * are not, in our opinion, the way
-to preserve the world position of Germany, to gain for Germany the
-respect of the world."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The consequences of the Emperor's speech Bebel aptly described:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"By it a signal was given, garbed in the highest authority of the
-German Empire, which must have most weighty consequences, not only for
-the troops who went to China but also for those who stayed at home."
-"An expedition of revenge so barbarous as this has never occurred in
-the last hundred years and not often in history; at least, nothing
-worse than this has happened in history, either done by the Huns, by
-the Vandals, by Genghis Khan, by Tamerlane, or even by Tilly when he
-sacked Magdeburg."</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Atrocities in China.</div>
-
-<p>These stories of atrocities in China or "Letters of the Huns" continued
-to be published in the <i>Vorwärts</i> for several years and appeared
-intermittently in the debates of the Reichstag as late as 1906. At that
-time the socialist, Herr Kunert, reviewing the procedure in a trial
-of which he had been the victim in the previous summer, stated that
-he had offered to prove "that German soldiers in China had engaged in
-wanton and brutal ravaging; that plunder, pillage, extortion, robbery,
-as well as rape and sexual abuses of the worst kind, had occured on a
-very large scale and that German soldiers had participated in them."
-He had not been given an opportunity to prove his allegations, but had
-been sentenced to prison for three months for assailing the honor of
-the "whole German Army." The outrageousness of this sentence was made
-clear by the revelations, made in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> Reichstag shortly afterwards, of
-similar atrocities committed by German officials and soldiers in Africa
-in the campaign against the Hereros.</p>
-
-<p>The teachings of Treitschke and Nietzsche and their evil influence
-upon the present generation in Germany are well known. The minds of
-the responsible officials were filled with ideas wholly different from
-those to which Germany had agreed at The Hague. The cult of might, and
-of war as its expression, found many disciples who flooded the press
-with pamphlets and panegyrics on war and its place in the natural and
-political development of a nation. Before the war the average number of
-volumes concerning war published each year in Germany was 700, and the
-vast majority of those written by the German Army officers advocated
-the ruthless policy of von Clausewitz, von Hartmann, and von Moltke.</p>
-
-<p>These ideas, which have come to control the minds of the military
-class, are best shown in the <i>German War Book</i> (<i>Kriegsbrauch im
-Landkriege</i>), published in 1902. The tone of this authoritative book
-may be judged from the following extracts:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Teachings of the German War Book.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"But since the tendency of thought in the last century was dominated
-essentially by humanitarian considerations which not infrequently
-degenerated into sentimentality and flabby emotion (<i>Sentimentalität
-und weichlicher Gefühlschwärmerei</i>), there have not been wanting
-attempts to influence the development of the usages of war in a way
-which was in fundamental contradiction with the nature of war and its
-object. Attempts of this kind will also not be wanting in the future,
-the more so as these agitations have found a kind of moral recognition
-in some provisions of the Geneva Convention and the Brussels and Hague
-Conferences."</p>
-
-<p>"By steeping himself in military history an officer will be able to
-guard himself against excessive humanitarian notions; it will teach
-him that certain severities are indispensable to war, nay more, that
-the only true humanity very often lies in a ruthless application of
-them."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>For the guidance of the officers in case the inhabitants of conquered
-territory should take up arms against the German Army, the <i>German War
-Book</i> quotes with approval the letter Napoleon sent to his brother
-Joseph, when the inhabitants of Italy were attempting to revolt against
-him:</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p><blockquote>
-
-<p>"The security of your dominion depends on how you behave in the
-conquered province. Burn down a dozen places which are not willing to
-submit themselves. Of course, not until you have first looted them;
-my soldiers must not be allowed to go away with their hands empty.
-Have three to six persons hanged in every village which has joined the
-revolt; pay no respect to the cassock" [that is, to members of the
-clergy.]</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German war proclamations in French translations.</div>
-
-<p>Some of the rules laid down in the <i>German War Book</i> are illustrated
-and their spirit made more definite in <i>L'Interprète Militaire</i>. <i>Zum
-Gebrauch im Feindesland</i> (Military Interpreter for Use in the Enemy's
-Country). This is a manual edited at Berlin in 1906. "It contains,"
-says the introduction, "the French translation of the greater part of
-the documents, letters, and proclamations, and some orders of which
-it may be necessary to make use in time of war." Thus, eight years
-before this war began, the German military authorities were not only
-preparing their officers to wage war in a manner wholly contrary to the
-Hague regulations, but also were looking forward to the use of these
-proclamations in French or Belgian territory. Among its forms, ready
-for use by inserting names, date, and place, are the following:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"A fine of 600,000 marks in consequence of an attempt made by &mdash;&mdash; to
-assassinate a German soldier, is imposed on the town of O. By order of
-&mdash;&mdash;.</p>
-
-<p>"Efforts have been made, without result, to obtain the withdrawal of
-the fine.</p>
-
-<p>"The term fixed for payment expires to-morrow, Saturday, December 17,
-at noon &mdash;&mdash;.</p>
-
-<p>"Bank notes, cash, or silver plate will be accepted."</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>"I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 7th of this
-month, in which you bring to my notice the great difficulty which you
-expect to meet in levying the contributions. * * * I can but regret
-the explanations which you have thought proper to give me on this
-subject; the order in question which emanates from my Government is so
-clear and precise, and the instructions which I have received in the
-matter are so categorical that if the sum due by the town of R&mdash;&mdash; is
-not paid the town will be burned down without pity!"</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>"On account of the destruction of the bridge of F&mdash;&mdash;, I order: The
-district shall pay a special contribution of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> 10,000,000 francs by
-way of amends. This is brought to the notice of the public who are
-informed that the method of assessment will be announced later and
-that the payment of the said sum will be enforced with the utmost
-severity. The village of F&mdash;&mdash; will be destroyed immediately by fire,
-with the exception of certain buildings occupied for the use of the
-troops."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>These forms have been of great use to the German commanders in Belgium
-and northern France. The closeness with which they have been followed
-in these conquered lands, during the present war, may be seen by
-reading the following proclamations and the other proclamations which
-are printed elsewhere in this pamphlet.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The City of Brussels, exclusive of its suburbs, has been punished by
-an additional fine of 5,000,000 francs on account of the attack made
-upon a German soldier by Ryckere, one of its police officials.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"The Governor of Brussels,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 42%;">"<span class="smcap">Baron von Luettwitz</span>.</span>
-</p>
-
-<p>"<i>November 1, 1914.</i>"</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Placard posted on the walls of Lunéville by order of the German
-authorities:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"Notice to the People.</p>
-
-<p>"Some of the inhabitants of Lunéville made an attack from ambuscade on
-the German columns and wagons (<i>trains</i>). The same day [some of the]
-inhabitants shot at sanitary formations marked with the Red Cross. In
-addition, German wounded and the military hospital containing a German
-ambulance were fired upon.</p>
-
-<p>"Because of these acts of hostility a fine of 650,000 francs is
-imposed upon the commune of Lunéville. The mayor is ordered to pay
-this sum in gold or silver up to 50,000 francs, September 6, 1914,
-at nine o'clock in the morning, to the representative of the German
-military authority. All protests will be considered null and void. No
-delay will be granted.</p>
-
-<p>"If the commune does not punctually obey the order to pay the sum of
-650,000 francs, all property that can be levied upon will be seized.</p>
-
-<p>"In case of non-payment, visits from house to house will be made
-and all the inhabitants will be searched. If anyone knowingly has
-concealed money or attempted to hold back his goods from the seizure
-by the military authorities, or if anyone attempts to leave the city,
-he will be shot.</p>
-
-<p>"The Mayor and the hostages taken by the military<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> authorities will be
-held responsible for the exact execution of the above orders.</p>
-
-<p>"The Mayor is ordered to publish immediately this notice to the
-Commune.</p>
-
-<p>"Hénaménil, Sept. 3, 1914.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"The General in Chief,</span><br />
-
-<span style="margin-left: 42%;">"<span class="smcap">von Fasbender</span>."</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The German officers were provided with the forms to be used in
-terrorizing the conquered people. The common soldiers were provided
-with phrase books which would enable them to impose their will upon the
-terrified people. Minister Brand Whitlock in his report to the State
-Department on September 12, 1917, writes:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The German soldiers were provided with phrase books giving alternate
-translations in German and French of such sentences as:</p>
-
-<p>"'Hands up.' (It is the very first sentence in the book.)</p>
-
-<p>"'Carry out all the furniture.</p>
-
-<p>"'I am thirsty. Bring me some beer, gin, rum.</p>
-
-<p>"'You have to supply a barrel of wine and a keg of beer.</p>
-
-<p>"'If you lie to me, I will have you shot immediately.</p>
-
-<p>"'Lead me to the wealthiest inhabitants of this village. I have orders
-to requisition several barrels of wine.</p>
-
-<p>"'Show us the way to &mdash;&mdash;. If you lead us astray, you will be shot.'"</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The system of frightfulness.</div>
-
-<p>The quotations and proclamations printed above show clearly the
-attitude of mind of the German military authorities. The policy of
-frightfulness had been exalted into a system with every minute detail
-worked out in advance. The <i>German War Book</i> with its "cold-blooded
-doctrines of the nature of war and of the means which may be employed
-in prosecuting war," did its work in training the German military
-officials. Of this book it has been well said: "It is the first time in
-the history of mankind that a creed so revolting has been deliberately
-formulated by a great civilized State." The generals gave their
-sanction to this policy of frightfulness. Gen. von Bernhardi was quoted
-in an interview in the <i>Neue Freie Presse</i> of Vienna, as follows:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"One cannot make war in a sentimental fashion. The more pitiless the
-conduct of the war, the more humane it is in reality, for it will run
-its course all the sooner. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> war which of all wars is and must
-be most humane is that which leads to peace with as little delay as
-possible."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>This interview was reproduced in the <i>Berliner Tageblatt</i> of November
-20, 1914.</p>
-
-<p>Mr. F.C. Walcott, of the Belgian Relief Commission, tells, in the
-<i>Geographical Magazine</i> for May, 1917, of meeting Gen-von Bernhardi:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Interview with Bernhardi.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert
-artillery-man, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the
-next morning, and he asked me if I had read his book, <i>Germany and the
-Next War</i>.</p>
-
-<p>"I said I had. He said, 'Do you know, my friends nearly ran me out of
-the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat out of the
-bag." I said, "No, I have not, because nobody will believe it." 'What
-did you think of it?'</p>
-
-<p>"I said, 'General, I did not believe a word of it when I read it, but
-I now feel that you did not tell the whole truth;' and the old general
-looked actually pleased."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Speaking on August 29, 1914, at Münster, of the extreme measures which
-the Germans had felt obliged to take against the civil population of
-Belgium, Gen. von Bissing said:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Statement by von Bissing.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The innocent must suffer with the guilty. * * * In the repression
-of infamy, human lives cannot be spared, and if isolated houses,
-flourishing villages, and even entire towns are annihilated,
-that is assuredly regrettable, but it must not excite ill-timed
-sentimentality. All this must not in our eyes weigh as much as
-the life of a single one of our brave soldiers&mdash;the rigorous
-accomplishment of duty is the emanation of a high <i>Kultur</i>, and in
-that, the population of the enemy countries can learn a lesson from
-our army."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Gen. von Bissing, after his appointment as governor general of Belgium,
-repeated in substance the above opinion to a Dutch journalist. The
-interview is published in the <i>Düsseldorfer Anzeiger</i> of December 8,
-1914.</p>
-
-<p>Irvin S. Cobb states his conclusions on the responsibility of the
-higher German command for the atrocities:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"But I was an eyewitness to crimes which, measured by the standards of
-humanity and civilization, impressed me as worse than any individual
-excess, any individual outrage, could ever have been or can ever be;
-because these crimes indubitably were instigated on a wholesale basis
-by order<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> of officers of rank, and must have been carried out under
-their personal supervision, direction, and approval. Briefly, what I
-saw was this: I saw wide areas of Belgium and France in which not a
-penny's worth of wanton destruction had been permitted to occur, in
-which the ripe pears hung untouched upon the garden walls; and I saw
-other wide areas where scarcely one stone had been left to stand upon
-another; where the fields were ravaged; where the male villagers had
-been shot in squads; where the miserable survivors had been left to
-den in holes, like wild beasts.</p>
-
-<p>"Taking the physical evidence offered before our own eyes, and
-buttressing it with the statements made to us, not only by natives
-but By German soldiers and German officers, we could reach but one
-conclusion, which was that here, in such and such a place, those in
-command had said to the troops: 'Spare this town and these people.'
-And there they had said: 'Waste this town and shoot these people.'
-And here the troops had discriminately spared, and there they had
-indiscriminately wasted, in exact accordance with the word of their
-superiors." Irvin S. Cobb, <i>Speaking of Prussians</i>, New York, 1917,
-pp. 32-34.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>These ideas, then, were systematically impressed upon the military and
-official classes. It was necessary, however, to work upon the minds of
-the German people, so that they might lend themselves to the inhuman
-policies advocated by the military leaders. To do this was difficult,
-for, as has been shown above, many of the civilian leaders of public
-opinion, time and again, expressed their horror of the new spirit which
-was animating the military authorities. The Reichstag debates give
-ample evidence of this, and the task of the military leaders would have
-been still more difficult if the Reichstag had had any real power. (See
-War Information Series, No. 3, <i>The Government of Germany</i>; see also
-Gerard's <i>My Four Years in Germany</i>, Chap. II.)</p>
-
-
-
-<p>The military authorities and those in sympathy with them have done all
-in their power to stimulate a hatred of other peoples in the minds of
-the Germans. A campaign of education before the war was carried on with
-the object of impressing upon the minds of the Germans the treacherous
-nature of the peoples against whom the military leaders were anxious
-<span class="sidenote">Hatred against Belgians.</span>
-to wage war. Not only were the Germans gradually led to believe that
-it was necessary to fight a defensive war against unscrupulous foes,
-but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> also that these foes would violate every precept of humanity,
-and consequently must be crushed without mercy as a measure of
-self-defense. The fruits of this campaign of suspicion and hatred
-became evident when almost at the outbreak of the war many Germans
-became possessed with the belief that the whole population of Belgium,
-the first country to be invaded, had violated every rule of honorable
-warfare, that the <i>francs-tireurs</i> (guerillas) were everywhere present
-doing their deadly work in secrecy or under the cover of darkness; that
-women and even children were mutilating and killing the wounded or
-helpless prisoners.</p>
-
-<p>The effect of the fables upon the popular mind may be seen in the
-following extracts from German letters:</p>
-
-<p>Extract from a letter written by a German soldier to his brother. (This
-letter, now in the possession of the United States Government, was
-obtained for this pamphlet from Mr. J.C. Grew, formerly secretary to
-the United States Embassy at Berlin.)</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">November 4, 1914.</span></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>"The battles are everywhere extremely tenacious and bloody. The
-Englishmen we hate most and we want to get even with them for once.
-While one now and then sees French prisoners, one hardly ever
-beholds French black troops or Englishmen. These good people are not
-overlooked by our infantrymen; that sort of people is mowed down
-without mercy. The losses of the Englishmen must be enormous. There is
-a desire to wipe them out, root and all."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Extract from another letter to a brother:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Schleswig, 25, 8, 14</span> [Aug. 25, 1914].</span>
-</p>
-
-<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Brother</span>, * * * You will shortly go to Brussels with
-your regiment, as you know. Take care to protect yourself against
-these <i>Civilians</i>, especially in the villages. Do not let anyone of
-them come near you. <i>Fire without pity on everyone of them who comes
-too near.</i> They are very clever, cunning fellows, these Belgians;
-even the women and children are armed and fire their guns. Never go
-inside a house, especially alone. If you take anything to drink make
-the inhabitants drink first, and keep at a distance from them. <i>The
-newspapers relate numerous cases in which they have fired on our
-soldiers whilst they were drinking.</i> You soldiers must spread around
-so much fear of yourselves that no civilian will venture to come near
-you.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> Remain always in the company of others. <i>I hope that you have
-read the newspapers and that you know how to behave. Above all have no
-compassion for these cut-throats. Make for them without pity with the
-butt-end of your rifle and the bayonet.</i> * * *</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 20%;">"Your brother,</span><br />
-
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Willi</span>."</span>
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The Emperor gave his sanction to the reports of the brutal acts of the
-Belgians in a telegram to President Wilson.</p>
-
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-<span style="margin-left: 20%;">"<span class="smcap">Berlin, via Copenhagen</span>, <i>Sept. 7, 1914</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 15%;">"<span class="smcap">Secretary of State</span>,</span>
-<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 20%;">"<i>Washington</i>.</span>
-</p>
-
-<p>"Number 53. September 7. I am requested to forward the following
-telegram from the Emperor to the President:</p>
-
-<p>"'I feel it my duty, Mr. President, to inform you as the most
-prominent representative of principles of humanity, that after taking
-the French fortress of Longwy, my troops discovered there thousands
-<span class ="sidenote">Emperor's telegram.</span>
-of dumdum cartridges made by special government machinery. The
-same kind of ammunition was found on killed and wounded troops and
-prisoners, also on the British troops. You know what terrible wounds
-and suffering these bullets inflict and that their use is strictly
-forbidden by the established rules of international law. I therefore
-address a solemn protest to you against this kind of warfare, which,
-owing to the methods of our adversaries has become one of the most
-barbarous known in history. Not only have they employed these
-atrocious weapons, but the Belgian Government has openly encouraged
-and since long carefully prepared the participation of the Belgian
-civil population in the fighting. The atrocities committed even by
-women and priests in this guerilla warfare, also on wounded soldiers,
-medical staff and nurses, doctors killed, hospitals attacked by rifle
-fire, were such that my generals finally were compelled to take the
-most drastic measures in order to punish the guilty and to frighten
-the blood-thirsty population from continuing their work of vile murder
-and horror. Some villages and even the old town of Loewen [Louvain],
-excepting the fine hôtel de ville, had to be destroyed in self-defense
-and for the protection of my troops. My heart bleeds when I see that
-such measures have become unavoidable and when I think of the numerous
-innocent people who lose their home and property as a consequence of
-the barbarous behavior of those criminals. Signed. William, Emperor
-and King.'</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Gerard.</span>      <i>Berlin.</i>"</span>
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Lorenz Müller in the German Catholic review, <i>Der Fels</i>, February,
-1915, made the following statement in regard to the Emperor's telegram:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Refutation by a German.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"Officially no instance has been proven of persons having fired with
-the help of priests from the towers of churches. All that has been
-made known up to the present, and that has been made the object of
-inquiry, concerning alleged atrocities attributed to Catholic priests
-during this war, has been shown to be false and altogether imaginary,
-without any exception. Our Emperor telegraphed to the President of the
-United States of America that even women and priests had committed
-atrocities during this guerilla warfare on wounded soldiers, doctors
-and nurses attached to the field ambulances. How this telegram can be
-reconciled with the fact stated above we shall not be able to learn
-until after the war."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The <i>Vorwärts</i>, of Berlin, October 22, 1914, said:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Refutation by Vorwärts.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"We have already been able to establish the falseness of a great
-number of assertions which have been made with great precision and
-published everywhere in the press, concerning alleged cruelties
-committed, by the populations of the countries with which Germany is
-at war, upon German soldiers and civilians. We are now in a position
-to silence two others of these fantastic stories.</p>
-
-<p>"The War Correspondent of the <i>Berliner Tageblatt</i> spoke a few weeks
-ago of cigars and cigarettes filled with powder alleged to have
-been given out or sold to our soldiers with diabolical intent. He
-even pretended that he had seen with his own eyes hundreds of this
-kind of cigarettes. We learn from an authentic source that this
-story of cigars and cigarettes is nothing but a brazen invention.
-Stories of soldiers whose eyes are alleged to have been torn out
-by francs-tireurs are circulated throughout Germany. Not a single
-case of this kind has been officially established. In every instance
-where it has been possible to test the story its inaccuracy has been
-demonstrated.</p>
-
-<p>"It matters little that reports of this nature bear an appearance
-of positive certitude, or are even vouched for by eyewitnesses. The
-desire for notoriety, the absence of criticism, and personal error
-play an unfortunate part in the days in which we are living. Every
-nose shot off or simply bound up, every eye removed, is immediately
-transformed into a nose or eye torn away by the francs-tireurs.
-Already the <i>Volkszeitung</i> of Cologne has been able, contrary to the
-very categorical assertions from Aix-la-Chapelle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> to prove that there
-was no soldier with his eyes torn out in the field ambulance of this
-town. It was said, also, that people wounded in this way were under
-treatment in the neighborhood of Berlin, but whenever enquiries have
-been made in regard to these reports, their absolute falsity has been
-demonstrated. At length these reports were concentrated at Gross
-Lichterfelde. A newspaper published at noon and widely circulated
-in Berlin printed a few days ago in large type the news that at the
-Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone there were 'ten German soldiers, only
-slightly wounded, whose eyes had been wickedly torn out.' But to a
-request for information by comrade Liebknecht the following written
-reply was sent by the chief medical officer of the above-mentioned
-field hospital, dated the 18th of the month:</p>
-
-<p><span style="margin-left: 10%;">"'<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</span></p>
-
-<p><span style="margin-left: 10%;">'Happily there is no truth whatever in these stories.</span></p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 20%;">'Yours obediently,</span>
-<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">'<span class="smcap">Professor Rautenberg</span>.'"</span>
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German soldiers protest against atrocities.</div>
-
-<p>Thus the teachings of the <i>German War Book</i> and of the German apostles
-of frightfulness, suspicion, and hatred, had now begun to bear their
-natural fruit. But the voice of protest was not entirely silent. A
-considerable number of letters by German soldiers who were shocked by
-the German atrocities were sent to Ambassador Gerard, because he was
-the representative of the United States, the leading neutral nation.
-The three letters which follow, in translation, were received by the
-American ambassador from German soldiers. They were obtained for this
-pamphlet from Secretary Grew; they illustrate both the system and the
-horror of it, which the writers felt.</p>
-
-<p>Here is the protest of a German soldier, an eyewitness of the slaughter
-of Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes and swamps:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"It was frightful, heart-rending, as these masses of human beings
-were driven to destruction. Above the terrible thunder of the cannon
-could be heard the heart-rending cries of the Russians: 'O Prussians!
-O Prussians!'&mdash;but there was no mercy. Our Captain had ordered: 'The
-whole lot must die; so rapid fire.' As I have heard, five men and one
-officer on our side went mad from those heart-rending cries. But most
-of my comrades and the officers joked as the unarmed and helpless
-Russians shrieked for mercy while they were being suffocated in the
-swamps and shot down. The order was: 'Close up and at it harder!' For
-days afterwards those heart-rending yells followed me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> and I dare not
-think of them or I shall go mad. There is no God, there is no morality
-and no ethics any more. There are no human beings any more, but only
-beasts. Down with militarism.</p>
-
-<p>"This was the experience of a Prussian soldier. At present wounded;
-Berlin, October 22, 1914.</p>
-
-<p>"If you are a truth-loving man, please receive these lines from a
-common Prussian soldier."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Here is the testimony of another German soldier on the Eastern front.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Russian Poland</span>, <i>December 18, '14</i>.</span>
-</p>
-
-<p>"In the name of Christianity I send you these words.</p>
-
-<p>"My conscience forces me as a Christian German soldier to inform you
-of these lines.</p>
-
-<p>"Wounded Russians are killed with the bayonet according to orders.</p>
-
-<p>"And Russians who have surrendered are often shot down in masses
-according to orders, in spite of their heart-rending prayers.</p>
-
-<p>"In hope that you, as the representative of a Christian State will
-protest against this, I sign myself,</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">A German Soldier and Christian</span>.</span>
-</p>
-
-<p>"I would give my name and regiment, but these words could get me
-court-martialed for divulging military secrets."</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The third letter, from the Western front, shows the same horror of the
-system of which the writer was a witness.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-"To the<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<span class="smcap">American Government</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 10%;">"<i>Washington, U.S.A.</i></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>"Englishmen who have surrendered are shot down in small groups. With
-the French one is more considerate. I ask whether men let themselves
-be taken prisoner in order to be disarmed and shot down afterwards? Is
-that chivalry in battle? It is no longer a secret among the people;
-one hears everywhere that few prisoners are taken; they are shot down
-in small groups. They say naïvely: 'We don't want any unnecessary
-mouths to feed. Where there is no one to enter complaint, there is no
-judge.' Is there then no power in the world which can put an end to
-these murders and rescue the victims? Where is Christianity? Where is
-right? Might is right.</p>
-
-<p>"<span class="smcap">A Soldier and Man Who Is No Barbarian.</span>"</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Socialists oppose system.</div>
-
-<p>Many of the Germans, as has been already indicated, do not believe
-the reports of the atrocities committed by the Belgian civilians and
-refuse to accept the system of frightfulness. The <i>Vorwärts</i>, the
-leading socialistic paper, which has a very wide circle of readers, has
-opposed the policy of frightfulness. All honor to its editors who have
-so courageously opposed powerful military authority! Its editorial,
-entitled "Our Foes," published August 23, 1914, reads as follows:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"We wish to show ourselves humane and friendly towards those whom the
-fortune of war has played into our hands as prisoners. But we wish
-also to be humane towards our foes on the field. We must fight them.
-* * * But fighting does not mean murdering. It does not mean being
-barbarous. * * *</p>
-
-<p>"What should one say when even such an organ as the <i>Deutsches
-Offizier-Blatt</i> expresses its sympathy with a demand that 'the
-beasts' who are taken as francs-tireurs should not be killed but only
-wounded so that they may then be left to a fate 'which makes any help
-impossible?' Or what should we say when the <i>Deutsches Offizier-Blatt</i>
-states that 'a punitive destruction even of whole regions' cannot
-'afford full recompense for the bones of a single murdered Pomeranian
-grenadier' Those are the desires of blood-thirsty fanatics and we
-are thoroughly ashamed of ourselves because it is possible that
-there are people among us who urge such things. Such disclosures in
-themselves, even if they are not followed out, are likely to place our
-fighting quite in the wrong before all the world. * * * Let us show
-knightliness even though we are of the proletariat. Let us take such
-pains that when the fight has finally been fought it will also not
-be so difficult again to work in common as brothers with our class
-associates on the other side of the border."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>On the following day, August 24, 1914, the <i>Vorwärts</i> returned to the
-attack in an editorial "Against Barbarism."</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Some Germans demand "orgies of barbarism."</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>* * * "One might, in the first place, possibly believe that such a
-demand for a bloody vengeance [against alleged Belgian outrages]
-emanates from a single disease-racked brain; but it appears that whole
-groups among certain classes who represent German <i>Kultur</i> want to
-indulge in orgies of barbarism and to devise a whole system for the
-purpose of organizing 'a war of revenge.'</p>
-
-<p>"What of law and custom! Such thoughts do not stir a 'great nation'.
-Thus in a leading article of the <i>Berliner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> Neueste Nachrichten</i>, the
-demand is made that all the authorities in Brussels&mdash;one, the second
-Burgomaster, is generously excepted&mdash;should be immediately seized and
-subjected to trial in order to expiate the wrongs which, according
-to fragmentary and highly uncertain reports, were said to have been
-committed by the people. They demand that the captured city should
-immediately pay a fine of 500,000,000 marks; that all stores of the
-conquered territory be requisitioned without paying the inhabitants a
-single penny for them."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Three years later, August 26, 1917, the <i>Vorwärts</i> quoted the following
-passage from the <i>Deutsche Tagezeitung</i>:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Still hold same opinions.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"We have a ring of politicians who hold that might makes right
-(<i>Machtpolitiker</i>) who despise the forces of the inner life and
-believe that they must eliminate all ethical points of view * * * from
-foreign and social politics. For them, Germany of the present and of
-the future is the country of the Krupps and Borsigs, of the Zeppelins
-and the U-boats. Any idea of a connection between politics and morals
-is rejected and any reference to the right of a moral method of
-consideration is ridiculed as delusion and sentimentality."</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Belgian warning of danger.</div>
-
-<p>Naturally the reports of the atrocities committed by the Germans and
-the Emperor's declaration that the war would henceforth assume a
-terrible character (<i>grausamen Charakter</i>) caused grave anxiety among
-the Belgians. In order to avoid the danger of reprisals, the Belgian
-Government, at the beginning of the invasion, had every Belgian
-newspaper publish each day the following notice on its first page, in
-large print:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">"TO CIVILIANS.</p>
-
-<p>"The Minister of the Interior advises civilians in case the enemy
-should show himself in their district:</p>
-
-<p>"Not to fight;</p>
-
-<p>"To utter no insulting or threatening words;</p>
-
-<p>"To remain within their houses and close the windows; so that it will
-be impossible to allege that there was any provocation;</p>
-
-<p>"To evacuate any houses or isolated hamlet which the soldiers may
-occupy in order to defend themselves, so that it cannot be alleged
-that civilians have fired;</p>
-
-<p>"An act of violence committed by a single civilian would be a crime
-for which the law provides arrest and punishment. It is all the more
-reprehensible in that it might serve as a pretext for measures of
-oppression, resulting in bloodshed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> or pillage, or the massacre of the
-innocent population with the women and children."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In the hope of arousing the sympathy and securing the aid of the
-neutral nations, the Belgian Government appointed a committee to
-ascertain the facts about the German practices. The evidence collected
-by the Belgian commissioners is detailed and explicit, and their
-reports give names, places, and dates. It is not possible, however, to
-include in this pamphlet more than the following summary of the charges
-they make against the Germans:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"1. That thousands of unoffending civilians, including women and
-children, were murdered by the Germans.</p>
-
-<p>"2. That women had been outraged.</p>
-
-<p>"3. That the custom of the German soldiers immediately on entering a
-town was to break into wineshops and the cellars of private houses and
-madden themselves with drink.</p>
-
-<p>"4. That German officers and soldiers looted on a gigantic and
-systematic scale, and, with the connivance of the German authorities,
-sent back a large part of the booty to Germany.</p>
-
-<p>"5. That the pillage had been accompanied by wanton destruction and by
-bestial and sacrilegious practices.</p>
-
-<p>"6. That cities, towns, villages, and isolated buildings were
-destroyed.</p>
-
-<p>"7. That in the course of such destruction human beings were burnt
-alive.</p>
-
-<p>"8. That there was a uniform practice of taking hostages and thereby
-rendering great numbers of admittedly innocent people responsible for
-the alleged wrongdoings of others.</p>
-
-<p>"9. That large numbers of civilian men and women had been virtually
-enslaved by the Germans, being forced against their will to work for
-the enemies of their country, or had been carried off like cattle into
-Germany, where all trace of them had been lost.</p>
-
-<p>"10. That cities, towns, and villages had been fined and their
-inhabitants maltreated because of the success gained by the Belgian
-over the German soldiers.</p>
-
-<p>"11. That public monuments and works of art had been wantonly
-destroyed by the invaders.</p>
-
-<p>"12. And that generally the Regulations of the Hague Conference and
-the customs of civilized warfare had been ignored by the Germans,
-and that amongst other breaches of such regulations and customs, the
-Germans had adopted a new and inhuman practice of driving Belgian men,
-women, and children in front of them as a screen between them and the
-allied soldiers."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>The German authorities undertook to defend themselves against the
-terrible indictment in the report published by the Belgian Government
-and appointed a German commission, which collected a huge mass of
-materials designed to show that their acts of cruelty were merely acts
-of reprisal necessitated by the deeds of the Belgians. This mass of
-testimony was published in a <i>German White Book</i> with the title <i>Die
-völkerrechtswidrige Führung des Belgischen Volkskriegs</i>.</p>
-
-<p>The German commission declared in its findings that the German soldiers
-had acted with humanity, restraint, and Christian forbearance. But the
-sworn statements of German soldiers, which the commission published,
-show the reverse to be true.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German White Book reveals atrocities.</div>
-
-<p>It has been well said that the publication of this <i>German White Book</i>
-was "an amazing official blunder." The neutral world, whose good
-opinion Germany sought, was not convinced by it that the Belgians had
-committed the atrocities with which the Germans charged them. On the
-other hand, this <i>White Book</i>, published by the German Government, will
-be accepted by everyone as conclusive evidence of the massacres and
-other brutal deeds which were carried out as "reprisals" by the orders
-of the German military authorities in Belgium. The names of the German
-officers who gave the terrible orders are published officially, and
-"frequently the very men themselves come forward and depose coldly and
-callously to acts which have degraded the German Army and left a stain
-upon its banners that [future] generations of chivalry will not efface."</p>
-
-<p>Indeed, in the light of the admissions of the <i>German White Book</i>, it
-is not too much to say that the time has already come which was spoken
-of by President Wilson in his dispatch to President Poincaré, September
-19, 1914, when he said (speaking for "a nation which abhors inhuman
-practices in the conduct of a war"):</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The time will come when this great conflict is over and when the
-truth can be impartially determined. When that time arrives those
-responsible for violations of the rules of civilized warfare, if
-such violations have occurred, and for false charges against their
-adversaries, must of course bear the burden of the judgment of the
-world."</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<p class="ph2">CHARACTER OF THE MATERIAL USED IN THIS PAMPHLET.</p>
-
-
-<div class="sidenote">German sources.</div>
-
-<p>In this pamphlet throughout, as in the preceding pages, the evidence
-is drawn mainly from German and American sources. The German sources
-include official proclamations and other official utterances, letters
-and diaries of German soldiers, and quotations from German newspapers.
-The diaries which are so frequently quoted form a unique source. The
-<i>Rules for Field Service</i> of the German Army advises each soldier to
-keep such a diary while on active service. Very many German soldiers
-who have been taken prisoner had kept such diaries, and these have been
-confiscated by the captors. Many have been published, frequently with
-facsimile reproductions to guarantee their authenticity. The best known
-collection was made by Bédier, whom Prof. Hollmann, of the University
-of Berlin, properly described as "the distinguished Prof. Joseph Bédier
-of the Collège de France." Of Bédier's publication Prof. Nyrop, of the
-University of Copenhagen, says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"He has translated the diaries and commented upon them just as one
-does with all old historical documents, and, in order that everyone
-may be in a position to check up his work, he has also accompanied
-the account with facsimile copies of the documents he used. Here,
-accordingly, at the outset every proof of the evidence which he has
-employed is provided. No falsification is possible. The accounts
-are those of eyewitnesses, and these eyewitnesses are Germans. They
-tell what they themselves or their comrades have done, and Bédier
-accompanies their remarks with running comments which show that not
-only have common law and the Hague Conventions been violated, but sins
-have also been committed against the most elementary laws of humanity.
-Both the material and the presentation are unassailable. The details
-which are provided by the German soldiers in regard to their own
-violent acts are horror-striking."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Prof. Hollmann attempted to prove that Bédier had made mistakes in
-translating and interpreting, but he did not deny the genuineness of
-the diaries. "These notebooks," he says, "may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> well be authentic and I
-accept this without further comment for all those which are provided
-with the name of their authors and whose authenticity can in any case
-be established after the war."</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">American sources.</div>
-
-<p>The American evidence is drawn mainly from material in the archives
-of the State Department. In addition, statements from our ambassadors
-and ministers and other well-known officials and authors are given.
-Messrs. Hoover, Kellogg, and Walcott have written statements especially
-for this pamphlet. All of this material is essentially the testimony
-of neutrals, for it is based wholly on observations made before the
-United States entered the war. Occasionally official documents and well
-authenticated facts from foreign sources are used.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Frightfulness as a system.</div>
-
-<p>The purpose of this pamphlet is to show that the system of
-frightfulness, which is itself the greatest atrocity, is the definite
-policy of the German Government, against which more humane German
-soldiers themselves revolted at times. For this reason it has not
-seemed necessary to set forth the individual acts of cruelty; such
-acts are cited only when necessary to illustrate the system. Anyone
-who wishes to read chapters of horrors can find them in the <i>Report of
-the Committee on Alleged German Outrages</i>, presided over by the former
-British Ambassador to this country and therefore generally known as
-"the Bryce report;" in the official reports by the Belgian <i>Commission
-d'Enquête</i>; in the official French reports compiled under the auspices
-of the French minister for foreign affairs; in many other publications,
-and especially in the conclusive admissions of the official <i>German
-White Book</i> cited above. The last, published by the German Government,
-is the most damning testimony concerning the system of frightfulness.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="ph2">TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS</p>
-<p class="center">I. MASSACRES.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Protection of noncombatants agreed to by Germany.</div>
-
-
-
-<p>In the wars waged in ancient times it was taken for granted that
-conquered peoples might be either killed, tortured, or held as slaves;
-that their property would be taken and that their lands would be
-devastated. "<i>Vae victis!</i>&mdash;woe to the conquered!" For two centuries
-or more there has been a steady advance in introducing ideas of
-humanity and especially in confining the evils of warfare to the
-combatants. The ideal seemed to have become so thoroughly established
-as a part of international law that the powers at The Hague thought it
-sufficient merely to state the general principles in Article XLVI of
-the regulations: "Family honors and rights, the lives of persons and
-private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must
-be respected. Private property can not be confiscated." Germany, in
-<span class="sidenote">But her military leaders did not acquiesce.</span>
-common with the other powers, solemnly pledged her faith to keep this
-article, but her military leaders had no intention of doing so. They
-had been trained in the ideas voiced by Gen. von Hartmann 40 years
-ago: "Terrorism is seen to be a relatively gentle procedure, useful
-to keep the masses of the people in a state of obedience." This had
-been Bismarck's policy, too. According to Moritz Busch, Bismarck's
-biographer, Bismarck, exasperated by the French resistance, which was
-still continuing in January, 1871, said:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Bismarck's idea in 1871.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"If in the territory which we occupy, we can not supply everything for
-our troops, from time to time we shall send a flying column into the
-localities which are recalcitrant. We shall shoot, hang, and burn.
-After that has happened a few times, the inhabitants will finally come
-to their senses."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The frightfulness taught by the German leaders had held full sway
-in Belgium. This is best seen in the entries in the diaries of the
-individual German soldiers.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="center">EXTRACTS FROM GERMAN WAR DIARIES.</p>
-
-<p>"During the night of August 15-16 Engineer Gr&mdash;&mdash; gave the alarm in the
-town of Visé. Everyone was shot or taken prisoner, and the houses were
-burnt. The prisoners were made to march and keep up with the troops."
-(From the diary of noncommissioned officer Reinhold Koehn of the Second
-Battalion of Engineers, Third Army Corps.)</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>"A horrible bath of blood. The whole village burnt, the French thrown
-into the blazing houses, civilians with the rest." (From the diary of
-Private Hassemer, of the Eighth Army Corps.)</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>"In the night of August 18-19 the village of Saint-Maurice was punished
-for having fired on German soldiers by being burnt to the ground by
-the German troops (two regiments, the 12th Landwehr and the 17th). The
-village was surrounded, men posted about a yard from one another, so
-that no one could get out. Then the Uhlans set fire to it, house by
-house. Neither man, woman, nor child could escape; only the greater
-part of the live stock was carried off, as that could be used. Anyone
-who ventured to come out was shot down. All the inhabitants left in the
-village were burnt with the houses." (From the diary of Private Karl
-Scheufele, of the Third Bavarian Regiment of Landwehr Infantry.)</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>"At 10 o'clock in the evening the first battalion of the 178th marched
-down the steep incline into the burning village to the north of Dinant.
-A terrific spectacle of ghastly beauty. At the entrance to the village
-lay about fifty dead civilians, shot for having fired upon our troops
-from ambush. In the course of the night many others were also shot, so
-that we counted over 200. Women and children, lamp in hand, were forced
-to look on at the horrible scene. We ate our rice later in the midst
-of the corpses, for we had had nothing since morning. When we searched
-the houses we found plenty of wine and spirit, but no eatables. Captain
-Hamann was drunk." (This last phrase in shorthand.)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> (From the diary
-of Private Philipp, of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Regiment of
-Infantry, Twelfth Army Corps.)</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>"Aug. 6th crossed frontier. Inhabitants on border very good to us and
-give us many things. There is no difference noticeable.</p>
-
-<p>"Aug. 23rd, Sunday (between Birnal and Dinant, village of Disonge).
-At 11 o'clock the order comes to advance after the artillery has
-thoroughly prepared the ground ahead. The Pioneers and Infantry
-Regiment 178 were marching in front of us. Near a small village the
-latter were fired on by the inhabitants. About 220 inhabitants were
-shot and the village was burnt&mdash;artillery is continuously shooting&mdash;the
-village lies in a large ravine. Just now, 6 o'clock in the afternoon,
-the crossing of the Maas begins near Dinant * * * All villages,
-châteaux, and houses are burnt down during this night. It was a
-beautiful sight to see the fires all round us in the distance.</p>
-
-<p>"Aug. 24th. In every village one finds only heaps of ruins and many
-dead. (From the diary of Matbern, Fourth Company, Eleventh Jäger
-Battalion, Marburg.)</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>"A shell burst near the 11th Company, and wounded seven men, three very
-severely. At 5 o'clock we were ordered by the officer in command of
-the regiment to shoot all the male inhabitants of Nomény, because the
-population was foolishly attempting to stay the advance of the German
-troops by force of arms. We broke into the houses, and seized all who
-resisted, in order to execute them according to martial law. The houses
-which had not been already destroyed by the French artillery and our
-own were set on fire by us, so that nearly the whole town was reduced
-to ashes. It is a terrible sight when helpless women and children,
-utterly destitute, are herded together and driven into France." (From
-the diary of Private Fischer, Eighth Bavarian Regiment of Infantry,
-Thirty-third Reserve Division.)</p>
-
-<p>Other German soldiers, too, we are glad to see, show their horror at
-the foul deeds.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>"The inhabitants have fled in the village. It was horrible. There was
-clotted blood on all the beards, and what faces one saw, terrible to
-behold! The dead, sixty in all, were at once buried. Among them were
-many old women, some old men and a half-delivered woman, awful to see;
-three children had clasped each other, and died thus. The altar and
-the vaults of the church are shattered. They had a telephone there
-to communicate with the enemy. This morning, September 2, all the
-survivors were expelled, and I saw four little boys carrying a cradle,
-with a baby five or six months old in it, on two sticks. All this
-was terrible to see. Shot after shot! Thunderbolt after thunderbolt!
-Everything is given over to pillage; fowls and the rest all killed.
-I saw a mother, too, with her two children; one had a great wound on
-the head and had lost an eye." (From the diary of Lance-Corporal Paul
-Spielmann, of the Ersatz, First Brigade of Infantry of the Guard.)</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>* * * In the night the inhabitants of Liége became mutinous. Forty
-persons were shot and 15 houses demolished, 10 soldiers shot. The
-sights here make you cry.</p>
-
-<p>"On the 23rd August everything quiet. The inhabitants have so far
-given in. Seventy students were shot, 200 kept prisoners. Inhabitants
-returning to Liége.</p>
-
-<p>"Aug. 24th. At noon with 36 men on sentry duty. Sentry duty is A 1, no
-post allocated to me. Our occupation, apart from bathing, is eating and
-drinking. We live like God in Belgium." (From the diary of Joh. van der
-Schoot, reservist of the Tenth Company, Thirty-ninth Reserve Infantry
-Regiment, Seventh Reserve Army Corps.)</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>"August 17th. In the afternoon I had a look at the little château
-belonging to one of the King's secretaries (not at home). Our men had
-behaved like regular vandals. They had looted the cellar first, and
-then they had turned their attention to the bedrooms and thrown things
-about all over the place. They had even made fruitless efforts to smash
-the safe open. Everything was topsy-turvy&mdash;magnificent furniture,
-silk, and even china. That's what happens when the men are allowed to
-requisition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> for themselves. I am sure they must have taken away a heap
-of useless stuff simply for the pleasure of looting."</p>
-
-<p>"Aug. 23rd. * * * Our men came back and said that at the point where
-the valley joined the Meuse we could not get on any further as the
-villagers were shooting at us from every house. We shot the whole
-lot&mdash;16 of them. They were drawn up in three ranks; the same shot did
-for three at a time.</p>
-
-<p>"* * * The men had already shown their brutal instincts; * * *</p>
-
-<p>"The sight of the bodies of all the inhabitants who had been shot
-was indescribable. Every house in the whole village was destroyed.
-We dragged the villagers one after another out of the most unlikely
-corners. The men were shot as well as the women and children who were
-in the convent, since shots had been fired from the convent windows;
-and we burnt it afterwards.</p>
-
-<p>"The inhabitants might have escaped the penalty by handing over the
-guilty and paying 15,000 francs.</p>
-
-<p>"The inhabitants fired on our men again. The division took drastic
-steps to stop the villages being burnt and the inhabitants being shot.
-The pretty little village of Gue d'Ossus, however, was apparently set
-on fire without cause. A cyclist fell off his machine and his rifle
-went off. He immediately said he had been shot at. All the inhabitants
-were burnt in the houses. I hope there will be no more such horrors.</p>
-
-<p>"At Leppe apparently 200 men were shot. There must have been some
-innocent men among them. In future we shall have to hold an inquiry as
-to their guilt instead of shooting them.</p>
-
-<p>"In the evening we marched to Maubert-Fontaine. Just as we were having
-our meal the alarm was sounded&mdash;everyone is very jumpy.</p>
-
-<p>"September 3rd. Still at Rethel, on guard over prisoners. * * * The
-houses are charming inside. The middle class in France has magnificent
-furniture. We found stylish pieces everywhere and beautiful silk, but
-in what a state * * * Good God! * * * Every bit of furniture broken,
-mirrors smashed. The Vandals themselves could not have done more
-damage. This place is a disgrace to our army. The inhabitants who fled
-could not have expected, of course, that all their goods would have
-been left intact after so many troops had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> passed. But the column
-commanders are responsible for the greater part of the damage, as they
-could have prevented the looting and destruction. The damage amounts to
-millions of marks; even the safes have been attacked.</p>
-
-<p>"In a solicitor's house, in which, as luck would have it, all was in
-excellent taste, including a collection of old lace and Eastern works
-of art, everything was smashed to bits.</p>
-
-<p>"I could not resist taking a little memento myself here and there. * *
-* One house was particularly elegant, everything in the best taste. The
-hall was of light oak; I found a splendid raincoat under the staircase
-and a camera for Felix." (From the diary of an officer in the One
-Hundred Seventy-eighth Regiment, Twelfth Saxon Corps.)</p>
-
-<p>But this horror apparently was not shared by the German commander in
-chief, as is evident from the following:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">"ORDER.</p>
-
-<p>
-"<i>To the People of Liége.</i><br />
-</p>
-
-<p>"The population of Andenne, after making a display of peaceful
-intentions towards our troops, attacked them in the most treacherous
-manner. With my authorisation, the General commanding these troops has
-reduced the town to ashes and has had 110 persons shot.</p>
-
-<p>"I bring this fact to the knowledge of the people of Liége in order
-that they may know what fate to expect should they adopt a similar
-attitude.</p>
-
-<p>"Liége, 22nd August, 1914.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">General von Bülow.</span>"</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The following "Order of the Day" shows how the town of Huy escaped a
-like fate. Drunken German soldiers were frightened and began to shoot
-men and burn houses. The commanding officer condemned this because it
-was not done by his order and because two German soldiers were wounded.
-It is evident that massacres and arson were permitted only when
-commanded by the officers.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"Last night a shooting affray took place. There is no evidence that
-the inhabitants of the towns had any arms in their houses, nor is
-there evidence that the people took part in the shooting; on the
-contrary, it seems that the soldiers were under the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> influence of
-alcohol, and began to shoot in a senseless fear of a hostile attack.</p>
-
-<p>"The behavior of the soldiers during the night, with very few
-exceptions, makes a scandalous impression.</p>
-
-<p>"It is highly deplorable when officers or noncommissioned officers set
-houses on fire without permission or order of the commanding, or, as
-the case may be, the senior officer, or when by their attitude they
-encourage the rank and file to burn and plunder.</p>
-
-<p>"I require that everywhere strict instructions shall be given with
-regard to the treatment of the life and property of the civilian
-population.</p>
-
-<p>"I prohibit all shooting in the towns without the order of an officer.</p>
-
-<p>"The miserable behaviour of the men caused a noncommissioned officer
-and a private to be seriously wounded by German bullets.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 38%;">"The Commanding Officer,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Major von Bassewitz</span>."</span>
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In his report of September 12, 1917, to the Secretary of State,
-Minister Whitlock has much to tell of the policy of frightfulness. The
-following passages refer to the subject of massacres:</p>
-
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"Summary executions took place [at Dinant] without the least semblance
-of judgment. The names and number of the victims are not known, but
-they must be numerous. I have been unable to obtain precise details
-in this respect and the number of persons who have fled is unknown.
-Among the persons who were shot are: Mr. Defoin, mayor of Dinant;
-Sasserath, first alderman; Nimmer, aged 70; consul for the Argentine
-Republic, Victor Poncelet, who was executed in the presence of his
-wife and seven children; Wasseige and his two sons; Messrs. Gustave
-and Léon Nicaise, two very old men; Jules Monin and others were shot
-in the cellar of their brewery. Mr. Camille Pistte and son, aged 17;
-Phillippart, Piedfort, his wife and daughter; Miss Marsigny. During
-the execution of about forty inhabitants of Dinant, the Germans placed
-<span class="sidenote">Germans force wives to witness husbands' executions.</span>
-before the condemned their wives and children. It is thus that Madame
-Albin who had just given birth to a child, three days previously, was
-brought on a mattress by German soldiers to witness the execution of
-her husband; her cries and supplications were so pressing that her
-husband's life was spared."</p>
-
-<p>"On the 26th of August German soldiers entered various streets [of
-Louvain] and ordered the inhabitants of the houses to proceed to the
-Place de la Station, where the bodies of nearly a dozen assassinated
-persons were lying. Women and children<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> were separated from the men
-and forced to remain on the Place de la Station during the whole day.
-They had to witness the execution of many of their fellow-citizens,
-who were for the most part shot at the side of the square, near the
-house of Mr. Hemaide. The women and children, after having remained on
-the square for more than 15 hours, were allowed to depart. The Gardes
-Civiques of Louvain were also taken prisoners and sent to Germany, to
-the camp of Münster, where they were held for several weeks.</p>
-
-<p>"On Thursday, August 27th, order was given to the inhabitants to
-leave Louvain because the city was to be bombarded. Old men, women,
-children, the sick, priests, nuns, were driven on the roads like
-cattle. More than 10,000 of the inhabitants were driven as far as
-Tirlemont, 18 kilometers from Louvain."</p>
-
-<p>"One of the most sorely tried communities was that of the little
-village of Tamines, down in what is known as the Borinage, the coal
-fields near Charleroi. Tamines is a mining village in the Sambre; it
-is a collection of small cottages sheltering about 5,000 inhabitants,
-mostly all poor laborers.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Massacres in Tamines.</div>
-
-<p>"The little graveyard in which the church stands bears its mute
-testimony to the horror of the event. There are hundreds of new-made
-graves, each with its small wooden cross and its bit of flowers; the
-crosses are so closely huddled that there is scarcely room to walk
-between them. The crosses are alike and all bear the same date, the
-sinister date of August 22d, 1914."</p>
-
-<p>"But whether their hands were cut off or not, whether they were
-impaled on bayonets or not, children were shot down, by military
-order, in cold blood. In the awful crime of the Rock of Bayard, there
-overlooking the Meuse below Dinant, infants in their mother's arms
-were shot down without mercy. The deed, never surpassed in cruelty by
-any band of savages, is described by the Bishop of Namur himself:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Slaughter of the innocents at Rocher Bayard.</div>
-
-<p>"One scene surpasses in horror all others; it is the fusillade of the
-Rocher Bayard near Dinant. It appears to have been ordered by Colonel
-Meister. This fusillade made many victims among the nearby parishes,
-especially those of des Rivages and Neffe. It caused the death of
-nearly 90 persons, without distinction of age or sex. Among the
-victims were babies in arms, boys and girls, fathers and mothers of
-families, even old men.</p>
-
-<p>"It was there that 12 children under the age of 6 perished from the
-fire of the executioners, 6 of them as they lay in their mothers' arms:</p>
-
-<p>
-"The child Fiévet, 3 weeks old.<br />
-"Maurice Bétemps, 11 months old.<br />
-"Nelly Pollet, 11 months old.<br />
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>"Gilda Genon, 18 months old.<br />
-"Gilda Marchot, 2 years old.<br />
-"Clara Struvay, 2 years and 6 months.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>"The pile of bodies comprised also many children from 6 to 14 years.
-Eight large families have entirely disappeared. Four have but one
-survivor. Those men that escaped death&mdash;and many of whom were riddled
-with bullets&mdash;were obliged to bury in a summary and hasty fashion
-their fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters; then after having been
-relieved of their money and being placed in chains they were sent to
-Cassel [Prussia]."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Mr. Hugh Gibson, the secretary of our legation in Belgium, visited
-Louvain during its systematic destruction by the Germans. In <i>A Journal
-from our Legation in Belgium</i>, New York, 1917, pages 164-165, he
-relates what the German officers told him:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"It was a story of clearing out civilians from a large part of the
-town, a systematic routing out of men from cellars and garrets,
-wholesale shootings, the generous use of machine guns, and the free
-application of the torch&mdash;the whole story enough to make one see red.
-And for our guidance it was impressed on us that this would make
-people respect Germany and think twice about resisting her."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>German pastors and professors far from the excitement of the firing
-have defended this policy of frightfulness, e.g.:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Pastor defends frightfulness.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"We are not only compelled to accept the war that is forced upon us
-* * * but are even compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a
-ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device, unknown in any
-previous war." Pastor D. Baumgarten, in <i>Deutsche Reden in schwerer
-Zeit</i>, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The fate that Belgium has called down upon herself is hard for
-the individual, but not too hard for this political structure
-(<i>Staatsgebilde</i>), for the destinies of the immortal great nations
-stand so high that they cannot but have the right, in case of need,
-to stride over existences that cannot defend themselves, but live,
-as parasites, upon the rivalries of the great." Prof. H. Oncken, in
-<i>Süddeutsche Monatsheft</i>, "South German Monthly."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Would they have dared to defend such a policy if they could have seen
-the announcement sent out by the parish of St. Hadelin with its silent
-eloquence?</p>
-
-<p>This is an invitation to a service in memory of 60 men and women from
-one parish, of whom all but two were killed by the Germans in the
-massacre of August 5 and 6, 1914. The closing sentences are:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">PRAY TO GOD FOR THE REPOSE OF THEIR SOULS.</p>
-
-<p>
-Gentle Heart of Mary, be my refuge.<br />
-Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.<br />
-St. Joseph, patron of Belgium, pray for us.<br />
-St. Hadelin, patron of the parish, pray for us.<br />
-Sainte Barbe, patroness of kindly death, pray for us.<br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>After reading such ghastly accounts, many of them written by German
-eyewitnesses, and knowing that similar tales were published widely in
-the German newspapers, it is difficult to read with patience such words
-as these:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The German Army (in which I of course include the Navy) is to-day the
-greatest institute for moral education in the world."</p>
-
-<p>"The German soldiers alone are thoroughly disciplined, and have never
-so much as hurt a hair of a single innocent human being." Houston
-Stewart Chamberlain, in <i>Kriegsaufsätze</i>, "War Essays", 1914.</p>
-
-<p>"We see everywhere how our soldiers respect the sacred defencelessness
-of woman and child." Prof. G. Roethe, in <i>Deutsche Reden in Schwerer
-Zeit</i>, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="center">II. HOSTAGES AND SCREENS.</p>
-
-<p>The massacres described above were a part of the German system of
-frightfulness. Another feature of this system was the use of civilians
-as hostages and for screens.</p>
-
-<p>In discussing the use of hostages the <i>German War Book</i> (<i>Kriegsbrauch
-im Landkriege</i>) says:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Views of the German General Staff.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"By hostages are understood those persons who, as security or bail for
-the fulfillment of treaties, promises, or other claims, are taken or
-detained by the opposing State or its army. Their provision has been
-less usual in recent wars, as a result of which some professors of the
-law of nations have wrongly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> decided that the taking of hostages has
-disappeared from the practice of civilized nations. * * *</p>
-
-<p>"A new application of 'hostage right' was practiced by the German
-Staff in the war of 1870, when it compelled leading citizens from
-French towns and villages to accompany trains and locomotives in order
-to protect the railway communications which were threatened by the
-people. Since the lives of peaceable inhabitants were, without any
-fault on their part, thereby exposed to grave danger, every writer
-outside Germany has stigmatised this measure as contrary to the law of
-nations and as unjustified towards the inhabitants of the country."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Although their deeds in the Franco-Prussian war had been universally
-condemned, as they themselves admitted, the leaders did not intend
-to abandon such a useful measure of frightfulness. In <i>L'Interprète
-Militaire</i> the forms were provided for such acts in the next war. Both
-in Belgium and in France the Germans have constantly used hostages. The
-evidence is contained in the proclamations of the governing authorities
-and also in the diaries of the German soldiers. A few examples from
-these will illustrate the system which was employed.</p>
-
-<p>A specimen of the arbitrariness and cruelty is furnished by the
-proclamation of Maj. Dieckmann, from which the following sections are
-presented:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">FROM A PROCLAMATION BY MAJ. DIECKMANN, SEPTEMBER, 1914.</p>
-
-<p>"4. After 9 a.m. on the 7th September, I will permit the houses in
-Beyne-Heusay, Grivegnée, and Bois-de-Breux to be inhabited by the
-persons who lived in them formerly, as long as these persons are not
-forbidden to frequent these localities by official prohibition.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Maj. Dieckmann seizes hostages.</div>
-
-<p>"5. In order to be sure that the above-mentioned permit will not
-be abused, the Burgomasters of Beyne-Heusay and of Grivegnée must
-immediately prepare lists of prominent persons who will be held as
-hostages for 24 hours each at Fort Fléron. September 6th, 1914, for
-the first time [the period of detention shall be] from 6 p.m. until
-September 7th at midday.</p>
-
-<p>"The life of these hostages depends on the population of the
-above-mentioned Communes remaining quiet under all circumstances.</p>
-
-<p>"During the night it is severely forbidden to show any luminous
-signals. Bicycles are permitted only between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. (German
-time).</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p>
-<p>"6. From the list which is submitted to me I shall designate prominent
-persons who shall be hostages from noon of one day until the following
-midday. If the substitute is not there in due time, the hostage must
-remain another 24 hours at the fort. After these 24 hours the hostage
-will incur the penalty of death, if the substitute fails to appear.</p>
-
-<p>"7. Priests, burgomasters, and the other members of the Council are to
-be taken first as hostages.</p>
-
-<p>"8. I insist that all civilians who move about in my district * * *
-show their respect to the German officers by taking off their hats,
-or lifting their hands to their heads in military salute. In case of
-doubt, every German soldier must be saluted. Anyone who does not do
-this must expect the German military to make themselves respected by
-every means."</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">A PROCLAMATION BY VON BÜLOW. IN NAMUR, AUGUST, 1914.</p>
-
-<p>"1. The Belgian and French soldiers must be delivered as prisoners of
-war before 4 o'clock in front of the prison. Citizens who do not obey
-will be condemned to hard labor for life in Germany.</p>
-
-<p>"The rigorous inspection of houses will commence at 4 o'clock. Every
-soldier found will be immediately shot.</p>
-
-<p>"2. Arms, powder, and dynamite must be given up at 4 o'clock. Penalty,
-being shot.</p>
-
-<p>"Citizens who know of a store of the above must inform the
-burgomaster, under penalty of hard labor for life.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Von Bülow takes hostages in every street.</div>
-
-<p>"3. Every street will be occupied by a German guard, who will take ten
-hostages from each street, whom they will keep under surveillance. If
-there is any rising in the street, the ten hostages will be shot.</p>
-
-<p>"4. Doors may not be locked, and at night after 8 o'clock there must
-be lights at three windows in every house.</p>
-
-<p>"5. It is forbidden to be in the street after 8 o'clock. The
-inhabitants of Namur must understand that there is no greater and more
-horrible crime than to compromise the existence of the town and the
-life of its citizens by risings against the German Army.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"The Commander of the Town,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">von Bülow</span>.</span>
-<br />
-"<span class="smcap">Namur</span>, <i>25th August, 1914</i>. (Printed by Chantraine)."<br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">PROCLAMATION POSTED AT BRUSSELS AND ELSEWHERE, OCTOBER 5, 1914.</p>
-
-<p>"September 25th, in the evening, the railroad track and telegraph were
-destroyed on the line Lovenjoul-Vertryck. * * *</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Hostages are made responsible for railroads.</div>
-
-<p>"Henceforth the villages situated nearest the spot where such events
-take place&mdash;it is of no consequence whether they are guilty or
-not&mdash;will be punished without mercy. For this purpose hostages have
-been taken from all places in the vicinity of railways in danger of
-similar attacks; and at the first attempt to destroy any railway,
-telegraph, or telephone line they will be immediately shot.</p>
-
-<p>"Furthermore, all troops entrusted with the protection of railways
-have received orders to shoot anyone approaching railways or telegraph
-or telephone lines in a suspicious manner.</p>
-
-<p><span style="margin-left: 5%;">"The Governor General of Belgium,</span></p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Baron von der Goltz</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Field-Marshal</i>."</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">PROCLAMATION TO THE POPULATION OF RHEIMS.</p>
-
-<p>"In order to insure sufficiently the safety of our troops and the
-tranquility of the population of Rheims, the persons mentioned have
-been seized as hostages by the Commander of the German Army. These
-hostages will be shot if there is the least disorder. On the other
-hand, if the town remains perfectly calm and quiet these hostages and
-inhabitants will be placed under the protection of the German Army.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">The General Commanding.</span></span><br />
-<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<span class="smcap">Rheims</span>, <i>12th September, 1914</i>."</span>
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Over 80 hostages in Rheims.</div>
-
-<p>Beneath this proclamation there were posted the names of 81 hostages
-and a statement that others had also been seized as hostages. The lives
-of all these men depended in reality upon the interpretation which the
-German military authorities might give to the elastic phrase, "the
-least disorder," in the proclamation.</p>
-
-<p>Hugh Gibson, in <i>A Journal from our Legation in Belgium</i>, page 184,
-explains what was likely to happen:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"Another thing is, that on entering a town, they hold the burgomaster,
-the procureur du roi, and other authorities as hostages to insure good
-behavior by the population. Of course, the hoodlum class would like
-nothing better than to see their natural enemies, the defenders of law
-and order, ignominiously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> shot, and they do not restrain themselves a
-bit on account of the hostages."</p></blockquote>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">STATEMENT FROM DIARY OF BOMBARDIER WETZEL.</p>
-
-<p>"Aug. 8th. First fight and set fire to several villages.</p>
-
-<p>"Aug. 9th. Returned to old quarters; there we searched all the houses
-and shot the mayor and shot one man down from the chimney pot, and
-then we again set fire to the village.</p>
-
-<p>"On the 18th August Letalle (?) captured 10 men with three priests
-because they have shot down from the church tower. They were brought
-to the village of Ste. Marie.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Hostages at Willekamm.</div>
-
-<p>"Oct. 5th. We were in quarters in the evening at Willekamm. Lieut.
-Radfels was quartered in the mayor's house and there had two prisoners
-(tied together) on a short whip, and in case anything happened they
-were to be killed.</p>
-
-<p>"Oct. 11th. We had no fight, but we caught about 20 men and shot
-them." (From the diary of Bombardier Wetzel, Second Mounted Battery,
-First Kurhessian Field Artillery, Regiment No. 11.)</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The Germans also found it convenient on many occasions to secure
-civilians, both men and women, who could be forced to march or stand in
-front of the troops, so that the countrymen of the civilians would be
-compelled first to kill their own people if they resisted the Germans.
-This usage is illustrated in the following:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">LETTER OF LIEUT. EBERLEIN.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">October 7, 1914.</span></span><br />
-</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Civilians used as screens.</div>
-
-<p>"But we arrested three other civilians, and then I had a brilliant
-idea. We gave them chairs, and we then ordered them to go and sit out
-in the middle of the street. On their part, pitiful entreaties; on
-ours, a few blows from the butt end of the rifle. Little by little
-one becomes terribly callous at this business. At last they were all
-seated outside in the street. I do not know what anguished prayers
-they may have said but I noticed that their hands were convulsively
-clasped the whole time. I pitied these fellows, but the method was
-immediately effective.</p>
-
-<p>"The flank fire from the houses quickly diminished, so that we were
-able to occupy the opposite house and thus to dominate the principal
-street. Every living being who showed himself in the street was shot.
-The artillery on its side had done good work all this time, and when,
-toward 7 o'clock in the evening,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> the brigade advanced to the assault
-to relieve us I was in a position to report that Saint Dié had been
-cleared of the enemy.</p>
-
-<p>"Later on I learned that the regiment of reserve which entered Saint
-Dié further to the north had tried the same experiment. The four
-civilians whom they had compelled in the same way to sit out in the
-street were killed by French bullets. I myself saw them lying in the
-middle of the street near the hospital."</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 38%;">"<span class="smcap">A. Eberlein</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>First-Lieutenant</i>."</span>
-</p>
-
-<p>Letter published on the 7th October, 1914, in the "Vorabendblatt" of
-the <i>Münchner Neueste Nachrichten</i>.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Minister Whitlock, in his report of September 12, 1917, to the
-Secretary of State, gives an instance of this German practice of
-seeking protection.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">"No respect to the cassock."</div>
-
-<p>"The Germans attacked Hougaerde on the 18th August; the Belgian troops
-were holding the Gette Bridge in the village. The Germans forced the
-parish priest of Autgaerden to walk in front of them as a shield. As
-they neared the barricade the Belgian soldiers fired and the priest
-was killed. After the retreat of the Belgians the Germans shot 4 men,
-burned 50 houses, and looted 100."</p>
-
-<p>Hugh Gibson, in <i>A Journal from our Legation in Belgium</i>, page 155,
-gives another incident:</p>
-
-<p>"Two old priests have staggered into the &mdash;&mdash; legation more dead than
-alive after having been compelled to walk ahead of the German troops
-for miles as a sort of protecting screen. One of them is ill, and it is
-said that he may die as a result of what he has gone through."</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">STATEMENTS OF CARDINAL MERCIER AND HIS FELLOW BISHOPS.</p>
-
-<p>"At the time of the invasion Belgian civilians, in twenty places, were
-made to take part in operations of war against their own country. At
-Termonde, Lebbeke, Dinant, and elsewhere in many places, peaceable
-citizens, women, and children were forced to march in front of German
-regiments or to make a screen before them.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Cardinal Mercier's judgment on the system of hostages.</div>
-
-<p>"The system of hostages was carried out with a fierce cruelty.
-The proclamation of August 4th, quoted above, declared, without
-circumlocution: 'Hostages will be freely taken.'</p>
-
-<p>"An official proclamation, posted at Liége, in the early days of
-August, ran thus: 'Every aggression com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>mitted against the German
-troops by any persons other than soldiers in uniform not only exposes
-the guilty person to be immediately shot, but will also entail the
-severest reprisals against all the inhabitants, and especially against
-those natives of Liége who have been detained as hostages in the
-citadel of Liége by the commandant of the German troops.'</p>
-
-<p>"These hostages are Monsignor Rutten, Bishop of Liége; M. Kleyer,
-burgomaster of Liége; the senators, representatives, and the permanent
-deputy and sheriff of Liége."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The above quotation is taken from <i>An Appeal to Truth</i>, addressed Nov.
-24, 1915, by Cardinal Mercier and the other bishops of Belgium to the
-cardinals, archbishops, and bishops of Germany and Austria-Hungary.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Will Irwin on brutality of German drive through Belgium.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"Some ten or a dozen American correspondents, of whom I was one,
-witnessed the First German drive through Belgium. Most of us were so
-appalled and horrified by what we saw as to become anti-German for
-life." Will Irwin, in <i>Saturday Evening Post</i>, Oct. 6, 1917, p. 41.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="center">III. FINES.</p>
-
-<p>The contracting nations, including Germany, who signed the Conventions
-of the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, 1907, pledged themselves
-to the following:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Germany's promises in Hague conventions.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"Article L. No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be
-inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals
-for which they can not be regarded as jointly and severally
-responsible."</p>
-
-<p>"Article LII. Requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded
-from municipalities or inhabitants except for the deeds of the army
-of occupation. They shall be in proportion to the resources of the
-country, and of such a nature as not to involve the inhabitants in the
-obligation of taking part in military operations against their own
-country."</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German violations of Hague conventions.</div>
-
-<p>The German authorities have violated these articles from the very
-beginning. As soon as they invaded Belgium, heavy fines were laid upon
-individual communities as reprisals for some act against the German
-Army or its regulations which was committed within their boundaries. In
-<i>An Appeal to Truth</i> Cardinal Mercier cites the following cases:</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"Malines, a working-class town, without resources, has had a fine of
-20,000 marks inflicted on it because the burgomaster did not inform
-the military authority of a journey which the Cardinal, deprived of
-the use of his motor car, had been obliged to make on foot. In fact,
-upon the flimsiest pretexts heavy fines are inflicted on communes.
-The commune of Puers was subjected to a fine of 3,000 marks because
-a telegraph wire was broken, although the inquiry showed that it had
-given way through wear."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In addition to such arbitrary, sporadic exactions, in December, 1914,
-the Germans demanded 40,000,000 francs ($8,000,000) a month to be paid
-by the Belgian Provinces jointly.</p>
-
-<p>Concerning this enormous imposition Cardinal Mercier says, in the
-<i>Appeal to Truth</i>:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The essential condition of the legality of a contribution of this
-kind, according to the Hague Convention, is that it should bear
-<i>relation to the resources of the country</i>, article 52.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Cardinal Mercier's comments.</div>
-
-<p>"Now, in December, 1914, Belgium was devastated. Contributions of
-war imposed on the towns and innumerable requisitions in kind had
-exhausted her. The greater part of the factories were idle, and in
-those, which were still at work, raw materials were, contrary to all
-law, being freely commandeered.</p>
-
-<p>"It was on this impoverished Belgium, living on foreign charity, that
-a contribution of nearly 500,000,000 francs was imposed."</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The crushing fine is increased.</div>
-
-<p>The German authorities were not satisfied with this impoverishing levy.
-In November, 1915, one month before the expiration of the twelve-month
-period fixed for the levy, they decreed that this contribution of
-40,000,000 francs a month should be paid for an indefinite period. In
-November, 1916, they increased the levy to 50,000,000 francs a month,
-in May, 1917, to 60,000,000 francs a month. In addition, the German
-authorities have continued to levy fines upon towns and villages for
-acts committed in their neighborhood, although they had no proof that
-these acts had been committed by any inhabitant of the city or village
-thus fined. (Compare taking of hostages, noted above.)</p>
-
-<p>The German military rulers have also made the families responsible
-for acts committed by or charged against members as is shown in the
-following examples, which are quoted from the <i>Appeal to Truth</i>, cited
-above.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Family made responsible.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The Belgian Government has sent orders to rejoin the army to the
-militiamen of several classes. * * * All those who receive these
-orders are strictly forbidden to act upon them. * * * <i>In case of
-disobedience the family of the militiaman will be held equally
-responsible.</i>"</p>
-
-<p>"A warning of the Governor General, dated January 26th, 1915, renders
-the <i>members of the family</i> responsible if a Belgian fit for military
-service, between the ages of 16 and 40, goes to Holland."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The Commander in Chief of the German army in Belgium posted a
-proclamation declaring:</p>
-
-<blockquote><div class="sidenote">Villages made responsible.</div>
-
-<p>"The villages where acts of hostility shall be committed by the
-inhabitants against our troops <i>will be burned</i>.</p>
-
-<p>"For all destruction of roads, railways, bridges, etc., <i>the villages
-in the neighborhood</i> of the destruction <i>will be held responsible</i>.</p>
-
-<p>"The punishments announced above will be carried out severely and
-without mercy. <i>The whole community will be held responsible.</i>
-Hostages will be taken in large numbers. The heaviest war taxes will
-be levied."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>At the end of the <i>Appeal to Truth</i> Cardinal Mercier says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"But we can not say all here, nor quote all.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Cardinal Mercier has proofs.</div>
-
-<p>"If, however, our readers wish for the proof of the accusations * * *
-we shall be glad to furnish them. There is not in our letter, nor in
-the four annexes [to the <i>Appeal to Truth</i>], one allegation of which
-we have not the proofs in our records."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>A striking illustration of the German methods is contained in the
-archives of the State Department, because the Prince of Monaco appealed
-to President Wilson against the injustice of a fine imposed upon a
-small and impoverished village. The following documents from the State
-Department archives tell the story. They need no comments.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Paris</span>, <i>Oct. 27, 1914</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-"<span class="smcap">Secretary of State</span>,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 20%;">"<i>Washington</i>.</span>
-</p>
-
-<p>"Prince of Monaco called this morning and asked that the following
-case be submitted to the President:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The case of Sissonne.</div>
-
-<p>"Prince states that General von Bülow for weeks has been inhabiting
-Prince's ancestral château near Rheims, historical monument,
-containing works of art and family heirlooms; that von Bülow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> has
-imposed fine of five hundred thousand francs on village of Sissonne
-some miles distant from château, because broken glass found on road
-near village. Sissonne being unable alone to pay has raised with a
-number of other neighboring villages one hundred twenty-five thousand
-francs but von Bülow has sent two messengers from Sissonne to Prince
-that unless latter pays fine for Sissonne the château and adjoining
-village, as well as Sissonne, will be destroyed on November first.
-Prince has answered refusing to pay sum now but willing to give his
-word to German Emperor that amount would be paid after removal of
-danger of fresh war incidents. Prince now fearful lest returning
-messengers, as well as male employees on his estate, be shot because
-of refusal to pay.</p>
-
-<p>"I have arranged meeting this afternoon between Spanish Ambassador and
-Prince, to whom I have suggested that matter be presented to German
-Government through Spanish Ambassador at Berlin inasmuch as Prince's
-threatened property is in France.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Herrick.</span>"</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Army Headquarters</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 33%;">"<i>Warmériville, Sept. 19th, 1914</i>.</span>
-<br />
-"<span class="smcap">To</span> the <span class="smcap">Mayor of the Commune of Sissonne</span>,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Sissonne</i>.</span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Von Bülow's levy on Sissonne.</div>
-
-<p>"It has been conclusively proven that the road between Sissonne and
-the railway station of Montaigu was, on September 18th, strewn with
-broken glass along a distance of one kilometre and at intervals of 50
-metres, for the purpose, no doubt, of impeding automobile traffic.</p>
-
-<p>"I hold the commune of Sissonne responsible for this act of hostility
-on the part of its inhabitants and I punish the said commune by
-levying upon it a contribution of 500,000 francs (five hundred
-thousand francs).</p>
-
-<p>"This sum must be entirely paid into the Treasury of the Etape by
-October 15th.</p>
-
-<p>"The Inspection of the Etape now at Montcornet has been directed to
-enforce execution of this order.</p>
-
-<p><span style="margin-left: 5%;">"The General Commander in Chief of the Army.</span></p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Von Bülow.</span>"</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE GERMAN EMPEROR.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Monaco</span>, <i>Oct. 22nd, 1914</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-"<span class="smcap">Sire</span>:<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>"I forward to Your Majesty several documents relating to a very grave
-and urgent matter.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote><div class="sidenote">Prince of Monaco writes Emperor William.</div>
-
-<p>"The General von Bülow has caused to be occupied since one month and
-a half my residence of Marchais, situated at five kilometres from the
-village of Sissonne. The general has levied upon the fifteen hundred
-inhabitants of this poor ruined village a war contribution of five
-hundred thousand francs, of which they are unable to pay more than
-one-quarter. Moreover, he has sent to me two emissaries bearing a
-document in which he threatens to destroy my property and the village
-of Marchais, over and above that of Sissonne, in the event of my not
-disbursing myself the sum in question before the end of the month of
-October.</p>
-
-<p>"That is how a Prussian general treats a reigning Prince who for 45
-years has been a friend to Germany, and who in all the countries of
-the world is surrounded with respect and gratitude for his work.</p>
-
-<p>"In reply to the summons of the General von Bülow I have given my
-word of honor to complete the above contribution in order to avert
-a horrible action accomplished in cold blood, but adding that as a
-sovereign Prince I submit this matter to the judgment of the Emperor
-by declaring that the said sum shall be paid when the Château de
-Marchais will be free from the danger of intentional destruction.</p>
-
-<p>"I am, with great respect, Your Majesty's devoted servant and cousin,</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Albert</span>, <i>Prince of Monaco</i>."</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">LETTER ADDRESSED TO GEN. VON BÜLOW.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Monaco</span>, <i>Oct. 22nd, 1914</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-"<span class="smcap">General</span>:<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>"To avert from the Commune of Sissonne and that of Marchais the
-rigorous treatment with which you have threatened them, I give my word
-of honor to remit to His Majesty the Emperor William, should the war
-come to an end without intentional damage being caused to my residence
-or to these two communes, the necessary sum to complete the amount of
-five hundred thousand francs imposed by you upon Sissonne.</p>
-
-<p>"As a Sovereign Prince, I wish to deal in this matter with the
-Sovereign who, during fifteen years, called me his friend and has
-decorated me with the Order of the Knight of the Black Eagle.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote><div class="sidenote">Prince comments on German treatment of monuments.</div>
-
-<p>"My conscience and my dignity place me above fear, as also my personal
-will shall elevate me above regret; but should you destroy the Château
-de Marchais which is one of the centers of universal science and
-charity, should you reserve to this archeological and historical gem
-the treatment you have given to the Cathedral of Rheims&mdash;when no
-reprehensible action has been committed there&mdash;the whole world will
-judge between you and myself.</p>
-
-<p>"I tender to Your Excellency the expression of my high regard.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Albert</span>, <i>Sovereign Prince of Monaco</i>."</span>
-</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="center">IV. DEPORTATIONS AND FORCED LABOR.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Advance in humanity&mdash;until August, 1914.</div>
-
-<p>Until the present war the whole civilized world has boasted of its
-advance in humanity. This advance had been marked in many fields, and
-in none had greater progress been made than in the protection to be
-given to the private citizen in an invaded country. As far back as
-1863, in the <i>Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United
-States in the Field</i> the United States declared:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">United States treatment of civilians, 1863.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"22. Nevertheless, as civilization has advanced during the last
-centuries, so has likewise steadily advanced, especially in war on
-land, the distinction between the private individual belonging to a
-hostile country and the hostile country itself, with its men in arms.
-The principle has been more and more acknowledged that the unarmed
-citizen is to be spared in person, property, and honor as much as the
-exigencies of war will admit.</p>
-
-<p>"23. Private citizens are no longer murdered, enslaved, or carried
-off to distant parts, and the inoffensive individual is as little
-disturbed in his private relations as the commander of the hostile
-troops can afford to grant in the overruling demands of a vigorous war.</p>
-
-<p>"24. The almost universal rule in remote times was, and continues
-to be with barbarous armies, that the private individual of the
-hostile country is destined to suffer every privation of liberty and
-protection, and every disruption of family ties. Protection was, and
-still is with uncivilized people, the exception."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German Government's reversion to barbarism.</div>
-
-<p>These declarations were made in the midst of our Civil War&mdash;one of
-the world's fiercest conflicts. A half-century later, after more than
-50 years of progress, the German Government has gone back to the
-methods used by "barbarous armies" and "uncivilized people." It has
-deliberately adopted the policy of deporting men and women, boys and
-girls, and of forcing them to work for their captors; it has even
-compelled them to make arms and munitions for use against their allies
-and their own flesh and blood.</p>
-
-<p>No other act of the German Government has aroused such horror and
-detestation throughout the civilized world. Thousands of helpless men
-and women, boys and girls, have been enslaved. Families have been
-broken up. Girls have been carried off to work&mdash;or worse&mdash;in a strange
-land, and their relatives have not known where they have been taken, or
-what their fate has been.</p>
-
-<p>This system of forced labor and deportation embraced the whole of
-Belgium, Poland, and the occupied lands of France.</p>
-
-<p>The plan for setting forth the essential facts of the deportations and
-forced labor is as follows: the documents, that is to say, a small
-fraction of those which could be cited, will be allowed to tell the
-story, and only such comments will be added as are needed to enable the
-reader easily to grasp the connection of events.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center">BELGIUM.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The deportations * * * were the most vivid, shocking, convincing,
-single happening in all our enforced observation and experience of
-German disregard of human suffering and human rights in Belgium."
-Vernon Kellogg, in <i>Atlantic Monthly</i>, October, 1917.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>A summary of the whole situation, down to January, 1917, can be
-obtained by reading continuously the report of Minister Whitlock, taken
-from the files of the State Department, which is given in italics on
-pages 48-49, 53, 54-55, 67-68, 74-75, 78. The insertion of his report
-at appropriate points has made it possible to avoid all but a minimum
-of repetition.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"<i>Legation of the United States of America</i>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Brussels, January 16th, 1917</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-"<i>The Honorable the Secretary of State</i>,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Washington</i>.</span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Horrifying behavior of the Germans in Belgium.</div>
-
-<p>"<i>Sir: I have had it in mind, and I might say, on my conscience, since
-the Germans began to deport Belgian workmen early in November, to
-prepare for the Department a detailed report on this latest instance
-of brutality, but there have been so many obstacles in the way of
-obtaining evidence on which a calm and judicious opinion could be
-based, and one is so overwhelmed with the horror of the thing itself,
-that it has been, and even now is, difficult to write calmly and
-justly about it. I have had to content myself with the fragmentary
-despatches I have from time to time sent to the Department and with
-doing what I could, little as that can be, to alleviate the distress
-that this gratuitous cruelty has caused the population of this unhappy
-land.</i></p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Belgian Government wished to support unemployed Belgians.</div>
-
-<p>"<i>In order to understand fully the situation it is necessary to go
-back to the autumn of 1914. At the time we were organizing the relief
-work, the Comité National&mdash;the Belgian relief organization that
-collaborates with the Commission for Relief in Belgium&mdash;proposed an
-arrangement by which the Belgian Government should pay to its own
-employees left in Belgium, and other unemployed men besides, the wages
-they had been accustomed to receive. The Belgians wished to do this
-both for humanitarian and patriotic purposes; they wished to provide
-the unemployed with the means of livelihood, and, at the same time,
-to prevent their working for the Germans. I refused to be connected
-in any way with this plan, and told the Belgian committee that it had
-many possibilities of danger; that not only would it place a premium
-on idleness, but that it would ultimately exasperate the Germans.
-However, the policy was adopted, and has been continued in practice,
-and on the rolls of the Comité National have been borne the names of
-hundreds of thousands&mdash;some 700,000, I believe&mdash;of idle men receiving
-this dole, distributed through the communes.</i></p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German cupidity excited.</div>
-
-<p>"<i>The presence of these unemployed, however, was a constant temptation
-to German cupidity. Many times they sought to obtain the lists of
-the chômeurs, but were always foiled by the claim that under the
-guarantees covering the relief work, the records of the Comité
-National and its various suborganizations were immune. Rather than
-risk any interruption of the ravitaillement, for which, while loath to
-own any obligation to America, the Germans have always been grateful,
-since it has had the effect of keeping the population calm, the
-authorities never pressed the point, other than with the burgomasters
-of the communes. Finally, however, the military<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> party, always brutal,
-and with an astounding ignorance of public opinion and of moral
-sentiment, determined to put these idle men to work.</i></p>
-
-<p>"<i>General von Bissing and the civil portion of his entourage had
-always been and even now are opposed to this policy and I think have
-sincerely done what they could, first, to prevent its adoption, and
-secondly, to lighten the rigors of its application.</i>"<br />
-
-(Continued on page 53.)</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In the early days of the German advance into Belgium, the people had
-learned to fear the worst. This was particularly true in Antwerp. In
-order to alleviate their fears and to obtain guarantees which might
-hasten the restoration of settled conditions, Cardinal Mercier secured
-from the German governor of Antwerp promises, and in a circular letter
-dated October 16th, 1914, asked the clergy of the Province of Antwerp
-to communicate them to the people:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Solemn promises of Germans not to exploit Belgians.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The governor of Antwerp, Baron von Hoiningen, General von Huene,
-has authorized me to inform you in his name and to communicate by
-your obliging intermediary to our populations the three following
-declarations:</p>
-
-<p>"(1) The young men need not fear being taken to Germany, either to be
-enrolled into the army or to be employed at forced labors.</p>
-
-<p>"(2) If individual infractions of police regulations are committed,
-the authorities will institute a search for the responsible authors
-and will punish them, without placing the responsibility on the entire
-population.</p>
-
-<p>"(3) The German and Belgian authorities will neglect nothing to see
-that food is assured to the population."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>These promises were not kept, as Cardinal Mercier and his colleagues
-show by abundant evidence in the <i>Appeal to Truth</i>.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"On March 23rd, at the arsenal at Luttre the German authority posted
-a notice demanding return to work. On April 21st, 200 workmen were
-called for. On April 27th soldiers went to fetch the workmen from
-their homes and take them to the arsenal. In the absence of a workman,
-a member of the family was arrested.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Violation of German promises.</div>
-
-<p>"However, the men maintained their refusal to work, 'because they were
-unwilling to co-operate in acts of war against their country.'</p>
-
-<p>"On April 30th, the requisitioned workmen were not released, but shut
-up in the railway carriages.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p>
-<p>"On May 4th, 24 workmen detained in prison at Nivelles were tried at
-Mons by a court-martial, 'on the charge of being members of a secret
-society, having for its aim to thwart the carrying out of German
-military measures.' They were condemned to imprisonment.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Early deportations.</div>
-
-<p>"On May 8th, 1915, 48 workmen were shut up in a freight car and taken
-to Germany.</p>
-
-<p>"On May 14th, 45 men were deported to Germany.</p>
-
-<p>"On May 18th a fresh proclamation announced that the prisoners would
-receive only dry bread and water, and hot food only every four days.
-On May 22nd three cars with 104 workmen were sent towards Charleroi."</p>
-
-<p>"A similar course was adopted at <i>Malines</i>, where, by various methods
-of intimidation, the German authorities attempted to force the workers
-at the arsenal to work on material for the railways, as if it were not
-plain that this material would become war material sooner or later.</p>
-
-<p>"On May 30th, 1915, the Governor General announced that he 'would be
-obliged to punish the town of Malines and its suburbs by stopping all
-commercial traffic if by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 2nd, 500 workmen
-had not presented themselves for work at the arsenal.'</p>
-
-<p>"On Wednesday, June 2nd, not a single man appeared. Accordingly, a
-complete stoppage took place of every vehicle within a radius of
-several kilometres of the town."</p>
-
-<p>"Several workmen were taken by force and kept two or three days at the
-arsenal."</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Belgians asked to make barbed wire.</div>
-
-<p>"The commune of <i>Sweveghem</i> (Western Flanders) was punished in June,
-1915, because the 350 workmen at the private factory of M. Bekaert
-refused to make barbed wire for the German Army.</p>
-
-<p>"The following notice was placarded at <i>Menin</i> in July-August,
-1915: 'By order: From to-day the town will no longer afford aid of
-any description&mdash;including assistance to their families, wives,
-and children&mdash;to any operatives except those who work <i>regularly</i>
-at <i>military work</i>, and other tasks assigned to them. All other
-operatives and their families can henceforward not be helped in any
-fashion.'</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Punished for refusal to work for German Army.</div>
-
-<p>"Similar measures were taken in October, 1915, at
-Harlebekelez-Courtrai, Bisseghem, Lokeren and Mons. From Harlebeke
-29 inhabitants were transported to Germany. At Mons, in M. Lenoir's
-factory, the directors, foremen, and 81 workmen were imprisoned for
-having refused to work in the service of the German Army. M. Lenoir
-was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the five directors to a
-year each, 6 foremen to 6 months, and the 81 workmen to eight weeks.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Interference with Red Cross.</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The General Government had recourse also to <i>indirect</i> methods of
-compulsion. It seized the Belgian Red Cross, confiscated its property,
-and changed its purpose arbitrarily. It attempted to make itself
-master of the public charities and to control the National Aid and
-Food Committee.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"If we were to cite <i>in extenso</i> the decree of the Governor General
-of August 4th, 1915, <i>concerning measures intended to assure the
-carrying out of works of public usefulness</i>, and that of August 15th,
-<span class="sidenote">Trickiness of German rulers of Belgium.</span>
-1915, '<i>concerning the unemployed, who, through idleness, refrain from
-work</i>,' it would be seen by what tortuous means the occupying Power
-attempts to attack at once the masters and the men."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>October 12th, 1915, the German authorities took a long step in the
-development of their policy of forcing the Belgians to aid them in
-prosecuting the war. The decree of that date reveals the matter and
-openly discloses a contempt for international law.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">DECREE OF OCTOBER 12, 1915.</p>
-
-<p>"Article 1. Whoever, without reason, refuses to undertake or to
-continue work suitable to his occupation, and in the execution of
-which the military administration is interested, such work being
-ordered by one or more of the military commanders, will be liable to
-imprisonment not exceeding one year. He may also be transported to
-Germany.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Germans flout international law and order Belgians to work
-for them.</div>
-
-<p>"Invoking Belgian laws or even international conventions to the
-contrary, can, in no case, justify the refusal to work.</p>
-
-<p>"On the subject of the lawfulness of the work exacted, the military
-commandant has the sole right of forming a decision.</p>
-
-<p>"Article 2. Any person who by force, threats, persuasion, or other
-means attempts to influence another to refuse work as pointed out in
-Article 1, is liable to the punishment of imprisonment not exceeding
-five years.</p>
-
-<p>"Article 3. Whoever knowingly by means of aid given or in any other
-way abets a punishable refusal to work, will be liable to a maximum
-fine of 10,000 marks, and in addition may be condemned to a year's
-imprisonment.</p>
-
-<p>"If communes or associations have rendered themselves guilty of such
-offence the heads of the communes will be punished.</p>
-
-<p>"Article 4. In addition to the penalties stated in Articles 1 and 3,
-the German authorities may, in case of need, impose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> on communes,
-where, without reason, work has been refused, a fine or other coercive
-police measures.</p>
-
-<p><span style="margin-left: 5%;">"This present decree comes into force immediately.</span></p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 38%;">"Der Etappeinspekteur,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Von Unger</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"Generalleutnant.</span><br />
-</p>
-
-<p>"<span class="smcap">Ghent</span>, <i>October 12th, 1915</i>."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Cardinal Mercier's brief comment is as follows: "The injustice and
-arbitrariness of this decree exceed all that could be imagined. Forced
-labor, collective penalties and arbitrary punishments, all are there.
-It is slavery, neither more nor less."</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">October 3, 1916, German Government inaugurates wholesale
-deportations.</div>
-
-<p>Cardinal Mercier was in error, for the German authorities were able
-to imagine a much more terrible measure. In October, 1916, when the
-need for an additional labor supply <i>in Germany</i> had become urgent,
-the German government established the system of forced labor <i>and
-deportation</i> which has aroused the detestation of Christendom.
-The reader will not be misled by the clumsy effort of the German
-authorities to mask the real purpose of the decree.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">THE DECREE OF OCTOBER 3, 1916.</p>
-
-<p class="center">"DECREE CONCERNING THE LIMITING OF THE BURDENS ON PUBLIC CHARITY....</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German verbal camouflage.</div>
-
-<p>"I. People able to work may be compelled to work even outside the
-place where they live, in case they have to apply to the charity of
-others for the support of themselves or their dependents on account of
-gambling, drunkenness, loafing, unemployment, or idleness.</p>
-
-<p>"II. Every inhabitant of the country is bound to render assistance in
-case of accident or general danger, and also to give help in case of
-public calamities as far as he can, even outside the place where he
-lives; in case of refusal he may be compelled by force.</p>
-
-<p>"III. Anyone called upon to work, under Articles I or II, who shall
-refuse the work, or to continue at the work assigned him, will incur
-the penalty of imprisonment up to three years and of a fine up to
-10,000 marks, or one or other of these penalties, unless a severer
-penalty is provided for by the laws in force.</p>
-
-<p>"If the refusal to work has been made in concert or in agree<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>ment with
-several persons, each accomplice will be sentenced, as if he were a
-ringleader, to at least a week's imprisonment.</p>
-
-<p>"IV. The German military authorities and Military Courts will enforce
-the proper execution of this decree.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"The Quartermaster General, <span class="smcap">Sauberzweig</span>.</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<span class="smcap">Great Headquarters</span>, <i>3d October, 1916</i>."</span>
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Hindenburg's responsibility for deportations.</div>
-
-<p>The responsibility for this atrocious program rests upon the military
-rulers of Germany, who had labored so zealously to infect the army and
-the people with the principles of ruthlessness. It is significant that
-the decree of October 3, 1916, followed hard upon the elevation of
-Hindenburg to the supreme command with Ludendorf as his chief of staff.
-In his long report of January 16, 1917, Minister Whitlock says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued)</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Was Bissing against deportations?</div>
-
-<p>"<i>Then, in August, von Hindenburg was appointed to the supreme
-command. He is said to have criticized von Bissing's policy as too
-mild; there was a quarrel; von Bissing went to Berlin to protest,
-threatened to resign, but did not. He returned, and a German official
-here said that Belgium would now be subjected to a more terrible
-régime&mdash;would learn what war was. The prophecy has been vindicated.
-Recently I was told that the drastic measures are really of
-Ludendorf's inspiration; I do not know. Many German officers say so.</i>"
-(Continued on p. 54.)</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>If von Bissing had opposed the policy of deportation when his own
-judgment was overruled, he consented to become the "devil's advocate"
-and defended the system in public. Especially instructive is the
-following conversation reported by Mr. F.C. Walcott:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">VON BISSING'S CONVERSATION WITH MR. WALCOTT.</p>
-
-<p>"I went to Belgium to investigate conditions, and while there I had
-opportunity * * * to talk one day with Governor General von Bissing,
-who died three or four weeks ago, a man 72 or 73 years old, a man
-steeped in the 'system,' born and bred to the hardening of the heart
-which that philosophy develops. There ought to be some new word coined
-for the process that a man's heart undergoes when it becomes steeped
-in that system.</p>
-
-<p>"I said to him, 'Governor, what are you going to do if England and
-France stop giving these people money to purchase food?'</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p>
-<p>"He said, 'We have got that all worked out and have had it worked out
-for weeks, because we have expected this system to break down at any
-time.'</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Bissing says deportation plans were carefully prepared.</div>
-
-<p>"He went on to say, 'Starvation will grip these people in 30 to 60
-days. Starvation is a compelling force, and we would use that force to
-compel the Belgian workingmen, many of them very skilled, to go into
-Germany to replace the Germans, so that they could go to the front and
-fight against the English and the French.'</p>
-
-<p>"'As fast as our railway transportation could carry them, we would
-transport thousands of others that would be fit for agricultural work,
-across Europe down into southeastern Europe, into Mesopotamia, where
-we have huge, splendid irrigation works. All that land needs is water
-and it will blossom like the rose.'</p>
-
-<p>"'The weak remaining, the old and the young, we would concentrate
-opposite the firing line, and put firing squads back of them, and
-force them through that line, so that the English and French could
-take care of their own people.'</p>
-
-<p>"It was a perfectly simple, direct, frank reasoning. It meant that the
-German Government would use any force in the destruction of any people
-not its own to further its own ends." (Frederic C. Walcott, in <i>The
-National Geographic Magazine</i>, May, 1917.)</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>A brief general view of the character of the deportations can perhaps
-be gained best from the report of Minister Whitlock.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).</p>
-
-<p>"<i>The deportations began in October in the Étape, at Ghent, and at
-Bruges, as my brief telegrams indicated. The policy spread; the rich
-industrial districts of Hainaut, the mines and steel works about
-Charleroi were next attacked; now they are seizing men in Brabant,
-even in Brussels, despite some indications and even predictions of the
-civil authorities that the policy was about to be abandoned.</i></p>
-
-<p>[The étapes were the parts of Belgium under martial law, and included
-the province of western Flanders, part of eastern Flanders, and the
-region of Tournai. The remainder of the occupied part of Belgium was
-under civil government.]</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The deportations begin.</div>
-
-<p>"<i>During the last fortnight men have been impressed here in Brussels,
-but their seizures here are made evidently with much greater care than
-in the provinces, with more regard for the appearances. There was no
-public announcement of the intention to deport, but suddenly
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>about ten days ago certain men in towns whose names are on the list
-of chômeurs received summons notifying them to report at one of the
-railway stations on a given day; penalties were fixed for failure to
-respond to the summons and there was printed on the card an offer of
-employment by the German Government either in Germany or Belgium. On
-the first day out of about 1,500 men ordered to present themselves
-at the Gare du Midi about 750 responded. These were examined by
-German physicians and 300 were taken. There was no disorder, a large
-force of mounted Uhlans keeping back the crowds and barring access
-to the station to all but those who had been summoned to appear. The
-Commission for Relief in Belgium had secured permission to give to
-each deported man a loaf of bread, and some of the communes provided
-warm clothing for those who had none and in addition a small financial
-<span class="sidenote"> Pitiable scenes.</span>
-allowance. As by one of the ironies of life the winter has been more
-excessively cold than Belgium has ever known it, and while many of
-those who presented themselves were adequately protected against the
-cold, many of them were without overcoats. The men shivering from cold
-and fear, the parting from weeping wives and children, the barriers of
-brutal Uhlans, all this made the scene a pitiable and distressing one.</i></p>
-
-<p>"<i>It was understood that the seizures would continue here in Brussels,
-but on Thursday last, a bitter cold day, those that had been convoked
-were sent home without examination. It is supposed that the severe
-weather has moved the Germans to postpone the deportations.</i>"
-(Continued on page 67.)</p>
-
-<p>Cardinal Mercier attempted to persuade the German authorities to
-abandon their terrible plans, reminding them of their solemn promises
-in the past:</p>
-
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Malines</span>, <i>19th October, 1916</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-"Mr. <span class="smcap">Governor General</span>:<br />
-</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Another "Scrap of Paper."</div>
-
-<p>"The day after the surrender of Antwerp the frightened population
-asked itself what would become of the Belgians of age to bear arms
-or who would reach that age before the end of the occupation. The
-entreaties of the fathers and mothers of families determined me
-to question the governor of Antwerp, Baron von Huene, who had the
-kindness to reassure me and to authorize me in his name to reassure
-the agonized parents. The rumor had spread at Antwerp, nevertheless,
-that at Liége, Namur, and Charleroi young men had been seized and
-taken by force to Germany. I therefore begged Governor von Huene to
-be good enough to confirm to me in writing the guarantee which he had
-given to me orally, to the effect that nothing similar would happen
-at Antwerp. He said to me immediately that the rumors concerning
-deportations were without basis, and unhesitatingly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> he sent me in
-writing, among other statements, the following: 'Young men have no
-reason to fear that they will be taken to Germany, either to be there
-enrolled in the army or employed for forced labor.'</p>
-
-<p>"This declaration, written and signed, was publicly transmitted to the
-clergy and to those of the Faith of the province of Antwerp, as Your
-Excellency can see from the document enclosed herewith, dated October
-16th, 1914, which was read in all the churches. [Printed on preceding
-pages.]</p>
-
-<p>"Upon the arrival of your predecessor, the late Baron von der Goltz,
-at Brussels I had the honor of presenting myself at his house and
-requested him to be good enough to ratify for the entire country,
-without time limit, the guarantees which General von Huene had given
-me for the province of Antwerp. The Governor General retained this
-request in his possession in order to examine it at his leisure.
-The following day he was good enough to come in person to Malines
-to bring me his approval, and confirmed to me, in the presence of
-two aides-de-camp and of my private secretary, the promise that the
-liberty of Belgian citizens would be respected.</p>
-
-<p>"To doubt the authority of such undertakings would have been to
-reflect upon the persons who had made them, and I therefore took steps
-to allay, by all the means of persuasion in my power, the anxieties
-which persisted in the interested families.</p>
-
-<p>"Notwithstanding all this, your Government now tears from their homes
-workmen reduced in spite of their efforts to a state of unemployment,
-separates them by force from their wives and children and deports
-them to enemy territory. Numerous workmen have already undergone this
-unhappy lot; more numerous are those who are threatened with the same
-acts of violence.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Mercier's moving appeal.</div>
-
-<p>"In the name of the liberty of domicile and the liberty of work of
-Belgian citizens; in the name of the inviolability of families; in
-the name of moral interests which the measures of deportation would
-gravely compromise; in the name of the word given by the Governor of
-the Province of Antwerp and by the Governor General, the immediate
-representative of the highest authority of the German Empire, I
-respectfully beg Your Excellency to be good enough to withdraw the
-measures of forced labor and of deportation announced to the Belgian
-workmen, and to be good enough to reinstate in their homes those who
-have already been deported.</p>
-
-<p>"Your Excellency will appreciate how painful for me would be the
-weight of the responsibility that I would have to bear as regards
-these families, if the confidence which they have given you through my
-agency and at my request were lamentably deceived.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
-<p>"I persist in believing that this will not be the case.</p>
-
-<p>"Accept, Mr. Governor General, the assurance of my very high
-consideration.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">D.J. Cardinal Mercier</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Arch. of Malines</i>."</span>
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Municipal governments in Belgium appealed to the German authorities
-to observe their solemn promises. The two documents which follow
-illustrate Belgian appeals and German answers.</p>
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI, OCTOBER 20, 1916.</p>
-
-<p>"In the matter of the requisition made by the German authorities on
-October 20, 1916 (requisition of a list of workmen to be drawn up by
-the municipality) * * *</p>
-
-<p>"The municipal council resolves to maintain its attitude of refusal.</p>
-
-<p>"It further feels it its duty to place on record the following:</p>
-
-<p>"The city of Tournai is prepared to submit unreservedly to all the
-exigencies authorised by the laws and customs of war. Its sincerity
-can not be questioned. For more than two years it has submitted to
-the German occupation, during which time it has lodged and lived at
-close quarters with the German troops, yet it has displayed perfect
-composure and has refrained from any act of hostility, proving thereby
-that it is animated by no idle spirit of bravado.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Council of Tournai refuses immoral and illegal demands.</div>
-
-<p>"But the city could not bring itself to provide arms for use against
-its own children, knowing well that natural law and the law of nations
-(which is the expression of natural law) both forbid such action.</p>
-
-<p>"In his declaration dated September 2, 1914, the German Governor
-General of Belgium declared: 'I ask none to renounce his patriotic
-sentiments.'</p>
-
-<p>"The city of Tournai reposes confidence in this declaration, which it
-is bound to consider as the sentiment of the German Emperor, in whose
-name the Governor General was speaking. In accepting the inspiration
-of honor and patriotism, the city is loyal to a fundamental duty, the
-loftiness of which must be apparent to any German officer.</p>
-
-<p>"The city is confident that the straightforwardness and clearness of
-this attitude will prevent any misunderstanding arising between itself
-and the German Army."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">GERMAN REPLY TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Tournai</span>, <i>23rd October, 1916</i>.</span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">And is roundly lectured and fined.</div>
-
-<p>"In permitting itself, through the medium of municipal resolutions, to
-oppose the orders of the German military authorities in the occupied
-territory, the city is guilty of an unexampled arrogance and of a
-complete misunderstanding of the situation created by the state of war.</p>
-
-<p>"The 'clear and simple situation' is in reality the following:</p>
-
-<p>"The military authorities order the city to obey. Otherwise the city
-must bear the heavy consequences, as I have pointed out in my previous
-explanations.</p>
-
-<p>"The General Commanding the Army has inflicted on the city&mdash;on account
-of its refusal, up to date, to furnish the lists demanded&mdash;a punitive
-contribution of 200,000 marks, which must be paid within the next six
-days, beginning with to-day. The General also adds that until such
-time as all the lists demanded are in his hands, for every day in
-arrears, beginning with December 31, 1916, a sum of 20,000 marks will
-be paid by the city.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Hopfer</span>, <i>Major General</i>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Etappen-Kommandant</i>."</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The Commission Syndicale of Belgian workingmen also attempted to induce
-the German authorities to abandon their terrible plans.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Commission Syndicale of Belgium</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Brussels, 30th Oct., 1916</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-[<span class="smcap">To the Governor General of Belgium.</span>]<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>"<span class="smcap">Excellency</span>: The measures which are being planned by your
-administration to force the unemployed to work for the invading power,
-the deportation of our unhappy comrades which has begun in the region
-of the étapes, move most profoundly the entire working class in
-Belgium.</p>
-
-<p>"The undersigned, members and representatives of the great central
-socialist and independent syndicates of Belgium, would consider that
-they had not fulfilled their duty did they not express to you the
-painful sentiments which agitate the laborers and convey to you the
-echo of their touching complaints.</p>
-
-<p>"They have seen the machinery taken from their factories, the most
-diverse kind of raw materials requisitioned, the accumulation of
-obstacles to prevent the resumption of regular work, the disappearance
-one by one of every public liberty of which they were proud.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p>
-<div class="sidenote">Workmen recite their wrongs at German hands.</div>
-
-<p>"For more than two years the laboring class more than any other has
-been forced to undergo the most bitter trials, experiencing misery
-and often hunger, while its children far away fight and die, and the
-parents of these children can never convey to them the affection with
-which their hearts are overflowing.</p>
-
-<p>"Our laboring class has endured everything with the utmost calm and
-the most impressive dignity, repressing its sufferings, its complaints
-and heavy trials, sacrificing everything to its ideal of liberty
-and independence. But the measures which have been announced will
-make the population drain the dregs [of the cup] of human sorrow;
-the proletariat, <i>the poor upon whom unemployment has been forced</i>,
-citizens of a modern state, are to be condemned to forced labor
-without having disobeyed any regulation or order.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">And appeal for decent treatment.</div>
-
-<p>"In the name of the families of workmen among which the most painful
-anxiety reigns at present, whose mothers, whose fiancées, and whose
-little children are destined to shed so many more tears, we beg Your
-Excellency to prevent the accomplishment of this painful act, contrary
-to international law, contrary to the dignity of the working classes,
-contrary to everything which makes for worth and greatness in human
-nature.</p>
-
-<p>"We beg Your Excellency to pardon our emotion and we offer you the
-homage of our distinguished consideration.</p>
-
-<p>"(Appended are signatures of members of the National Committee and the
-Commission Syndicale.)"</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Von Bissing in his reply, November 3rd, practically admitted the truth
-of the complaint by attempting to justify the measures protested
-against. The arguments which he used are taken up and refuted in the
-letter of the Commission Syndicale, November 14, which follows:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>
-
-<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"<span class="smcap">Commission Syndicale of Belgium</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Brussels, 14th Nov., 1916</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-"To His Excellency <span class="smcap">Baron von Bissing</span>,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<i>Governor General in Belgium</i>.</span><br />
-</p>
-
-<p>"<span class="smcap">Excellency</span>: The Secretaries and representatives of the
-socialistic and independent labor Unions of Belgium have, with a
-painful disappointment, taken cognizance of the answer which you were
-good enough to make to their petition of October 30th, concerning
-the deportation of laborers to Germany, and it is in the name of the
-working classes as a united whole that we are making a final effort
-to prevent the consummation of an act, without precedent, directed
-against its liberty, its sentiments, and its dignity.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p>
-<div class="sidenote">Socialists refute Bissing's arguments.</div>
-
-<p>"You say that many industrial works have been closed on account of
-the lack of raw materials brought about by the blockade by the enemy.
-Permit us, Excellency, to remind you that the allied powers manifested
-very clearly their intention to permit the importation into Belgium
-of raw materials required by our industries, provided, with a very
-natural provision, that no requisitions should be made, except those
-mentioned in Article 52 of the Hague Convention, that is to say
-those necessary to the 'occupying army,' and that an international
-commission, the Commission for Relief in Belgium, should have the
-right to supervise the destination of the manufactured products.</p>
-
-<p>"Instead of agreeing to such a proposal, we have seen the occupying
-authorities systematically remove the machinery, implements, machines
-of all kinds, the engines and raw materials, metals, leather, and
-wool, limit production, aggravate continually the difficulties of
-transactions. When communes or committees have desired to employ
-workmen without employment on works of public utility, obstacles have
-been thrown in their way and finally in many cases their undertakings
-have been stopped and broken. In a word, as fast as the most tireless
-efforts were strained to employ as many hands as possible, other men
-were constantly thrown out of work.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">And proudly praise the Belgian workman.</div>
-
-<p>"You state also that unemployment is caused by the laborers' hostility
-to work. The whole past of our working class protests against this
-accusation with every bit of energy that still remains in them. Where
-is there to be found in the whole world a working class which has made
-of such a small country such a great industrial and commercial power?
-And we, who for the last 25 years have been the enthusiastic witnesses
-of the magnificent efforts of our brother workmen, in the matter of
-their material and moral betterment, we proudly affirm that it is
-not among their ranks that one can find men so degraded as to prefer
-to receive a charitable assistance which barely furnishes them with
-sufficient food to an honest wage given in remuneration for free and
-fruitful work.</p>
-
-<p>"What is true, however, is that the Belgian workmen, conforming to the
-same article 52 of the Hague Convention which only admits requisitions
-of labor 'for the needs of the army of occupation and in case these
-requisitions do not imply an obligation to take part in the war
-against their country,' have refused the most tempting offers, not
-wishing to build trenches nor to repair forts nor to work in factories
-which manufacture war materials. This was their right and their duty.
-Their attitude deserved respect and not the most humiliating of
-punishments.</p>
-
-<p>"You refer to your decrees of August 15th, 1915, and of May<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> 15th,
-1916, in which are mentioned the possible punishment of any workmen
-who receive support and refuse work suited to their capacities and
-carrying with it a proper wage. Those who know with what care and with
-what minute detail the conditions, under which the unemployed have
-the right to receive assistance, have been established might perhaps
-think that these menaces were, to say the least, useless. But as you
-yourself say, these decrees declare in their article 2 that every
-motive of refusal to work will be considered valid if it is admitted
-by international law.</p>
-
-
-
-<p>"For these cases of refusal, the German Authorities reserved the
-right to cause these recalcitrants to appear before Belgian tribunals
-and later before German military tribunals. It is therefore certain
-that the unemployed have the right to refuse to work for any motive
-approved by international law. When summoned before the tribunal they
-have the right to employ counsel in their defense and to state clearly
-their reasons for refusal. One might, of course, say that it is not a
-<span class="sidenote">Laborers see through the German scheme.</span>
-question obliging the workmen to participate in military enterprise;
-but it is only too evident that every Belgian deported to Germany will
-take the place there of a man who to-morrow will go to reinforce the
-ranks of the enemy. We should like to know, Excellency, whether these
-tribunals carry on their functions.</p>
-
-<p>"You fear that continued unemployment may depreciate the physical and
-moral status of the workmen. We, who know them, have more confidence
-in them. We have seen them suffer with a stoicism which exists only
-in proud and high souls. Did not the splendid idea come from them, of
-organizing throughout the entire country a vast chain of educational
-work for the unemployed in order to develop their technical knowledge
-and to increase their professional value? The <i>Comité National</i> was
-not, alas, authorized to undertake this magnificent enterprise. Is
-it the idea that it is through forced labor, performed with black
-despair, like slaves, that our unhappy brothers will keep up their
-physical and moral energy?</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The Germans have no right to talk about unemployment of
-Belgians.</div>
-
-<p>"You fear also that 'the assistance which they receive will at length
-weigh down Belgian economic life.' We can with difficulty believe that
-Belgians, as you say, have had the smallness of soul to grudge in that
-form the bitter piece of bread and the little soup which have formed
-the food of so many working families for so many months; and what,
-after all, do the twelve million francs amount to that are distributed
-each month to from 500,000 to 600,000 unem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>ployed, in comparison
-with the destruction, beyond reckoning, of goods and lives which the
-horrors of a war in which it has not the slightest responsibility have
-cost and still cost our country? With the most unshakable faith in
-our destinies; we, the most nearly interested, know that in the near
-future Flanders and <i>Wallonie</i> will rise again, glorious, in history.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">All Belgians understand the German scheme.</div>
-
-<p>"Excellency, our heart and our reason refuse, then, to believe that it
-is for the good of our class and to avoid an additional calamity to
-our country, that thousands of workers are suddenly torn from their
-families and transported to Germany. Public sentiment has not been
-deceived and in reply to the grievous complaints of the victims, there
-echo the indignant protests of the entire population, as expressed by
-its representatives, its communal magistrates, and those persons who
-constitute the highest incarnation of law in our country.</p>
-
-<p>"Furthermore, the arbitrary and brutal manner employed in the
-execution of these sad measures has raised all kinds of doubts
-regarding the object in view: the need, above all, is to obtain
-workmen in Germany, for Germany's profit, and for the success of its
-arms.</p>
-
-<p>"While at Antwerp they did not take any young men from 17 to 31 years
-who were under the régime of control, in the Borinage they call all
-the men from 17 to 50 years of age; in Walloon Brabant all men over
-17 years, without making any distinction between the employed and
-unemployed. Men of all professions and of all conditions have been
-taken&mdash;bakers, who have never ceased to work in our co-operatives
-of the Borinage, for example; mechanics, who always had employment;
-agricultural workmen, merchants * * * At Lessines on the 6th instant,
-2,100 persons were taken away, all workmen up to 50 years of age.
-Several cases are cited where old men with five or six of their sons
-have been exiled thus by force.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The tears of the mothers and the children.</div>
-
-<p>"Distressing scenes occur everywhere. The unhappy ones gathered
-together in the public squares are rapidly divided into gangs. They
-had been directed to bring a small amount of baggage; they are taken
-at once to the railway station and loaded in cattle cars. They are not
-allowed to say good-bye to their families. No opportunity is given
-to them to put their affairs in order, even the most pressing ones.
-They do not know where they are going, nor for what work, nor for
-how long. Taken away at the beginning of the winter, after two years
-of privations, having no further resources and no means to provide
-themselves with warm clothing or with other indispensable articles,
-what privations are they going to endure? How will they live there?
-In what state will they return? This mystery and this anxiety are the
-cause of the ceaseless tears of the mothers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> and little children.
-Distress and despair reign in the homes.</p>
-
-<p>"Listen, Excellency, to these tears and these sobs. Do not permit
-our past of liberty and independence to be ruined. Do not permit
-human rights to be violated in its holy of holies. Do not permit the
-dignity of our working classes, which has been acquired after so many
-centuries of effort, to be trodden under foot.</p>
-
-<p>"It is to law and humanity that we appeal, solemnly and with the hope
-of being heard, for we have the profound conviction that by our voice,
-at this tragic hour, the great voice of the working class of the
-entire civilized world expresses its sorrow and its protest.</p>
-
-<p>"Accept, Excellency, the homage of our most distinguished
-consideration."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>(Here follow the signatures of the Members of the <i>Comité Nationale</i>
-and of the <i>Commission Syndicale</i>.)</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"We transmit this letter and previous correspondence to the Ministers
-and representatives of Foreign powers at Brussels, as well as to our
-comrades of the Commission Syndicale des Syndicats in Holland."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The files of the State Department contain authentic copies of very many
-such moving protests. The foregoing ones are taken from this pathetic
-collection, and from it may be cited, by way of further illustration,
-some passages from two others:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">PROTEST OF BELGIAN MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"<span class="smcap">Brussels</span>, <i>9th November, 1916</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-"To his Excellency, <span class="smcap">Baron von Bissing</span>,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<i>Governor General in Belgium</i>.</span><br />
-</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Belgian legislators recite the wrongs of Belgium.</div>
-
-<p>"<span class="smcap">Excellency</span>: It seemed that no suffering could be added
-to those under which we have already been weighed down since the
-occupation of our country. Our banished liberty, our destroyed
-industry and commerce, our raw products and instruments of work taken
-out of the country, the public fortune ruined, want succeeding to
-wealth in families formerly most prosperous, privations, anxieties,
-and mourning. * * *</p>
-
-
-
-<p>"Is there need to relate the scenes which the region of the étape
-has been the theater of for several weeks, and which are now being
-reenacted, during the past days, in the territory of the Government
-General, where this scourge threatens to extend from commune to
-commune until its victims are counted <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>by hundreds of thousands?
-<span class="sidenote">The "summary and sorrowful" procedure of the Germans.</span>
-The notices posted on the walls and reproduced in the papers tell
-sufficiently what it is. Everywhere the same procedure, summary and
-sorrowful: arrests in mass, men classified arbitrarily among the
-unemployed, herded together, divided into groups, sent toward the
-unknown. * * *</p>
-
-<p>"The authorities prefer to give them work in Germany, where the
-representatives of the [German] Industrial Bureau promise them 'good
-wages,' if they consent to work there 'voluntarily,' and where they
-may expect, in case of refusal, famine wages. What physical and moral
-depression is counted on in order to force their hand?</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Everyone knows what Germany wants Belgian workers for.</div>
-
-<p>"True, it has been asserted that the work which is offered to them
-will be nonmilitary in character; but voices have replied on every
-side: 'in taking the place of a German workman, the Belgian workman
-permits Germany to increase the numerical forces of its armies.'
-The most odious work is that whose results are used against the
-fatherland. To serve Germany is to fight against their own country.
-To compel our workmen to do this is nothing else than an act of force
-contrary to international law (referred to by Your Excellency in your
-proclamation of August 15th, 1915), and contrary also to the spirit,
-if not to the text, of the Fourth Convention of the Hague of 1907. * *
-*</p>
-
-<p>"They adjure Your Excellency to employ with the military authorities
-the high prerogatives which are yours from your position to prevent
-the consummation of an act without precedent in the history of
-modern wars, and they beg you to accept the assurance of their most
-distinguished consideration."</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 5%;">[Signatures of Belgian Senators and Deputies.]</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">PROTEST OF CARDINAL MERCIER.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Archbishopric of Malines</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Malines, 10th November, 1916</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-"Mr. <span class="smcap">Governor General</span>:<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>"I refrain from expressing to Your Excellency the sentiments which
-have been evoked in me by your letter of reply to the letter which
-I had the honor to address to you on October 19th, relative to the
-deportation of the unemployed.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German perfidy.</div>
-
-<p>"I have recalled with melancholy the words which Your Excellency,
-dwelling upon each syllable, pronounced in my presence, after your
-arrival at Brussels: 'I hope that our relations will be loyal * * * I
-have received the mission of dressing the wounds of Belgium.'</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"My letter of October 19th recalled to Your Excellency the engagement
-taken by Baron von Huene, military governor of Antwerp, and ratified
-a few days later by Baron von der Goltz, your predecessor as Governor
-General at Brussels. The engagement was explicit, absolute, unlimited
-as to time: 'The young men need not fear being taken to Germany,
-either to be enrolled in the army <i>or to be employed at forced labor</i>.'</p>
-
-<p>"This engagement is being violated every day&mdash;thousands of times in
-the last fortnight.</p>
-
-<p>"Baron von Huene and the late Baron von der Goltz did not say
-conditionally, as your despatch of the 26th of October would seek to
-imply: 'If the occupation does not last longer than two years men
-fit for military duty shall not be taken into captivity;' they said
-categorically: 'Young men, and with greater reason, men who have
-reached an advanced age, shall not <i>at any moment of the occupation,
-either be made prisoners or employed at forced labor</i>.' * * *</p>
-
-<p>"The decrees, posters, and comments of the press, which were intended
-to prepare public opinion for the measures now being taken, pleaded
-especially two considerations: The unemployed, so they declared, are a
-danger to public security; they are a charge upon governmental charity.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The Belgians have got no charity from the Germans.</div>
-
-<p>"It is not true, I said in my letter of October 19th, that our
-workmen have troubled, or even anywhere threatened the public peace.
-Five million Belgians and hundreds of Americans are the astonished
-witnesses of the dignity and the flawless patience of our working
-class. It is not true that the workmen deprived of work are a charge
-upon the occupying power for the charity which is dispensed by
-their administration. The <i>Comité National</i>, in which the occupying
-government has no active part, is the sole purveyor of subsistence to
-the victims of enforced idleness. * * *</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The German plan makes Belgians war against their own
-country.</div>
-
-<p>"Each Belgian workman will liberate a German workman who will add
-one more soldier to the German army. There, in all its simplicity,
-is the fact which dominates the situation. The author of the letter
-himself feels this burning fact, for he writes: 'nor is the measure
-one which affects the conduct of war <i>properly speaking</i> (<i>proprement
-dite</i>)'. It is, then, connected with the war <i>improperly speaking</i>
-(<i>improprement dite</i>); which can only mean that the Belgian workman,
-although he does not bear arms, will free the hands of a German
-workman who will take up the arms. The Belgian workman is forced to
-co-operate, in an indirect but evident manner, in the war against
-his country. This is manifestly contrary to the spirit of the Hague
-Conventions.</p>
-
-<p>"Here is another statement: <i>unemployment is not caused either<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> by the
-Belgian workman or by England; it is brought about by the régime of
-the German Occupation</i>.</p>
-
-
-
-<p>"The occupying government has seized considerable supplies of raw
-material intended for our national industry; it has seized and
-shipped to Germany the machinery, tools, and metals of our factories
-and our workshops. The possibility of national labor being thus
-suppressed, there remained one alternative to the workman: to work
-for the German Empire, either here or in Germany; or to remain
-idle. Some thousands of workmen, under the pressure of fright or of
-hunger, accepted, with regret for the most part, work for the enemy;
-but four hundred thousand workmen and workwomen preferred to resign
-themselves to unemployment, with its privations, rather than injure
-the interests of the fatherland; they lived in poverty, with the aid
-of a meager relief allowed them by the <i>Comité national de secours et
-d' alimentation</i>, under the supervision of the protecting ministers
-of Spain, America, and Holland. Calm, dignified, they bore without
-<span class="sidenote">No disorder is caused by Belgians.</span>
-a murmur their painful lot. In no part of the country was there a
-revolt or even the semblance of one. Employers and employees awaited
-with patience the end of our long martyrdom. Meanwhile, the communal
-administrations and private initiative endeavored to alleviate the
-undoubted inconveniences of unemployment. But the occupying power
-paralyzed their efforts. The <i>Comité National</i> attempted to organize
-a professional school for the use of the unemployed. This practical
-instruction, respectful of the dignity of our workmen, was meant to
-keep up their skill, increase their capacity for work, and prepare for
-the restoration of the country. Who opposed this noble movement, the
-plan of which had been elaborated by our large manufacturers? Who? The
-occupying government.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Communes not allowed to furnish work for unemployed.</div>
-
-<p>"Notwithstanding all this, the communes made every effort to give
-work to the unemployed upon undertakings of public utility; but the
-governor general made these enterprises depend upon permission which,
-as a general rule, he refused. There are numerous cases, I am assured,
-where the General Government authorized undertakings of this kind upon
-the express condition that they should not be undertaken by unemployed.</p>
-
-<p>"They were seeking to create unemployment. They were recruiting the
-army of the unemployed. * * *</p>
-
-<p>"The letter of October 26th says that the first responsibility for the
-unemployment of our workmen rests upon England, because she has not
-allowed raw materials to enter Belgium.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">England not to blame.</div>
-
-<p>"England generously allows foodstuffs to enter Belgium for the
-revictualling [of the country], under the control of neutral
-States&mdash;Spain, the United States, and Holland. She would allow raw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
-materials necessary for industry to enter the country under the same
-control if Germany were willing to agree to leave them to us, and not
-to seize the finished products of our industrial work.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Germany robs Belgians and inflicts privations.</div>
-
-<p>"But Germany, by various proceedings, notably by the organization of
-its <i>Centrales</i>, over which neither the Belgians nor our protecting
-ministers can exercise any efficacious control, absorbs a considerable
-portion of the products of agriculture and of the industry of our
-country. The result is a considerable increase in the cost of living,
-which causes painful privations for those who have no savings. * * *</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Deportation is slavery.</div>
-
-<p>"Deportation is slavery, and the heaviest penalty of the penal code
-after that of death. Has Belgium, who never did you any wrong,
-deserved at your hands this treatment which cries to heaven for
-vengeance?</p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Governor General, in the beginning of my letter I recalled the
-noble words of Your Excellency: 'I have come into Belgium with the
-mission of dressing the wounds of your country.'</p>
-
-<p>"If Your Excellency could penetrate into the homes of workingmen, as
-we priests do, and hear the lamentations of wives and mothers whom
-your orders cast into mourning and into dismay, you would realize far
-better that the wound of the Belgian people is gaping.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Cold calculation of Germans.</div>
-
-<p>"Two years ago, we hear people say, it was death, pillage, fires,
-but it was war! To-day it is no longer war, it is cold calculation,
-intentional destruction, the victory of force over right, the
-debasement of human personality, a cry of defiance to humanity.</p>
-
-<p>"It depends upon you, Excellency, to silence these cries of a revolted
-conscience; may the good God, whom we call upon with all the ardor of
-our soul for our oppressed people, inspire you with the pity of the
-good Samaritan!</p>
-
-<p>"Accept, Mr. Governor General, the homage of my highest consideration.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">D.J. Card. Mercier</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Arch. of Malines</i>."</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In less moving phrases, but in deadly corroboration, the continuation
-of the report of Minister Whitlock says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).</p>
-
-
-
-<p>"<i>The rage, the terror, and despair excited by this measure all over
-Belgium were beyond anything we had witnessed since the day the
-Germans poured into Brussels. The delegates of the Commission for
-Relief in Belgium, returning to Brussels, told the most distressing
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>stories of the scenes of cruelty and sorrow attending the seizures.
-<span class="sidenote">Appalling stories of German behavior.</span>
-And daily, hourly almost, since that time appalling stories have been
-related by Belgians coming to the Legation. It is impossible for us
-to verify them, first, because it is necessary for us to exercise all
-possible tact in dealing with the subject at all, and secondly because
-there is no means of communication between the Occupations-Gebiet and
-the Etappen-Gebiet. Transportation everywhere in Belgium is difficult,
-the vicinal railways scarcely operating any more because of the lack
-of oil, while all the horses have been taken. The people who are
-forced to go from one village to another must do so on foot or in
-vans drawn by the few miserable horses that are left. The wagons of
-the breweries, the one institution that the Germans have scrupulously
-respected, are hauled by oxen.</i></p>
-
-
-
-<p>"<i>The well-known tendency of sensational reports to exaggerate
-themselves, especially in time of war, and in a situation like that
-existing here, with no newspapers to serve as a daily clearing house
-for all the rumours that are as avidly believed as they are eagerly
-<span class="sidenote">A foul deed.</span>
-repeated, should of course be considered; but even if a modicum of all
-that is told is true there still remains enough to stamp this deed as
-one of the foulest that history records.</i></p>
-
-<p>"<i>I am constantly in receipt of reports from all over Belgium that
-tend to bear out the stories one constantly hears of brutality and
-cruelty. A number of men sent back to Mons are said to be in a dying
-condition, many of them tubercular. At Malines and at Antwerp returned
-men have died, their friends asserting that they have been victims of
-neglect and cruelty, of cold, of exposure, of hunger.</i>" (Continued on
-page 74.)</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>A vivid sketch of the deportations from Mons, drawn by a participant,
-may well be cited here:</p>
-
-<blockquote><div class="sidenote">"The woes of slavery."</div>
-
-<p>"I will take the 18th of November of last year [1916]. A week or so
-before that a placard was placed on the walls telling my capital
-city of Mons that in seven days all the men of that city who were
-not clergymen, who were not priests, who did not belong to the city
-council, would be deported.</p>
-
-<p>"At half past five, in the gray of the morning on the 18th of
-November, they walked out, six thousand two hundred men at Mons,
-myself and another leading them down the cobblestones of the street
-and out where the rioting would be less than in the great city, with
-the soldiers on each side, with bayonets fixed, with the women held
-back.</p>
-
-<p>"The degradation of it! The degradation of it as they walked into this
-great market square, where the pens were erected, exactly as if they
-were cattle&mdash;all the great men of that province<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>&mdash;the lawyers, the
-statesmen, the heads of the trades, the men that had made the capital
-of Hainaut glorious during the last twenty years.</p>
-
-<p>"There they were collected; no question of who they were, whether they
-were busy or what they were doing, or what their position in life. 'Go
-to the right! Go to the left! Go to the right!' So they were turned to
-the one side or the other.</p>
-
-<p>"Trains were standing there ready, steaming, to take them to Germany.
-You saw on the one side the one brother taken, the other brother left.
-A hasty embrace and they were separated and gone. You had here a man
-on his knees before a German officer, pleading and begging to take his
-old father's place; that was all. The father went and the son stayed.
-They were packed in those trains that were waiting there.</p>
-
-<p>"You saw the women in hundreds, with bundles in their hands beseeching
-to be permitted to approach the trains, to give their men the last
-that they had in life between themselves and starvation&mdash;a small
-bundle of clothing to keep them warm on their way to Germany. You saw
-women approach with a bundle that had been purchased by the sale of
-the last of their household effects. Not one was allowed to approach
-to give her man the warm pair of stockings or the warm jacket, so
-there might be some chance of his reaching there. Off they went!" John
-H. Gade, in <i>The National Geographic Magazine</i>, May, 1917.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The Belgian women sent a touching appeal to Minister Whitlock:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">THE APPEAL OF THE BELGIAN WOMEN.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 30%;">"<span class="smcap">Brussels</span>,</span><br />
-"<i>November 18, 1916, 46 Rue de la Madeleine</i>.<br />
-<br />
-"His Excellency Mr. <span class="smcap">Brand Whitlock</span>,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<i>Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
-of the United States of America</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-"<span class="smcap">Mr. Minister</span>:<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>"From the depths of our well of misery our supplication rises to you.</p>
-
-<p>"In addressing ourselves to you, we denounce to your Government, as
-well as to our sisters, the women of the nation which you represent
-in our midst, the criminal abuse of force of which our unhappy and
-defenseless people is a victim.</p>
-
-<p>"Since the beginning of this atrocious war we have looked on
-impotently and with our hearts torn with every sorrow at terrible
-events which put our civilization back into the ages of the barbarian
-hordes.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">No shadow of excuse for deportations.</div>
-
-<p>"Mr. Minister, the crime which is now being committed under your eyes,
-namely, the deportation of thousands of men compelled to work on enemy
-soil against the interests of their country, can not find any shadow
-of excuse on the ground of military<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> necessity, for it constitutes a
-violation by force of a sacred right of human conscience.</p>
-
-<p>"Whatever may be the motive it can not be admitted that citizens may
-be compelled to work directly or indirectly <i>for</i> the enemy <i>against</i>
-their brothers who are fighting.</p>
-
-<p>"The Convention of The Hague has consecrated this principle.</p>
-
-<p>"Nevertheless, the occupying power is forcing thousands of men to this
-monstrous extremity, which is contrary to morals and international
-law, both these men who have already been taken to Germany and those
-who to-morrow will undergo the same fate, if from the outside, from
-neutral Europe and the United States, no help is offered.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The women of Belgium have kept back their tears.</div>
-
-<p>"Oh! The Belgian women have also known how to carry out their duty in
-the hour of danger; they have not weakened the courage of the soldiers
-of honor by their tears.</p>
-
-<p>"They have bravely given to their country those whom they loved. * * *
-The blood of mothers is flowing on the battle-fields.</p>
-
-<p>"Those who are taken away to-day do not go to perform a glorious
-duty. They are slaves in chains who, in a dark exile, threatened by
-hunger, prison, death, will be called upon to perform the most odious
-work&mdash;service to the enemy against the fatherland.</p>
-
-<p>"The mothers can not stand by while such an abomination is taking
-place without making their voices heard in protest.</p>
-
-<p>"They are not thinking of their own sufferings, their own moral
-torture, the abandonment and the misery in which they are to be placed
-with their children.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The rights of honor and conscience.</div>
-
-<p>"They address you in the name of the inalterable rights of honor and
-conscience.</p>
-
-<p>"It has been said that women are 'all powerful suppliants.'</p>
-
-<p>"We have felt authorized by this saying, Mr. Minister, to extend our
-hands to you and to address to your country a last appeal.</p>
-
-<p>"We trust that in reading these lines you will feel at each word the
-unhappy heartbeats of the Belgian women and will find in your broad
-and humane sympathy imperative reasons for intervention.</p>
-
-<p>"Only the united will of the neutral peoples energetically expressed
-can counterbalance that of the German authorities.</p>
-
-<p>"This assistance which the neutral nations can and, therefore, ought
-to lend us, will it be refused to the oppressed Belgians?</p>
-
-<p>"Be good enough to accept, Mr. Minister, the homage of our most
-distinguished consideration."</p>
-
-<p>(Signed by a number of Belgian women and 24 societies.)</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The United States Government did not fail to respond to this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> touching
-appeal and to others of a similar nature. The American Embassy at
-Berlin promptly took up the burning question of the deportations with
-the Chancellor and other representatives of the German Government. In
-an interview with the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr.
-Grew was handed an official statement of the German plans, which is, in
-translation, as follows:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">THE GERMAN MEMORANDUM ON BELGIAN "UNEMPLOYMENT."</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">More German camouflage.</div>
-
-<p>"Against the unemployed in Belgium, who are a burden to public
-charity, in order to avoid friction arising therefrom, compulsory
-measures are to be adopted to make them work so far as they are not
-voluntarily inclined to work, in accordance with the regulation
-issued May 15, 1916, by the Governor General. In order to ascertain
-such persons the assistance of the municipal authorities is required
-for the district of the Governor General in Brussels, while in the
-districts outside of the General Government, i.e., in the provinces of
-Flanders, lists were demanded from the presidents of the local relief
-committees containing the names of persons receiving relief. For the
-sake of establishing uniform procedure the competent authorities have,
-in the meantime, been instructed to make the necessary investigations
-regarding such persons also in Flanders through the municipal
-authorities; furthermore, presidents of local relief committees who
-may be detained for having refused to furnish such lists will be
-released."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Mr. Grew pointed out that the deportations were a breach of faith and
-would injure the German cause abroad. In his official summary of the
-negotiations which he carried on he says:</p>
-
-<blockquote><div class="sidenote">Mr. Grew points out that Germany excites public opinion
-against her.</div>
-
-<p>"I then discussed in detail with the Under Secretary of State for
-Foreign Affairs the unfortunate impression which this decision would
-make abroad, reminding him that the measures were in principle
-contrary to the assurances given to the Ambassador by the Chancellor
-at General Headquarters last spring and dwelling on the effect which
-the policy might have on England's attitude towards relief work in
-Belgium. I said I understood that the measures had been promulgated
-solely by the military government in Belgium and that I thought the
-matter ought at least to be brought to the Chancellor's personal
-attention in the light of the consequences which the new policy would
-entail. Herr Zimmermann intimated in reply that the Foreign Office had
-very little influence with the military authorities and that it was
-unlikely that the new policy in Belgium could be revoked. He stated,
-however, in answer to my inquiry,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> that he would not disapprove of my
-seeing the Chancellor about the matter."</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Mr. Grew appeals to the Chancellor</div>
-
-<p>Mr. Grew accordingly took up the whole question with the Chancellor,
-and among other arguments urged the promises which the German
-Government had solemnly made to the Belgian civilians through Baron
-von Huene and Baron von der Goltz. [These pledges are set forth in
-detail in Cardinal Mercier's letter of October 19th, 1916, quoted in
-full on preceding pages.] Mr. Grew found it impossible to persuade the
-Chancellor to secure the abandonment of the policy of deportations,
-and thereupon urged that the policy should be modified. His formal
-statement of this phase of the negotiations is as follows:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>"The points of amelioration which I then suggested as a concession to
-Belgian national feeling and foreign opinion were as follows:</p>
-
-<p>"1. Only actual unemployed to be taken, involving a more deliberate
-and careful selection.</p>
-
-<p>"2. Married men or heads of families not to be taken.</p>
-
-<p>"3. Employees of the Comité National not to be taken.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">and asks certain concessions</div>
-
-<p>"4. The lists of the unemployed not to be required of the Belgian
-authorities, but to be determined by the German authorities
-themselves, as a concession to Belgian national feeling, and the
-Belgians, who had already been imprisoned for refusing to supply these
-lists, released.</p>
-
-<p>"5. Deported persons to be permitted to correspond with their families
-in Belgium.</p>
-
-<p>"6. Places of work or concentration camps of deported persons to be
-voluntarily opened by the German Government to inspection by neutral
-representatives.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>"A few days later Count Zech, the Chancellor's adjutant, called on me
-and communicated to me informally and orally the following replies to
-the various suggestions which I had made for concessions and points of
-amelioration:</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">but with slight success.</div>
-
-<p>"1. Only actual unemployed were to be taken. The selections would be
-made in a careful and deliberate manner.</p>
-
-<p>"2. Married men or heads of families could not in principle be
-exempted, but each case would be considered carefully on its merits.</p>
-
-<p>"3. Employees of the <i>Comité National</i> are regarded as actually
-employed and therefore exempt.</p>
-
-<p>"4. It was essential that the Belgian authorities should co-operate
-with the German authorities in furnishing lists of unemployed, in
-order to avoid mistakes. Only one Belgian had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> imprisoned for
-refusing to give such lists, and orders had now been given for his
-release.</p>
-
-<p>"5. Deported persons would be permitted to correspond with their
-families in Belgium.</p>
-
-<p>"6. Places of work and concentration camps would in principle be open
-to inspection by Spanish diplomatic representatives.</p>
-
-<p>"American inspection might also be informally arranged if desired.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>"On December 2nd, the Minister at Brussels communicated to me the text
-of a telegram which he had sent to the Department on November 28th,
-stating that he had been encouraged by the report of the results of my
-interview with the Chancellor." * * *</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The telegram to which Mr. Grew refers was the following:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">MINISTER WHITLOCK'S TELEGRAM OF NOVEMBER 28, 1916.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 20%;">"<span class="smcap">Brussels, via The Hague</span>, <i>November 28, 1916</i>.</span><br />
-<br />
-"<span class="smcap">Secretary of State</span>,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<i>Washington</i>.</span><br />
-</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Germans are deporting the skilled Belgian workmen.</div>
-
-<p>"We are naturally encouraged by Grew's telegrams concerning his
-conversations with the Chancellor. It is probable that the orders
-[for softening the rigors of the deportations] have not yet been put
-into effect, as the recruiting of Belgian workmen continues without
-distinction as between the employed and unemployed. I have received
-creditable information that choice is made with great rapidity, which
-allows no time for examination. Mayor in the Province of Namur had
-given a list of unemployed as one hundred. Practically none of the
-persons in this list were taken by the Germans, but from the same
-district hundreds of employed were taken. Apparently the choice is
-based entirely on the skill and physical fitness of the workmen. There
-is a great demand for blacksmiths and iron workers. The identification
-cards from the Commission for Relief in Belgium issued to men working
-for the <i>Comité National</i> were respected in Antwerp; nine men holding
-them were taken at Mons; over thirty at Namur, and a few each day
-in various parts of the country. Over forty thousand are engaged in
-various departments of relief work, however, and this is but a small
-percentage. It is reliably reported that very bad conditions exist
-in the Province of Valenciennes, and that many men have been taken
-there. They have been without food for sixty-three hours and have
-no blankets. Apparently they have been deprived of food in order to
-oblige them to work for the Germans.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Whitlock</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<i>American Minister</i>."</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>The American minister and the representatives of other powers were able
-to secure some lessening of the severity of the deportations. Minister
-Whitlock says:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Neutral representatives are allowed to request
-reconsideration of special cases.</div>
-
-
-
-<p>"<i>We have, of course, done all that was in our power to ameliorate the
-conditions without in any way seeming officially to intervene. I have
-already reported to the Department the conversations I have had with
-the officials. Recently I induced the Political Department to request
-that we bring to their attention any case of flagrant injustice, and
-on the basis of this admission we have been sending from time to time
-to the German authorities the names of certain deported Belgians who
-were working at the time of their seizure and therefore did not come
-within the purview of the rule laid down by the German Government
-that the unemployed should be deported. Other neutral Legations in
-Brussels have done the same, and the work has assumed proportions
-that are so large that I fear they may defeat its ends. The Legations
-of Spain and Holland have organized similar bureaus, and so many
-requests for repatriation are received that I have been compelled to
-rent rooms in a vacant house, across the street from the Legation
-in the rue Belliard, to carry on the work. The necessary staff and
-supplies for the work have been furnished by the Comité National,
-which has organized a central bureau that investigates all reports
-received by the Legations in order to determine whether or not the
-<span class="sidenote">They run into high figures.</span>
-persons mentioned have received financial assistance since the war,
-and, as well, to avoid duplication in representations. Inasmuch as it
-is difficult to make exceptions, I fear, as I said before, that the
-very mass of these requests will prevent their being examined with
-any care. So far as we are able to determine, about 100,000 have been
-deported, and of those less than 2,000 have returned.</i></p>
-
-<p>"<i>The Spanish Legation which, because of the fact that Spain is
-charged with the protection of Belgian interests in Germany, claims
-precedence in this matter, * * * makes a demand for the return of each
-and every one who applies, and sends in about two hundred names each
-day. The Dutch Legation * * * forwards each request that is presented,
-and, owing to the fact that after the fall of Antwerp, assurances
-were given by the German Authorities through the Dutch Government to
-Belgian refugees in Holland that they would not be deported should
-they return to Belgium, they are receiving a great many. I am told
-that they submit over fifteen hundred each day.</i> * * *</p>
-
-<p>"<i>We have a great many requests, and although we try not to
-discriminate we attempt to pick out the most deserving cases, though
-now that I have written that phrase I feel a certain shame in it
-because all the cases are deserving.</i></p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote><div class="sidenote">Germans rarely allow food packages to reach deported
-Belgians.</div>
-
-<p>"<i>I have had requests from the burgomasters of ten communes from La
-Louvière, asking that permission be obtained to send to the deported
-men in Germany packages of food similar to those that are being sent
-to prisoners of war. Thus far the German authorities have refused
-to permit this except in special instances, and returning Belgians
-claim that even when such packages are received they are used by the
-camp authorities only as another means of coercing them to sign the
-agreements to work.</i></p>
-
-<p>"<i>It is said that, in spite of the liberal salary promised those who
-would sign voluntarily, no money has as yet been received in Belgium
-from workmen in Germany.</i>" (Concluded on p. 78.)</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The American Government was not content with informal recommendations
-to the German Government, and on December 5, 1916, the American
-representative at Berlin laid this formal protest before the German
-chancellor:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">FORMAL PROTEST OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">A solemn protest by United States.</div>
-
-<p>"The Government of the United States has learned with the greatest
-concern and regret of the policy of the German Government to deport
-from Belgium a portion of the civilian population with the result
-of forcing them to labor in Germany, and is constrained to protest
-in a friendly spirit but most solemnly against this action which is
-in contravention of all precedent and those humane principles of
-international practice which have long been accepted and followed by
-civilized nations in their treatment of noncombatants in conquered
-territory. Furthermore, the Government of the United States is
-convinced that the effect of this policy if pursued will in all
-probability be fatal to the Belgian relief work so humanely planned
-and so successfully carried out, a result which would be generally
-deplored and which, it is assumed, would seriously embarrass the
-German Government."</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Other neutrals support American protest.</div>
-
-<p>This protest was followed by those of the Pope, the King of Spain, the
-Government of Switzerland, and other neutrals. They were of no avail,
-except, perhaps, to lead the German authorities to draw a tighter veil
-over their detestable proceedings. But the evidence has in some measure
-come through, although the full facts will not be known until the
-liberation of heroic Belgium.</p>
-
-<p>In the <i>Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung</i> of December 2, 1916, the
-following protests appeared, made, respectively, by Socialist Deputy
-Haase and Deputy Dittmann, members of the Reichstag:</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">PROTESTS AGAINST DEPORTATIONS HEARD IN REICHSTAG.</p>
-
-<p>"Thousands of workmen in the occupied territory have been compelled
-to forced labor; we earnestly ask the government to restore to these
-workmen their liberty, especially in Belgium. In truth, we [the
-Germans] find no sympathy in neutral countries; even the Pope has made
-a protest against this procedure, and several neutral states have done
-the same. Common sense itself demands that we abandon this procedure
-which moreover is in opposition to the Hague Convention to which we
-have agreed."</p>
-
-<p>"In opposition to the Secretary of State, I must recall that when
-formerly the Belgian workmen who had fled to Holland returned to
-Belgium, Governor General von Bissing promised that these Belgian
-workmen would under no circumstances be deported to Germany. This
-reassuring promise has not been kept."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Ambassador Gerard's interesting testimony appears in his recent book:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">AMBASSADOR GERARD'S EVIDENCE.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">American indignation at deportations.</div>
-
-<p>"The President [during my visit to America in 1916] impressed upon me
-his great interest in the Belgians deported to Germany. The action
-of Germany in thus carrying a great part of the male population
-of Belgium into virtual slavery had roused great indignation in
-America. As the revered Cardinal Farley said to me a few days before
-my departure, 'You have to go back to the times of the Medes and
-the Persians to find a like example of a whole people carried into
-bondage.'</p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Grew had made representations about this to the Chancellor and,
-on my return, I immediately took up the question.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Gerard not permitted to visit deported Belgians.</div>
-
-<p>"I was informed that it was a military measure, that Ludendorf had
-feared that the British would break through and overrun Belgium and
-that the military did not propose to have a hostile population at
-their backs who might cut the rail lines of communication, telephones
-and telegraphs, and that for this reason the deportation had been
-decided on. I was, however, told I would be given permission to visit
-these Belgians. The passes, nevertheless, which alone made such
-visiting possible were not delivered until a few days before I left
-Germany.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Some of them call on him.</div>
-
-<p>"Several of these Belgians who were put to work in Berlin managed to
-get away and come to see me. They gave me a harrowing account of how
-they had been seized in Belgium and made to work in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> Germany at making
-munitions to be used probably against their own friends.</p>
-
-<p>"I said to the Chancellor, 'There are Belgians employed in making
-shells contrary to all rules of war and the Hague Conventions.' He
-said, 'I do not believe it.' I said, 'My automobile is at the door. I
-can take you, in four minutes, to where thirty Belgians are working on
-the manufacture of shells.' But he did not find time to go.</p>
-
-<p>"Americans must understand that the Germans will stop at nothing to
-win this war, and that the only thing they respect is force." James W.
-Gerard, <i>My Four Years in Germany</i>, 1917, pp. 351-52.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>A similar point of view is expressed in an article entitled "Vae
-Victis" from the Hungarian newspaper <i>Nepszawa</i> of Budapest (quoted in
-K.G. Ossiannilsson, <i>Militarism at Work in Belgium and Germany</i>, 1917,
-pp. 53-54).</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">HUNGARIAN OPINION ON DEPORTATIONS.</p>
-
-<p>"Mechanical skill, and especially qualified mechanical skill, is
-for the moment a more important factor than usual, and as it must
-be obtained where it can be obtained, Belgium has had to suffer in
-accordance with the old saying which always holds good: <i>Vae victis</i>
-(woe to the vanquished). In Poland, mechanical skill and the arms
-which exist there are mobilized under 'the glorious and fortunate
-banners of Poland'; in Belgium under 'the banner of necessity.'"</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The Germans are using the Belgians for war work.</div>
-
-<p>"* * * The question remains: for what kind of work will the Germans
-use the Belgians? * * * Every kind of work in Germany is war work,
-whether it is called agricultural or industrial work. As the deported
-Belgians have not given their consent, their use is contrary to
-international law, and the policy of the Germans in Belgium and Poland
-is equally to be deplored. Instead of aiming at bringing us nearer
-peace, it serves to embitter our opponents and to rouse more hatred
-towards us amongst the neutrals. Many times and more and more we have
-had occasion to observe that the neutrals show more sympathy for
-Belgium than for any other belligerent."</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Belgians still being deported, September, 1917.</div>
-
-<p>The news dispatches indicate that the deportation and forced labor of
-Belgians still continue. In a dispatch from Havre (New York <i>Evening
-Post</i>, September 13, 1917) it is stated: "The removal of the civilian
-population of Belgium continues, according to advices received here.
-The town of Roulers, immedi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>ately behind the battle line in Flanders,
-has been evacuated completely. Ostend is being emptied gradually, and
-two thousand persons already have been sent from Courtrai." In another
-dispatch from Havre (<i>Washington Post</i>, September 24, 1917) it is
-stated that "the German military authorities at Bruges, Belgium, are
-conscripting forcibly all the boys and men of that city between the
-ages of 14 and 60 to work in munition factories and shipyards. The
-rich and poor, shopkeepers and workmen, all are being taken, only the
-school-teachers, doctors, and priests escaping."</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (concluded).</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German capacity for blundering.</div>
-
-<p>"<i>One interesting result of the deportations remains to be noted,
-a result that once more places in relief the German capacity for
-blundering, almost as great as the German capacity for cruelty. Until
-the deportations were begun there was no intense hatred on the part
-of the lower classes, i.e., the workingmen and the peasants. The
-old Germans of the Landsturm had been quartered in Flemish homes;
-they and the inmates spoke nearly the same language; they got alone
-fairly well; they helped the women with the work, the poor and the
-humble having none of those hatreds of patriotism that are among the
-privileges of the upper classes. It is conceivable that the Flemish
-population might have existed under German rule; it was Teutonic in
-its origin and anti-French always. But now the Germans have changed
-all that.</i></p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Germans will be hated for generations.</div>
-
-<p>"<i>They have dealt a mortal blow to any prospect they may ever have
-had of being tolerated by the population of Flanders; in tearing away
-from nearly every humble home in the land a husband and a father or a
-son and brother they have lighted a fire of hatred that will never go
-out; they have brought home to every heart in the land, in a way that
-will impress its horror indelibly on the memory of three generations,
-a realization of what German methods mean, not, as with the early
-atrocities, in the heat of passion and the first lust of war, but by
-one of those deeds that make one despair of the future of the human
-race, a deed coldly planned, studiously matured, and deliberately and
-systematically executed, a deed so cruel that German soldiers are
-said to have wept in its execution, and so monstrous that even German
-officers are now said to be ashamed.</i></p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Whitlock.</span>"</span>
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Mr. Hoover's mature conclusions on the German practices in Belgium,
-which he has written for this pamphlet, reinforce the detailed evidence
-already presented.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">MR. HOOVER'S CONCLUSIONS.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;"><span class="smcap">September, 1917.</span></span><br />
-</p>
-
-<p>I have been often called upon for a statement of my observation of
-German rule in Belgium and Northern France.</p>
-
-<p>I have neither the desire nor the adequate pen to picture the scenes
-which have heated my blood through the two and a half years that I
-have spent in work for the relief of these 10,000,000 people.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Belgian atrocities are the result of the "system."</div>
-
-<p>The sight of the destroyed homes and cities, the widowed and
-fatherless, the destitute, the physical misery of a people but
-partially nourished at best, the deportation of men by tens of
-thousands to slavery in German mines and factories, the execution of
-men and women for paltry effusions of their loyalty to their country,
-the sacking of every resource through financial robbery, the battening
-of armies on the slender produce of the country, the denudation of the
-country of cattle, horses and textiles; all these things we had to
-witness, dumb to help other than by protest and sympathy, during this
-long and terrible time&mdash;and still these are not the events of battle
-heat, but the effects of a grinding heel of a race demanding the
-mastership of the world.</p>
-
-<p>All these things are well known to the world&mdash;but what can never be
-known is the dumb agony of the people, the expressionless faces of
-millions whose souls have passed the whole gamut of emotions. And why?
-Because these, a free and democratic people, dared plunge their bodies
-before the march of autocracy.</p>
-
-<p>I myself believe that if we do not fight and fight now, all these
-things are possible to us&mdash;but even should the broad Atlantic prove
-our present defender, there is still Belgium. Is it worth while for
-us to live in a world where this free and unoffending people is to be
-trampled into the earth and to raise no sword in protest?</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;"><span class="smcap">Herbert Hoover.</span></span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="center">FRANCE.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German practices were the same in all occupied regions.</div>
-
-<p>In France the German system of forced labor and deportations, with its
-attendant callousness, brutalities, and horrors, was the same as in
-Belgium. Inasmuch as the German system in action has been adequately
-illustrated in the foregoing pages on Belgium, it will suffice in this
-part simply to show the real identity of German practice in the two
-occupied regions. This can be done from the official documents and from
-a summary by Ambassador Gerard. The harrowing details may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> be gathered
-from the scores of depositions which accompany the note addressed by
-the French Government to the Governments of the neutral powers July 25,
-1916. These are on file in the State Department, and have also been
-translated, along with the official documents, in <i>The Deportation of
-Women and Girls from Lille</i>, New York, Doran.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">PROCLAMATION OF THE GERMAN MILITARY COMMANDANT OF LILLE.</p>
-
-<p>"The attitude of England makes the provisioning of the population more
-and more difficult.</p>
-
-<p>"To reduce the misery, the German authorities have recently asked for
-volunteers to go and work in the country. This offer has not had the
-success that was expected.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German proclamation at Lille, April, 1916.</div>
-
-<p>"In consequence of this the inhabitants will be deported by order
-and removed into the country. Persons deported will be sent to the
-interior of the occupied territory in France, far behind the front,
-where they will be employed in agricultural labor, and not on any
-military work whatever. By this measure they will be given the
-opportunity of providing better for their subsistence.</p>
-
-<p>"In case of necessity, provisions can be obtained through the German
-depots. Every person deported will be allowed to take with him 30
-kilograms of baggage (household utensils, clothes, etc.), which it
-will be well to make ready at once.</p>
-
-<p>"I therefore order that no one, until further orders, shall change
-his place of residence. No one may absent himself from his declared
-legal residence from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. (German time), unless he is in
-possession of a permit in due form.</p>
-
-<p>"Inasmuch as this is an irrevocable measure, it is in the interest of
-the population itself to remain calm and obedient.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Commandant.</span></span><br />
-<br />
-"<span class="smcap">Lille</span>, <i>April, 1916</i>."<br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">NOTICE DISTRIBUTED TO HOUSES IN LILLE.</p>
-
-<p>"All the inhabitants of the house, with the exception of children
-under fourteen and their mothers, and also of old people, must prepare
-themselves for transportation in an hour and a half's time.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Inhabitants of Lille given 90 minutes to get ready to
-depart.</div>
-
-<p>"An officer will decide definitely what persons will be taken to the
-concentration camps. For this purpose all the inhabitants of the house
-must assemble in front of it; in case of bad weather they may remain
-in the passage. The door of the house must remain open. All protests
-will be useless.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> No inmate of the house, even those who are not to be
-transported, may leave the house before 8 a.m. (German time).</p>
-
-<p>"Each person will be permitted to take 30 kilograms of baggage; if
-anyone's baggage exceeds that weight, it will all be rejected without
-further consideration. Packages must be separately made up for each
-person and must bear an address legibly written and firmly affixed.
-This address must contain the surname and the Christian name and the
-number of the identity card.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Must carry their own cooking utensils.</div>
-
-<p>"It is absolutely necessary that each person should, in his own
-interest, provide himself with eating and drinking utensils, as well
-as with a woolen blanket, good shoes, and body linen. Everyone must
-carry his identity card on his person. Anyone attempting to evade
-transportation will be punished without mercy.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<span class="smcap">Etappen-Kommandantur.</span>"</span><br />
-<br />
-[<span class="smcap">Lille</span>, <i>April, 1916</i>.]<br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">PROTEST OF BISHOP CHAROST, OF LILLE, ADDRESSED TO GENERAL VON
-GRAEVENITZ.</p>
-
-<p>"<span class="smcap">Monsieur le Général</span>: It is my duty to bring to your
-notice the fact that a very agitated state of mind exists among the
-population.</p>
-
-<p>"Numerous removals of women and girls, certain transfers of men and
-youth, and even of children, have been carried out in the districts of
-Tourcoing and Roubaix without judicial procedure or trial.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The Bishop protests against deportations.</div>
-
-<p>"The unfortunate people have been sent to unknown places. Measures
-equally extreme and on a larger scale are contemplated at Lille. You
-will not be surprised, Monsieur le Général, that I intercede with you
-in the name of the religious mission confided to me. That mission
-lays on me the burden of defending with respect but with courage, the
-Law of Nations, which the law of war must never infringe, and that
-eternal morality whose rules nothing can suspend. It makes it my duty
-to protect the feeble and the unarmed, who are as my family to me and
-whose burdens and sorrows are mine.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Appeals to the humanity of the commander.</div>
-
-<p>"You are a father; you know that there is not in the order of humanity
-a right more honorable or more holy than that of the family. For every
-Christian the inviolability of God, who created the family, attaches
-to it. The German officers who have been billeted for a long time in
-our homes know how deep in our hearts we of the North hold family
-affection and that it is the sweetest thing in life to us. Thus to
-dismember the family by tearing youths and girls from their homes is
-not war; it is for us tortures and the worst of tortures&mdash;unlimited
-moral torture.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-
-
-<p>"The violation of family rights is doubled by a violation of the sacred
-demands of morality. Morality is exposed to perils, the mere idea of
-which is revolting to every honest man, from the promiscuity which
-<span class="sidenote">The methods of deportation a danger to morals.</span>
-inevitably accompanies removals <i>en masse</i>, involving mixture of the
-sexes, or, at all events, of persons of very unequal moral standing.
-Young girls of irreproachable life, who have never committed any worse
-offense than that of trying to pick up some bread or a few potatoes
-to feed a numerous family, and who have besides paid the light
-penalty for such trespass, have been carried off. Their mothers, who
-have watched so closely over them and had no other joy than that of
-keeping their daughters beside them, in the absence of father and sons
-fighting or killed at the front&mdash;these mothers are now alone. They
-bring to me their despair and their anguish. I am speaking of what
-I have seen and heard. I know that you have no part in these harsh
-measures. You are by nature inclined toward justice; that is why I
-venture to turn to you; I beg you to be good enough to forward without
-delay to the German High Military Command this letter from a Bishop,
-whose deep grief they will easily imagine. We have suffered much for
-the last twenty months, but no stroke of fortune could be comparable
-to this; it would be as undeserved as it is cruel and would produce
-<span class="sidenote">Hopes for restoration of the deported.</span>
-in all France an indelible impression. I cannot believe that the
-blow will fall. I have faith in the human conscience and I preserve
-the hope that the young men and girls of respectable families will
-be restored to their homes in answer to the demand for their return
-and that sentiments of justice and honor will prevail over all lower
-considerations.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 35%;">"<span class="smcap">Alexis Armand</span>,</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;">"<i>Bishop</i>."</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">ADDRESS OF PROMINENT CITIZENS OF ROUBAIX AND TOURCOING TO THE
-PRESIDENT OF FRANCE.</p>
-
-<p>
-"To Monsieur <span class="smcap">Raymond Poincaré</span>,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<i>President of the French Republic, Paris</i>.</span><br />
-</p>
-
-<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>: We have the honor to express again our most sincere
-gratitude to you for your most kind reception, a few days ago, of the
-deputation which went with feelings of legitimate emotion to inform
-you of the deportation of lads and girls, which the German authorities
-have just carried out in the invaded districts.</p>
-
-<p>"We have collected some details on the subject from the lips of an
-honorable and trustworthy person, who succeeded in leaving Tourcoing
-about ten days ago; we think it our duty to bring these details to
-your notice by reproducing textually the declarations which have been
-made to us:</p>
-
-<p>"'These deportations began towards Easter. The Germans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> announced that
-the inhabitants of Roubaix, Tourcoing, Lille, etc., were going to be
-transported into French districts where their provisioning would be
-easier.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The procedure of the deportations.</div>
-
-<p>"'At night, at about 2 o'clock in the morning, a whole district of
-the town was invested by the troops of occupation. To each house
-was distributed a printed notice, of which we give below an exact
-reproduction, preserving the style and spelling. [See second document,
-above.]</p>
-
-<p>"'The inhabitants so warned were to hold themselves ready to depart an
-hour and a half after the distribution of the proclamation.</p>
-
-<p>"'Each family, drawn up outside the house, was examined by an officer,
-who pointed out haphazard the persons who were to go. No words can
-express the barbarity of this proceeding nor describe the heartrending
-scenes which occurred; young men and girls took a hasty farewell of
-their parents&mdash;a farewell hurried by the German soldiers who were
-executing the infamous task&mdash;rejoined the group of those who were
-going, and found themselves in the middle of the street, surrounded by
-other soldiers with fixed bayonets.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Sometimes a kind-hearted officer could not carry out the
-brutal orders.</div>
-
-<p>"'Tears of despair on the part of parents and children so ruthlessly
-separated did not soften the hearts of the brutal Germans. Sometimes,
-however, a more kind-hearted officer yielded to too great a despair,
-and did not choose all the persons whom he should&mdash;by the terms of his
-instructions&mdash;have separated.</p>
-
-<p>"'These girls and lads were taken in street cars to factories, where
-they were numbered and labelled like cattle and grouped to form
-convoys. In these factories they remained twelve, twenty-four, or
-thirty-six hours until a train was ready to remove them.</p>
-
-<p>"'The deportation began with the villages of Roncq, Halluin, etc.,
-then Tourcoing and Roubaix. In towns the Germans proceeded by
-districts.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Numbers deported.</div>
-
-<p>"'In all about 30,000 persons are said to have been carried off up
-to the present. This monstrous operation has taken eight to ten days
-to accomplish. It is feared, unfortunately, that it may begin again
-soon. The departures took place in freight cars to the sound of the
-"Marseillaise."</p>
-
-<p>"'The reason given by the German authorities is a humanitarian (?)
-one. They have put forward the following pretexts: provisioning is
-going to break down in the large towns in the north and their suburbs,
-whereas in the Ardennes the feeding is easy and cheap.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p>
-<div class="sidenote">Young men and girls lodged in "disgraceful promiscuity."</div>
-
-<p>"'It is known from the young men and girls, since sent back to
-their families for reasons of health, that in the Department of the
-Ardennes the victims are lodged in a terrible manner, in disgraceful
-promiscuity; they are compelled to work in the fields. It is
-unnecessary to say that the inhabitants of our towns are not trained
-to such work. The Germans pay them 1.50 m. But there are complaints of
-insufficient food.</p>
-
-<p>"'They were very badly received in the Ardennes. The Germans had told
-the Ardennais that these were "volunteers" who were coming to work,
-and the Ardennais proceeded to receive them with many insults, which
-only ceased when the forcible deportation, of which they were the
-victims, became known.</p>
-
-<p>"'Feeling ran especially high in our towns. Never has so iniquitous a
-measure been carried out. The Germans have shown all the barbarity of
-slave drivers.</p>
-
-<p>"'The families so scattered are in despair and the morale of the
-whole population is gravely affected. Boys of 14, schoolboys in
-knickerbockers, young girls of 15 to 16 have been carried off, and the
-despairing protests of their parents failed to touch the hearts of the
-German officers or rather executioners.</p>
-
-<p>"'One last detail: The persons so deported are allowed to write home
-once a month; that is to say, even less often than military prisoners.'</p>
-
-<p>"Such are the declarations which we have collected and which, without
-commentary, confirm in an even more striking way the facts which we
-took the liberty of laying before you.</p>
-
-<p>"We do not wish here to enter into the question of provisioning in the
-invaded districts; others, better qualified than ourselves, give you,
-as we know, frequent information. It is enough for us to describe in a
-few words the situation from this aspect:</p>
-
-<p>"The provisioning is very difficult; food, apart from that supplied by
-the Spanish-American Committee, is very scarce and terribly dear. * *
-* People are hungry and the provisioning is inadequate by at least a
-half; our population is suffering constant privations and is growing
-noticeably weaker. The death rate, too, has increased considerably.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">People rely on the neutral powers.</div>
-
-<p>"Sometimes inhabitants of the invaded territories speak with a note
-of discouragement, crying apparently: 'We are forsaken by everyone.'
-We, on the other hand, are hopeful, Monsieur le Président, that the
-energetic intervention on the part of Neutrals, which the French
-Government is sure to evoke, will soon bring to an end these measures
-which rouse the wrath of all to whom humanity is not an empty word. *
-* *</p>
-
-<p>"With all confidence in the sympathy of the Government we venture
-to address a new and pressing appeal to your generous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> kindness and
-far-reaching influence in the name of those who are suffering on
-behalf of the whole country."</p>
-
-<p>(Signed on behalf of various specified organizations by Toulemonde,
-Charles Droulers, Léon Hatine-Dazin, and Louis Lorthiois.)</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 5%;">"<span class="smcap">Paris</span>, <i>15th June, 1916, 3, rue Taitbout</i>."</span><br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">AMBASSADOR GERARD'S STATEMENT.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Barbarity of deportations.</div>
-
-<p>"It seems that the Germans had endeavored to get volunteers from the
-great industrial towns of Lille, Roubaix, and Tourcoing to work these
-fields; that after the posting of the notices calling for volunteers
-only fourteen had appeared. The Germans then gave orders to seize
-a certain number of inhabitants and send them out to farms in the
-outlying districts to engage in agricultural work. The Americans told
-me that this order was carried out with the greatest barbarity; that
-a man would come home at night and find that his wife or children had
-disappeared and no one could tell him where they had gone except that
-the neighbours would relate that German noncommissioned officers and
-a file of soldiers had carried them off. For instance, in a house
-of a well-to-do merchant who had perhaps two daughters of fifteen
-and seventeen and a man servant, the two daughters and the servant
-would be seized and sent off together to work for the Germans in some
-little farm house whose location was not disclosed to the parents. The
-Americans told me that this sort of thing was causing such indignation
-among the population of these towns that they feared a great uprising
-and a consequent slaughter and burning by the Germans.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Chancellor says that the military authorities ordered the
-deportations.</div>
-
-<p>"That night at dinner I spoke to the Chancellor about this and told
-him that it seemed to me absolutely outrageous; and that, without
-consulting with my government, I was prepared to protest in the name
-of humanity against a continuance of this treatment of the civil
-population of occupied France. The Chancellor told me that he had not
-known of it, that it was the result of orders given by the military,
-that he would speak to the Emperor about it, and that he hoped to be
-able to stop further deportations. I believe that they were stopped,
-but twenty thousand or more who had been taken from their homes were
-not returned until months afterwards. I said in a speech that I made
-in May on my return to America that it required the joint efforts of
-the Pope, the King of Spain, and our President to cause the return of
-these people to their homes; and I then saw that some German press
-agency had come out with an article that I had made false statements
-about this matter because these people were not returned to their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
-homes as a result of the representations of the Pope, the King of
-Spain, and our President, but were sent back because the Germans had
-no further use for them. It seems to me that this denial makes the
-case rather worse than before." James W. Gerard, <i>My Four Years in
-Germany</i>, 1917, pp. 333-335.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="center">POLAND.</p>
-
-<p>The systematic exploitation of human misery by the German authorities
-in Poland followed the general plan with which the reader has become
-only too familiar. In order to prove the identity of procedure it will
-be enough to present the detailed report specially written for this
-pamphlet by Mr. Frederic C. Walcott. A fuller and in some ways more
-touching treatment is given in his article, "Devastated Poland," in the
-<i>National Geographic Magazine</i> for May, 1917.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p class="center">POLAND AND THE PRUSSIAN SYSTEM.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;"><span class="smcap">September, 1917</span>.</span><br />
-</p>
-
-<p>Poland&mdash;Russian Poland&mdash;is perishing. And the German high command,
-imbued with the Prussian system, is coolly reckoning on the
-necessities of a starving people to promote its imperial ends.</p>
-
-<p>West Poland, which has been Prussian territory more than a hundred
-years, is a disappointment to Germany; its people obstinately remain
-Poles. This time they propose swifter measures. In two or three years,
-by grace of starvation and frightfulness, they calculate East Poland
-will be thoroughly made over into a German province.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Devastation of Poland.</div>
-
-<p>In the great Hindenburg drive one year ago, the country was completely
-devastated by the retreating Russian army and the oncoming Germans.
-A million people were driven from their homes. Half of them perished
-by the roadside. For miles and miles, when I saw the country, the
-way was littered with mudsoaked garments and bones picked clean by
-the crows&mdash;though the larger bones had been gathered by the thrifty
-Germans to be ground into fertilizer. Wicker baskets&mdash;the little
-basket in which the baby swings from the rafters in every peasant
-home&mdash;were scattered along the way, hundreds and hundreds, until one
-could not count them, each one telling a death.</p>
-
-<p>Warsaw, which had not been destroyed&mdash;once a proud city of a million
-people&mdash;was utterly stricken. Poor folks by thousands lined the
-streets, leaning against the buildings, shivering in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> snow and rain,
-too weak to lift a hand, dying of cold and hunger. Though the rich
-gave all they had, and the poor shared their last crust, they were
-starving there in the streets in droves.</p>
-
-<p>In the stricken city, the German governor of Warsaw issued a
-proclamation. All able-bodied Poles were bidden to go to Germany to
-work. If any refused, let no other Pole give him to eat, not so much
-as a mouthful, under penalty of German military law.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">The policy of starvation.</div>
-
-<p>It was more than the mind could grasp. To the husband and father
-of broken families, the high command gave this decree: Leave your
-families to starve; if you stay, we shall see that you do starve&mdash;this
-to a high-strung, sensitive, highly organized people, this from the
-authorities of a nation professing civilization and religion to
-millions of fellow Christians captive and starving.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Country to be restocked with Germans.</div>
-
-<p>General von Kries, the governor, was kind enough to explain.
-
-Candidly, they preferred not quite so much starvation; it might get on
-the nerves of the German soldiers. But, starvation being present, it
-must work for German purpose. Taking advantage of this wretchedness,
-the working men of Poland were to be removed; the country was to be
-restocked with Germans. It was country Germany needed&mdash;rich alluvial
-soil&mdash;better suited to German expansion than distant possessions. If
-the POLAND that was had to perish, so much the better for Germany.</p>
-
-<p>Remove the men, let the young and weak die, graft German stock on the
-women. See how simple it is: with a crafty smile, General von Kries
-concluded, "By and by we must give back freedom to Poland. Very good;
-it will reappear as a German province."</p>
-
-<p>Slowly, I came to realize that this monstrous, incredible thing was
-the PRUSSIAN SYSTEM, deliberately chosen by the circle around the
-all-highest, and kneaded into the German people till it became part of
-their mind.</p>
-
-<p>German people are material for building the State&mdash;of no other
-account. Other people are for Germany's will to work upon. Humanity,
-liberty, equality, the rights of others&mdash;all foolish talk. Democracy,
-an idle dream. The true Prussian lives only for this, that the German
-State may be mighty and great.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">German system of frightfulness everywhere.</div>
-
-<p>All the woes in the long count against Germany are part of the
-Prussian system. The invasion of Belgium, the deportations, the
-starving of subject people, the Armenian massacres, atrocities,
-frightfulness, sinking the Lusitania, the submarine horrors, the
-enslavement of women&mdash;all piece into the monstrous view. The rights of
-nations, the rights of men, the lives and liberties of all people are
-subordinate to the German aim of dominion over all the world.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;"><span class="smcap">Frederick C. Walcott.</span></span>
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<p class="ph2">CONCLUSION.</p>
-
-<p class="center">STATEMENT OF MR. VERNON KELLOGG, SEPTEMBER, 1917.</p>
-
-<p class="center">(Prepared for this pamphlet.)</p>
-
-
-
-
-<p>It was my privilege&mdash;and necessity&mdash;in connection with the work of
-the Commission for Relief in Belgium to spend several months at the
-Great Headquarters of the German armies in the west, and later to
-spend more months at Brussels as the Commission's director for Belgium
-and occupied France. It was an enforced opportunity to see something
-of German practice in the treatment of a conquered people, part of
-whom (the French and the inhabitants of the Belgian provinces of
-East and West Flanders) were under the direct control of the German
-General Staff and the several German armies of the west, and part, the
-inhabitants of the seven other Belgian provinces, under the quasi-civil
-government of Governor General von Bissing. I did not enter the
-occupied territories until June, 1915, and so, of course, saw none of
-the actual invasion and overrunning of the land. I saw only the graves
-<span class="sidenote">The graves of the massacred.</span>
-of the massacred and the ruins of their towns. But I saw through the
-long, hard months much too much for my peace of mind of how the Germans
-treated the unfortunates under their control after the occupation.</p>
-
-<p>It would be an unnecessary repetition to describe again the scenes in
-Louvain, Dinant, Visé, Andenne, Tamines, Aerschot, and the rest of
-the familiar long list of the ruined Belgian towns. But too little
-has been said of the many, many ruined villages all over the extent
-of the occupied French territory from Lille in the north to Longwy in
-the south, and from the eastern boundary of France to the fatal trench
-lines of the extreme western front.</p>
-
-<p>As chief representative for the Commission, it was my duty to cover
-this whole territory repeatedly in long motor journeys in company with
-the German officer assigned for my protection&mdash;and for the protection
-of the German army against any too much seeing. As I had opportunity
-also to cover most of Belgium in repeated trips from Brussels into
-the various provinces, I necessarily had opportunity to compare the
-destruction wrought in the two regions.</p>
-
-
-
-<p>I could understand why certain towns and villages along the Meuse and
-along the lines of the French and English retreat were badly shot to
-pieces. There had been fighting in these towns<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>
-<span class="sidenote">Towns untouched by war but ruined.</span>
-and the artillery of first one side and then the other had worked
-their havoc among the houses of the inhabitants. But there were many
-towns in which there had been no fighting and yet all too many of
-these towns also were in ruins. It was not ruin by shells, but ruin by
-fire and explosions. There were the famous "punished" towns. Either a
-citizen or perhaps two or three citizens had fired from a window on the
-invaders&mdash;or were alleged to have. Thereupon a block, or two or three
-blocks, or half the town was methodically and effectively burned or
-blown to pieces. There are many of these "punished" towns in occupied
-France. And between these towns and along the roadways are innumerable
-isolated single farm houses that are also in ruins. It is not claimed
-that there was any sniping from these farmhouses. They were just
-destroyed along the way&mdash;and by the way, one may say. When the roll
-of destroyed villages and destroyed farmhouses in occupied France is
-made known, the world will be shocked again by this evidence of German
-thoroughness.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Heartlessness of German rule.</div>
-
-<p>The rigor of the control over the inhabitants of the occupied French
-territory is almost inconceivable. The lines delimiting the regions
-occupied by the various distinct German armies are lines of impassable
-steel for the inhabitants. If a member of the family in one town was
-visiting friends or relatives in another town a few kilometers away at
-the time of the outbreak of the war that family has remained separated
-through all the long months that have since elapsed. No messages can
-pass except by dangerous subterranean ways from town to town.</p>
-
-
-
-<p>The requisitioning of everything from food to furniture, from farm
-animals to the blankets and mattresses from the beds, has been carried
-to such an extent that the people live on nothing, amid nothing. These
-requisitions in the earlier days had a more or less official seeming
-in that quartermaster's <i>bons</i> were given for the things taken. Even
-then the German sense of humor too often made the <i>bon</i> a crude jest.
-<span class="sidenote">False receipts for requisitioned property.</span>
-The <i>bons</i> were written in the German language in German script,
-illegible and beyond the understanding of the simple natives. A <i>bon</i>
-might be given for a chicken when it was a pair of horses that was
-taken. But later, when these jests palled on the German soldiers, the
-requisitioning was simplified by the omission of <i>bon</i>-giving. Where
-the villagers and peasants had tried to save something that could be
-buried or concealed, the searching out of these pitiful hiding places
-became a great game with the German soldiers. One ingenious Frenchman
-had secreted a few choice bottles of wine in a famous tomb on heights
-above the Meuse. But these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> bottles found their way to special tables
-at the Great Headquarters.</p>
-
-<p>In the spring of 1916 the army authorities devised the plan of
-deporting a number of men and women from Lille and the industrial towns
-near it to the agricultural regions further south. These French were
-to work in the fields and help produce food for the German army. As a
-matter of fact this plan had at bottom something to recommend it. The
-congestion in the industrialized northern region made the food problem
-there very difficult. Our Commission had more trials in connection
-with the provisioning of the great city of Lille and the lesser but
-crowded towns of Valenciennes, Roubaix, and Tourcoing than with all the
-rest of the occupied territory. Also these people had no work to do,
-as the great factories were still. To come south and work in the open
-air in the fields and be allowed a fair ration would have been a real
-advantage to these people. It would also have helped in the whole food
-supply situation.</p>
-
-
-
-<p>But the horrible methods of that deportation were such that we,
-although trying to hold steadfast to a rigorous neutrality, could not
-but protest. Mr. Gerard, our Ambassador to Berlin, happened at the
-very time of this protest to make a visit to the Great Headquarters in
-the west and the matter was brought to the attention of certain high
-officers at Headquarters on the very day of Mr. Gerard's visit and in
-his hearing. So that he added his own protest to that of Mr. Poland,
-our director at the time, and further deportations were stopped. But
-<span class="sidenote">Horrors of deportations.</span>
-a terrible mischief had already been done. Husbands and fathers had
-been taken from their families without a word of good-bye; sons and
-daughters on whom perhaps aged parents relied for support were taken
-without pity or apparent thought of the terrible consequences. The
-great deportations of Belgium have shocked the world. But these lesser
-deportations&mdash;that is, lesser in extent, but not less brutal in their
-carrying out&mdash;are hardly known.</p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">No American can fail to oppose Prussianism.</div>
-
-<p>I went into Belgium and occupied France a neutral and I maintained
-while there a steadfastly neutral behavior. But I came out no neutral.
-I can not conceive that any American enjoying an experience similar to
-mine could have come out a neutral. He would come out, as I came, with
-the ineradicable conviction that a people or a government which can do
-what the Germans did and are doing in Belgium and France to-day must
-not be allowed, if there is power on earth to prevent it, to do this a
-moment longer than can be helped. And they must not be allowed ever to
-do it again.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="sidenote">Civilization must crush Prussian system.</div>
-
-<p>I went in also a hater of war, and I came out a more ardent hater of
-war. But, also, I came out with the ineradicable conviction, again,
-that the only way in which Germany under its present rule and in its
-present state of mind can be kept from doing what it had done is by
-force of arms. It can not be prevented by appeal, concession, or
-treaties. Hence, ardently as I hope that all war may cease, I hope
-that this war may not cease until Germany realizes that the civilized
-world simply will not allow such horrors as those for which Germany is
-responsible in Belgium and France to be any longer possible.</p>
-
-<p>
-<span style="margin-left: 40%;"><span class="smcap">Vernon Kellogg.</span></span><br />
-</p>
-
-
-
-
-<p class="ph2" style="margin-top: 10em;">Your Government Is Willing to Send You</p>
-
-<p class="center">WITHOUT CHARGE</p>
-
-<p class="center">Any Two of the Pamphlets Listed Here with Exceptions Noted</p>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Committee on Public Information.</i></p>
-
-<p class="center">(Established by Order of the President, April 14, 1917, Washington,
-D.C.)</p>
-
-
-<p>Series No. 1. War Information. (Red, White and Blue Covers.)</p>
-
-<p>Catalogue No.</p>
-
-<p><b>1. How the War Came to America.</b></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><i>Contents</i>: A brief introduction reviewing the policy of the United
-States with reference to the Monroe Doctrine, freedom of the seas, and
-international arbitration, developments of our policy reviewed and
-explained from August, 1914, to April, 1917; Appendix: the President's
-address to the Senate January 22, 1917, his war message to Congress
-April 2, 1917, his Flag Day address at Washington, June 14, 1917. 32
-pages. (Translations: German, Polish, Bohemian, Italian, Spanish,
-Swedish, Portuguese. 48 pages.)</p>
-
-<p>NOTE.&mdash;For Numbers 2, 3 and 7 described below, a contribution is
-required as noted. All other booklets are free.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><b>2. National Service Handbook. (Price, 15 cents)</b></p>
-
-<blockquote>
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-<p>(A reference work for libraries, schools, clubs and other
-organizations.)</p>
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-<p><i>Contents</i>: Description of all civic and military organizations
-directly or indirectly connected with war work, pointing out how
-and where every individual can help. Maps, Army and Navy Insignia,
-diagrams. 246 Pages.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><b>3. The Battle Line of Democracy. (Price, 15 cents)</b></p>
-
-<blockquote>
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-and statesmen of America and all the countries now associated with us
-in the war have expressed the highest aspirations of their people. 134
-Pages. (Price 15 cents.)</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><b>4. President's Flag Day Speech with Evidence of Germany's Plans.</b></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><i>Contents</i>: The President's speech with the facts to which he alludes
-explained by carefully selected notes giving the proofs of German
-purposes and intrigues. THESE NOTES PRESENT AN OVERWHELMING ARSENAL OF
-FACTS, all gathered from original sources. 32 Pages.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><b>5. Conquest and Kultur.</b></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><i>Contents</i>: A brief introduction outlining German war aims and showing
-how the proofs were gathered; followed by quotations from German
-writers revealing the plans and purposes of Pan Germany, one chapter
-being devoted entirely to the German attitude toward America. The
-quotations are printed with title or no comment, THE EVIDENCE PILING
-UP PAGE AFTER PAGE, CHAPTER AFTER CHAPTER. 160 Pages.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook, German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of
-Civilians, Edited by Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke)
-Sellery, and August C. (August Charles) Krey
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions 
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at 
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-
-Title: German War Practices, Part 1: Treatment of Civilians
-
-
-Editor: Dana Carleton Munro, George C. (George Clarke) Sellery, and August
-C. (August Charles) Krey
-
-Release Date: August 27, 2017  [eBook #55442]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERMAN WAR PRACTICES, PART 1:
-TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS***
-
-
-E-text prepared by Brian Coe, Graeme Mackreth, and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made
-available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org)
-
-
-
-Note: Images of the original pages are available through
-      Internet Archive. See
-      https://archive.org/details/germanwarpractic00munriala
-
-
-
-
-
-GERMAN WAR PRACTICES
-
-PART I
-
-TREATMENT OF CIVILIANS
-
-Edited by
-
-DANA C. MUNRO
-Princeton University
-
-GEORGE C. SELLERY     and      AUGUST C. KREY
-University of Wisconsin      University of Minnesota
-
-
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Issued by
-The Committee on Public Information
-          The Secretary of State
-          The Secretary of War
-          The Secretary of the Navy
-          George Creel
-
-November 15, 1917
-
-
-
-
-EXECUTIVE ORDER.
-
-
-I hereby create a Committee on Public Information, to be composed of
-the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the
-Navy, and a civilian who shall be charged with the executive direction
-of the Committee. As civilian Chairman of the Committee I appoint Mr.
-George Creel.
-
-The Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the
-Navy are authorized each to detail an officer or officers to the work
-of the Committee.
-
-  WOODROW WILSON.
-
-April 14, 1917.
-
-
-
-
-INTRODUCTION.
-
-
-[Sidenote: Germany pledged to Hague regulations.]
-
-For many years leaders in every civilized nation have been trying to
-make warfare less brutal. The great landmarks in this movement are the
-Geneva and Hague Conventions. The former made rules as to the care
-of the sick and wounded and established the Red Cross. At the first
-meeting at Geneva, in 1864, it was agreed, and until the present war
-it has been taken for granted, that the wounded, and the doctors and
-nurses who cared for them, would be safe from all attacks by the enemy.
-The Hague Conventions, drawn up in 1899 and 1907, made additional rules
-to soften the usages of war and especially to protect noncombatants
-and conquered lands. Germany took a prominent part in these meetings
-and with the other nations solemnly pledged her faith to keep all the
-rules except one article in the Hague Regulations. This was article
-44, which forbade the conqueror to force any of the conquered to give
-information. All the other rules and regulations she accepted in the
-most binding manner.
-
-[Sidenote: German policy of frightfulness.]
-
-But Germany's military leaders had no intention of keeping these solemn
-promises. They had been trained along different lines. Their leading
-generals for many years had been urging a policy of frightfulness. In
-the middle of the nineteenth century von Clausewitz was looked upon as
-the greatest military authority, and the methods which he advocated
-were used by the Prussian army in its successful wars of 1866-1871.
-Consequently, because these wars had been successful, the wisdom of von
-Clausewitz's methods seemed to the Prussian army to be fully proven.
-
-Now, the essence of von Clausewitz's teachings was that successful war
-involves the ruthless application of force. In the opening chapter of
-his master work, _Vom Kriege_ (_On War_), he says:
-
- "Violence arms itself with the inventions of art and science. * * *
- Self-imposed restrictions, almost imperceptible and hardly worth
- mentioning, termed usages of international law, accompany it without
- essentially impairing its power. * * * Now, philanthropic souls
- might easily imagine that there is a skillful method of disarming or
- subduing an enemy without causing too much bloodshed, and that this
- is the true tendency of the art of war. However plausible this may
- appear, still it is an error which must be destroyed; for in such
- dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of
- 'good-naturedness' are precisely the worst. As the use of physical
- force to the utmost extent by no means excludes the cooperation of the
- intelligence, it follows that he who uses force ruthlessly, without
- regard to bloodshed, must obtain a superiority, if his enemy does not
- so use it."
-
-In 1877-78, in the course of a series of articles upon "Military
-necessity and humanity," Gen. von Hartmann wrote, in the same spirit as
-von Clausewitz:
-
-[Sidenote: Frightfulness advocated by German generals.]
-
- "The enemy State must not be spared the want and wretchedness of
- war; these are particularly useful in shattering its energy and
- subduing its will." "Individual persons may be harshly dealt with
- when an example is made of them, intended to serve as a warning. * *
- * Whenever a national war breaks out, terrorism becomes a necessary
- military principle." "It is a gratuitous illusion to suppose that
- modern war does not demand far more brutality, far more violence,
- and an action far more general than was formerly the case." "When
- international war has burst upon us, terrorism becomes a principle
- made necessary by military considerations."
-
-In 1881 von Moltke, who had been commander in chief of the Prussian
-army in the Franco-Prussian War, declared:
-
- "Perpetual peace is a dream and not even a beautiful dream. War is
- an element in the order of the world established by God. By it the
- most noble virtues of man are developed, courage and renunciation,
- fidelity to duty and the spirit of sacrifice--the soldier gives his
- life. Without war, the world would degenerate and lose itself in
- materialism." "The soldier who endures suffering, privation, and
- fatigue, who courts dangers, can not take only 'in proportion to the
- resources of the country.' He must take all that is necessary to his
- existence. One has no right to demand of him anything superhuman."
- "The great good in war is that it should be ended quickly. In view of
- this, every means, except those which are positively condemnable,
- must be permitted. I can not, in any way, agree with the Declaration
- of St. Petersburg when it pretends that 'the weakening of the military
- forces of the enemy constitutes the only legitimate method of
- procedure in war. No! One must attack all the resources of the enemy
- government, his finances, his railroads, his stock of provisions and
- even his prestige. * * *"
-
-[Sidenote: Kaiser's "Hun" speech in 1900.]
-
-Many other examples might be cited from the writings of German
-generals. The very best illustration of this attitude, however, is
-to be found in the Emperor's various speeches, and especially in his
-speech to his soldiers on the eve of their departure for China in
-1900. On July 27 the Kaiser went to Bremerhaven to bid farewell to
-the German troops. As they were drawn up, ready to embark for China,
-he addressed to them a last official message from the Fatherland. The
-local newspaper reported his speech in full. In it appeared this advice
-and admonition from the Emperor, the commander in chief of the army,
-the head of all Germany.
-
- "As soon as you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No
- mercy will be shown! No prisoners will be taken! As the Huns, under
- King Attila, made a name for themselves, which is still mighty in
- traditions and legends to-day, may the name of German be so fixed in
- China by your deeds that no Chinese shall ever again dare even to look
- at a German askance. * * * Open the way for _Kultur_ once for all."
-
-[Sidenote: Opposition in Reichstag.]
-
-Even the imperial councillors seem to have been shocked at the
-Emperor's speech, and efforts were promptly made to suppress the
-circulation of his exact words. The efforts were only partly
-successful. A few weeks later, when letters from the German soldiers
-in China were being published in local German papers, the leading
-socialist newspaper, _Vorwaerts_, excerpted from them reports of
-atrocities under the title "Letters of the Huns." Many of the leaders
-in the Reichstag felt very keenly the brutality of the Emperor's
-speech. The obnoxious word "Huns" had excited almost universal
-condemnation. When the Reichstag met, in November, the speech was
-openly discussed. Herr Lieber, of the Center (the Catholic party),
-after quoting the "no mercy" portion of the speech, added, "There
-are, alas, in Germany groups enough who have regarded the atrocities
-told in the letters which have been published as the dutiful response
-of soldiers so addressed and encouraged." The leader of the Social
-Democrats, Herr Bebel, spoke even more pointedly. Toward the end of a
-two-hour address on the atrocities committed by the German soldiers in
-China and on the speech of the Emperor he said:
-
- "If Germany wishes to be the bearer of civilization to the world, we
- will follow without contradiction. But the ways and means in which
- this world policy has been carried on thus far, in which it has
- been defined by the Emperor * * * are not, in our opinion, the way
- to preserve the world position of Germany, to gain for Germany the
- respect of the world."
-
-The consequences of the Emperor's speech Bebel aptly described:
-
- "By it a signal was given, garbed in the highest authority of the
- German Empire, which must have most weighty consequences, not only for
- the troops who went to China but also for those who stayed at home."
- "An expedition of revenge so barbarous as this has never occurred in
- the last hundred years and not often in history; at least, nothing
- worse than this has happened in history, either done by the Huns, by
- the Vandals, by Genghis Khan, by Tamerlane, or even by Tilly when he
- sacked Magdeburg."
-
-[Sidenote: Atrocities in China.]
-
-These stories of atrocities in China or "Letters of the Huns" continued
-to be published in the _Vorwaerts_ for several years and appeared
-intermittently in the debates of the Reichstag as late as 1906. At that
-time the socialist, Herr Kunert, reviewing the procedure in a trial
-of which he had been the victim in the previous summer, stated that
-he had offered to prove "that German soldiers in China had engaged in
-wanton and brutal ravaging; that plunder, pillage, extortion, robbery,
-as well as rape and sexual abuses of the worst kind, had occured on a
-very large scale and that German soldiers had participated in them."
-He had not been given an opportunity to prove his allegations, but had
-been sentenced to prison for three months for assailing the honor of
-the "whole German Army." The outrageousness of this sentence was made
-clear by the revelations, made in the Reichstag shortly afterwards, of
-similar atrocities committed by German officials and soldiers in Africa
-in the campaign against the Hereros.
-
-The teachings of Treitschke and Nietzsche and their evil influence
-upon the present generation in Germany are well known. The minds of
-the responsible officials were filled with ideas wholly different from
-those to which Germany had agreed at The Hague. The cult of might, and
-of war as its expression, found many disciples who flooded the press
-with pamphlets and panegyrics on war and its place in the natural and
-political development of a nation. Before the war the average number of
-volumes concerning war published each year in Germany was 700, and the
-vast majority of those written by the German Army officers advocated
-the ruthless policy of von Clausewitz, von Hartmann, and von Moltke.
-
-These ideas, which have come to control the minds of the military
-class, are best shown in the _German War Book_ (_Kriegsbrauch im
-Landkriege_), published in 1902. The tone of this authoritative book
-may be judged from the following extracts:
-
-[Sidenote: Teachings of the German War Book.]
-
- "But since the tendency of thought in the last century was dominated
- essentially by humanitarian considerations which not infrequently
- degenerated into sentimentality and flabby emotion (_Sentimentalitaet
- und weichlicher Gefuehlschwaermerei_), there have not been wanting
- attempts to influence the development of the usages of war in a way
- which was in fundamental contradiction with the nature of war and its
- object. Attempts of this kind will also not be wanting in the future,
- the more so as these agitations have found a kind of moral recognition
- in some provisions of the Geneva Convention and the Brussels and Hague
- Conferences."
-
- "By steeping himself in military history an officer will be able to
- guard himself against excessive humanitarian notions; it will teach
- him that certain severities are indispensable to war, nay more, that
- the only true humanity very often lies in a ruthless application of
- them."
-
-For the guidance of the officers in case the inhabitants of conquered
-territory should take up arms against the German Army, the _German War
-Book_ quotes with approval the letter Napoleon sent to his brother
-Joseph, when the inhabitants of Italy were attempting to revolt against
-him:
-
- "The security of your dominion depends on how you behave in the
- conquered province. Burn down a dozen places which are not willing to
- submit themselves. Of course, not until you have first looted them;
- my soldiers must not be allowed to go away with their hands empty.
- Have three to six persons hanged in every village which has joined the
- revolt; pay no respect to the cassock" [that is, to members of the
- clergy.]
-
-[Sidenote: German war proclamations in French translations.]
-
-Some of the rules laid down in the _German War Book_ are illustrated
-and their spirit made more definite in _L'Interprete Militaire_. _Zum
-Gebrauch im Feindesland_ (Military Interpreter for Use in the Enemy's
-Country). This is a manual edited at Berlin in 1906. "It contains,"
-says the introduction, "the French translation of the greater part of
-the documents, letters, and proclamations, and some orders of which
-it may be necessary to make use in time of war." Thus, eight years
-before this war began, the German military authorities were not only
-preparing their officers to wage war in a manner wholly contrary to the
-Hague regulations, but also were looking forward to the use of these
-proclamations in French or Belgian territory. Among its forms, ready
-for use by inserting names, date, and place, are the following:
-
- "A fine of 600,000 marks in consequence of an attempt made by ---- to
- assassinate a German soldier, is imposed on the town of O. By order of
- ----.
-
- "Efforts have been made, without result, to obtain the withdrawal of
- the fine.
-
- "The term fixed for payment expires to-morrow, Saturday, December 17,
- at noon ----.
-
- "Bank notes, cash, or silver plate will be accepted."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- "I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated the 7th of this
- month, in which you bring to my notice the great difficulty which you
- expect to meet in levying the contributions. * * * I can but regret
- the explanations which you have thought proper to give me on this
- subject; the order in question which emanates from my Government is so
- clear and precise, and the instructions which I have received in the
- matter are so categorical that if the sum due by the town of R---- is
- not paid the town will be burned down without pity!"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- "On account of the destruction of the bridge of F----, I order: The
- district shall pay a special contribution of 10,000,000 francs by
- way of amends. This is brought to the notice of the public who are
- informed that the method of assessment will be announced later and
- that the payment of the said sum will be enforced with the utmost
- severity. The village of F---- will be destroyed immediately by fire,
- with the exception of certain buildings occupied for the use of the
- troops."
-
-These forms have been of great use to the German commanders in Belgium
-and northern France. The closeness with which they have been followed
-in these conquered lands, during the present war, may be seen by
-reading the following proclamations and the other proclamations which
-are printed elsewhere in this pamphlet.
-
- "The City of Brussels, exclusive of its suburbs, has been punished by
- an additional fine of 5,000,000 francs on account of the attack made
- upon a German soldier by Ryckere, one of its police officials.
-
-  "The Governor of Brussels,
-  "BARON VON LUETTWITZ.
-
- "_November 1, 1914._"
-
-Placard posted on the walls of Luneville by order of the German
-authorities:
-
- "Notice to the People.
-
- "Some of the inhabitants of Luneville made an attack from ambuscade on
- the German columns and wagons (_trains_). The same day [some of the]
- inhabitants shot at sanitary formations marked with the Red Cross. In
- addition, German wounded and the military hospital containing a German
- ambulance were fired upon.
-
- "Because of these acts of hostility a fine of 650,000 francs is
- imposed upon the commune of Luneville. The mayor is ordered to pay
- this sum in gold or silver up to 50,000 francs, September 6, 1914,
- at nine o'clock in the morning, to the representative of the German
- military authority. All protests will be considered null and void. No
- delay will be granted.
-
- "If the commune does not punctually obey the order to pay the sum of
- 650,000 francs, all property that can be levied upon will be seized.
-
- "In case of non-payment, visits from house to house will be made
- and all the inhabitants will be searched. If anyone knowingly has
- concealed money or attempted to hold back his goods from the seizure
- by the military authorities, or if anyone attempts to leave the city,
- he will be shot.
-
- "The Mayor and the hostages taken by the military authorities will be
- held responsible for the exact execution of the above orders.
-
- "The Mayor is ordered to publish immediately this notice to the
- Commune.
-
- "Henamenil, Sept. 3, 1914.
-
-  "The General in Chief,
-
-  "VON FASBENDER."
-
-The German officers were provided with the forms to be used in
-terrorizing the conquered people. The common soldiers were provided
-with phrase books which would enable them to impose their will upon the
-terrified people. Minister Brand Whitlock in his report to the State
-Department on September 12, 1917, writes:
-
- "The German soldiers were provided with phrase books giving alternate
- translations in German and French of such sentences as:
-
- "'Hands up.' (It is the very first sentence in the book.)
-
- "'Carry out all the furniture.
-
- "'I am thirsty. Bring me some beer, gin, rum.
-
- "'You have to supply a barrel of wine and a keg of beer.
-
- "'If you lie to me, I will have you shot immediately.
-
- "'Lead me to the wealthiest inhabitants of this village. I have orders
- to requisition several barrels of wine.
-
- "'Show us the way to ----. If you lead us astray, you will be shot.'"
-
-[Sidenote: The system of frightfulness.]
-
-The quotations and proclamations printed above show clearly the
-attitude of mind of the German military authorities. The policy of
-frightfulness had been exalted into a system with every minute detail
-worked out in advance. The _German War Book_ with its "cold-blooded
-doctrines of the nature of war and of the means which may be employed
-in prosecuting war," did its work in training the German military
-officials. Of this book it has been well said: "It is the first time in
-the history of mankind that a creed so revolting has been deliberately
-formulated by a great civilized State." The generals gave their
-sanction to this policy of frightfulness. Gen. von Bernhardi was quoted
-in an interview in the _Neue Freie Presse_ of Vienna, as follows:
-
- "One cannot make war in a sentimental fashion. The more pitiless the
- conduct of the war, the more humane it is in reality, for it will run
- its course all the sooner. The war which of all wars is and must
- be most humane is that which leads to peace with as little delay as
- possible."
-
-This interview was reproduced in the _Berliner Tageblatt_ of November
-20, 1914.
-
-Mr. F.C. Walcott, of the Belgian Relief Commission, tells, in the
-_Geographical Magazine_ for May, 1917, of meeting Gen-von Bernhardi:
-
-[Sidenote: Interview with Bernhardi.]
-
- "As I walked out, General von Bernhardi came into the room, an expert
- artillery-man, a professor in one of their war colleges. I met him the
- next morning, and he asked me if I had read his book, _Germany and the
- Next War_.
-
- "I said I had. He said, 'Do you know, my friends nearly ran me out of
- the country for that. They said, "You have let the cat out of the
- bag." I said, "No, I have not, because nobody will believe it." 'What
- did you think of it?'
-
- "I said, 'General, I did not believe a word of it when I read it, but
- I now feel that you did not tell the whole truth;' and the old general
- looked actually pleased."
-
-Speaking on August 29, 1914, at Muenster, of the extreme measures which
-the Germans had felt obliged to take against the civil population of
-Belgium, Gen. von Bissing said:
-
-[Sidenote: Statement by von Bissing.]
-
- "The innocent must suffer with the guilty. * * * In the repression
- of infamy, human lives cannot be spared, and if isolated houses,
- flourishing villages, and even entire towns are annihilated,
- that is assuredly regrettable, but it must not excite ill-timed
- sentimentality. All this must not in our eyes weigh as much as
- the life of a single one of our brave soldiers--the rigorous
- accomplishment of duty is the emanation of a high _Kultur_, and in
- that, the population of the enemy countries can learn a lesson from
- our army."
-
-Gen. von Bissing, after his appointment as governor general of Belgium,
-repeated in substance the above opinion to a Dutch journalist. The
-interview is published in the _Duesseldorfer Anzeiger_ of December 8,
-1914.
-
-Irvin S. Cobb states his conclusions on the responsibility of the
-higher German command for the atrocities:
-
- "But I was an eyewitness to crimes which, measured by the standards of
- humanity and civilization, impressed me as worse than any individual
- excess, any individual outrage, could ever have been or can ever be;
- because these crimes indubitably were instigated on a wholesale basis
- by order of officers of rank, and must have been carried out under
- their personal supervision, direction, and approval. Briefly, what I
- saw was this: I saw wide areas of Belgium and France in which not a
- penny's worth of wanton destruction had been permitted to occur, in
- which the ripe pears hung untouched upon the garden walls; and I saw
- other wide areas where scarcely one stone had been left to stand upon
- another; where the fields were ravaged; where the male villagers had
- been shot in squads; where the miserable survivors had been left to
- den in holes, like wild beasts.
-
- "Taking the physical evidence offered before our own eyes, and
- buttressing it with the statements made to us, not only by natives
- but By German soldiers and German officers, we could reach but one
- conclusion, which was that here, in such and such a place, those in
- command had said to the troops: 'Spare this town and these people.'
- And there they had said: 'Waste this town and shoot these people.'
- And here the troops had discriminately spared, and there they had
- indiscriminately wasted, in exact accordance with the word of their
- superiors." Irvin S. Cobb, _Speaking of Prussians_, New York, 1917,
- pp. 32-34.
-
-These ideas, then, were systematically impressed upon the military and
-official classes. It was necessary, however, to work upon the minds of
-the German people, so that they might lend themselves to the inhuman
-policies advocated by the military leaders. To do this was difficult,
-for, as has been shown above, many of the civilian leaders of public
-opinion, time and again, expressed their horror of the new spirit which
-was animating the military authorities. The Reichstag debates give
-ample evidence of this, and the task of the military leaders would have
-been still more difficult if the Reichstag had had any real power. (See
-War Information Series, No. 3, _The Government of Germany_; see also
-Gerard's _My Four Years in Germany_, Chap. II.)
-
-[Sidenote: Hatred against Belgians.]
-
-The military authorities and those in sympathy with them have done all
-in their power to stimulate a hatred of other peoples in the minds of
-the Germans. A campaign of education before the war was carried on with
-the object of impressing upon the minds of the Germans the treacherous
-nature of the peoples against whom the military leaders were anxious
-to wage war. Not only were the Germans gradually led to believe that
-it was necessary to fight a defensive war against unscrupulous foes,
-but also that these foes would violate every precept of humanity,
-and consequently must be crushed without mercy as a measure of
-self-defense. The fruits of this campaign of suspicion and hatred
-became evident when almost at the outbreak of the war many Germans
-became possessed with the belief that the whole population of Belgium,
-the first country to be invaded, had violated every rule of honorable
-warfare, that the _francs-tireurs_ (guerillas) were everywhere present
-doing their deadly work in secrecy or under the cover of darkness; that
-women and even children were mutilating and killing the wounded or
-helpless prisoners.
-
-The effect of the fables upon the popular mind may be seen in the
-following extracts from German letters:
-
-Extract from a letter written by a German soldier to his brother. (This
-letter, now in the possession of the United States Government, was
-obtained for this pamphlet from Mr. J.C. Grew, formerly secretary to
-the United States Embassy at Berlin.)
-
-  "NOVEMBER 4, 1914.
-
- "The battles are everywhere extremely tenacious and bloody. The
- Englishmen we hate most and we want to get even with them for once.
- While one now and then sees French prisoners, one hardly ever
- beholds French black troops or Englishmen. These good people are not
- overlooked by our infantrymen; that sort of people is mowed down
- without mercy. The losses of the Englishmen must be enormous. There is
- a desire to wipe them out, root and all."
-
-Extract from another letter to a brother:
-
-  "SCHLESWIG, 25, 8, 14 [Aug. 25, 1914].
-
- "DEAR BROTHER, * * * You will shortly go to Brussels with your
- regiment, as you know. Take care to protect yourself against these
- _Civilians_, especially in the villages. Do not let anyone of them
- come near you. _Fire without pity on everyone of them who comes
- too near._ They are very clever, cunning fellows, these Belgians;
- even the women and children are armed and fire their guns. Never go
- inside a house, especially alone. If you take anything to drink make
- the inhabitants drink first, and keep at a distance from them. _The
- newspapers relate numerous cases in which they have fired on our
- soldiers whilst they were drinking._ You soldiers must spread around
- so much fear of yourselves that no civilian will venture to come near
- you. Remain always in the company of others. _I hope that you have
- read the newspapers and that you know how to behave. Above all have no
- compassion for these cut-throats. Make for them without pity with the
- butt-end of your rifle and the bayonet._ * * *
-
-  "Your brother,
-
-  "WILLI."
-
-The Emperor gave his sanction to the reports of the brutal acts of the
-Belgians in a telegram to President Wilson.
-
-[Sidenote: Emperor's telegram.]
-
-  "BERLIN, VIA COPENHAGEN, _Sept. 7, 1914_.
-
-  "SECRETARY OF STATE,
-
-  "_Washington_.
-
- "Number 53. September 7. I am requested to forward the following
- telegram from the Emperor to the President:
-
- "'I feel it my duty, Mr. President, to inform you as the most
- prominent representative of principles of humanity, that after taking
- the French fortress of Longwy, my troops discovered there thousands
- of dumdum cartridges made by special government machinery. The
- same kind of ammunition was found on killed and wounded troops and
- prisoners, also on the British troops. You know what terrible wounds
- and suffering these bullets inflict and that their use is strictly
- forbidden by the established rules of international law. I therefore
- address a solemn protest to you against this kind of warfare, which,
- owing to the methods of our adversaries has become one of the most
- barbarous known in history. Not only have they employed these
- atrocious weapons, but the Belgian Government has openly encouraged
- and since long carefully prepared the participation of the Belgian
- civil population in the fighting. The atrocities committed even by
- women and priests in this guerilla warfare, also on wounded soldiers,
- medical staff and nurses, doctors killed, hospitals attacked by rifle
- fire, were such that my generals finally were compelled to take the
- most drastic measures in order to punish the guilty and to frighten
- the blood-thirsty population from continuing their work of vile murder
- and horror. Some villages and even the old town of Loewen [Louvain],
- excepting the fine hotel de ville, had to be destroyed in self-defense
- and for the protection of my troops. My heart bleeds when I see that
- such measures have become unavoidable and when I think of the numerous
- innocent people who lose their home and property as a consequence of
- the barbarous behavior of those criminals. Signed. William, Emperor
- and King.'
-
-  "GERARD.      _Berlin._"
-
-Lorenz Mueller in the German Catholic review, _Der Fels_, February,
-1915, made the following statement in regard to the Emperor's telegram:
-
-[Sidenote: Refutation by a German.]
-
- "Officially no instance has been proven of persons having fired with
- the help of priests from the towers of churches. All that has been
- made known up to the present, and that has been made the object of
- inquiry, concerning alleged atrocities attributed to Catholic priests
- during this war, has been shown to be false and altogether imaginary,
- without any exception. Our Emperor telegraphed to the President of the
- United States of America that even women and priests had committed
- atrocities during this guerilla warfare on wounded soldiers, doctors
- and nurses attached to the field ambulances. How this telegram can be
- reconciled with the fact stated above we shall not be able to learn
- until after the war."
-
-The _Vorwaerts_, of Berlin, October 22, 1914, said:
-
-[Sidenote: Refutation by Vorwaerts.]
-
- "We have already been able to establish the falseness of a great
- number of assertions which have been made with great precision and
- published everywhere in the press, concerning alleged cruelties
- committed, by the populations of the countries with which Germany is
- at war, upon German soldiers and civilians. We are now in a position
- to silence two others of these fantastic stories.
-
- "The War Correspondent of the _Berliner Tageblatt_ spoke a few weeks
- ago of cigars and cigarettes filled with powder alleged to have
- been given out or sold to our soldiers with diabolical intent. He
- even pretended that he had seen with his own eyes hundreds of this
- kind of cigarettes. We learn from an authentic source that this
- story of cigars and cigarettes is nothing but a brazen invention.
- Stories of soldiers whose eyes are alleged to have been torn out
- by francs-tireurs are circulated throughout Germany. Not a single
- case of this kind has been officially established. In every instance
- where it has been possible to test the story its inaccuracy has been
- demonstrated.
-
- "It matters little that reports of this nature bear an appearance
- of positive certitude, or are even vouched for by eyewitnesses. The
- desire for notoriety, the absence of criticism, and personal error
- play an unfortunate part in the days in which we are living. Every
- nose shot off or simply bound up, every eye removed, is immediately
- transformed into a nose or eye torn away by the francs-tireurs.
- Already the _Volkszeitung_ of Cologne has been able, contrary to the
- very categorical assertions from Aix-la-Chapelle, to prove that there
- was no soldier with his eyes torn out in the field ambulance of this
- town. It was said, also, that people wounded in this way were under
- treatment in the neighborhood of Berlin, but whenever enquiries have
- been made in regard to these reports, their absolute falsity has been
- demonstrated. At length these reports were concentrated at Gross
- Lichterfelde. A newspaper published at noon and widely circulated
- in Berlin printed a few days ago in large type the news that at the
- Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone there were 'ten German soldiers, only
- slightly wounded, whose eyes had been wickedly torn out.' But to a
- request for information by comrade Liebknecht the following written
- reply was sent by the chief medical officer of the above-mentioned
- field hospital, dated the 18th of the month:
-
- "'SIR,
-
- 'Happily there is no truth whatever in these stories.
-
-  'Yours obediently,
-
-  'PROFESSOR RAUTENBERG.'"
-
-[Sidenote: German soldiers protest against atrocities.]
-
-Thus the teachings of the _German War Book_ and of the German apostles
-of frightfulness, suspicion, and hatred, had now begun to bear their
-natural fruit. But the voice of protest was not entirely silent. A
-considerable number of letters by German soldiers who were shocked by
-the German atrocities were sent to Ambassador Gerard, because he was
-the representative of the United States, the leading neutral nation.
-The three letters which follow, in translation, were received by the
-American ambassador from German soldiers. They were obtained for this
-pamphlet from Secretary Grew; they illustrate both the system and the
-horror of it, which the writers felt.
-
-Here is the protest of a German soldier, an eyewitness of the slaughter
-of Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes and swamps:
-
- "It was frightful, heart-rending, as these masses of human beings
- were driven to destruction. Above the terrible thunder of the cannon
- could be heard the heart-rending cries of the Russians: 'O Prussians!
- O Prussians!'--but there was no mercy. Our Captain had ordered: 'The
- whole lot must die; so rapid fire.' As I have heard, five men and one
- officer on our side went mad from those heart-rending cries. But most
- of my comrades and the officers joked as the unarmed and helpless
- Russians shrieked for mercy while they were being suffocated in the
- swamps and shot down. The order was: 'Close up and at it harder!' For
- days afterwards those heart-rending yells followed me and I dare not
- think of them or I shall go mad. There is no God, there is no morality
- and no ethics any more. There are no human beings any more, but only
- beasts. Down with militarism.
-
- "This was the experience of a Prussian soldier. At present wounded;
- Berlin, October 22, 1914.
-
- "If you are a truth-loving man, please receive these lines from a
- common Prussian soldier."
-
-Here is the testimony of another German soldier on the Eastern front.
-
-  "RUSSIAN POLAND, _December 18, '14_.
-
- "In the name of Christianity I send you these words.
-
- "My conscience forces me as a Christian German soldier to inform you
- of these lines.
-
- "Wounded Russians are killed with the bayonet according to orders.
-
- "And Russians who have surrendered are often shot down in masses
- according to orders, in spite of their heart-rending prayers.
-
- "In hope that you, as the representative of a Christian State will
- protest against this, I sign myself,
-
-  "A GERMAN SOLDIER AND CHRISTIAN.
-
- "I would give my name and regiment, but these words could get me
- court-martialed for divulging military secrets."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The third letter, from the Western front, shows the same horror of the
-system of which the writer was a witness.
-
-  "To the
-  "AMERICAN GOVERNMENT,
-  "_Washington, U.S.A._
-
- "Englishmen who have surrendered are shot down in small groups. With
- the French one is more considerate. I ask whether men let themselves
- be taken prisoner in order to be disarmed and shot down afterwards? Is
- that chivalry in battle? It is no longer a secret among the people;
- one hears everywhere that few prisoners are taken; they are shot down
- in small groups. They say naively: 'We don't want any unnecessary
- mouths to feed. Where there is no one to enter complaint, there is no
- judge.' Is there then no power in the world which can put an end to
- these murders and rescue the victims? Where is Christianity? Where is
- right? Might is right.
-
- "A SOLDIER AND MAN WHO IS NO BARBARIAN."
-
-[Sidenote: Socialists oppose system.]
-
-Many of the Germans, as has been already indicated, do not believe
-the reports of the atrocities committed by the Belgian civilians and
-refuse to accept the system of frightfulness. The _Vorwaerts_, the
-leading socialistic paper, which has a very wide circle of readers, has
-opposed the policy of frightfulness. All honor to its editors who have
-so courageously opposed powerful military authority! Its editorial,
-entitled "Our Foes," published August 23, 1914, reads as follows:
-
- "We wish to show ourselves humane and friendly towards those whom the
- fortune of war has played into our hands as prisoners. But we wish
- also to be humane towards our foes on the field. We must fight them.
- * * * But fighting does not mean murdering. It does not mean being
- barbarous. * * *
-
- "What should one say when even such an organ as the _Deutsches
- Offizier-Blatt_ expresses its sympathy with a demand that 'the
- beasts' who are taken as francs-tireurs should not be killed but only
- wounded so that they may then be left to a fate 'which makes any help
- impossible?' Or what should we say when the _Deutsches Offizier-Blatt_
- states that 'a punitive destruction even of whole regions' cannot
- 'afford full recompense for the bones of a single murdered Pomeranian
- grenadier' Those are the desires of blood-thirsty fanatics and we
- are thoroughly ashamed of ourselves because it is possible that
- there are people among us who urge such things. Such disclosures in
- themselves, even if they are not followed out, are likely to place our
- fighting quite in the wrong before all the world. * * * Let us show
- knightliness even though we are of the proletariat. Let us take such
- pains that when the fight has finally been fought it will also not
- be so difficult again to work in common as brothers with our class
- associates on the other side of the border."
-
-On the following day, August 24, 1914, the _Vorwaerts_ returned to the
-attack in an editorial "Against Barbarism."
-
-[Sidenote: Some Germans demand "orgies of barbarism."]
-
- * * * "One might, in the first place, possibly believe that such a
- demand for a bloody vengeance [against alleged Belgian outrages]
- emanates from a single disease-racked brain; but it appears that whole
- groups among certain classes who represent German _Kultur_ want to
- indulge in orgies of barbarism and to devise a whole system for the
- purpose of organizing 'a war of revenge.'
-
- "What of law and custom! Such thoughts do not stir a 'great nation'.
- Thus in a leading article of the _Berliner Neueste Nachrichten_, the
- demand is made that all the authorities in Brussels--one, the second
- Burgomaster, is generously excepted--should be immediately seized and
- subjected to trial in order to expiate the wrongs which, according
- to fragmentary and highly uncertain reports, were said to have been
- committed by the people. They demand that the captured city should
- immediately pay a fine of 500,000,000 marks; that all stores of the
- conquered territory be requisitioned without paying the inhabitants a
- single penny for them."
-
-Three years later, August 26, 1917, the _Vorwaerts_ quoted the following
-passage from the _Deutsche Tagezeitung_:
-
-[Sidenote: Still hold same opinions.]
-
- "We have a ring of politicians who hold that might makes right
- (_Machtpolitiker_) who despise the forces of the inner life and
- believe that they must eliminate all ethical points of view * * * from
- foreign and social politics. For them, Germany of the present and of
- the future is the country of the Krupps and Borsigs, of the Zeppelins
- and the U-boats. Any idea of a connection between politics and morals
- is rejected and any reference to the right of a moral method of
- consideration is ridiculed as delusion and sentimentality."
-
-[Sidenote: Belgian warning of danger.]
-
-Naturally the reports of the atrocities committed by the Germans and
-the Emperor's declaration that the war would henceforth assume a
-terrible character (_grausamen Charakter_) caused grave anxiety among
-the Belgians. In order to avoid the danger of reprisals, the Belgian
-Government, at the beginning of the invasion, had every Belgian
-newspaper publish each day the following notice on its first page, in
-large print:
-
- "TO CIVILIANS.
-
- "The Minister of the Interior advises civilians in case the enemy
- should show himself in their district:
-
- "Not to fight;
-
- "To utter no insulting or threatening words;
-
- "To remain within their houses and close the windows; so that it will
- be impossible to allege that there was any provocation;
-
- "To evacuate any houses or isolated hamlet which the soldiers may
- occupy in order to defend themselves, so that it cannot be alleged
- that civilians have fired;
-
- "An act of violence committed by a single civilian would be a crime
- for which the law provides arrest and punishment. It is all the more
- reprehensible in that it might serve as a pretext for measures of
- oppression, resulting in bloodshed or pillage, or the massacre of the
- innocent population with the women and children."
-
-In the hope of arousing the sympathy and securing the aid of the
-neutral nations, the Belgian Government appointed a committee to
-ascertain the facts about the German practices. The evidence collected
-by the Belgian commissioners is detailed and explicit, and their
-reports give names, places, and dates. It is not possible, however, to
-include in this pamphlet more than the following summary of the charges
-they make against the Germans:
-
- "1. That thousands of unoffending civilians, including women and
- children, were murdered by the Germans.
-
- "2. That women had been outraged.
-
- "3. That the custom of the German soldiers immediately on entering a
- town was to break into wineshops and the cellars of private houses and
- madden themselves with drink.
-
- "4. That German officers and soldiers looted on a gigantic and
- systematic scale, and, with the connivance of the German authorities,
- sent back a large part of the booty to Germany.
-
- "5. That the pillage had been accompanied by wanton destruction and by
- bestial and sacrilegious practices.
-
- "6. That cities, towns, villages, and isolated buildings were
- destroyed.
-
- "7. That in the course of such destruction human beings were burnt
- alive.
-
- "8. That there was a uniform practice of taking hostages and thereby
- rendering great numbers of admittedly innocent people responsible for
- the alleged wrongdoings of others.
-
- "9. That large numbers of civilian men and women had been virtually
- enslaved by the Germans, being forced against their will to work for
- the enemies of their country, or had been carried off like cattle into
- Germany, where all trace of them had been lost.
-
- "10. That cities, towns, and villages had been fined and their
- inhabitants maltreated because of the success gained by the Belgian
- over the German soldiers.
-
- "11. That public monuments and works of art had been wantonly
- destroyed by the invaders.
-
- "12. And that generally the Regulations of the Hague Conference and
- the customs of civilized warfare had been ignored by the Germans,
- and that amongst other breaches of such regulations and customs, the
- Germans had adopted a new and inhuman practice of driving Belgian men,
- women, and children in front of them as a screen between them and the
- allied soldiers."
-
-The German authorities undertook to defend themselves against the
-terrible indictment in the report published by the Belgian Government
-and appointed a German commission, which collected a huge mass of
-materials designed to show that their acts of cruelty were merely acts
-of reprisal necessitated by the deeds of the Belgians. This mass of
-testimony was published in a _German White Book_ with the title _Die
-voelkerrechtswidrige Fuehrung des Belgischen Volkskriegs_.
-
-The German commission declared in its findings that the German soldiers
-had acted with humanity, restraint, and Christian forbearance. But the
-sworn statements of German soldiers, which the commission published,
-show the reverse to be true.
-
-[Sidenote: German White Book reveals atrocities.]
-
-It has been well said that the publication of this _German White Book_
-was "an amazing official blunder." The neutral world, whose good
-opinion Germany sought, was not convinced by it that the Belgians had
-committed the atrocities with which the Germans charged them. On the
-other hand, this _White Book_, published by the German Government, will
-be accepted by everyone as conclusive evidence of the massacres and
-other brutal deeds which were carried out as "reprisals" by the orders
-of the German military authorities in Belgium. The names of the German
-officers who gave the terrible orders are published officially, and
-"frequently the very men themselves come forward and depose coldly and
-callously to acts which have degraded the German Army and left a stain
-upon its banners that [future] generations of chivalry will not efface."
-
-Indeed, in the light of the admissions of the _German White Book_, it
-is not too much to say that the time has already come which was spoken
-of by President Wilson in his dispatch to President Poincare, September
-19, 1914, when he said (speaking for "a nation which abhors inhuman
-practices in the conduct of a war"):
-
- "The time will come when this great conflict is over and when the
- truth can be impartially determined. When that time arrives those
- responsible for violations of the rules of civilized warfare, if
- such violations have occurred, and for false charges against their
- adversaries, must of course bear the burden of the judgment of the
- world."
-
-
-
-
-CHARACTER OF THE MATERIAL USED IN THIS PAMPHLET.
-
-
-[Sidenote: German sources.]
-
-In this pamphlet throughout, as in the preceding pages, the evidence
-is drawn mainly from German and American sources. The German sources
-include official proclamations and other official utterances, letters
-and diaries of German soldiers, and quotations from German newspapers.
-The diaries which are so frequently quoted form a unique source. The
-_Rules for Field Service_ of the German Army advises each soldier to
-keep such a diary while on active service. Very many German soldiers
-who have been taken prisoner had kept such diaries, and these have been
-confiscated by the captors. Many have been published, frequently with
-facsimile reproductions to guarantee their authenticity. The best known
-collection was made by Bedier, whom Prof. Hollmann, of the University
-of Berlin, properly described as "the distinguished Prof. Joseph Bedier
-of the College de France." Of Bedier's publication Prof. Nyrop, of the
-University of Copenhagen, says:
-
- "He has translated the diaries and commented upon them just as one
- does with all old historical documents, and, in order that everyone
- may be in a position to check up his work, he has also accompanied
- the account with facsimile copies of the documents he used. Here,
- accordingly, at the outset every proof of the evidence which he has
- employed is provided. No falsification is possible. The accounts
- are those of eyewitnesses, and these eyewitnesses are Germans. They
- tell what they themselves or their comrades have done, and Bedier
- accompanies their remarks with running comments which show that not
- only have common law and the Hague Conventions been violated, but sins
- have also been committed against the most elementary laws of humanity.
- Both the material and the presentation are unassailable. The details
- which are provided by the German soldiers in regard to their own
- violent acts are horror-striking."
-
-Prof. Hollmann attempted to prove that Bedier had made mistakes in
-translating and interpreting, but he did not deny the genuineness of
-the diaries. "These notebooks," he says, "may well be authentic and I
-accept this without further comment for all those which are provided
-with the name of their authors and whose authenticity can in any case
-be established after the war."
-
-[Sidenote: American sources.]
-
-The American evidence is drawn mainly from material in the archives
-of the State Department. In addition, statements from our ambassadors
-and ministers and other well-known officials and authors are given.
-Messrs. Hoover, Kellogg, and Walcott have written statements especially
-for this pamphlet. All of this material is essentially the testimony
-of neutrals, for it is based wholly on observations made before the
-United States entered the war. Occasionally official documents and well
-authenticated facts from foreign sources are used.
-
-[Sidenote: Frightfulness as a system.]
-
-The purpose of this pamphlet is to show that the system of
-frightfulness, which is itself the greatest atrocity, is the definite
-policy of the German Government, against which more humane German
-soldiers themselves revolted at times. For this reason it has not
-seemed necessary to set forth the individual acts of cruelty; such
-acts are cited only when necessary to illustrate the system. Anyone
-who wishes to read chapters of horrors can find them in the _Report of
-the Committee on Alleged German Outrages_, presided over by the former
-British Ambassador to this country and therefore generally known as
-"the Bryce report;" in the official reports by the Belgian _Commission
-d'Enquete_; in the official French reports compiled under the auspices
-of the French minister for foreign affairs; in many other publications,
-and especially in the conclusive admissions of the official _German
-White Book_ cited above. The last, published by the German Government,
-is the most damning testimony concerning the system of frightfulness.
-
-
-I. MASSACRES.
-
-[Sidenote: Protection of noncombatants agreed to by Germany.]
-
-[Sidenote: But her military leaders did not acquiesce.]
-
-In the wars waged in ancient times it was taken for granted that
-conquered peoples might be either killed, tortured, or held as slaves;
-that their property would be taken and that their lands would be
-devastated. "_Vae victis!_--woe to the conquered!" For two centuries
-or more there has been a steady advance in introducing ideas of
-humanity and especially in confining the evils of warfare to the
-combatants. The ideal seemed to have become so thoroughly established
-as a part of international law that the powers at The Hague thought it
-sufficient merely to state the general principles in Article XLVI of
-the regulations: "Family honors and rights, the lives of persons and
-private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must
-be respected. Private property can not be confiscated." Germany, in
-common with the other powers, solemnly pledged her faith to keep this
-article, but her military leaders had no intention of doing so. They
-had been trained in the ideas voiced by Gen. von Hartmann 40 years
-ago: "Terrorism is seen to be a relatively gentle procedure, useful
-to keep the masses of the people in a state of obedience." This had
-been Bismarck's policy, too. According to Moritz Busch, Bismarck's
-biographer, Bismarck, exasperated by the French resistance, which was
-still continuing in January, 1871, said:
-
-[Sidenote: Bismarck's idea in 1871.]
-
- "If in the territory which we occupy, we can not supply everything for
- our troops, from time to time we shall send a flying column into the
- localities which are recalcitrant. We shall shoot, hang, and burn.
- After that has happened a few times, the inhabitants will finally come
- to their senses."
-
-The frightfulness taught by the German leaders had held full sway
-in Belgium. This is best seen in the entries in the diaries of the
-individual German soldiers.
-
-
-EXTRACTS FROM GERMAN WAR DIARIES.
-
-"During the night of August 15-16 Engineer Gr---- gave the alarm in the
-town of Vise. Everyone was shot or taken prisoner, and the houses were
-burnt. The prisoners were made to march and keep up with the troops."
-(From the diary of noncommissioned officer Reinhold Koehn of the Second
-Battalion of Engineers, Third Army Corps.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"A horrible bath of blood. The whole village burnt, the French thrown
-into the blazing houses, civilians with the rest." (From the diary of
-Private Hassemer, of the Eighth Army Corps.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"In the night of August 18-19 the village of Saint-Maurice was punished
-for having fired on German soldiers by being burnt to the ground by
-the German troops (two regiments, the 12th Landwehr and the 17th). The
-village was surrounded, men posted about a yard from one another, so
-that no one could get out. Then the Uhlans set fire to it, house by
-house. Neither man, woman, nor child could escape; only the greater
-part of the live stock was carried off, as that could be used. Anyone
-who ventured to come out was shot down. All the inhabitants left in the
-village were burnt with the houses." (From the diary of Private Karl
-Scheufele, of the Third Bavarian Regiment of Landwehr Infantry.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"At 10 o'clock in the evening the first battalion of the 178th marched
-down the steep incline into the burning village to the north of Dinant.
-A terrific spectacle of ghastly beauty. At the entrance to the village
-lay about fifty dead civilians, shot for having fired upon our troops
-from ambush. In the course of the night many others were also shot, so
-that we counted over 200. Women and children, lamp in hand, were forced
-to look on at the horrible scene. We ate our rice later in the midst
-of the corpses, for we had had nothing since morning. When we searched
-the houses we found plenty of wine and spirit, but no eatables. Captain
-Hamann was drunk." (This last phrase in shorthand.) (From the diary
-of Private Philipp, of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Regiment of
-Infantry, Twelfth Army Corps.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"Aug. 6th crossed frontier. Inhabitants on border very good to us and
-give us many things. There is no difference noticeable.
-
-"Aug. 23rd, Sunday (between Birnal and Dinant, village of Disonge).
-At 11 o'clock the order comes to advance after the artillery has
-thoroughly prepared the ground ahead. The Pioneers and Infantry
-Regiment 178 were marching in front of us. Near a small village the
-latter were fired on by the inhabitants. About 220 inhabitants were
-shot and the village was burnt--artillery is continuously shooting--the
-village lies in a large ravine. Just now, 6 o'clock in the afternoon,
-the crossing of the Maas begins near Dinant * * * All villages,
-chateaux, and houses are burnt down during this night. It was a
-beautiful sight to see the fires all round us in the distance.
-
-"Aug. 24th. In every village one finds only heaps of ruins and many
-dead. (From the diary of Matbern, Fourth Company, Eleventh Jaeger
-Battalion, Marburg.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"A shell burst near the 11th Company, and wounded seven men, three very
-severely. At 5 o'clock we were ordered by the officer in command of
-the regiment to shoot all the male inhabitants of Nomeny, because the
-population was foolishly attempting to stay the advance of the German
-troops by force of arms. We broke into the houses, and seized all who
-resisted, in order to execute them according to martial law. The houses
-which had not been already destroyed by the French artillery and our
-own were set on fire by us, so that nearly the whole town was reduced
-to ashes. It is a terrible sight when helpless women and children,
-utterly destitute, are herded together and driven into France." (From
-the diary of Private Fischer, Eighth Bavarian Regiment of Infantry,
-Thirty-third Reserve Division.)
-
-Other German soldiers, too, we are glad to see, show their horror at
-the foul deeds.
-
-"The inhabitants have fled in the village. It was horrible. There was
-clotted blood on all the beards, and what faces one saw, terrible to
-behold! The dead, sixty in all, were at once buried. Among them were
-many old women, some old men and a half-delivered woman, awful to see;
-three children had clasped each other, and died thus. The altar and
-the vaults of the church are shattered. They had a telephone there
-to communicate with the enemy. This morning, September 2, all the
-survivors were expelled, and I saw four little boys carrying a cradle,
-with a baby five or six months old in it, on two sticks. All this
-was terrible to see. Shot after shot! Thunderbolt after thunderbolt!
-Everything is given over to pillage; fowls and the rest all killed.
-I saw a mother, too, with her two children; one had a great wound on
-the head and had lost an eye." (From the diary of Lance-Corporal Paul
-Spielmann, of the Ersatz, First Brigade of Infantry of the Guard.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-* * * In the night the inhabitants of Liege became mutinous. Forty
-persons were shot and 15 houses demolished, 10 soldiers shot. The
-sights here make you cry.
-
-"On the 23rd August everything quiet. The inhabitants have so far
-given in. Seventy students were shot, 200 kept prisoners. Inhabitants
-returning to Liege.
-
-"Aug. 24th. At noon with 36 men on sentry duty. Sentry duty is A 1, no
-post allocated to me. Our occupation, apart from bathing, is eating and
-drinking. We live like God in Belgium." (From the diary of Joh. van der
-Schoot, reservist of the Tenth Company, Thirty-ninth Reserve Infantry
-Regiment, Seventh Reserve Army Corps.)
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-"August 17th. In the afternoon I had a look at the little chateau
-belonging to one of the King's secretaries (not at home). Our men had
-behaved like regular vandals. They had looted the cellar first, and
-then they had turned their attention to the bedrooms and thrown things
-about all over the place. They had even made fruitless efforts to smash
-the safe open. Everything was topsy-turvy--magnificent furniture,
-silk, and even china. That's what happens when the men are allowed to
-requisition for themselves. I am sure they must have taken away a heap
-of useless stuff simply for the pleasure of looting."
-
-"Aug. 23rd. * * * Our men came back and said that at the point where
-the valley joined the Meuse we could not get on any further as the
-villagers were shooting at us from every house. We shot the whole
-lot--16 of them. They were drawn up in three ranks; the same shot did
-for three at a time.
-
-"* * * The men had already shown their brutal instincts; * * *
-
-"The sight of the bodies of all the inhabitants who had been shot
-was indescribable. Every house in the whole village was destroyed.
-We dragged the villagers one after another out of the most unlikely
-corners. The men were shot as well as the women and children who were
-in the convent, since shots had been fired from the convent windows;
-and we burnt it afterwards.
-
-"The inhabitants might have escaped the penalty by handing over the
-guilty and paying 15,000 francs.
-
-"The inhabitants fired on our men again. The division took drastic
-steps to stop the villages being burnt and the inhabitants being shot.
-The pretty little village of Gue d'Ossus, however, was apparently set
-on fire without cause. A cyclist fell off his machine and his rifle
-went off. He immediately said he had been shot at. All the inhabitants
-were burnt in the houses. I hope there will be no more such horrors.
-
-"At Leppe apparently 200 men were shot. There must have been some
-innocent men among them. In future we shall have to hold an inquiry as
-to their guilt instead of shooting them.
-
-"In the evening we marched to Maubert-Fontaine. Just as we were having
-our meal the alarm was sounded--everyone is very jumpy.
-
-"September 3rd. Still at Rethel, on guard over prisoners. * * * The
-houses are charming inside. The middle class in France has magnificent
-furniture. We found stylish pieces everywhere and beautiful silk, but
-in what a state * * * Good God! * * * Every bit of furniture broken,
-mirrors smashed. The Vandals themselves could not have done more
-damage. This place is a disgrace to our army. The inhabitants who fled
-could not have expected, of course, that all their goods would have
-been left intact after so many troops had passed. But the column
-commanders are responsible for the greater part of the damage, as they
-could have prevented the looting and destruction. The damage amounts to
-millions of marks; even the safes have been attacked.
-
-"In a solicitor's house, in which, as luck would have it, all was in
-excellent taste, including a collection of old lace and Eastern works
-of art, everything was smashed to bits.
-
-"I could not resist taking a little memento myself here and there. * *
-* One house was particularly elegant, everything in the best taste. The
-hall was of light oak; I found a splendid raincoat under the staircase
-and a camera for Felix." (From the diary of an officer in the One
-Hundred Seventy-eighth Regiment, Twelfth Saxon Corps.)
-
-But this horror apparently was not shared by the German commander in
-chief, as is evident from the following:
-
- "ORDER.
-
-  "_To the People of Liege._
-
- "The population of Andenne, after making a display of peaceful
- intentions towards our troops, attacked them in the most treacherous
- manner. With my authorisation, the General commanding these troops has
- reduced the town to ashes and has had 110 persons shot.
-
- "I bring this fact to the knowledge of the people of Liege in order
- that they may know what fate to expect should they adopt a similar
- attitude.
-
- "Liege, 22nd August, 1914.
-
-  "GENERAL VON BUELOW."
-
-The following "Order of the Day" shows how the town of Huy escaped a
-like fate. Drunken German soldiers were frightened and began to shoot
-men and burn houses. The commanding officer condemned this because it
-was not done by his order and because two German soldiers were wounded.
-It is evident that massacres and arson were permitted only when
-commanded by the officers.
-
- "Last night a shooting affray took place. There is no evidence that
- the inhabitants of the towns had any arms in their houses, nor is
- there evidence that the people took part in the shooting; on the
- contrary, it seems that the soldiers were under the influence of
- alcohol, and began to shoot in a senseless fear of a hostile attack.
-
- "The behavior of the soldiers during the night, with very few
- exceptions, makes a scandalous impression.
-
- "It is highly deplorable when officers or noncommissioned officers set
- houses on fire without permission or order of the commanding, or, as
- the case may be, the senior officer, or when by their attitude they
- encourage the rank and file to burn and plunder.
-
- "I require that everywhere strict instructions shall be given with
- regard to the treatment of the life and property of the civilian
- population.
-
- "I prohibit all shooting in the towns without the order of an officer.
-
- "The miserable behaviour of the men caused a noncommissioned officer
- and a private to be seriously wounded by German bullets.
-
-  "The Commanding Officer,
-  "MAJOR VON BASSEWITZ."
-
-In his report of September 12, 1917, to the Secretary of State,
-Minister Whitlock has much to tell of the policy of frightfulness. The
-following passages refer to the subject of massacres:
-
-[Sidenote: Germans force wives to witness husbands' executions.]
-
- "Summary executions took place [at Dinant] without the least semblance
- of judgment. The names and number of the victims are not known, but
- they must be numerous. I have been unable to obtain precise details
- in this respect and the number of persons who have fled is unknown.
- Among the persons who were shot are: Mr. Defoin, mayor of Dinant;
- Sasserath, first alderman; Nimmer, aged 70; consul for the Argentine
- Republic, Victor Poncelet, who was executed in the presence of his
- wife and seven children; Wasseige and his two sons; Messrs. Gustave
- and Leon Nicaise, two very old men; Jules Monin and others were shot
- in the cellar of their brewery. Mr. Camille Pistte and son, aged 17;
- Phillippart, Piedfort, his wife and daughter; Miss Marsigny. During
- the execution of about forty inhabitants of Dinant, the Germans placed
- before the condemned their wives and children. It is thus that Madame
- Albin who had just given birth to a child, three days previously, was
- brought on a mattress by German soldiers to witness the execution of
- her husband; her cries and supplications were so pressing that her
- husband's life was spared."
-
- "On the 26th of August German soldiers entered various streets [of
- Louvain] and ordered the inhabitants of the houses to proceed to the
- Place de la Station, where the bodies of nearly a dozen assassinated
- persons were lying. Women and children were separated from the men
- and forced to remain on the Place de la Station during the whole day.
- They had to witness the execution of many of their fellow-citizens,
- who were for the most part shot at the side of the square, near the
- house of Mr. Hemaide. The women and children, after having remained on
- the square for more than 15 hours, were allowed to depart. The Gardes
- Civiques of Louvain were also taken prisoners and sent to Germany, to
- the camp of Muenster, where they were held for several weeks.
-
- "On Thursday, August 27th, order was given to the inhabitants to
- leave Louvain because the city was to be bombarded. Old men, women,
- children, the sick, priests, nuns, were driven on the roads like
- cattle. More than 10,000 of the inhabitants were driven as far as
- Tirlemont, 18 kilometers from Louvain."
-
- "One of the most sorely tried communities was that of the little
- village of Tamines, down in what is known as the Borinage, the coal
- fields near Charleroi. Tamines is a mining village in the Sambre; it
- is a collection of small cottages sheltering about 5,000 inhabitants,
- mostly all poor laborers.
-
- [Sidenote: Massacres in Tamines.]
-
- "The little graveyard in which the church stands bears its mute
- testimony to the horror of the event. There are hundreds of new-made
- graves, each with its small wooden cross and its bit of flowers; the
- crosses are so closely huddled that there is scarcely room to walk
- between them. The crosses are alike and all bear the same date, the
- sinister date of August 22d, 1914."
-
- "But whether their hands were cut off or not, whether they were
- impaled on bayonets or not, children were shot down, by military
- order, in cold blood. In the awful crime of the Rock of Bayard, there
- overlooking the Meuse below Dinant, infants in their mother's arms
- were shot down without mercy. The deed, never surpassed in cruelty by
- any band of savages, is described by the Bishop of Namur himself:
-
- [Sidenote: Slaughter of the innocents at Rocher Bayard.]
-
- "One scene surpasses in horror all others; it is the fusillade of the
- Rocher Bayard near Dinant. It appears to have been ordered by Colonel
- Meister. This fusillade made many victims among the nearby parishes,
- especially those of des Rivages and Neffe. It caused the death of
- nearly 90 persons, without distinction of age or sex. Among the
- victims were babies in arms, boys and girls, fathers and mothers of
- families, even old men.
-
- "It was there that 12 children under the age of 6 perished from the
- fire of the executioners, 6 of them as they lay in their mothers' arms:
-
-  "The child Fievet, 3 weeks old.
-  "Maurice Betemps, 11 months old.
-  "Nelly Pollet, 11 months old.
-  "Gilda Genon, 18 months old.
-  "Gilda Marchot, 2 years old.
-  "Clara Struvay, 2 years and 6 months.
-
- "The pile of bodies comprised also many children from 6 to 14 years.
- Eight large families have entirely disappeared. Four have but one
- survivor. Those men that escaped death--and many of whom were riddled
- with bullets--were obliged to bury in a summary and hasty fashion
- their fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters; then after having been
- relieved of their money and being placed in chains they were sent to
- Cassel [Prussia]."
-
-Mr. Hugh Gibson, the secretary of our legation in Belgium, visited
-Louvain during its systematic destruction by the Germans. In _A Journal
-from our Legation in Belgium_, New York, 1917, pages 164-165, he
-relates what the German officers told him:
-
- "It was a story of clearing out civilians from a large part of the
- town, a systematic routing out of men from cellars and garrets,
- wholesale shootings, the generous use of machine guns, and the free
- application of the torch--the whole story enough to make one see red.
- And for our guidance it was impressed on us that this would make
- people respect Germany and think twice about resisting her."
-
-German pastors and professors far from the excitement of the firing
-have defended this policy of frightfulness, e.g.:
-
-[Sidenote: Pastor defends frightfulness.]
-
- "We are not only compelled to accept the war that is forced upon us
- * * * but are even compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a
- ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device, unknown in any
- previous war." Pastor D. Baumgarten, in _Deutsche Reden in schwerer
- Zeit_, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- "The fate that Belgium has called down upon herself is hard for
- the individual, but not too hard for this political structure
- (_Staatsgebilde_), for the destinies of the immortal great nations
- stand so high that they cannot but have the right, in case of need,
- to stride over existences that cannot defend themselves, but live,
- as parasites, upon the rivalries of the great." Prof. H. Oncken, in
- _Sueddeutsche Monatsheft_, "South German Monthly."
-
-Would they have dared to defend such a policy if they could have seen
-the announcement sent out by the parish of St. Hadelin with its silent
-eloquence?
-
-This is an invitation to a service in memory of 60 men and women from
-one parish, of whom all but two were killed by the Germans in the
-massacre of August 5 and 6, 1914. The closing sentences are:
-
- PRAY TO GOD FOR THE REPOSE OF THEIR SOULS.
-
-  Gentle Heart of Mary, be my refuge.
-  Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
-  St. Joseph, patron of Belgium, pray for us.
-  St. Hadelin, patron of the parish, pray for us.
-  Sainte Barbe, patroness of kindly death, pray for us.
-
-After reading such ghastly accounts, many of them written by German
-eyewitnesses, and knowing that similar tales were published widely in
-the German newspapers, it is difficult to read with patience such words
-as these:
-
- "The German Army (in which I of course include the Navy) is to-day the
- greatest institute for moral education in the world."
-
- "The German soldiers alone are thoroughly disciplined, and have never
- so much as hurt a hair of a single innocent human being." Houston
- Stewart Chamberlain, in _Kriegsaufsaetze_, "War Essays", 1914.
-
- "We see everywhere how our soldiers respect the sacred defencelessness
- of woman and child." Prof. G. Roethe, in _Deutsche Reden in Schwerer
- Zeit_, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."
-
-
-II. HOSTAGES AND SCREENS.
-
-The massacres described above were a part of the German system of
-frightfulness. Another feature of this system was the use of civilians
-as hostages and for screens.
-
-In discussing the use of hostages the _German War Book_ (_Kriegsbrauch
-im Landkriege_) says:
-
-[Sidenote: Views of the German General Staff.]
-
- "By hostages are understood those persons who, as security or bail for
- the fulfillment of treaties, promises, or other claims, are taken or
- detained by the opposing State or its army. Their provision has been
- less usual in recent wars, as a result of which some professors of the
- law of nations have wrongly decided that the taking of hostages has
- disappeared from the practice of civilized nations. * * *
-
- "A new application of 'hostage right' was practiced by the German
- Staff in the war of 1870, when it compelled leading citizens from
- French towns and villages to accompany trains and locomotives in order
- to protect the railway communications which were threatened by the
- people. Since the lives of peaceable inhabitants were, without any
- fault on their part, thereby exposed to grave danger, every writer
- outside Germany has stigmatised this measure as contrary to the law of
- nations and as unjustified towards the inhabitants of the country."
-
-Although their deeds in the Franco-Prussian war had been universally
-condemned, as they themselves admitted, the leaders did not intend
-to abandon such a useful measure of frightfulness. In _L'Interprete
-Militaire_ the forms were provided for such acts in the next war. Both
-in Belgium and in France the Germans have constantly used hostages. The
-evidence is contained in the proclamations of the governing authorities
-and also in the diaries of the German soldiers. A few examples from
-these will illustrate the system which was employed.
-
-A specimen of the arbitrariness and cruelty is furnished by the
-proclamation of Maj. Dieckmann, from which the following sections are
-presented:
-
- FROM A PROCLAMATION BY MAJ. DIECKMANN, SEPTEMBER, 1914.
-
- "4. After 9 a.m. on the 7th September, I will permit the houses in
- Beyne-Heusay, Grivegnee, and Bois-de-Breux to be inhabited by the
- persons who lived in them formerly, as long as these persons are not
- forbidden to frequent these localities by official prohibition.
-
- [Sidenote: Maj. Dieckmann seizes hostages.]
-
- "5. In order to be sure that the above-mentioned permit will not
- be abused, the Burgomasters of Beyne-Heusay and of Grivegnee must
- immediately prepare lists of prominent persons who will be held as
- hostages for 24 hours each at Fort Fleron. September 6th, 1914, for
- the first time [the period of detention shall be] from 6 p.m. until
- September 7th at midday.
-
- "The life of these hostages depends on the population of the
- above-mentioned Communes remaining quiet under all circumstances.
-
- "During the night it is severely forbidden to show any luminous
- signals. Bicycles are permitted only between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. (German
- time).
-
- "6. From the list which is submitted to me I shall designate prominent
- persons who shall be hostages from noon of one day until the following
- midday. If the substitute is not there in due time, the hostage must
- remain another 24 hours at the fort. After these 24 hours the hostage
- will incur the penalty of death, if the substitute fails to appear.
-
- "7. Priests, burgomasters, and the other members of the Council are to
- be taken first as hostages.
-
- "8. I insist that all civilians who move about in my district * * *
- show their respect to the German officers by taking off their hats,
- or lifting their hands to their heads in military salute. In case of
- doubt, every German soldier must be saluted. Anyone who does not do
- this must expect the German military to make themselves respected by
- every means."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- A PROCLAMATION BY VON BUELOW. IN NAMUR, AUGUST, 1914.
-
- "1. The Belgian and French soldiers must be delivered as prisoners of
- war before 4 o'clock in front of the prison. Citizens who do not obey
- will be condemned to hard labor for life in Germany.
-
- "The rigorous inspection of houses will commence at 4 o'clock. Every
- soldier found will be immediately shot.
-
- "2. Arms, powder, and dynamite must be given up at 4 o'clock. Penalty,
- being shot.
-
- "Citizens who know of a store of the above must inform the
- burgomaster, under penalty of hard labor for life.
-
- [Sidenote: Von Buelow takes hostages in every street.]
-
- "3. Every street will be occupied by a German guard, who will take ten
- hostages from each street, whom they will keep under surveillance. If
- there is any rising in the street, the ten hostages will be shot.
-
- "4. Doors may not be locked, and at night after 8 o'clock there must
- be lights at three windows in every house.
-
- "5. It is forbidden to be in the street after 8 o'clock. The
- inhabitants of Namur must understand that there is no greater and more
- horrible crime than to compromise the existence of the town and the
- life of its citizens by risings against the German Army.
-
-  "The Commander of the Town,
-  "VON BUELOW.
-
-  "NAMUR, _25th August, 1914_. (Printed by Chantraine)."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- PROCLAMATION POSTED AT BRUSSELS AND ELSEWHERE, OCTOBER 5, 1914.
-
- "September 25th, in the evening, the railroad track and telegraph were
- destroyed on the line Lovenjoul-Vertryck. * * *
-
- [Sidenote: Hostages are made responsible for railroads.]
-
- "Henceforth the villages situated nearest the spot where such events
- take place--it is of no consequence whether they are guilty or
- not--will be punished without mercy. For this purpose hostages have
- been taken from all places in the vicinity of railways in danger of
- similar attacks; and at the first attempt to destroy any railway,
- telegraph, or telephone line they will be immediately shot.
-
- "Furthermore, all troops entrusted with the protection of railways
- have received orders to shoot anyone approaching railways or telegraph
- or telephone lines in a suspicious manner.
-
- "The Governor General of Belgium,
-
-  "BARON VON DER GOLTZ,
-  "_Field-Marshal_."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- PROCLAMATION TO THE POPULATION OF RHEIMS.
-
- "In order to insure sufficiently the safety of our troops and the
- tranquility of the population of Rheims, the persons mentioned have
- been seized as hostages by the Commander of the German Army. These
- hostages will be shot if there is the least disorder. On the other
- hand, if the town remains perfectly calm and quiet these hostages and
- inhabitants will be placed under the protection of the German Army.
-
-  "THE GENERAL COMMANDING.
-
-  "RHEIMS, _12th September, 1914_."
-
-[Sidenote: Over 80 hostages in Rheims.]
-
-Beneath this proclamation there were posted the names of 81 hostages
-and a statement that others had also been seized as hostages. The lives
-of all these men depended in reality upon the interpretation which the
-German military authorities might give to the elastic phrase, "the
-least disorder," in the proclamation.
-
-Hugh Gibson, in _A Journal from our Legation in Belgium_, page 184,
-explains what was likely to happen:
-
- "Another thing is, that on entering a town, they hold the burgomaster,
- the procureur du roi, and other authorities as hostages to insure good
- behavior by the population. Of course, the hoodlum class would like
- nothing better than to see their natural enemies, the defenders of law
- and order, ignominiously shot, and they do not restrain themselves a
- bit on account of the hostages."
-
- STATEMENT FROM DIARY OF BOMBARDIER WETZEL.
-
- "Aug. 8th. First fight and set fire to several villages.
-
- "Aug. 9th. Returned to old quarters; there we searched all the houses
- and shot the mayor and shot one man down from the chimney pot, and
- then we again set fire to the village.
-
- "On the 18th August Letalle (?) captured 10 men with three priests
- because they have shot down from the church tower. They were brought
- to the village of Ste. Marie.
-
- [Sidenote: Hostages at Willekamm.]
-
- "Oct. 5th. We were in quarters in the evening at Willekamm. Lieut.
- Radfels was quartered in the mayor's house and there had two prisoners
- (tied together) on a short whip, and in case anything happened they
- were to be killed.
-
- "Oct. 11th. We had no fight, but we caught about 20 men and shot
- them." (From the diary of Bombardier Wetzel, Second Mounted Battery,
- First Kurhessian Field Artillery, Regiment No. 11.)
-
-The Germans also found it convenient on many occasions to secure
-civilians, both men and women, who could be forced to march or stand in
-front of the troops, so that the countrymen of the civilians would be
-compelled first to kill their own people if they resisted the Germans.
-This usage is illustrated in the following:
-
- LETTER OF LIEUT. EBERLEIN.
-
-  "OCTOBER 7, 1914.
-
- [Sidenote: Civilians used as screens.]
-
- "But we arrested three other civilians, and then I had a brilliant
- idea. We gave them chairs, and we then ordered them to go and sit out
- in the middle of the street. On their part, pitiful entreaties; on
- ours, a few blows from the butt end of the rifle. Little by little
- one becomes terribly callous at this business. At last they were all
- seated outside in the street. I do not know what anguished prayers
- they may have said but I noticed that their hands were convulsively
- clasped the whole time. I pitied these fellows, but the method was
- immediately effective.
-
- "The flank fire from the houses quickly diminished, so that we were
- able to occupy the opposite house and thus to dominate the principal
- street. Every living being who showed himself in the street was shot.
- The artillery on its side had done good work all this time, and when,
- toward 7 o'clock in the evening, the brigade advanced to the assault
- to relieve us I was in a position to report that Saint Die had been
- cleared of the enemy.
-
- "Later on I learned that the regiment of reserve which entered Saint
- Die further to the north had tried the same experiment. The four
- civilians whom they had compelled in the same way to sit out in the
- street were killed by French bullets. I myself saw them lying in the
- middle of the street near the hospital."
-
-  "A. EBERLEIN,
-  "_First-Lieutenant_."
-
- Letter published on the 7th October, 1914, in the "Vorabendblatt" of
- the _Muenchner Neueste Nachrichten_.
-
-Minister Whitlock, in his report of September 12, 1917, to the
-Secretary of State, gives an instance of this German practice of
-seeking protection.
-
-[Sidenote: "No respect to the cassock."]
-
-"The Germans attacked Hougaerde on the 18th August; the Belgian troops
-were holding the Gette Bridge in the village. The Germans forced the
-parish priest of Autgaerden to walk in front of them as a shield. As
-they neared the barricade the Belgian soldiers fired and the priest
-was killed. After the retreat of the Belgians the Germans shot 4 men,
-burned 50 houses, and looted 100."
-
-Hugh Gibson, in _A Journal from our Legation in Belgium_, page 155,
-gives another incident:
-
-"Two old priests have staggered into the ---- legation more dead than
-alive after having been compelled to walk ahead of the German troops
-for miles as a sort of protecting screen. One of them is ill, and it is
-said that he may die as a result of what he has gone through."
-
- STATEMENTS OF CARDINAL MERCIER AND HIS FELLOW BISHOPS.
-
- "At the time of the invasion Belgian civilians, in twenty places, were
- made to take part in operations of war against their own country. At
- Termonde, Lebbeke, Dinant, and elsewhere in many places, peaceable
- citizens, women, and children were forced to march in front of German
- regiments or to make a screen before them.
-
- [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier's judgment on the system of hostages.]
-
- "The system of hostages was carried out with a fierce cruelty.
- The proclamation of August 4th, quoted above, declared, without
- circumlocution: 'Hostages will be freely taken.'
-
- "An official proclamation, posted at Liege, in the early days of
- August, ran thus: 'Every aggression committed against the German
- troops by any persons other than soldiers in uniform not only exposes
- the guilty person to be immediately shot, but will also entail the
- severest reprisals against all the inhabitants, and especially against
- those natives of Liege who have been detained as hostages in the
- citadel of Liege by the commandant of the German troops.'
-
- "These hostages are Monsignor Rutten, Bishop of Liege; M. Kleyer,
- burgomaster of Liege; the senators, representatives, and the permanent
- deputy and sheriff of Liege."
-
-The above quotation is taken from _An Appeal to Truth_, addressed Nov.
-24, 1915, by Cardinal Mercier and the other bishops of Belgium to the
-cardinals, archbishops, and bishops of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
-
-[Sidenote: Will Irwin on brutality of German drive through Belgium.]
-
- "Some ten or a dozen American correspondents, of whom I was one,
- witnessed the First German drive through Belgium. Most of us were so
- appalled and horrified by what we saw as to become anti-German for
- life." Will Irwin, in _Saturday Evening Post_, Oct. 6, 1917, p. 41.
-
-
-III. FINES.
-
-The contracting nations, including Germany, who signed the Conventions
-of the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, 1907, pledged themselves
-to the following:
-
-[Sidenote: Germany's promises in Hague conventions.]
-
- "Article L. No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be
- inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals
- for which they can not be regarded as jointly and severally
- responsible."
-
- "Article LII. Requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded
- from municipalities or inhabitants except for the deeds of the army
- of occupation. They shall be in proportion to the resources of the
- country, and of such a nature as not to involve the inhabitants in the
- obligation of taking part in military operations against their own
- country."
-
-[Sidenote: German violations of Hague conventions.]
-
-The German authorities have violated these articles from the very
-beginning. As soon as they invaded Belgium, heavy fines were laid upon
-individual communities as reprisals for some act against the German
-Army or its regulations which was committed within their boundaries. In
-_An Appeal to Truth_ Cardinal Mercier cites the following cases:
-
- "Malines, a working-class town, without resources, has had a fine of
- 20,000 marks inflicted on it because the burgomaster did not inform
- the military authority of a journey which the Cardinal, deprived of
- the use of his motor car, had been obliged to make on foot. In fact,
- upon the flimsiest pretexts heavy fines are inflicted on communes.
- The commune of Puers was subjected to a fine of 3,000 marks because
- a telegraph wire was broken, although the inquiry showed that it had
- given way through wear."
-
-In addition to such arbitrary, sporadic exactions, in December, 1914,
-the Germans demanded 40,000,000 francs ($8,000,000) a month to be paid
-by the Belgian Provinces jointly.
-
-Concerning this enormous imposition Cardinal Mercier says, in the
-_Appeal to Truth_:
-
- "The essential condition of the legality of a contribution of this
- kind, according to the Hague Convention, is that it should bear
- _relation to the resources of the country_, article 52.
-
- [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier's comments.]
-
- "Now, in December, 1914, Belgium was devastated. Contributions of
- war imposed on the towns and innumerable requisitions in kind had
- exhausted her. The greater part of the factories were idle, and in
- those, which were still at work, raw materials were, contrary to all
- law, being freely commandeered.
-
- "It was on this impoverished Belgium, living on foreign charity, that
- a contribution of nearly 500,000,000 francs was imposed."
-
-[Sidenote: The crushing fine is increased.]
-
-The German authorities were not satisfied with this impoverishing levy.
-In November, 1915, one month before the expiration of the twelve-month
-period fixed for the levy, they decreed that this contribution of
-40,000,000 francs a month should be paid for an indefinite period. In
-November, 1916, they increased the levy to 50,000,000 francs a month,
-in May, 1917, to 60,000,000 francs a month. In addition, the German
-authorities have continued to levy fines upon towns and villages for
-acts committed in their neighborhood, although they had no proof that
-these acts had been committed by any inhabitant of the city or village
-thus fined. (Compare taking of hostages, noted above.)
-
-The German military rulers have also made the families responsible
-for acts committed by or charged against members as is shown in the
-following examples, which are quoted from the _Appeal to Truth_, cited
-above.
-
-[Sidenote: Family made responsible.]
-
- "The Belgian Government has sent orders to rejoin the army to the
- militiamen of several classes. * * * All those who receive these
- orders are strictly forbidden to act upon them. * * * _In case of
- disobedience the family of the militiaman will be held equally
- responsible._"
-
- "A warning of the Governor General, dated January 26th, 1915, renders
- the _members of the family_ responsible if a Belgian fit for military
- service, between the ages of 16 and 40, goes to Holland."
-
-The Commander in Chief of the German army in Belgium posted a
-proclamation declaring:
-
- [Sidenote: Villages made responsible.]
-
- "The villages where acts of hostility shall be committed by the
- inhabitants against our troops _will be burned_.
-
- "For all destruction of roads, railways, bridges, etc., _the villages
- in the neighborhood_ of the destruction _will be held responsible_.
-
- "The punishments announced above will be carried out severely and
- without mercy. _The whole community will be held responsible._
- Hostages will be taken in large numbers. The heaviest war taxes will
- be levied."
-
-At the end of the _Appeal to Truth_ Cardinal Mercier says:
-
- "But we can not say all here, nor quote all.
-
- [Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier has proofs.]
-
- "If, however, our readers wish for the proof of the accusations * * *
- we shall be glad to furnish them. There is not in our letter, nor in
- the four annexes [to the _Appeal to Truth_], one allegation of which
- we have not the proofs in our records."
-
-A striking illustration of the German methods is contained in the
-archives of the State Department, because the Prince of Monaco appealed
-to President Wilson against the injustice of a fine imposed upon a
-small and impoverished village. The following documents from the State
-Department archives tell the story. They need no comments.
-
-  "PARIS, _Oct. 27, 1914_.
-
-  "SECRETARY OF STATE,
-  "_Washington_.
-
- "Prince of Monaco called this morning and asked that the following
- case be submitted to the President:
-
- [Sidenote: The case of Sissonne.]
-
- "Prince states that General von Buelow for weeks has been inhabiting
- Prince's ancestral chateau near Rheims, historical monument,
- containing works of art and family heirlooms; that von Buelow has
- imposed fine of five hundred thousand francs on village of Sissonne
- some miles distant from chateau, because broken glass found on road
- near village. Sissonne being unable alone to pay has raised with a
- number of other neighboring villages one hundred twenty-five thousand
- francs but von Buelow has sent two messengers from Sissonne to Prince
- that unless latter pays fine for Sissonne the chateau and adjoining
- village, as well as Sissonne, will be destroyed on November first.
- Prince has answered refusing to pay sum now but willing to give his
- word to German Emperor that amount would be paid after removal of
- danger of fresh war incidents. Prince now fearful lest returning
- messengers, as well as male employees on his estate, be shot because
- of refusal to pay.
-
- "I have arranged meeting this afternoon between Spanish Ambassador and
- Prince, to whom I have suggested that matter be presented to German
- Government through Spanish Ambassador at Berlin inasmuch as Prince's
- threatened property is in France.
-
-  "HERRICK."
-
-  "ARMY HEADQUARTERS,
-  "_Warmeriville, Sept. 19th, 1914_.
-
-  "TO the MAYOR OF THE COMMUNE OF SISSONNE,
-  "_Sissonne_.
-
- [Sidenote: Von Buelow's levy on Sissonne.]
-
- "It has been conclusively proven that the road between Sissonne and
- the railway station of Montaigu was, on September 18th, strewn with
- broken glass along a distance of one kilometre and at intervals of 50
- metres, for the purpose, no doubt, of impeding automobile traffic.
-
- "I hold the commune of Sissonne responsible for this act of hostility
- on the part of its inhabitants and I punish the said commune by
- levying upon it a contribution of 500,000 francs (five hundred
- thousand francs).
-
- "This sum must be entirely paid into the Treasury of the Etape by
- October 15th.
-
- "The Inspection of the Etape now at Montcornet has been directed to
- enforce execution of this order.
-
- "The General Commander in Chief of the Army.
-
-  "VON BUELOW."
-
- LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE GERMAN EMPEROR.
-
-  "MONACO, _Oct. 22nd, 1914_.
-
-  "SIRE:
-
- "I forward to Your Majesty several documents relating to a very grave
- and urgent matter.
-
- [Sidenote: Prince of Monaco writes Emperor William.]
-
- "The General von Buelow has caused to be occupied since one month and
- a half my residence of Marchais, situated at five kilometres from the
- village of Sissonne. The general has levied upon the fifteen hundred
- inhabitants of this poor ruined village a war contribution of five
- hundred thousand francs, of which they are unable to pay more than
- one-quarter. Moreover, he has sent to me two emissaries bearing a
- document in which he threatens to destroy my property and the village
- of Marchais, over and above that of Sissonne, in the event of my not
- disbursing myself the sum in question before the end of the month of
- October.
-
- "That is how a Prussian general treats a reigning Prince who for 45
- years has been a friend to Germany, and who in all the countries of
- the world is surrounded with respect and gratitude for his work.
-
- "In reply to the summons of the General von Buelow I have given my
- word of honor to complete the above contribution in order to avert
- a horrible action accomplished in cold blood, but adding that as a
- sovereign Prince I submit this matter to the judgment of the Emperor
- by declaring that the said sum shall be paid when the Chateau de
- Marchais will be free from the danger of intentional destruction.
-
- "I am, with great respect, Your Majesty's devoted servant and cousin,
-
-  "ALBERT, _Prince of Monaco_."
-
- LETTER ADDRESSED TO GEN. VON BUELOW.
-
-  "MONACO, _Oct. 22nd, 1914_.
-
-  "GENERAL:
-
- "To avert from the Commune of Sissonne and that of Marchais the
- rigorous treatment with which you have threatened them, I give my word
- of honor to remit to His Majesty the Emperor William, should the war
- come to an end without intentional damage being caused to my residence
- or to these two communes, the necessary sum to complete the amount of
- five hundred thousand francs imposed by you upon Sissonne.
-
- "As a Sovereign Prince, I wish to deal in this matter with the
- Sovereign who, during fifteen years, called me his friend and has
- decorated me with the Order of the Knight of the Black Eagle.
-
- [Sidenote: Prince comments on German treatment of monuments.]
-
- "My conscience and my dignity place me above fear, as also my personal
- will shall elevate me above regret; but should you destroy the Chateau
- de Marchais which is one of the centers of universal science and
- charity, should you reserve to this archeological and historical gem
- the treatment you have given to the Cathedral of Rheims--when no
- reprehensible action has been committed there--the whole world will
- judge between you and myself.
-
- "I tender to Your Excellency the expression of my high regard.
-
-  "ALBERT, _Sovereign Prince of Monaco_."
-
-
-IV. DEPORTATIONS AND FORCED LABOR.
-
-[Sidenote: Advance in humanity--until August, 1914.]
-
-Until the present war the whole civilized world has boasted of its
-advance in humanity. This advance had been marked in many fields, and
-in none had greater progress been made than in the protection to be
-given to the private citizen in an invaded country. As far back as
-1863, in the _Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United
-States in the Field_ the United States declared:
-
-[Sidenote: United States treatment of civilians, 1863.]
-
- "22. Nevertheless, as civilization has advanced during the last
- centuries, so has likewise steadily advanced, especially in war on
- land, the distinction between the private individual belonging to a
- hostile country and the hostile country itself, with its men in arms.
- The principle has been more and more acknowledged that the unarmed
- citizen is to be spared in person, property, and honor as much as the
- exigencies of war will admit.
-
- "23. Private citizens are no longer murdered, enslaved, or carried
- off to distant parts, and the inoffensive individual is as little
- disturbed in his private relations as the commander of the hostile
- troops can afford to grant in the overruling demands of a vigorous war.
-
- "24. The almost universal rule in remote times was, and continues
- to be with barbarous armies, that the private individual of the
- hostile country is destined to suffer every privation of liberty and
- protection, and every disruption of family ties. Protection was, and
- still is with uncivilized people, the exception."
-
-[Sidenote: German Government's reversion to barbarism.]
-
-These declarations were made in the midst of our Civil War--one of
-the world's fiercest conflicts. A half-century later, after more than
-50 years of progress, the German Government has gone back to the
-methods used by "barbarous armies" and "uncivilized people." It has
-deliberately adopted the policy of deporting men and women, boys and
-girls, and of forcing them to work for their captors; it has even
-compelled them to make arms and munitions for use against their allies
-and their own flesh and blood.
-
-No other act of the German Government has aroused such horror and
-detestation throughout the civilized world. Thousands of helpless men
-and women, boys and girls, have been enslaved. Families have been
-broken up. Girls have been carried off to work--or worse--in a strange
-land, and their relatives have not known where they have been taken, or
-what their fate has been.
-
-This system of forced labor and deportation embraced the whole of
-Belgium, Poland, and the occupied lands of France.
-
-The plan for setting forth the essential facts of the deportations and
-forced labor is as follows: the documents, that is to say, a small
-fraction of those which could be cited, will be allowed to tell the
-story, and only such comments will be added as are needed to enable the
-reader easily to grasp the connection of events.
-
-
-BELGIUM.
-
- "The deportations * * * were the most vivid, shocking, convincing,
- single happening in all our enforced observation and experience of
- German disregard of human suffering and human rights in Belgium."
- Vernon Kellogg, in _Atlantic Monthly_, October, 1917.
-
-A summary of the whole situation, down to January, 1917, can be
-obtained by reading continuously the report of Minister Whitlock, taken
-from the files of the State Department, which is given in italics on
-pages 48-49, 53, 54-55, 67-68, 74-75, 78. The insertion of his report
-at appropriate points has made it possible to avoid all but a minimum
-of repetition.
-
-  "_Legation of the United States of America_,
-  "_Brussels, January 16th, 1917_.
-
-  "_The Honorable the Secretary of State_,
-  "_Washington_.
-
- [Sidenote: Horrifying behavior of the Germans in Belgium.]
-
- "_Sir: I have had it in mind, and I might say, on my conscience, since
- the Germans began to deport Belgian workmen early in November, to
- prepare for the Department a detailed report on this latest instance
- of brutality, but there have been so many obstacles in the way of
- obtaining evidence on which a calm and judicious opinion could be
- based, and one is so overwhelmed with the horror of the thing itself,
- that it has been, and even now is, difficult to write calmly and
- justly about it. I have had to content myself with the fragmentary
- despatches I have from time to time sent to the Department and with
- doing what I could, little as that can be, to alleviate the distress
- that this gratuitous cruelty has caused the population of this unhappy
- land._
-
- [Sidenote: Belgian Government wished to support unemployed Belgians.]
-
- "_In order to understand fully the situation it is necessary to go
- back to the autumn of 1914. At the time we were organizing the relief
- work, the Comite National--the Belgian relief organization that
- collaborates with the Commission for Relief in Belgium--proposed an
- arrangement by which the Belgian Government should pay to its own
- employees left in Belgium, and other unemployed men besides, the wages
- they had been accustomed to receive. The Belgians wished to do this
- both for humanitarian and patriotic purposes; they wished to provide
- the unemployed with the means of livelihood, and, at the same time,
- to prevent their working for the Germans. I refused to be connected
- in any way with this plan, and told the Belgian committee that it had
- many possibilities of danger; that not only would it place a premium
- on idleness, but that it would ultimately exasperate the Germans.
- However, the policy was adopted, and has been continued in practice,
- and on the rolls of the Comite National have been borne the names of
- hundreds of thousands--some 700,000, I believe--of idle men receiving
- this dole, distributed through the communes._
-
- [Sidenote: German cupidity excited.]
-
- "_The presence of these unemployed, however, was a constant temptation
- to German cupidity. Many times they sought to obtain the lists of
- the chomeurs, but were always foiled by the claim that under the
- guarantees covering the relief work, the records of the Comite
- National and its various suborganizations were immune. Rather than
- risk any interruption of the ravitaillement, for which, while loath to
- own any obligation to America, the Germans have always been grateful,
- since it has had the effect of keeping the population calm, the
- authorities never pressed the point, other than with the burgomasters
- of the communes. Finally, however, the military party, always brutal,
- and with an astounding ignorance of public opinion and of moral
- sentiment, determined to put these idle men to work._
-
- "_General von Bissing and the civil portion of his entourage had
- always been and even now are opposed to this policy and I think have
- sincerely done what they could, first, to prevent its adoption, and
- secondly, to lighten the rigors of its application._"
-
- (Continued on page 53.)
-
-In the early days of the German advance into Belgium, the people had
-learned to fear the worst. This was particularly true in Antwerp. In
-order to alleviate their fears and to obtain guarantees which might
-hasten the restoration of settled conditions, Cardinal Mercier secured
-from the German governor of Antwerp promises, and in a circular letter
-dated October 16th, 1914, asked the clergy of the Province of Antwerp
-to communicate them to the people:
-
-[Sidenote: Solemn promises of Germans not to exploit Belgians.]
-
- "The governor of Antwerp, Baron von Hoiningen, General von Huene,
- has authorized me to inform you in his name and to communicate by
- your obliging intermediary to our populations the three following
- declarations:
-
- "(1) The young men need not fear being taken to Germany, either to be
- enrolled into the army or to be employed at forced labors.
-
- "(2) If individual infractions of police regulations are committed,
- the authorities will institute a search for the responsible authors
- and will punish them, without placing the responsibility on the entire
- population.
-
- "(3) The German and Belgian authorities will neglect nothing to see
- that food is assured to the population."
-
-These promises were not kept, as Cardinal Mercier and his colleagues
-show by abundant evidence in the _Appeal to Truth_.
-
- "On March 23rd, at the arsenal at Luttre the German authority posted
- a notice demanding return to work. On April 21st, 200 workmen were
- called for. On April 27th soldiers went to fetch the workmen from
- their homes and take them to the arsenal. In the absence of a workman,
- a member of the family was arrested.
-
- [Sidenote: Violation of German promises.]
-
- "However, the men maintained their refusal to work, 'because they were
- unwilling to co-operate in acts of war against their country.'
-
- "On April 30th, the requisitioned workmen were not released, but shut
- up in the railway carriages.
-
- "On May 4th, 24 workmen detained in prison at Nivelles were tried at
- Mons by a court-martial, 'on the charge of being members of a secret
- society, having for its aim to thwart the carrying out of German
- military measures.' They were condemned to imprisonment.
-
- [Sidenote: Early deportations.]
-
- "On May 8th, 1915, 48 workmen were shut up in a freight car and taken
- to Germany.
-
- "On May 14th, 45 men were deported to Germany.
-
- "On May 18th a fresh proclamation announced that the prisoners would
- receive only dry bread and water, and hot food only every four days.
- On May 22nd three cars with 104 workmen were sent towards Charleroi."
-
- "A similar course was adopted at _Malines_, where, by various methods
- of intimidation, the German authorities attempted to force the workers
- at the arsenal to work on material for the railways, as if it were not
- plain that this material would become war material sooner or later.
-
- "On May 30th, 1915, the Governor General announced that he 'would be
- obliged to punish the town of Malines and its suburbs by stopping all
- commercial traffic if by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 2nd, 500 workmen
- had not presented themselves for work at the arsenal.'
-
- "On Wednesday, June 2nd, not a single man appeared. Accordingly, a
- complete stoppage took place of every vehicle within a radius of
- several kilometres of the town."
-
- "Several workmen were taken by force and kept two or three days at the
- arsenal."
-
- [Sidenote: Belgians asked to make barbed wire.]
-
- "The commune of _Sweveghem_ (Western Flanders) was punished in June,
- 1915, because the 350 workmen at the private factory of M. Bekaert
- refused to make barbed wire for the German Army.
-
- "The following notice was placarded at _Menin_ in July-August,
- 1915: 'By order: From to-day the town will no longer afford aid of
- any description--including assistance to their families, wives,
- and children--to any operatives except those who work _regularly_
- at _military work_, and other tasks assigned to them. All other
- operatives and their families can henceforward not be helped in any
- fashion.'
-
- [Sidenote: Punished for refusal to work for German Army.]
-
- "Similar measures were taken in October, 1915, at
- Harlebekelez-Courtrai, Bisseghem, Lokeren and Mons. From Harlebeke
- 29 inhabitants were transported to Germany. At Mons, in M. Lenoir's
- factory, the directors, foremen, and 81 workmen were imprisoned for
- having refused to work in the service of the German Army. M. Lenoir
- was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the five directors to a
- year each, 6 foremen to 6 months, and the 81 workmen to eight weeks.
-
-[Sidenote: Interference with Red Cross.]
-
- "The General Government had recourse also to _indirect_ methods of
- compulsion. It seized the Belgian Red Cross, confiscated its property,
- and changed its purpose arbitrarily. It attempted to make itself
- master of the public charities and to control the National Aid and
- Food Committee.
-
-[Sidenote: Trickiness of German rulers of Belgium.]
-
- "If we were to cite _in extenso_ the decree of the Governor General
- of August 4th, 1915, _concerning measures intended to assure the
- carrying out of works of public usefulness_, and that of August 15th,
- 1915, '_concerning the unemployed, who, through idleness, refrain from
- work_,' it would be seen by what tortuous means the occupying Power
- attempts to attack at once the masters and the men."
-
-October 12th, 1915, the German authorities took a long step in the
-development of their policy of forcing the Belgians to aid them in
-prosecuting the war. The decree of that date reveals the matter and
-openly discloses a contempt for international law.
-
- DECREE OF OCTOBER 12, 1915.
-
- "Article 1. Whoever, without reason, refuses to undertake or to
- continue work suitable to his occupation, and in the execution of
- which the military administration is interested, such work being
- ordered by one or more of the military commanders, will be liable to
- imprisonment not exceeding one year. He may also be transported to
- Germany.
-
- [Sidenote: Germans flout international law and order Belgians to work
- for them.]
-
- "Invoking Belgian laws or even international conventions to the
- contrary, can, in no case, justify the refusal to work.
-
- "On the subject of the lawfulness of the work exacted, the military
- commandant has the sole right of forming a decision.
-
- "Article 2. Any person who by force, threats, persuasion, or other
- means attempts to influence another to refuse work as pointed out in
- Article 1, is liable to the punishment of imprisonment not exceeding
- five years.
-
- "Article 3. Whoever knowingly by means of aid given or in any other
- way abets a punishable refusal to work, will be liable to a maximum
- fine of 10,000 marks, and in addition may be condemned to a year's
- imprisonment.
-
- "If communes or associations have rendered themselves guilty of such
- offence the heads of the communes will be punished.
-
- "Article 4. In addition to the penalties stated in Articles 1 and 3,
- the German authorities may, in case of need, impose on communes,
- where, without reason, work has been refused, a fine or other coercive
- police measures.
-
- "This present decree comes into force immediately.
-
-  "Der Etappeinspekteur,
-  "VON UNGER,
-  "Generalleutnant.
-
- "GHENT, _October 12th, 1915_."
-
-Cardinal Mercier's brief comment is as follows: "The injustice and
-arbitrariness of this decree exceed all that could be imagined. Forced
-labor, collective penalties and arbitrary punishments, all are there.
-It is slavery, neither more nor less."
-
-[Sidenote: October 3, 1916, German Government inaugurates wholesale
-deportations.]
-
-Cardinal Mercier was in error, for the German authorities were able
-to imagine a much more terrible measure. In October, 1916, when the
-need for an additional labor supply _in Germany_ had become urgent,
-the German government established the system of forced labor _and
-deportation_ which has aroused the detestation of Christendom.
-The reader will not be misled by the clumsy effort of the German
-authorities to mask the real purpose of the decree.
-
- THE DECREE OF OCTOBER 3, 1916.
-
- "DECREE CONCERNING THE LIMITING OF THE BURDENS ON PUBLIC CHARITY....
-
- [Sidenote: German verbal camouflage.]
-
- "I. People able to work may be compelled to work even outside the
- place where they live, in case they have to apply to the charity of
- others for the support of themselves or their dependents on account of
- gambling, drunkenness, loafing, unemployment, or idleness.
-
- "II. Every inhabitant of the country is bound to render assistance in
- case of accident or general danger, and also to give help in case of
- public calamities as far as he can, even outside the place where he
- lives; in case of refusal he may be compelled by force.
-
- "III. Anyone called upon to work, under Articles I or II, who shall
- refuse the work, or to continue at the work assigned him, will incur
- the penalty of imprisonment up to three years and of a fine up to
- 10,000 marks, or one or other of these penalties, unless a severer
- penalty is provided for by the laws in force.
-
- "If the refusal to work has been made in concert or in agreement with
- several persons, each accomplice will be sentenced, as if he were a
- ringleader, to at least a week's imprisonment.
-
- "IV. The German military authorities and Military Courts will enforce
- the proper execution of this decree.
-
-  "The Quartermaster General, SAUBERZWEIG.
-  "GREAT HEADQUARTERS, _3d October, 1916_."
-
-[Sidenote: Hindenburg's responsibility for deportations.]
-
-The responsibility for this atrocious program rests upon the military
-rulers of Germany, who had labored so zealously to infect the army and
-the people with the principles of ruthlessness. It is significant that
-the decree of October 3, 1916, followed hard upon the elevation of
-Hindenburg to the supreme command with Ludendorf as his chief of staff.
-In his long report of January 16, 1917, Minister Whitlock says:
-
- REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued)
-
- [Sidenote: Was Bissing against deportations?]
-
- "_Then, in August, von Hindenburg was appointed to the supreme
- command. He is said to have criticized von Bissing's policy as too
- mild; there was a quarrel; von Bissing went to Berlin to protest,
- threatened to resign, but did not. He returned, and a German official
- here said that Belgium would now be subjected to a more terrible
- regime--would learn what war was. The prophecy has been vindicated.
- Recently I was told that the drastic measures are really of
- Ludendorf's inspiration; I do not know. Many German officers say so._"
- (Continued on p. 54.)
-
-If von Bissing had opposed the policy of deportation when his own
-judgment was overruled, he consented to become the "devil's advocate"
-and defended the system in public. Especially instructive is the
-following conversation reported by Mr. F.C. Walcott:
-
- VON BISSING'S CONVERSATION WITH MR. WALCOTT.
-
- "I went to Belgium to investigate conditions, and while there I had
- opportunity * * * to talk one day with Governor General von Bissing,
- who died three or four weeks ago, a man 72 or 73 years old, a man
- steeped in the 'system,' born and bred to the hardening of the heart
- which that philosophy develops. There ought to be some new word coined
- for the process that a man's heart undergoes when it becomes steeped
- in that system.
-
- "I said to him, 'Governor, what are you going to do if England and
- France stop giving these people money to purchase food?'
-
- "He said, 'We have got that all worked out and have had it worked out
- for weeks, because we have expected this system to break down at any
- time.'
-
- [Sidenote: Bissing says deportation plans were carefully prepared.]
-
- "He went on to say, 'Starvation will grip these people in 30 to 60
- days. Starvation is a compelling force, and we would use that force to
- compel the Belgian workingmen, many of them very skilled, to go into
- Germany to replace the Germans, so that they could go to the front and
- fight against the English and the French.'
-
- "'As fast as our railway transportation could carry them, we would
- transport thousands of others that would be fit for agricultural work,
- across Europe down into southeastern Europe, into Mesopotamia, where
- we have huge, splendid irrigation works. All that land needs is water
- and it will blossom like the rose.'
-
- "'The weak remaining, the old and the young, we would concentrate
- opposite the firing line, and put firing squads back of them, and
- force them through that line, so that the English and French could
- take care of their own people.'
-
- "It was a perfectly simple, direct, frank reasoning. It meant that the
- German Government would use any force in the destruction of any people
- not its own to further its own ends." (Frederic C. Walcott, in _The
- National Geographic Magazine_, May, 1917.)
-
-A brief general view of the character of the deportations can perhaps
-be gained best from the report of Minister Whitlock.
-
- REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).
-
- "_The deportations began in October in the Etape, at Ghent, and at
- Bruges, as my brief telegrams indicated. The policy spread; the rich
- industrial districts of Hainaut, the mines and steel works about
- Charleroi were next attacked; now they are seizing men in Brabant,
- even in Brussels, despite some indications and even predictions of the
- civil authorities that the policy was about to be abandoned._
-
- [The etapes were the parts of Belgium under martial law, and included
- the province of western Flanders, part of eastern Flanders, and the
- region of Tournai. The remainder of the occupied part of Belgium was
- under civil government.]
-
- [Sidenote: The deportations begin.] [Sidenote: Pitiable scenes.]
-
- "_During the last fortnight men have been impressed here in Brussels,
- but their seizures here are made evidently with much greater care
- than in the provinces, with more regard for the appearances. There
- was no public announcement of the intention to deport, but suddenly
- about ten days ago certain men in towns whose names are on the list
- of chomeurs received summons notifying them to report at one of the
- railway stations on a given day; penalties were fixed for failure to
- respond to the summons and there was printed on the card an offer of
- employment by the German Government either in Germany or Belgium. On
- the first day out of about 1,500 men ordered to present themselves
- at the Gare du Midi about 750 responded. These were examined by
- German physicians and 300 were taken. There was no disorder, a large
- force of mounted Uhlans keeping back the crowds and barring access
- to the station to all but those who had been summoned to appear. The
- Commission for Relief in Belgium had secured permission to give to
- each deported man a loaf of bread, and some of the communes provided
- warm clothing for those who had none and in addition a small financial
- allowance. As by one of the ironies of life the winter has been more
- excessively cold than Belgium has ever known it, and while many of
- those who presented themselves were adequately protected against the
- cold, many of them were without overcoats. The men shivering from cold
- and fear, the parting from weeping wives and children, the barriers of
- brutal Uhlans, all this made the scene a pitiable and distressing one._
-
- "_It was understood that the seizures would continue here in Brussels,
- but on Thursday last, a bitter cold day, those that had been convoked
- were sent home without examination. It is supposed that the severe
- weather has moved the Germans to postpone the deportations._"
- (Continued on page 67.)
-
- Cardinal Mercier attempted to persuade the German authorities to
- abandon their terrible plans, reminding them of their solemn promises
- in the past:
-
-  "MALINES, _19th October, 1916_.
-
-  "Mr. GOVERNOR GENERAL:
-
- [Sidenote: Another "Scrap of Paper."]
-
- "The day after the surrender of Antwerp the frightened population
- asked itself what would become of the Belgians of age to bear arms
- or who would reach that age before the end of the occupation. The
- entreaties of the fathers and mothers of families determined me
- to question the governor of Antwerp, Baron von Huene, who had the
- kindness to reassure me and to authorize me in his name to reassure
- the agonized parents. The rumor had spread at Antwerp, nevertheless,
- that at Liege, Namur, and Charleroi young men had been seized and
- taken by force to Germany. I therefore begged Governor von Huene to
- be good enough to confirm to me in writing the guarantee which he had
- given to me orally, to the effect that nothing similar would happen
- at Antwerp. He said to me immediately that the rumors concerning
- deportations were without basis, and unhesitatingly he sent me in
- writing, among other statements, the following: 'Young men have no
- reason to fear that they will be taken to Germany, either to be there
- enrolled in the army or employed for forced labor.'
-
- "This declaration, written and signed, was publicly transmitted to the
- clergy and to those of the Faith of the province of Antwerp, as Your
- Excellency can see from the document enclosed herewith, dated October
- 16th, 1914, which was read in all the churches. [Printed on preceding
- pages.]
-
- "Upon the arrival of your predecessor, the late Baron von der Goltz,
- at Brussels I had the honor of presenting myself at his house and
- requested him to be good enough to ratify for the entire country,
- without time limit, the guarantees which General von Huene had given
- me for the province of Antwerp. The Governor General retained this
- request in his possession in order to examine it at his leisure.
- The following day he was good enough to come in person to Malines
- to bring me his approval, and confirmed to me, in the presence of
- two aides-de-camp and of my private secretary, the promise that the
- liberty of Belgian citizens would be respected.
-
- "To doubt the authority of such undertakings would have been to
- reflect upon the persons who had made them, and I therefore took steps
- to allay, by all the means of persuasion in my power, the anxieties
- which persisted in the interested families.
-
- "Notwithstanding all this, your Government now tears from their homes
- workmen reduced in spite of their efforts to a state of unemployment,
- separates them by force from their wives and children and deports
- them to enemy territory. Numerous workmen have already undergone this
- unhappy lot; more numerous are those who are threatened with the same
- acts of violence.
-
- [Sidenote: Mercier's moving appeal.]
-
- "In the name of the liberty of domicile and the liberty of work of
- Belgian citizens; in the name of the inviolability of families; in
- the name of moral interests which the measures of deportation would
- gravely compromise; in the name of the word given by the Governor of
- the Province of Antwerp and by the Governor General, the immediate
- representative of the highest authority of the German Empire, I
- respectfully beg Your Excellency to be good enough to withdraw the
- measures of forced labor and of deportation announced to the Belgian
- workmen, and to be good enough to reinstate in their homes those who
- have already been deported.
-
- "Your Excellency will appreciate how painful for me would be the
- weight of the responsibility that I would have to bear as regards
- these families, if the confidence which they have given you through my
- agency and at my request were lamentably deceived.
-
- "I persist in believing that this will not be the case.
-
- "Accept, Mr. Governor General, the assurance of my very high
- consideration.
-
-  "D.J. CARDINAL MERCIER,
-  "_Arch. of Malines_."
-
-Municipal governments in Belgium appealed to the German authorities
-to observe their solemn promises. The two documents which follow
-illustrate Belgian appeals and German answers.
-
-
- RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI, OCTOBER 20, 1916.
-
- "In the matter of the requisition made by the German authorities on
- October 20, 1916 (requisition of a list of workmen to be drawn up by
- the municipality) * * *
-
- "The municipal council resolves to maintain its attitude of refusal.
-
- "It further feels it its duty to place on record the following:
-
- "The city of Tournai is prepared to submit unreservedly to all the
- exigencies authorised by the laws and customs of war. Its sincerity
- can not be questioned. For more than two years it has submitted to
- the German occupation, during which time it has lodged and lived at
- close quarters with the German troops, yet it has displayed perfect
- composure and has refrained from any act of hostility, proving thereby
- that it is animated by no idle spirit of bravado.
-
- [Sidenote: Council of Tournai refuses immoral and illegal demands.]
-
- "But the city could not bring itself to provide arms for use against
- its own children, knowing well that natural law and the law of nations
- (which is the expression of natural law) both forbid such action.
-
- "In his declaration dated September 2, 1914, the German Governor
- General of Belgium declared: 'I ask none to renounce his patriotic
- sentiments.'
-
- "The city of Tournai reposes confidence in this declaration, which it
- is bound to consider as the sentiment of the German Emperor, in whose
- name the Governor General was speaking. In accepting the inspiration
- of honor and patriotism, the city is loyal to a fundamental duty, the
- loftiness of which must be apparent to any German officer.
-
- "The city is confident that the straightforwardness and clearness of
- this attitude will prevent any misunderstanding arising between itself
- and the German Army."
-
- GERMAN REPLY TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF TOURNAI.
-
-  "TOURNAI, _23rd October, 1916_.
-
- [Sidenote: And is roundly lectured and fined.]
-
- "In permitting itself, through the medium of municipal resolutions, to
- oppose the orders of the German military authorities in the occupied
- territory, the city is guilty of an unexampled arrogance and of a
- complete misunderstanding of the situation created by the state of war.
-
- "The 'clear and simple situation' is in reality the following:
-
- "The military authorities order the city to obey. Otherwise the city
- must bear the heavy consequences, as I have pointed out in my previous
- explanations.
-
- "The General Commanding the Army has inflicted on the city--on account
- of its refusal, up to date, to furnish the lists demanded--a punitive
- contribution of 200,000 marks, which must be paid within the next six
- days, beginning with to-day. The General also adds that until such
- time as all the lists demanded are in his hands, for every day in
- arrears, beginning with December 31, 1916, a sum of 20,000 marks will
- be paid by the city.
-
-  "HOPFER, _Major General_,
-  "_Etappen-Kommandant_."
-
-The Commission Syndicale of Belgian workingmen also attempted to induce
-the German authorities to abandon their terrible plans.
-
-  "COMMISSION SYNDICALE OF BELGIUM,
-  "_Brussels, 30th Oct., 1916_.
-
-  [TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF BELGIUM.]
-
- "EXCELLENCY: The measures which are being planned by your
- administration to force the unemployed to work for the invading power,
- the deportation of our unhappy comrades which has begun in the region
- of the etapes, move most profoundly the entire working class in
- Belgium.
-
- "The undersigned, members and representatives of the great central
- socialist and independent syndicates of Belgium, would consider that
- they had not fulfilled their duty did they not express to you the
- painful sentiments which agitate the laborers and convey to you the
- echo of their touching complaints.
-
- "They have seen the machinery taken from their factories, the most
- diverse kind of raw materials requisitioned, the accumulation of
- obstacles to prevent the resumption of regular work, the disappearance
- one by one of every public liberty of which they were proud.
-
- [Sidenote: Workmen recite their wrongs at German hands.]
-
- "For more than two years the laboring class more than any other has
- been forced to undergo the most bitter trials, experiencing misery
- and often hunger, while its children far away fight and die, and the
- parents of these children can never convey to them the affection with
- which their hearts are overflowing.
-
- "Our laboring class has endured everything with the utmost calm and
- the most impressive dignity, repressing its sufferings, its complaints
- and heavy trials, sacrificing everything to its ideal of liberty
- and independence. But the measures which have been announced will
- make the population drain the dregs [of the cup] of human sorrow;
- the proletariat, _the poor upon whom unemployment has been forced_,
- citizens of a modern state, are to be condemned to forced labor
- without having disobeyed any regulation or order.
-
- [Sidenote: And appeal for decent treatment.]
-
- "In the name of the families of workmen among which the most painful
- anxiety reigns at present, whose mothers, whose fiancees, and whose
- little children are destined to shed so many more tears, we beg Your
- Excellency to prevent the accomplishment of this painful act, contrary
- to international law, contrary to the dignity of the working classes,
- contrary to everything which makes for worth and greatness in human
- nature.
-
- "We beg Your Excellency to pardon our emotion and we offer you the
- homage of our distinguished consideration.
-
- "(Appended are signatures of members of the National Committee and the
- Commission Syndicale.)"
-
-Von Bissing in his reply, November 3rd, practically admitted the truth
-of the complaint by attempting to justify the measures protested
-against. The arguments which he used are taken up and refuted in the
-letter of the Commission Syndicale, November 14, which follows:
-
-  "COMMISSION SYNDICALE OF BELGIUM,
-  "_Brussels, 14th Nov., 1916_.
-
-  "To His Excellency BARON VON BISSING,
-  "_Governor General in Belgium_.
-
- "EXCELLENCY: The Secretaries and representatives of the socialistic
- and independent labor Unions of Belgium have, with a painful
- disappointment, taken cognizance of the answer which you were good
- enough to make to their petition of October 30th, concerning the
- deportation of laborers to Germany, and it is in the name of the
- working classes as a united whole that we are making a final effort
- to prevent the consummation of an act, without precedent, directed
- against its liberty, its sentiments, and its dignity.
-
- [Sidenote: Socialists refute Bissing's arguments.]
-
- "You say that many industrial works have been closed on account of
- the lack of raw materials brought about by the blockade by the enemy.
- Permit us, Excellency, to remind you that the allied powers manifested
- very clearly their intention to permit the importation into Belgium
- of raw materials required by our industries, provided, with a very
- natural provision, that no requisitions should be made, except those
- mentioned in Article 52 of the Hague Convention, that is to say
- those necessary to the 'occupying army,' and that an international
- commission, the Commission for Relief in Belgium, should have the
- right to supervise the destination of the manufactured products.
-
- "Instead of agreeing to such a proposal, we have seen the occupying
- authorities systematically remove the machinery, implements, machines
- of all kinds, the engines and raw materials, metals, leather, and
- wool, limit production, aggravate continually the difficulties of
- transactions. When communes or committees have desired to employ
- workmen without employment on works of public utility, obstacles have
- been thrown in their way and finally in many cases their undertakings
- have been stopped and broken. In a word, as fast as the most tireless
- efforts were strained to employ as many hands as possible, other men
- were constantly thrown out of work.
-
- [Sidenote: And proudly praise the Belgian workman.]
-
- "You state also that unemployment is caused by the laborers' hostility
- to work. The whole past of our working class protests against this
- accusation with every bit of energy that still remains in them. Where
- is there to be found in the whole world a working class which has made
- of such a small country such a great industrial and commercial power?
- And we, who for the last 25 years have been the enthusiastic witnesses
- of the magnificent efforts of our brother workmen, in the matter of
- their material and moral betterment, we proudly affirm that it is
- not among their ranks that one can find men so degraded as to prefer
- to receive a charitable assistance which barely furnishes them with
- sufficient food to an honest wage given in remuneration for free and
- fruitful work.
-
- "What is true, however, is that the Belgian workmen, conforming to the
- same article 52 of the Hague Convention which only admits requisitions
- of labor 'for the needs of the army of occupation and in case these
- requisitions do not imply an obligation to take part in the war
- against their country,' have refused the most tempting offers, not
- wishing to build trenches nor to repair forts nor to work in factories
- which manufacture war materials. This was their right and their duty.
- Their attitude deserved respect and not the most humiliating of
- punishments.
-
- "You refer to your decrees of August 15th, 1915, and of May 15th,
- 1916, in which are mentioned the possible punishment of any workmen
- who receive support and refuse work suited to their capacities and
- carrying with it a proper wage. Those who know with what care and with
- what minute detail the conditions, under which the unemployed have
- the right to receive assistance, have been established might perhaps
- think that these menaces were, to say the least, useless. But as you
- yourself say, these decrees declare in their article 2 that every
- motive of refusal to work will be considered valid if it is admitted
- by international law.
-
- [Sidenote: Laborers see through the German scheme.]
-
- "For these cases of refusal, the German Authorities reserved the
- right to cause these recalcitrants to appear before Belgian tribunals
- and later before German military tribunals. It is therefore certain
- that the unemployed have the right to refuse to work for any motive
- approved by international law. When summoned before the tribunal they
- have the right to employ counsel in their defense and to state clearly
- their reasons for refusal. One might, of course, say that it is not a
- question obliging the workmen to participate in military enterprise;
- but it is only too evident that every Belgian deported to Germany will
- take the place there of a man who to-morrow will go to reinforce the
- ranks of the enemy. We should like to know, Excellency, whether these
- tribunals carry on their functions.
-
- "You fear that continued unemployment may depreciate the physical and
- moral status of the workmen. We, who know them, have more confidence
- in them. We have seen them suffer with a stoicism which exists only
- in proud and high souls. Did not the splendid idea come from them, of
- organizing throughout the entire country a vast chain of educational
- work for the unemployed in order to develop their technical knowledge
- and to increase their professional value? The _Comite National_ was
- not, alas, authorized to undertake this magnificent enterprise. Is
- it the idea that it is through forced labor, performed with black
- despair, like slaves, that our unhappy brothers will keep up their
- physical and moral energy?
-
- [Sidenote: The Germans have no right to talk about unemployment of
- Belgians.]
-
- "You fear also that 'the assistance which they receive will at length
- weigh down Belgian economic life.' We can with difficulty believe that
- Belgians, as you say, have had the smallness of soul to grudge in that
- form the bitter piece of bread and the little soup which have formed
- the food of so many working families for so many months; and what,
- after all, do the twelve million francs amount to that are distributed
- each month to from 500,000 to 600,000 unemployed, in comparison
- with the destruction, beyond reckoning, of goods and lives which the
- horrors of a war in which it has not the slightest responsibility have
- cost and still cost our country? With the most unshakable faith in
- our destinies; we, the most nearly interested, know that in the near
- future Flanders and _Wallonie_ will rise again, glorious, in history.
-
- [Sidenote: All Belgians understand the German scheme.]
-
- "Excellency, our heart and our reason refuse, then, to believe that it
- is for the good of our class and to avoid an additional calamity to
- our country, that thousands of workers are suddenly torn from their
- families and transported to Germany. Public sentiment has not been
- deceived and in reply to the grievous complaints of the victims, there
- echo the indignant protests of the entire population, as expressed by
- its representatives, its communal magistrates, and those persons who
- constitute the highest incarnation of law in our country.
-
- "Furthermore, the arbitrary and brutal manner employed in the
- execution of these sad measures has raised all kinds of doubts
- regarding the object in view: the need, above all, is to obtain
- workmen in Germany, for Germany's profit, and for the success of its
- arms.
-
- "While at Antwerp they did not take any young men from 17 to 31 years
- who were under the regime of control, in the Borinage they call all
- the men from 17 to 50 years of age; in Walloon Brabant all men over
- 17 years, without making any distinction between the employed and
- unemployed. Men of all professions and of all conditions have been
- taken--bakers, who have never ceased to work in our co-operatives
- of the Borinage, for example; mechanics, who always had employment;
- agricultural workmen, merchants * * * At Lessines on the 6th instant,
- 2,100 persons were taken away, all workmen up to 50 years of age.
- Several cases are cited where old men with five or six of their sons
- have been exiled thus by force.
-
- [Sidenote: The tears of the mothers and the children.]
-
- "Distressing scenes occur everywhere. The unhappy ones gathered
- together in the public squares are rapidly divided into gangs. They
- had been directed to bring a small amount of baggage; they are taken
- at once to the railway station and loaded in cattle cars. They are not
- allowed to say good-bye to their families. No opportunity is given
- to them to put their affairs in order, even the most pressing ones.
- They do not know where they are going, nor for what work, nor for
- how long. Taken away at the beginning of the winter, after two years
- of privations, having no further resources and no means to provide
- themselves with warm clothing or with other indispensable articles,
- what privations are they going to endure? How will they live there?
- In what state will they return? This mystery and this anxiety are the
- cause of the ceaseless tears of the mothers and little children.
- Distress and despair reign in the homes.
-
- "Listen, Excellency, to these tears and these sobs. Do not permit
- our past of liberty and independence to be ruined. Do not permit
- human rights to be violated in its holy of holies. Do not permit the
- dignity of our working classes, which has been acquired after so many
- centuries of effort, to be trodden under foot.
-
- "It is to law and humanity that we appeal, solemnly and with the hope
- of being heard, for we have the profound conviction that by our voice,
- at this tragic hour, the great voice of the working class of the
- entire civilized world expresses its sorrow and its protest.
-
- "Accept, Excellency, the homage of our most distinguished
- consideration."
-
-(Here follow the signatures of the Members of the _Comite Nationale_
-and of the _Commission Syndicale_.)
-
- "We transmit this letter and previous correspondence to the Ministers
- and representatives of Foreign powers at Brussels, as well as to our
- comrades of the Commission Syndicale des Syndicats in Holland."
-
-The files of the State Department contain authentic copies of very many
-such moving protests. The foregoing ones are taken from this pathetic
-collection, and from it may be cited, by way of further illustration,
-some passages from two others:
-
- PROTEST OF BELGIAN MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.
-
-  "BRUSSELS, _9th November, 1916_.
-
-  "To his Excellency, BARON VON BISSING,
-  "_Governor General in Belgium_.
-
- [Sidenote: Belgian legislators recite the wrongs of Belgium.]
-
- "EXCELLENCY: It seemed that no suffering could be added to those under
- which we have already been weighed down since the occupation of our
- country. Our banished liberty, our destroyed industry and commerce,
- our raw products and instruments of work taken out of the country, the
- public fortune ruined, want succeeding to wealth in families formerly
- most prosperous, privations, anxieties, and mourning. * * *
-
- [Sidenote: The "summary and sorrowful" procedure of the Germans.]
-
- "Is there need to relate the scenes which the region of the etape
- has been the theater of for several weeks, and which are now being
- reenacted, during the past days, in the territory of the Government
- General, where this scourge threatens to extend from commune to
- commune until its victims are counted by hundreds of thousands?
- The notices posted on the walls and reproduced in the papers tell
- sufficiently what it is. Everywhere the same procedure, summary and
- sorrowful: arrests in mass, men classified arbitrarily among the
- unemployed, herded together, divided into groups, sent toward the
- unknown. * * *
-
- "The authorities prefer to give them work in Germany, where the
- representatives of the [German] Industrial Bureau promise them 'good
- wages,' if they consent to work there 'voluntarily,' and where they
- may expect, in case of refusal, famine wages. What physical and moral
- depression is counted on in order to force their hand?
-
- [Sidenote: Everyone knows what Germany wants Belgian workers for.]
-
- "True, it has been asserted that the work which is offered to them
- will be nonmilitary in character; but voices have replied on every
- side: 'in taking the place of a German workman, the Belgian workman
- permits Germany to increase the numerical forces of its armies.'
- The most odious work is that whose results are used against the
- fatherland. To serve Germany is to fight against their own country.
- To compel our workmen to do this is nothing else than an act of force
- contrary to international law (referred to by Your Excellency in your
- proclamation of August 15th, 1915), and contrary also to the spirit,
- if not to the text, of the Fourth Convention of the Hague of 1907. * *
- *
-
- "They adjure Your Excellency to employ with the military authorities
- the high prerogatives which are yours from your position to prevent
- the consummation of an act without precedent in the history of
- modern wars, and they beg you to accept the assurance of their most
- distinguished consideration."
-
-  [Signatures of Belgian Senators and Deputies.]
-
- PROTEST OF CARDINAL MERCIER.
-
-  "ARCHBISHOPRIC OF MALINES,
-  "_Malines, 10th November, 1916_.
-
-  "Mr. GOVERNOR GENERAL:
-
- "I refrain from expressing to Your Excellency the sentiments which
- have been evoked in me by your letter of reply to the letter which
- I had the honor to address to you on October 19th, relative to the
- deportation of the unemployed.
-
- [Sidenote: German perfidy.]
-
- "I have recalled with melancholy the words which Your Excellency,
- dwelling upon each syllable, pronounced in my presence, after your
- arrival at Brussels: 'I hope that our relations will be loyal * * * I
- have received the mission of dressing the wounds of Belgium.'
-
- "My letter of October 19th recalled to Your Excellency the engagement
- taken by Baron von Huene, military governor of Antwerp, and ratified
- a few days later by Baron von der Goltz, your predecessor as Governor
- General at Brussels. The engagement was explicit, absolute, unlimited
- as to time: 'The young men need not fear being taken to Germany,
- either to be enrolled in the army _or to be employed at forced labor_.'
-
- "This engagement is being violated every day--thousands of times in
- the last fortnight.
-
- "Baron von Huene and the late Baron von der Goltz did not say
- conditionally, as your despatch of the 26th of October would seek to
- imply: 'If the occupation does not last longer than two years men
- fit for military duty shall not be taken into captivity;' they said
- categorically: 'Young men, and with greater reason, men who have
- reached an advanced age, shall not _at any moment of the occupation,
- either be made prisoners or employed at forced labor_.' * * *
-
- "The decrees, posters, and comments of the press, which were intended
- to prepare public opinion for the measures now being taken, pleaded
- especially two considerations: The unemployed, so they declared, are a
- danger to public security; they are a charge upon governmental charity.
-
- [Sidenote: The Belgians have got no charity from the Germans.]
-
- "It is not true, I said in my letter of October 19th, that our
- workmen have troubled, or even anywhere threatened the public peace.
- Five million Belgians and hundreds of Americans are the astonished
- witnesses of the dignity and the flawless patience of our working
- class. It is not true that the workmen deprived of work are a charge
- upon the occupying power for the charity which is dispensed by
- their administration. The _Comite National_, in which the occupying
- government has no active part, is the sole purveyor of subsistence to
- the victims of enforced idleness. * * *
-
- [Sidenote: The German plan makes Belgians war against their own
- country.]
-
- "Each Belgian workman will liberate a German workman who will add
- one more soldier to the German army. There, in all its simplicity,
- is the fact which dominates the situation. The author of the letter
- himself feels this burning fact, for he writes: 'nor is the measure
- one which affects the conduct of war _properly speaking_ (_proprement
- dite_)'. It is, then, connected with the war _improperly speaking_
- (_improprement dite_); which can only mean that the Belgian workman,
- although he does not bear arms, will free the hands of a German
- workman who will take up the arms. The Belgian workman is forced to
- co-operate, in an indirect but evident manner, in the war against
- his country. This is manifestly contrary to the spirit of the Hague
- Conventions.
-
- "Here is another statement: _unemployment is not caused either by the
- Belgian workman or by England; it is brought about by the regime of
- the German Occupation_.
-
- [Sidenote: No disorder is caused by Belgians.]
-
- "The occupying government has seized considerable supplies of raw
- material intended for our national industry; it has seized and
- shipped to Germany the machinery, tools, and metals of our factories
- and our workshops. The possibility of national labor being thus
- suppressed, there remained one alternative to the workman: to work
- for the German Empire, either here or in Germany; or to remain
- idle. Some thousands of workmen, under the pressure of fright or of
- hunger, accepted, with regret for the most part, work for the enemy;
- but four hundred thousand workmen and workwomen preferred to resign
- themselves to unemployment, with its privations, rather than injure
- the interests of the fatherland; they lived in poverty, with the aid
- of a meager relief allowed them by the _Comite national de secours et
- d' alimentation_, under the supervision of the protecting ministers
- of Spain, America, and Holland. Calm, dignified, they bore without
- a murmur their painful lot. In no part of the country was there a
- revolt or even the semblance of one. Employers and employees awaited
- with patience the end of our long martyrdom. Meanwhile, the communal
- administrations and private initiative endeavored to alleviate the
- undoubted inconveniences of unemployment. But the occupying power
- paralyzed their efforts. The _Comite National_ attempted to organize
- a professional school for the use of the unemployed. This practical
- instruction, respectful of the dignity of our workmen, was meant to
- keep up their skill, increase their capacity for work, and prepare for
- the restoration of the country. Who opposed this noble movement, the
- plan of which had been elaborated by our large manufacturers? Who? The
- occupying government.
-
- [Sidenote: Communes not allowed to furnish work for unemployed.]
-
- "Notwithstanding all this, the communes made every effort to give
- work to the unemployed upon undertakings of public utility; but the
- governor general made these enterprises depend upon permission which,
- as a general rule, he refused. There are numerous cases, I am assured,
- where the General Government authorized undertakings of this kind upon
- the express condition that they should not be undertaken by unemployed.
-
- "They were seeking to create unemployment. They were recruiting the
- army of the unemployed. * * *
-
- "The letter of October 26th says that the first responsibility for the
- unemployment of our workmen rests upon England, because she has not
- allowed raw materials to enter Belgium.
-
- [Sidenote: England not to blame.]
-
- "England generously allows foodstuffs to enter Belgium for the
- revictualling [of the country], under the control of neutral
- States--Spain, the United States, and Holland. She would allow raw
- materials necessary for industry to enter the country under the same
- control if Germany were willing to agree to leave them to us, and not
- to seize the finished products of our industrial work.
-
- [Sidenote: Germany robs Belgians and inflicts privations.]
-
- "But Germany, by various proceedings, notably by the organization of
- its _Centrales_, over which neither the Belgians nor our protecting
- ministers can exercise any efficacious control, absorbs a considerable
- portion of the products of agriculture and of the industry of our
- country. The result is a considerable increase in the cost of living,
- which causes painful privations for those who have no savings. * * *
-
- [Sidenote: Deportation is slavery.]
-
- "Deportation is slavery, and the heaviest penalty of the penal code
- after that of death. Has Belgium, who never did you any wrong,
- deserved at your hands this treatment which cries to heaven for
- vengeance?
-
- "Mr. Governor General, in the beginning of my letter I recalled the
- noble words of Your Excellency: 'I have come into Belgium with the
- mission of dressing the wounds of your country.'
-
- "If Your Excellency could penetrate into the homes of workingmen, as
- we priests do, and hear the lamentations of wives and mothers whom
- your orders cast into mourning and into dismay, you would realize far
- better that the wound of the Belgian people is gaping.
-
- [Sidenote: Cold calculation of Germans.]
-
- "Two years ago, we hear people say, it was death, pillage, fires,
- but it was war! To-day it is no longer war, it is cold calculation,
- intentional destruction, the victory of force over right, the
- debasement of human personality, a cry of defiance to humanity.
-
- "It depends upon you, Excellency, to silence these cries of a revolted
- conscience; may the good God, whom we call upon with all the ardor of
- our soul for our oppressed people, inspire you with the pity of the
- good Samaritan!
-
- "Accept, Mr. Governor General, the homage of my highest consideration.
-
-  "D.J. CARD. MERCIER,
-  "_Arch. of Malines_."
-
-In less moving phrases, but in deadly corroboration, the continuation
-of the report of Minister Whitlock says:
-
- REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).
-
- [Sidenote: Appalling stories of German behavior.]
-
- "_The rage, the terror, and despair excited by this measure all over
- Belgium were beyond anything we had witnessed since the day the
- Germans poured into Brussels. The delegates of the Commission for
- Relief in Belgium, returning to Brussels, told the most distressing
- stories of the scenes of cruelty and sorrow attending the seizures.
- And daily, hourly almost, since that time appalling stories have been
- related by Belgians coming to the Legation. It is impossible for us
- to verify them, first, because it is necessary for us to exercise all
- possible tact in dealing with the subject at all, and secondly because
- there is no means of communication between the Occupations-Gebiet and
- the Etappen-Gebiet. Transportation everywhere in Belgium is difficult,
- the vicinal railways scarcely operating any more because of the lack
- of oil, while all the horses have been taken. The people who are
- forced to go from one village to another must do so on foot or in
- vans drawn by the few miserable horses that are left. The wagons of
- the breweries, the one institution that the Germans have scrupulously
- respected, are hauled by oxen._
-
- [Sidenote: A foul deed.]
-
- "_The well-known tendency of sensational reports to exaggerate
- themselves, especially in time of war, and in a situation like that
- existing here, with no newspapers to serve as a daily clearing house
- for all the rumours that are as avidly believed as they are eagerly
- repeated, should of course be considered; but even if a modicum of all
- that is told is true there still remains enough to stamp this deed as
- one of the foulest that history records._
-
- "_I am constantly in receipt of reports from all over Belgium that
- tend to bear out the stories one constantly hears of brutality and
- cruelty. A number of men sent back to Mons are said to be in a dying
- condition, many of them tubercular. At Malines and at Antwerp returned
- men have died, their friends asserting that they have been victims of
- neglect and cruelty, of cold, of exposure, of hunger._" (Continued on
- page 74.)
-
-A vivid sketch of the deportations from Mons, drawn by a participant,
-may well be cited here:
-
- [Sidenote: "The woes of slavery."]
-
- "I will take the 18th of November of last year [1916]. A week or so
- before that a placard was placed on the walls telling my capital
- city of Mons that in seven days all the men of that city who were
- not clergymen, who were not priests, who did not belong to the city
- council, would be deported.
-
- "At half past five, in the gray of the morning on the 18th of
- November, they walked out, six thousand two hundred men at Mons,
- myself and another leading them down the cobblestones of the street
- and out where the rioting would be less than in the great city, with
- the soldiers on each side, with bayonets fixed, with the women held
- back.
-
- "The degradation of it! The degradation of it as they walked into this
- great market square, where the pens were erected, exactly as if they
- were cattle--all the great men of that province--the lawyers, the
- statesmen, the heads of the trades, the men that had made the capital
- of Hainaut glorious during the last twenty years.
-
- "There they were collected; no question of who they were, whether they
- were busy or what they were doing, or what their position in life. 'Go
- to the right! Go to the left! Go to the right!' So they were turned to
- the one side or the other.
-
- "Trains were standing there ready, steaming, to take them to Germany.
- You saw on the one side the one brother taken, the other brother left.
- A hasty embrace and they were separated and gone. You had here a man
- on his knees before a German officer, pleading and begging to take his
- old father's place; that was all. The father went and the son stayed.
- They were packed in those trains that were waiting there.
-
- "You saw the women in hundreds, with bundles in their hands beseeching
- to be permitted to approach the trains, to give their men the last
- that they had in life between themselves and starvation--a small
- bundle of clothing to keep them warm on their way to Germany. You saw
- women approach with a bundle that had been purchased by the sale of
- the last of their household effects. Not one was allowed to approach
- to give her man the warm pair of stockings or the warm jacket, so
- there might be some chance of his reaching there. Off they went!" John
- H. Gade, in _The National Geographic Magazine_, May, 1917.
-
-The Belgian women sent a touching appeal to Minister Whitlock:
-
- THE APPEAL OF THE BELGIAN WOMEN.
-
-  "BRUSSELS,
-  "_November 18, 1916, 46 Rue de la Madeleine_.
-
-  "His Excellency Mr. BRAND WHITLOCK,
-  "_Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
-  of the United States of America_.
-
-  "MR. MINISTER:
-
- "From the depths of our well of misery our supplication rises to you.
-
- "In addressing ourselves to you, we denounce to your Government, as
- well as to our sisters, the women of the nation which you represent
- in our midst, the criminal abuse of force of which our unhappy and
- defenseless people is a victim.
-
- "Since the beginning of this atrocious war we have looked on
- impotently and with our hearts torn with every sorrow at terrible
- events which put our civilization back into the ages of the barbarian
- hordes.
-
- [Sidenote: No shadow of excuse for deportations.]
-
- "Mr. Minister, the crime which is now being committed under your eyes,
- namely, the deportation of thousands of men compelled to work on enemy
- soil against the interests of their country, can not find any shadow
- of excuse on the ground of military necessity, for it constitutes a
- violation by force of a sacred right of human conscience.
-
- "Whatever may be the motive it can not be admitted that citizens may
- be compelled to work directly or indirectly _for_ the enemy _against_
- their brothers who are fighting.
-
- "The Convention of The Hague has consecrated this principle.
-
- "Nevertheless, the occupying power is forcing thousands of men to this
- monstrous extremity, which is contrary to morals and international
- law, both these men who have already been taken to Germany and those
- who to-morrow will undergo the same fate, if from the outside, from
- neutral Europe and the United States, no help is offered.
-
- [Sidenote: The women of Belgium have kept back their tears.]
-
- "Oh! The Belgian women have also known how to carry out their duty in
- the hour of danger; they have not weakened the courage of the soldiers
- of honor by their tears.
-
- "They have bravely given to their country those whom they loved. * * *
- The blood of mothers is flowing on the battle-fields.
-
- "Those who are taken away to-day do not go to perform a glorious
- duty. They are slaves in chains who, in a dark exile, threatened by
- hunger, prison, death, will be called upon to perform the most odious
- work--service to the enemy against the fatherland.
-
- "The mothers can not stand by while such an abomination is taking
- place without making their voices heard in protest.
-
- "They are not thinking of their own sufferings, their own moral
- torture, the abandonment and the misery in which they are to be placed
- with their children.
-
- [Sidenote: The rights of honor and conscience.]
-
- "They address you in the name of the inalterable rights of honor and
- conscience.
-
- "It has been said that women are 'all powerful suppliants.'
-
- "We have felt authorized by this saying, Mr. Minister, to extend our
- hands to you and to address to your country a last appeal.
-
- "We trust that in reading these lines you will feel at each word the
- unhappy heartbeats of the Belgian women and will find in your broad
- and humane sympathy imperative reasons for intervention.
-
- "Only the united will of the neutral peoples energetically expressed
- can counterbalance that of the German authorities.
-
- "This assistance which the neutral nations can and, therefore, ought
- to lend us, will it be refused to the oppressed Belgians?
-
- "Be good enough to accept, Mr. Minister, the homage of our most
- distinguished consideration."
-
- (Signed by a number of Belgian women and 24 societies.)
-
-The United States Government did not fail to respond to this touching
-appeal and to others of a similar nature. The American Embassy at
-Berlin promptly took up the burning question of the deportations with
-the Chancellor and other representatives of the German Government. In
-an interview with the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr.
-Grew was handed an official statement of the German plans, which is, in
-translation, as follows:
-
- THE GERMAN MEMORANDUM ON BELGIAN "UNEMPLOYMENT."
-
- [Sidenote: More German camouflage.]
-
- "Against the unemployed in Belgium, who are a burden to public
- charity, in order to avoid friction arising therefrom, compulsory
- measures are to be adopted to make them work so far as they are not
- voluntarily inclined to work, in accordance with the regulation
- issued May 15, 1916, by the Governor General. In order to ascertain
- such persons the assistance of the municipal authorities is required
- for the district of the Governor General in Brussels, while in the
- districts outside of the General Government, i.e., in the provinces of
- Flanders, lists were demanded from the presidents of the local relief
- committees containing the names of persons receiving relief. For the
- sake of establishing uniform procedure the competent authorities have,
- in the meantime, been instructed to make the necessary investigations
- regarding such persons also in Flanders through the municipal
- authorities; furthermore, presidents of local relief committees who
- may be detained for having refused to furnish such lists will be
- released."
-
-Mr. Grew pointed out that the deportations were a breach of faith and
-would injure the German cause abroad. In his official summary of the
-negotiations which he carried on he says:
-
- [Sidenote: Mr. Grew points out that Germany excites public opinion
- against her.]
-
- "I then discussed in detail with the Under Secretary of State for
- Foreign Affairs the unfortunate impression which this decision would
- make abroad, reminding him that the measures were in principle
- contrary to the assurances given to the Ambassador by the Chancellor
- at General Headquarters last spring and dwelling on the effect which
- the policy might have on England's attitude towards relief work in
- Belgium. I said I understood that the measures had been promulgated
- solely by the military government in Belgium and that I thought the
- matter ought at least to be brought to the Chancellor's personal
- attention in the light of the consequences which the new policy would
- entail. Herr Zimmermann intimated in reply that the Foreign Office had
- very little influence with the military authorities and that it was
- unlikely that the new policy in Belgium could be revoked. He stated,
- however, in answer to my inquiry, that he would not disapprove of my
- seeing the Chancellor about the matter."
-
-[Sidenote: Mr. Grew appeals to the Chancellor]
-
-Mr. Grew accordingly took up the whole question with the Chancellor,
-and among other arguments urged the promises which the German
-Government had solemnly made to the Belgian civilians through Baron
-von Huene and Baron von der Goltz. [These pledges are set forth in
-detail in Cardinal Mercier's letter of October 19th, 1916, quoted in
-full on preceding pages.] Mr. Grew found it impossible to persuade the
-Chancellor to secure the abandonment of the policy of deportations,
-and thereupon urged that the policy should be modified. His formal
-statement of this phase of the negotiations is as follows:
-
- "The points of amelioration which I then suggested as a concession to
- Belgian national feeling and foreign opinion were as follows:
-
- "1. Only actual unemployed to be taken, involving a more deliberate
- and careful selection.
-
- "2. Married men or heads of families not to be taken.
-
- "3. Employees of the Comite National not to be taken.
-
- [Sidenote: and asks certain concessions]
-
- "4. The lists of the unemployed not to be required of the Belgian
- authorities, but to be determined by the German authorities
- themselves, as a concession to Belgian national feeling, and the
- Belgians, who had already been imprisoned for refusing to supply these
- lists, released.
-
- "5. Deported persons to be permitted to correspond with their families
- in Belgium.
-
- "6. Places of work or concentration camps of deported persons to be
- voluntarily opened by the German Government to inspection by neutral
- representatives.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- "A few days later Count Zech, the Chancellor's adjutant, called on me
- and communicated to me informally and orally the following replies to
- the various suggestions which I had made for concessions and points of
- amelioration:
-
- [Sidenote: but with slight success.]
-
- "1. Only actual unemployed were to be taken. The selections would be
- made in a careful and deliberate manner.
-
- "2. Married men or heads of families could not in principle be
- exempted, but each case would be considered carefully on its merits.
-
- "3. Employees of the _Comite National_ are regarded as actually
- employed and therefore exempt.
-
- "4. It was essential that the Belgian authorities should co-operate
- with the German authorities in furnishing lists of unemployed, in
- order to avoid mistakes. Only one Belgian had been imprisoned for
- refusing to give such lists, and orders had now been given for his
- release.
-
- "5. Deported persons would be permitted to correspond with their
- families in Belgium.
-
- "6. Places of work and concentration camps would in principle be open
- to inspection by Spanish diplomatic representatives.
-
- "American inspection might also be informally arranged if desired.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
- "On December 2nd, the Minister at Brussels communicated to me the text
- of a telegram which he had sent to the Department on November 28th,
- stating that he had been encouraged by the report of the results of my
- interview with the Chancellor." * * *
-
-The telegram to which Mr. Grew refers was the following:
-
- MINISTER WHITLOCK'S TELEGRAM OF NOVEMBER 28, 1916.
-
-  "BRUSSELS, VIA THE HAGUE, _November 28, 1916_.
-
-  "SECRETARY OF STATE,
-  "_Washington_.
-
- [Sidenote: Germans are deporting the skilled Belgian workmen.]
-
- "We are naturally encouraged by Grew's telegrams concerning his
- conversations with the Chancellor. It is probable that the orders
- [for softening the rigors of the deportations] have not yet been put
- into effect, as the recruiting of Belgian workmen continues without
- distinction as between the employed and unemployed. I have received
- creditable information that choice is made with great rapidity, which
- allows no time for examination. Mayor in the Province of Namur had
- given a list of unemployed as one hundred. Practically none of the
- persons in this list were taken by the Germans, but from the same
- district hundreds of employed were taken. Apparently the choice is
- based entirely on the skill and physical fitness of the workmen. There
- is a great demand for blacksmiths and iron workers. The identification
- cards from the Commission for Relief in Belgium issued to men working
- for the _Comite National_ were respected in Antwerp; nine men holding
- them were taken at Mons; over thirty at Namur, and a few each day
- in various parts of the country. Over forty thousand are engaged in
- various departments of relief work, however, and this is but a small
- percentage. It is reliably reported that very bad conditions exist
- in the Province of Valenciennes, and that many men have been taken
- there. They have been without food for sixty-three hours and have
- no blankets. Apparently they have been deprived of food in order to
- oblige them to work for the Germans.
-
-  "WHITLOCK,
-  "_American Minister_."
-
-The American minister and the representatives of other powers were able
-to secure some lessening of the severity of the deportations. Minister
-Whitlock says:
-
- REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (continued).
-
- [Sidenote: Neutral representatives are allowed to request
- reconsideration of special cases.]
-
- [Sidenote: They run into high figures.]
-
- "_We have, of course, done all that was in our power to ameliorate the
- conditions without in any way seeming officially to intervene. I have
- already reported to the Department the conversations I have had with
- the officials. Recently I induced the Political Department to request
- that we bring to their attention any case of flagrant injustice, and
- on the basis of this admission we have been sending from time to time
- to the German authorities the names of certain deported Belgians who
- were working at the time of their seizure and therefore did not come
- within the purview of the rule laid down by the German Government
- that the unemployed should be deported. Other neutral Legations in
- Brussels have done the same, and the work has assumed proportions
- that are so large that I fear they may defeat its ends. The Legations
- of Spain and Holland have organized similar bureaus, and so many
- requests for repatriation are received that I have been compelled to
- rent rooms in a vacant house, across the street from the Legation
- in the rue Belliard, to carry on the work. The necessary staff and
- supplies for the work have been furnished by the Comite National,
- which has organized a central bureau that investigates all reports
- received by the Legations in order to determine whether or not the
- persons mentioned have received financial assistance since the war,
- and, as well, to avoid duplication in representations. Inasmuch as it
- is difficult to make exceptions, I fear, as I said before, that the
- very mass of these requests will prevent their being examined with
- any care. So far as we are able to determine, about 100,000 have been
- deported, and of those less than 2,000 have returned._
-
- "_The Spanish Legation which, because of the fact that Spain is
- charged with the protection of Belgian interests in Germany, claims
- precedence in this matter, * * * makes a demand for the return of each
- and every one who applies, and sends in about two hundred names each
- day. The Dutch Legation * * * forwards each request that is presented,
- and, owing to the fact that after the fall of Antwerp, assurances
- were given by the German Authorities through the Dutch Government to
- Belgian refugees in Holland that they would not be deported should
- they return to Belgium, they are receiving a great many. I am told
- that they submit over fifteen hundred each day._ * * *
-
- "_We have a great many requests, and although we try not to
- discriminate we attempt to pick out the most deserving cases, though
- now that I have written that phrase I feel a certain shame in it
- because all the cases are deserving._
-
- [Sidenote: Germans rarely allow food packages to reach deported
- Belgians.]
-
- "_I have had requests from the burgomasters of ten communes from La
- Louviere, asking that permission be obtained to send to the deported
- men in Germany packages of food similar to those that are being sent
- to prisoners of war. Thus far the German authorities have refused
- to permit this except in special instances, and returning Belgians
- claim that even when such packages are received they are used by the
- camp authorities only as another means of coercing them to sign the
- agreements to work._
-
- "_It is said that, in spite of the liberal salary promised those who
- would sign voluntarily, no money has as yet been received in Belgium
- from workmen in Germany._" (Concluded on p. 78.)
-
-The American Government was not content with informal recommendations
-to the German Government, and on December 5, 1916, the American
-representative at Berlin laid this formal protest before the German
-chancellor:
-
- FORMAL PROTEST OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.
-
- [Sidenote: A solemn protest by United States.]
-
- "The Government of the United States has learned with the greatest
- concern and regret of the policy of the German Government to deport
- from Belgium a portion of the civilian population with the result
- of forcing them to labor in Germany, and is constrained to protest
- in a friendly spirit but most solemnly against this action which is
- in contravention of all precedent and those humane principles of
- international practice which have long been accepted and followed by
- civilized nations in their treatment of noncombatants in conquered
- territory. Furthermore, the Government of the United States is
- convinced that the effect of this policy if pursued will in all
- probability be fatal to the Belgian relief work so humanely planned
- and so successfully carried out, a result which would be generally
- deplored and which, it is assumed, would seriously embarrass the
- German Government."
-
-[Sidenote: Other neutrals support American protest.]
-
-This protest was followed by those of the Pope, the King of Spain, the
-Government of Switzerland, and other neutrals. They were of no avail,
-except, perhaps, to lead the German authorities to draw a tighter veil
-over their detestable proceedings. But the evidence has in some measure
-come through, although the full facts will not be known until the
-liberation of heroic Belgium.
-
-In the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_ of December 2, 1916, the
-following protests appeared, made, respectively, by Socialist Deputy
-Haase and Deputy Dittmann, members of the Reichstag:
-
- PROTESTS AGAINST DEPORTATIONS HEARD IN REICHSTAG.
-
- "Thousands of workmen in the occupied territory have been compelled
- to forced labor; we earnestly ask the government to restore to these
- workmen their liberty, especially in Belgium. In truth, we [the
- Germans] find no sympathy in neutral countries; even the Pope has made
- a protest against this procedure, and several neutral states have done
- the same. Common sense itself demands that we abandon this procedure
- which moreover is in opposition to the Hague Convention to which we
- have agreed."
-
- "In opposition to the Secretary of State, I must recall that when
- formerly the Belgian workmen who had fled to Holland returned to
- Belgium, Governor General von Bissing promised that these Belgian
- workmen would under no circumstances be deported to Germany. This
- reassuring promise has not been kept."
-
-Ambassador Gerard's interesting testimony appears in his recent book:
-
- AMBASSADOR GERARD'S EVIDENCE.
-
- [Sidenote: American indignation at deportations.]
-
- "The President [during my visit to America in 1916] impressed upon me
- his great interest in the Belgians deported to Germany. The action
- of Germany in thus carrying a great part of the male population
- of Belgium into virtual slavery had roused great indignation in
- America. As the revered Cardinal Farley said to me a few days before
- my departure, 'You have to go back to the times of the Medes and
- the Persians to find a like example of a whole people carried into
- bondage.'
-
- "Mr. Grew had made representations about this to the Chancellor and,
- on my return, I immediately took up the question.
-
- [Sidenote: Gerard not permitted to visit deported Belgians.]
-
- "I was informed that it was a military measure, that Ludendorf had
- feared that the British would break through and overrun Belgium and
- that the military did not propose to have a hostile population at
- their backs who might cut the rail lines of communication, telephones
- and telegraphs, and that for this reason the deportation had been
- decided on. I was, however, told I would be given permission to visit
- these Belgians. The passes, nevertheless, which alone made such
- visiting possible were not delivered until a few days before I left
- Germany.
-
- [Sidenote: Some of them call on him.]
-
- "Several of these Belgians who were put to work in Berlin managed to
- get away and come to see me. They gave me a harrowing account of how
- they had been seized in Belgium and made to work in Germany at making
- munitions to be used probably against their own friends.
-
- "I said to the Chancellor, 'There are Belgians employed in making
- shells contrary to all rules of war and the Hague Conventions.' He
- said, 'I do not believe it.' I said, 'My automobile is at the door. I
- can take you, in four minutes, to where thirty Belgians are working on
- the manufacture of shells.' But he did not find time to go.
-
- "Americans must understand that the Germans will stop at nothing to
- win this war, and that the only thing they respect is force." James W.
- Gerard, _My Four Years in Germany_, 1917, pp. 351-52.
-
-A similar point of view is expressed in an article entitled "Vae
-Victis" from the Hungarian newspaper _Nepszawa_ of Budapest (quoted in
-K.G. Ossiannilsson, _Militarism at Work in Belgium and Germany_, 1917,
-pp. 53-54).
-
- HUNGARIAN OPINION ON DEPORTATIONS.
-
- "Mechanical skill, and especially qualified mechanical skill, is
- for the moment a more important factor than usual, and as it must
- be obtained where it can be obtained, Belgium has had to suffer in
- accordance with the old saying which always holds good: _Vae victis_
- (woe to the vanquished). In Poland, mechanical skill and the arms
- which exist there are mobilized under 'the glorious and fortunate
- banners of Poland'; in Belgium under 'the banner of necessity.'"
-
- [Sidenote: The Germans are using the Belgians for war work.]
-
- "* * * The question remains: for what kind of work will the Germans
- use the Belgians? * * * Every kind of work in Germany is war work,
- whether it is called agricultural or industrial work. As the deported
- Belgians have not given their consent, their use is contrary to
- international law, and the policy of the Germans in Belgium and Poland
- is equally to be deplored. Instead of aiming at bringing us nearer
- peace, it serves to embitter our opponents and to rouse more hatred
- towards us amongst the neutrals. Many times and more and more we have
- had occasion to observe that the neutrals show more sympathy for
- Belgium than for any other belligerent."
-
-[Sidenote: Belgians still being deported, September, 1917.]
-
-The news dispatches indicate that the deportation and forced labor of
-Belgians still continue. In a dispatch from Havre (New York _Evening
-Post_, September 13, 1917) it is stated: "The removal of the civilian
-population of Belgium continues, according to advices received here.
-The town of Roulers, immediately behind the battle line in Flanders,
-has been evacuated completely. Ostend is being emptied gradually, and
-two thousand persons already have been sent from Courtrai." In another
-dispatch from Havre (_Washington Post_, September 24, 1917) it is
-stated that "the German military authorities at Bruges, Belgium, are
-conscripting forcibly all the boys and men of that city between the
-ages of 14 and 60 to work in munition factories and shipyards. The
-rich and poor, shopkeepers and workmen, all are being taken, only the
-school-teachers, doctors, and priests escaping."
-
- REPORT OF MINISTER WHITLOCK (concluded).
-
- [Sidenote: German capacity for blundering.]
-
- "_One interesting result of the deportations remains to be noted,
- a result that once more places in relief the German capacity for
- blundering, almost as great as the German capacity for cruelty. Until
- the deportations were begun there was no intense hatred on the part
- of the lower classes, i.e., the workingmen and the peasants. The
- old Germans of the Landsturm had been quartered in Flemish homes;
- they and the inmates spoke nearly the same language; they got alone
- fairly well; they helped the women with the work, the poor and the
- humble having none of those hatreds of patriotism that are among the
- privileges of the upper classes. It is conceivable that the Flemish
- population might have existed under German rule; it was Teutonic in
- its origin and anti-French always. But now the Germans have changed
- all that._
-
- [Sidenote: Germans will be hated for generations.]
-
- "_They have dealt a mortal blow to any prospect they may ever have
- had of being tolerated by the population of Flanders; in tearing away
- from nearly every humble home in the land a husband and a father or a
- son and brother they have lighted a fire of hatred that will never go
- out; they have brought home to every heart in the land, in a way that
- will impress its horror indelibly on the memory of three generations,
- a realization of what German methods mean, not, as with the early
- atrocities, in the heat of passion and the first lust of war, but by
- one of those deeds that make one despair of the future of the human
- race, a deed coldly planned, studiously matured, and deliberately and
- systematically executed, a deed so cruel that German soldiers are
- said to have wept in its execution, and so monstrous that even German
- officers are now said to be ashamed._
-
-  "WHITLOCK."
-
-Mr. Hoover's mature conclusions on the German practices in Belgium,
-which he has written for this pamphlet, reinforce the detailed evidence
-already presented.
-
- MR. HOOVER'S CONCLUSIONS.
-
-  SEPTEMBER, 1917.
-
- I have been often called upon for a statement of my observation of
- German rule in Belgium and Northern France.
-
- I have neither the desire nor the adequate pen to picture the scenes
- which have heated my blood through the two and a half years that I
- have spent in work for the relief of these 10,000,000 people.
-
- [Sidenote: Belgian atrocities are the result of the "system."]
-
- The sight of the destroyed homes and cities, the widowed and
- fatherless, the destitute, the physical misery of a people but
- partially nourished at best, the deportation of men by tens of
- thousands to slavery in German mines and factories, the execution of
- men and women for paltry effusions of their loyalty to their country,
- the sacking of every resource through financial robbery, the battening
- of armies on the slender produce of the country, the denudation of the
- country of cattle, horses and textiles; all these things we had to
- witness, dumb to help other than by protest and sympathy, during this
- long and terrible time--and still these are not the events of battle
- heat, but the effects of a grinding heel of a race demanding the
- mastership of the world.
-
- All these things are well known to the world--but what can never be
- known is the dumb agony of the people, the expressionless faces of
- millions whose souls have passed the whole gamut of emotions. And why?
- Because these, a free and democratic people, dared plunge their bodies
- before the march of autocracy.
-
- I myself believe that if we do not fight and fight now, all these
- things are possible to us--but even should the broad Atlantic prove
- our present defender, there is still Belgium. Is it worth while for
- us to live in a world where this free and unoffending people is to be
- trampled into the earth and to raise no sword in protest?
-
-  HERBERT HOOVER.
-
-
-FRANCE.
-
-[Sidenote: German practices were the same in all occupied regions.]
-
-In France the German system of forced labor and deportations, with its
-attendant callousness, brutalities, and horrors, was the same as in
-Belgium. Inasmuch as the German system in action has been adequately
-illustrated in the foregoing pages on Belgium, it will suffice in this
-part simply to show the real identity of German practice in the two
-occupied regions. This can be done from the official documents and from
-a summary by Ambassador Gerard. The harrowing details may be gathered
-from the scores of depositions which accompany the note addressed by
-the French Government to the Governments of the neutral powers July 25,
-1916. These are on file in the State Department, and have also been
-translated, along with the official documents, in _The Deportation of
-Women and Girls from Lille_, New York, Doran.
-
- PROCLAMATION OF THE GERMAN MILITARY COMMANDANT OF LILLE.
-
- "The attitude of England makes the provisioning of the population more
- and more difficult.
-
- "To reduce the misery, the German authorities have recently asked for
- volunteers to go and work in the country. This offer has not had the
- success that was expected.
-
- [Sidenote: German proclamation at Lille, April, 1916.]
-
- "In consequence of this the inhabitants will be deported by order
- and removed into the country. Persons deported will be sent to the
- interior of the occupied territory in France, far behind the front,
- where they will be employed in agricultural labor, and not on any
- military work whatever. By this measure they will be given the
- opportunity of providing better for their subsistence.
-
- "In case of necessity, provisions can be obtained through the German
- depots. Every person deported will be allowed to take with him 30
- kilograms of baggage (household utensils, clothes, etc.), which it
- will be well to make ready at once.
-
- "I therefore order that no one, until further orders, shall change
- his place of residence. No one may absent himself from his declared
- legal residence from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. (German time), unless he is in
- possession of a permit in due form.
-
- "Inasmuch as this is an irrevocable measure, it is in the interest of
- the population itself to remain calm and obedient.
-
-  "COMMANDANT.
-
-  "LILLE, _April, 1916_."
-
- NOTICE DISTRIBUTED TO HOUSES IN LILLE.
-
- "All the inhabitants of the house, with the exception of children
- under fourteen and their mothers, and also of old people, must prepare
- themselves for transportation in an hour and a half's time.
-
- [Sidenote: Inhabitants of Lille given 90 minutes to get ready to
- depart.]
-
- "An officer will decide definitely what persons will be taken to the
- concentration camps. For this purpose all the inhabitants of the house
- must assemble in front of it; in case of bad weather they may remain
- in the passage. The door of the house must remain open. All protests
- will be useless. No inmate of the house, even those who are not to be
- transported, may leave the house before 8 a.m. (German time).
-
- "Each person will be permitted to take 30 kilograms of baggage; if
- anyone's baggage exceeds that weight, it will all be rejected without
- further consideration. Packages must be separately made up for each
- person and must bear an address legibly written and firmly affixed.
- This address must contain the surname and the Christian name and the
- number of the identity card.
-
- [Sidenote: Must carry their own cooking utensils.]
-
- "It is absolutely necessary that each person should, in his own
- interest, provide himself with eating and drinking utensils, as well
- as with a woolen blanket, good shoes, and body linen. Everyone must
- carry his identity card on his person. Anyone attempting to evade
- transportation will be punished without mercy.
-
-  "ETAPPEN-KOMMANDANTUR."
-
-  [LILLE, _April, 1916_.]
-
- PROTEST OF BISHOP CHAROST, OF LILLE, ADDRESSED TO GENERAL VON
- GRAEVENITZ.
-
- "MONSIEUR LE GENERAL: It is my duty to bring to your notice the fact
- that a very agitated state of mind exists among the population.
-
- "Numerous removals of women and girls, certain transfers of men and
- youth, and even of children, have been carried out in the districts of
- Tourcoing and Roubaix without judicial procedure or trial.
-
- [Sidenote: The Bishop protests against deportations.]
-
- "The unfortunate people have been sent to unknown places. Measures
- equally extreme and on a larger scale are contemplated at Lille. You
- will not be surprised, Monsieur le General, that I intercede with you
- in the name of the religious mission confided to me. That mission
- lays on me the burden of defending with respect but with courage, the
- Law of Nations, which the law of war must never infringe, and that
- eternal morality whose rules nothing can suspend. It makes it my duty
- to protect the feeble and the unarmed, who are as my family to me and
- whose burdens and sorrows are mine.
-
- [Sidenote: Appeals to the humanity of the commander.]
-
- "You are a father; you know that there is not in the order of humanity
- a right more honorable or more holy than that of the family. For every
- Christian the inviolability of God, who created the family, attaches
- to it. The German officers who have been billeted for a long time in
- our homes know how deep in our hearts we of the North hold family
- affection and that it is the sweetest thing in life to us. Thus to
- dismember the family by tearing youths and girls from their homes is
- not war; it is for us tortures and the worst of tortures--unlimited
- moral torture.
-
- [Sidenote: The methods of deportation a danger to morals.]
-
- [Sidenote: Hopes for restoration of the deported.]
-
- "The violation of family rights is doubled by a violation of the
- sacred demands of morality. Morality is exposed to perils, the mere
- idea of which is revolting to every honest man, from the promiscuity
- which inevitably accompanies removals _en masse_, involving mixture
- of the sexes, or, at all events, of persons of very unequal moral
- standing. Young girls of irreproachable life, who have never committed
- any worse offense than that of trying to pick up some bread or a few
- potatoes to feed a numerous family, and who have besides paid the
- light penalty for such trespass, have been carried off. Their mothers,
- who have watched so closely over them and had no other joy than that
- of keeping their daughters beside them, in the absence of father and
- sons fighting or killed at the front--these mothers are now alone.
- They bring to me their despair and their anguish. I am speaking of
- what I have seen and heard. I know that you have no part in these
- harsh measures. You are by nature inclined toward justice; that is
- why I venture to turn to you; I beg you to be good enough to forward
- without delay to the German High Military Command this letter from a
- Bishop, whose deep grief they will easily imagine. We have suffered
- much for the last twenty months, but no stroke of fortune could be
- comparable to this; it would be as undeserved as it is cruel and
- would produce in all France an indelible impression. I cannot believe
- that the blow will fall. I have faith in the human conscience and I
- preserve the hope that the young men and girls of respectable families
- will be restored to their homes in answer to the demand for their
- return and that sentiments of justice and honor will prevail over all
- lower considerations.
-
-  "ALEXIS ARMAND,
-  "_Bishop_."
-
- ADDRESS OF PROMINENT CITIZENS OF ROUBAIX AND TOURCOING TO THE
- PRESIDENT OF FRANCE.
-
-  "To Monsieur RAYMOND POINCARE,
-  "_President of the French Republic, Paris_.
-
- "SIR: We have the honor to express again our most sincere gratitude to
- you for your most kind reception, a few days ago, of the deputation
- which went with feelings of legitimate emotion to inform you of the
- deportation of lads and girls, which the German authorities have just
- carried out in the invaded districts.
-
- "We have collected some details on the subject from the lips of an
- honorable and trustworthy person, who succeeded in leaving Tourcoing
- about ten days ago; we think it our duty to bring these details to
- your notice by reproducing textually the declarations which have been
- made to us:
-
- "'These deportations began towards Easter. The Germans announced that
- the inhabitants of Roubaix, Tourcoing, Lille, etc., were going to be
- transported into French districts where their provisioning would be
- easier.
-
- [Sidenote: The procedure of the deportations.]
-
- "'At night, at about 2 o'clock in the morning, a whole district of
- the town was invested by the troops of occupation. To each house
- was distributed a printed notice, of which we give below an exact
- reproduction, preserving the style and spelling. [See second document,
- above.]
-
- "'The inhabitants so warned were to hold themselves ready to depart an
- hour and a half after the distribution of the proclamation.
-
- "'Each family, drawn up outside the house, was examined by an officer,
- who pointed out haphazard the persons who were to go. No words can
- express the barbarity of this proceeding nor describe the heartrending
- scenes which occurred; young men and girls took a hasty farewell of
- their parents--a farewell hurried by the German soldiers who were
- executing the infamous task--rejoined the group of those who were
- going, and found themselves in the middle of the street, surrounded by
- other soldiers with fixed bayonets.
-
- [Sidenote: Sometimes a kind-hearted officer could not carry out the
- brutal orders.]
-
- "'Tears of despair on the part of parents and children so ruthlessly
- separated did not soften the hearts of the brutal Germans. Sometimes,
- however, a more kind-hearted officer yielded to too great a despair,
- and did not choose all the persons whom he should--by the terms of his
- instructions--have separated.
-
- "'These girls and lads were taken in street cars to factories, where
- they were numbered and labelled like cattle and grouped to form
- convoys. In these factories they remained twelve, twenty-four, or
- thirty-six hours until a train was ready to remove them.
-
- "'The deportation began with the villages of Roncq, Halluin, etc.,
- then Tourcoing and Roubaix. In towns the Germans proceeded by
- districts.
-
- [Sidenote: Numbers deported.]
-
- "'In all about 30,000 persons are said to have been carried off up
- to the present. This monstrous operation has taken eight to ten days
- to accomplish. It is feared, unfortunately, that it may begin again
- soon. The departures took place in freight cars to the sound of the
- "Marseillaise."
-
- "'The reason given by the German authorities is a humanitarian (?)
- one. They have put forward the following pretexts: provisioning is
- going to break down in the large towns in the north and their suburbs,
- whereas in the Ardennes the feeding is easy and cheap.
-
- [Sidenote: Young men and girls lodged in "disgraceful promiscuity."]
-
- "'It is known from the young men and girls, since sent back to
- their families for reasons of health, that in the Department of the
- Ardennes the victims are lodged in a terrible manner, in disgraceful
- promiscuity; they are compelled to work in the fields. It is
- unnecessary to say that the inhabitants of our towns are not trained
- to such work. The Germans pay them 1.50 m. But there are complaints of
- insufficient food.
-
- "'They were very badly received in the Ardennes. The Germans had told
- the Ardennais that these were "volunteers" who were coming to work,
- and the Ardennais proceeded to receive them with many insults, which
- only ceased when the forcible deportation, of which they were the
- victims, became known.
-
- "'Feeling ran especially high in our towns. Never has so iniquitous a
- measure been carried out. The Germans have shown all the barbarity of
- slave drivers.
-
- "'The families so scattered are in despair and the morale of the
- whole population is gravely affected. Boys of 14, schoolboys in
- knickerbockers, young girls of 15 to 16 have been carried off, and the
- despairing protests of their parents failed to touch the hearts of the
- German officers or rather executioners.
-
- "'One last detail: The persons so deported are allowed to write home
- once a month; that is to say, even less often than military prisoners.'
-
- "Such are the declarations which we have collected and which, without
- commentary, confirm in an even more striking way the facts which we
- took the liberty of laying before you.
-
- "We do not wish here to enter into the question of provisioning in the
- invaded districts; others, better qualified than ourselves, give you,
- as we know, frequent information. It is enough for us to describe in a
- few words the situation from this aspect:
-
- "The provisioning is very difficult; food, apart from that supplied by
- the Spanish-American Committee, is very scarce and terribly dear. * *
- * People are hungry and the provisioning is inadequate by at least a
- half; our population is suffering constant privations and is growing
- noticeably weaker. The death rate, too, has increased considerably.
-
- [Sidenote: People rely on the neutral powers.]
-
- "Sometimes inhabitants of the invaded territories speak with a note
- of discouragement, crying apparently: 'We are forsaken by everyone.'
- We, on the other hand, are hopeful, Monsieur le President, that the
- energetic intervention on the part of Neutrals, which the French
- Government is sure to evoke, will soon bring to an end these measures
- which rouse the wrath of all to whom humanity is not an empty word. *
- * *
-
- "With all confidence in the sympathy of the Government we venture
- to address a new and pressing appeal to your generous kindness and
- far-reaching influence in the name of those who are suffering on
- behalf of the whole country."
-
- (Signed on behalf of various specified organizations by Toulemonde,
- Charles Droulers, Leon Hatine-Dazin, and Louis Lorthiois.)
-
-  "PARIS, _15th June, 1916, 3, rue Taitbout_."
-
- AMBASSADOR GERARD'S STATEMENT.
-
- [Sidenote: Barbarity of deportations.]
-
- "It seems that the Germans had endeavored to get volunteers from the
- great industrial towns of Lille, Roubaix, and Tourcoing to work these
- fields; that after the posting of the notices calling for volunteers
- only fourteen had appeared. The Germans then gave orders to seize
- a certain number of inhabitants and send them out to farms in the
- outlying districts to engage in agricultural work. The Americans told
- me that this order was carried out with the greatest barbarity; that
- a man would come home at night and find that his wife or children had
- disappeared and no one could tell him where they had gone except that
- the neighbours would relate that German noncommissioned officers and
- a file of soldiers had carried them off. For instance, in a house
- of a well-to-do merchant who had perhaps two daughters of fifteen
- and seventeen and a man servant, the two daughters and the servant
- would be seized and sent off together to work for the Germans in some
- little farm house whose location was not disclosed to the parents. The
- Americans told me that this sort of thing was causing such indignation
- among the population of these towns that they feared a great uprising
- and a consequent slaughter and burning by the Germans.
-
- [Sidenote: Chancellor says that the military authorities ordered the
- deportations.]
-
- "That night at dinner I spoke to the Chancellor about this and told
- him that it seemed to me absolutely outrageous; and that, without
- consulting with my government, I was prepared to protest in the name
- of humanity against a continuance of this treatment of the civil
- population of occupied France. The Chancellor told me that he had not
- known of it, that it was the result of orders given by the military,
- that he would speak to the Emperor about it, and that he hoped to be
- able to stop further deportations. I believe that they were stopped,
- but twenty thousand or more who had been taken from their homes were
- not returned until months afterwards. I said in a speech that I made
- in May on my return to America that it required the joint efforts of
- the Pope, the King of Spain, and our President to cause the return of
- these people to their homes; and I then saw that some German press
- agency had come out with an article that I had made false statements
- about this matter because these people were not returned to their
- homes as a result of the representations of the Pope, the King of
- Spain, and our President, but were sent back because the Germans had
- no further use for them. It seems to me that this denial makes the
- case rather worse than before." James W. Gerard, _My Four Years in
- Germany_, 1917, pp. 333-335.
-
-
-POLAND.
-
-The systematic exploitation of human misery by the German authorities
-in Poland followed the general plan with which the reader has become
-only too familiar. In order to prove the identity of procedure it will
-be enough to present the detailed report specially written for this
-pamphlet by Mr. Frederic C. Walcott. A fuller and in some ways more
-touching treatment is given in his article, "Devastated Poland," in the
-_National Geographic Magazine_ for May, 1917.
-
- POLAND AND THE PRUSSIAN SYSTEM.
-
-  SEPTEMBER, 1917.
-
- Poland--Russian Poland--is perishing. And the German high command,
- imbued with the Prussian system, is coolly reckoning on the
- necessities of a starving people to promote its imperial ends.
-
- West Poland, which has been Prussian territory more than a hundred
- years, is a disappointment to Germany; its people obstinately remain
- Poles. This time they propose swifter measures. In two or three years,
- by grace of starvation and frightfulness, they calculate East Poland
- will be thoroughly made over into a German province.
-
- [Sidenote: Devastation of Poland.]
-
- In the great Hindenburg drive one year ago, the country was completely
- devastated by the retreating Russian army and the oncoming Germans.
- A million people were driven from their homes. Half of them perished
- by the roadside. For miles and miles, when I saw the country, the
- way was littered with mudsoaked garments and bones picked clean by
- the crows--though the larger bones had been gathered by the thrifty
- Germans to be ground into fertilizer. Wicker baskets--the little
- basket in which the baby swings from the rafters in every peasant
- home--were scattered along the way, hundreds and hundreds, until one
- could not count them, each one telling a death.
-
- Warsaw, which had not been destroyed--once a proud city of a million
- people--was utterly stricken. Poor folks by thousands lined the
- streets, leaning against the buildings, shivering in snow and rain,
- too weak to lift a hand, dying of cold and hunger. Though the rich
- gave all they had, and the poor shared their last crust, they were
- starving there in the streets in droves.
-
- In the stricken city, the German governor of Warsaw issued a
- proclamation. All able-bodied Poles were bidden to go to Germany to
- work. If any refused, let no other Pole give him to eat, not so much
- as a mouthful, under penalty of German military law.
-
- [Sidenote: The policy of starvation.]
-
- It was more than the mind could grasp. To the husband and father
- of broken families, the high command gave this decree: Leave your
- families to starve; if you stay, we shall see that you do starve--this
- to a high-strung, sensitive, highly organized people, this from the
- authorities of a nation professing civilization and religion to
- millions of fellow Christians captive and starving.
-
- [Sidenote: Country to be restocked with Germans.]
-
- General von Kries, the governor, was kind enough to explain.
-
- Candidly, they preferred not quite so much starvation; it might get on
- the nerves of the German soldiers. But, starvation being present, it
- must work for German purpose. Taking advantage of this wretchedness,
- the working men of Poland were to be removed; the country was to be
- restocked with Germans. It was country Germany needed--rich alluvial
- soil--better suited to German expansion than distant possessions. If
- the POLAND that was had to perish, so much the better for Germany.
-
- Remove the men, let the young and weak die, graft German stock on the
- women. See how simple it is: with a crafty smile, General von Kries
- concluded, "By and by we must give back freedom to Poland. Very good;
- it will reappear as a German province."
-
- Slowly, I came to realize that this monstrous, incredible thing was
- the PRUSSIAN SYSTEM, deliberately chosen by the circle around the
- all-highest, and kneaded into the German people till it became part of
- their mind.
-
- German people are material for building the State--of no other
- account. Other people are for Germany's will to work upon. Humanity,
- liberty, equality, the rights of others--all foolish talk. Democracy,
- an idle dream. The true Prussian lives only for this, that the German
- State may be mighty and great.
-
- [Sidenote: German system of frightfulness everywhere.]
-
- All the woes in the long count against Germany are part of the
- Prussian system. The invasion of Belgium, the deportations, the
- starving of subject people, the Armenian massacres, atrocities,
- frightfulness, sinking the Lusitania, the submarine horrors, the
- enslavement of women--all piece into the monstrous view. The rights of
- nations, the rights of men, the lives and liberties of all people are
- subordinate to the German aim of dominion over all the world.
-
-  FREDERICK C. WALCOTT.
-
-
-
-
-CONCLUSION.
-
-STATEMENT OF MR. VERNON KELLOGG, SEPTEMBER, 1917.
-
-(Prepared for this pamphlet.)
-
-
-[Sidenote: The graves of the massacred.]
-
-It was my privilege--and necessity--in connection with the work of
-the Commission for Relief in Belgium to spend several months at the
-Great Headquarters of the German armies in the west, and later to
-spend more months at Brussels as the Commission's director for Belgium
-and occupied France. It was an enforced opportunity to see something
-of German practice in the treatment of a conquered people, part of
-whom (the French and the inhabitants of the Belgian provinces of
-East and West Flanders) were under the direct control of the German
-General Staff and the several German armies of the west, and part, the
-inhabitants of the seven other Belgian provinces, under the quasi-civil
-government of Governor General von Bissing. I did not enter the
-occupied territories until June, 1915, and so, of course, saw none of
-the actual invasion and overrunning of the land. I saw only the graves
-of the massacred and the ruins of their towns. But I saw through the
-long, hard months much too much for my peace of mind of how the Germans
-treated the unfortunates under their control after the occupation.
-
-It would be an unnecessary repetition to describe again the scenes in
-Louvain, Dinant, Vise, Andenne, Tamines, Aerschot, and the rest of
-the familiar long list of the ruined Belgian towns. But too little
-has been said of the many, many ruined villages all over the extent
-of the occupied French territory from Lille in the north to Longwy in
-the south, and from the eastern boundary of France to the fatal trench
-lines of the extreme western front.
-
-As chief representative for the Commission, it was my duty to cover
-this whole territory repeatedly in long motor journeys in company with
-the German officer assigned for my protection--and for the protection
-of the German army against any too much seeing. As I had opportunity
-also to cover most of Belgium in repeated trips from Brussels into
-the various provinces, I necessarily had opportunity to compare the
-destruction wrought in the two regions.
-
-[Sidenote: Towns untouched by war but ruined.]
-
-I could understand why certain towns and villages along the Meuse and
-along the lines of the French and English retreat were badly shot to
-pieces. There had been fighting in these towns and the artillery of
-first one side and then the other had worked their havoc among the
-houses of the inhabitants. But there were many towns in which there
-had been no fighting and yet all too many of these towns also were in
-ruins. It was not ruin by shells, but ruin by fire and explosions.
-There were the famous "punished" towns. Either a citizen or perhaps
-two or three citizens had fired from a window on the invaders--or were
-alleged to have. Thereupon a block, or two or three blocks, or half the
-town was methodically and effectively burned or blown to pieces. There
-are many of these "punished" towns in occupied France. And between
-these towns and along the roadways are innumerable isolated single
-farm houses that are also in ruins. It is not claimed that there was
-any sniping from these farmhouses. They were just destroyed along the
-way--and by the way, one may say. When the roll of destroyed villages
-and destroyed farmhouses in occupied France is made known, the world
-will be shocked again by this evidence of German thoroughness.
-
-[Sidenote: Heartlessness of German rule.]
-
-The rigor of the control over the inhabitants of the occupied French
-territory is almost inconceivable. The lines delimiting the regions
-occupied by the various distinct German armies are lines of impassable
-steel for the inhabitants. If a member of the family in one town was
-visiting friends or relatives in another town a few kilometers away at
-the time of the outbreak of the war that family has remained separated
-through all the long months that have since elapsed. No messages can
-pass except by dangerous subterranean ways from town to town.
-
-[Sidenote: False receipts for requisitioned property.]
-
-The requisitioning of everything from food to furniture, from farm
-animals to the blankets and mattresses from the beds, has been carried
-to such an extent that the people live on nothing, amid nothing. These
-requisitions in the earlier days had a more or less official seeming
-in that quartermaster's _bons_ were given for the things taken. Even
-then the German sense of humor too often made the _bon_ a crude jest.
-The _bons_ were written in the German language in German script,
-illegible and beyond the understanding of the simple natives. A _bon_
-might be given for a chicken when it was a pair of horses that was
-taken. But later, when these jests palled on the German soldiers, the
-requisitioning was simplified by the omission of _bon_-giving. Where
-the villagers and peasants had tried to save something that could be
-buried or concealed, the searching out of these pitiful hiding places
-became a great game with the German soldiers. One ingenious Frenchman
-had secreted a few choice bottles of wine in a famous tomb on heights
-above the Meuse. But these bottles found their way to special tables
-at the Great Headquarters.
-
-In the spring of 1916 the army authorities devised the plan of
-deporting a number of men and women from Lille and the industrial towns
-near it to the agricultural regions further south. These French were
-to work in the fields and help produce food for the German army. As a
-matter of fact this plan had at bottom something to recommend it. The
-congestion in the industrialized northern region made the food problem
-there very difficult. Our Commission had more trials in connection
-with the provisioning of the great city of Lille and the lesser but
-crowded towns of Valenciennes, Roubaix, and Tourcoing than with all the
-rest of the occupied territory. Also these people had no work to do,
-as the great factories were still. To come south and work in the open
-air in the fields and be allowed a fair ration would have been a real
-advantage to these people. It would also have helped in the whole food
-supply situation.
-
-[Sidenote: Horrors of deportations.]
-
-But the horrible methods of that deportation were such that we,
-although trying to hold steadfast to a rigorous neutrality, could not
-but protest. Mr. Gerard, our Ambassador to Berlin, happened at the
-very time of this protest to make a visit to the Great Headquarters in
-the west and the matter was brought to the attention of certain high
-officers at Headquarters on the very day of Mr. Gerard's visit and in
-his hearing. So that he added his own protest to that of Mr. Poland,
-our director at the time, and further deportations were stopped. But
-a terrible mischief had already been done. Husbands and fathers had
-been taken from their families without a word of good-bye; sons and
-daughters on whom perhaps aged parents relied for support were taken
-without pity or apparent thought of the terrible consequences. The
-great deportations of Belgium have shocked the world. But these lesser
-deportations--that is, lesser in extent, but not less brutal in their
-carrying out--are hardly known.
-
-[Sidenote: No American can fail to oppose Prussianism.]
-
-I went into Belgium and occupied France a neutral and I maintained
-while there a steadfastly neutral behavior. But I came out no neutral.
-I can not conceive that any American enjoying an experience similar to
-mine could have come out a neutral. He would come out, as I came, with
-the ineradicable conviction that a people or a government which can do
-what the Germans did and are doing in Belgium and France to-day must
-not be allowed, if there is power on earth to prevent it, to do this a
-moment longer than can be helped. And they must not be allowed ever to
-do it again.
-
-[Sidenote: Civilization must crush Prussian system.]
-
-I went in also a hater of war, and I came out a more ardent hater of
-war. But, also, I came out with the ineradicable conviction, again,
-that the only way in which Germany under its present rule and in its
-present state of mind can be kept from doing what it had done is by
-force of arms. It can not be prevented by appeal, concession, or
-treaties. Hence, ardently as I hope that all war may cease, I hope
-that this war may not cease until Germany realizes that the civilized
-world simply will not allow such horrors as those for which Germany is
-responsible in Belgium and France to be any longer possible.
-
-  VERNON KELLOGG.
-
-
-
-
-Your Government Is Willing to Send You
-
-WITHOUT CHARGE
-
-Any Two of the Pamphlets Listed Here with Exceptions Noted
-
-
-_Committee on Public Information._
-
-(Established by Order of the President, April 14, 1917, Washington,
-D.C.)
-
-
-Series No. 1. War Information. (Red, White and Blue Covers.)
-
-Catalogue No.
-
-1. How the War Came to America.
-
- _Contents_: A brief introduction reviewing the policy of the United
- States with reference to the Monroe Doctrine, freedom of the seas, and
- international arbitration, developments of our policy reviewed and
- explained from August, 1914, to April, 1917; Appendix: the President's
- address to the Senate January 22, 1917, his war message to Congress
- April 2, 1917, his Flag Day address at Washington, June 14, 1917. 32
- pages. (Translations: German, Polish, Bohemian, Italian, Spanish,
- Swedish, Portuguese. 48 pages.)
-
- NOTE.--For Numbers 2, 3 and 7 described below, a contribution is
- required as noted. All other booklets are free.
-
-2. National Service Handbook. (Price, 15 cents)
-
- (A reference work for libraries, schools, clubs and other
- organizations.)
-
- _Contents_: Description of all civic and military organizations
- directly or indirectly connected with war work, pointing out how
- and where every individual can help. Maps, Army and Navy Insignia,
- diagrams. 246 Pages.
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-3. The Battle Line of Democracy. (Price, 15 cents)
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- _Contents_: The best collection of patriotic prose and poetry. Authors
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- in the war have expressed the highest aspirations of their people. 134
- Pages. (Price 15 cents.)
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-4. President's Flag Day Speech with Evidence of Germany's Plans.
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- _Contents_: The President's speech with the facts to which he alludes
- explained by carefully selected notes giving the proofs of German
- purposes and intrigues. THESE NOTES PRESENT AN OVERWHELMING ARSENAL OF
- FACTS, all gathered from original sources. 32 Pages.
-
-5. Conquest and Kultur.
-
- _Contents_: A brief introduction outlining German war aims and showing
- how the proofs were gathered; followed by quotations from German
- writers revealing the plans and purposes of Pan Germany, one chapter
- being devoted entirely to the German attitude toward America. The
- quotations are printed with title or no comment, THE EVIDENCE PILING
- UP PAGE AFTER PAGE, CHAPTER AFTER CHAPTER. 160 Pages.
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