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diff --git a/old/55442.txt b/old/55442.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4f59f2f..0000000 --- a/old/55442.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4815 +0,0 @@ -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. - -3. The Battle Line of Democracy. (Price, 15 cents) - - _Contents_: The best collection of patriotic prose and poetry. Authors - 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.) - -4. President's Flag Day Speech with Evidence of Germany's Plans. - - _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. 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