Part 4

“There was an old woman, evidently the mother of the young woman, walking with them. One of the Lancers was amusing himself by pricking this old woman with his lance in order to make her walk along more quickly. The young woman turned round and shouted something at the Lancer, either by way of remonstrance or insult. I was not near enough to hear what she said. The Lancer took up his lance and ran it through one of the little girls who was walking along, clutching the hand of her mother. She was a fair-haired girl of about seven or eight years of age. When the crowd saw this they became infuriated, and a panic ensued. The Lancers bore down upon the people, scattering them in all directions. What became of these people I do not know.”

IX.

The Maiden Tribute.

Another story M. Cruls related was told to him by the mother herself. At a village called Leau a squadron of about five hundred Uhlans was marching through the town when they declared that someone had fired at them. On going round to all the houses, searching for firearms, they came to one where the family circle consisted of a grandfather, the father, mother, and a girl of seventeen or eighteen, and a young boy, who, upon seeing the approach of the German soldiers, fled and hid himself. The soldiers came in, and without any questioning fired at and killed the father. They were going to shoot the grandfather when the mother and daughter fell on their knees and begged the soldiers to spare the life of the old man. The officer, or under-officer, of the party then said, “Yes, we won’t trouble about the old people,” and touching the cheek of the young girl with his fingers, he added, with a significant laugh, “Pretty youth is better.” The sequel need not be written here, although the mother of the girl has told it.

A Governess Hanged.

A well-known family in Brussels were staying at their villa at Genck, about six kilometres from the capital. On arrival of the Germans there they entered the villa, smashed everything they could, and stole whatever was of value, “even taking away the wedding-ring that the husband wore on his finger.” They took away the men first, and nobody knows what has become of them. A member of the family and two servants fled from the house in terror, but returned when they saw the German soldiers going.

This is what they saw: “The body of an old lady of seventy years of age lying on the floor with her throat cut. A governess, about thirty years of age--I cannot tell you her nationality--was found hanging from a tree, stark naked and mutilated.”

Although this happened within six kilometres of Brussels, yet no atrocities were known to have been committed in the capital, the Kaiser’s unrestrained savages being there under the eyes of the representatives of the Powers.

A Dutch gentleman named Couzy, of Amsterdam, was staying at Mont, a village in the hills above Comblain au Pont, when war broke out. Having missed the last train which the Belgians ran to Dinant, he was obliged to return to Mont, where he witnessed the arrival of thousands of Uhlans and many batteries of German artillery. Mr. Couzy declared that the treatment of the Belgians by the enemy was merciless. He was witness of many horrible scenes. He was present when, after the discovery of the bodies of two German officers in a horse-dealer’s yard at Comblain au Pont, seventy villagers were brought before the commanding officer. Without question, the officer selected thirty, who were shot without any form of trial whatever. Several of these men were known to Mr. Couzy as honest and trustworthy citizens.

On another occasion a number of villagers were searched for weapons. A young Dutchman, also known to Mr. Couzy, had upon him a razor which he used daily. Immediately he was placed against a wall and shot.

A refugee arriving at Maastricht from Bassenge stated that ten thousand Germans came from the direction of Louvain, and began to burn everything that had been left standing and shoot everyone opposed to them. Two hundred of the villagers were driven out by the Germans and ordered to hold their hands above their heads. Anyone who dropped his hands for an instant was shot, and anyone who looked at or showed sympathy with the victims shared the same fate. They were marched for two hours, and during that time many shots whistled over their heads. The Germans then stopped and threatened that the first who looked back would be shot.

A Senator’s Story.

“M. Leon Hiard, senator of Hainaut, one of the largest manufacturers in Belgium, lived at Haine Saint Pierre, where before the battle of Mons the Germans requisitioned everything. He states that, revolver in hand, threatening death for unpunctuality or disobedience, the German officers spread terror into the hearts of the inhabitants. At Peronne the mayor, M. Gravis, had very imprudently caused all the arms of the inhabitants to be deposited at his house instead of the town-hall. He also carried a revolver, and some of his carts had been used to bar a road.” The _Daily Express_ correspondent continues--

“He was taken before the German general at the town-hall with his secretary. The séance was short. ‘Vous fusillé,’ said the general, and the unfortunate man was led out blindfolded and shot. As the secretary was following him a more kindly officer said in his ear, ‘Mais filez-donc, imbécile,’ and pushed him on one side.

“The body of M. Gravis was propped up against a wall for forty-eight hours as an example to the town. Men were billeted in all the houses, and although in the better houses the officers behaved with some restraint, in the peasants’ cottages unbridled licence was the rule.

“Women were treated infamously, indescribable scenes of debauchery taking place, while all the possessions of the unfortunates were wilfully wasted and destroyed. The fiery-tempered people were being driven to reprisals, so that an excuse for further cruelty might be found.”

What General von Boehn said.

I take the following extract from a long dispatch in the _Daily Chronicle_, from Mr. E. Alexander Powell, the Special Correspondent of the _New York World_:--

“Three weeks ago the Government of Belgium requested me to place before the American people, through the medium of the _New York World_, a list of specific and authenticated atrocities committed by German armies upon Belgian non-combatants.

“To-day General von Boehn, commanding the Ninth Imperial Field Army, and acting as mouthpiece of the German General Staff, has asked me to place before the American people the German version of the incidents in question....

“General von Boehn began by asserting that the accounts of the atrocities perpetrated on Belgian non-combatants were a tissue of lies.

“‘Look at these officers about you,’ he said; ‘they are gentlemen like yourselves. Look at the soldiers marching past in the road out there. They are most of them the fathers of families. Surely you do not believe that they would do the things they have been accused of.’

“‘Three days ago, General,’ I said, ‘I was in Aerschot. The whole town is now but a ghastly, blackened, bloodstained ruin!’

“‘When we entered Aerschot,’ he replied, ‘the son of the Burgomaster came into the room, drew a revolver, and assassinated my Chief of Staff. What followed was only retribution. The townspeople only got what they deserved!’

“‘But why wreak your vengeance on women and children?’

“‘None have been killed,’ the General asserted positively.

“‘I’m sorry to contradict you, General,’ I asserted, with equal positiveness, ‘but I have myself seen their mutilated bodies. So has Mr. Gibson, Secretary of the American Legation at Brussels, who was present during the destruction of Louvain.’

“It is War!”

“‘Of course, there is always danger of women and children being killed during street fighting,’ said the General, ‘if they insist on coming into the street. It is unfortunate, but it is war.’

“‘But how about the woman whose body I saw with the hands and feet cut off? How about the white-haired man and his son whom I helped to bury outside of Sempst, and who had been killed merely because the retreating Belgians had shot a German soldier outside their house? There were 22 bayonet wounds in the old man’s face. I counted them. How about the little girl, two years old, shot while in her mother’s arms by a Uhlan, and whose funeral I attended at Heyst-op-den-Berg? How about the old man that was hung from the rafters of his house by the hands and roasted to death by a bonfire being built under him?’

“The General seemed somewhat taken aback by the amount and exactness of my data. ‘Such things are horrible if they are true,’ he said. ‘Of course, our soldiers, like soldiers in all armies, sometimes get out of hand, and do things which we would never tolerate if we knew it. At Louvain, for example, I sentenced two soldiers to 12 years’ penal servitude apiece for assaulting a woman.’

“‘Apropos of Louvain,’ I remarked, ‘why did you destroy the library? It was one of the literary store-houses of the world.’

“‘We regretted that as much as anyone else,’ answered the General. ‘It caught fire from the burning houses, and we could not save it.’

“‘But why did you burn Louvain at all?’ I asked.

“‘Because the townspeople fired on our troops. We actually found machine-guns in some of the houses; and,’ smashing his fist down upon the table, ‘whenever civilians fire upon our troops we will teach them a lasting lesson. If the women and children insist on getting in the way of bullets, so much the worse for women and children.’

“‘How do you explain the bombardment of Antwerp by Zeppelins?’ I queried.

“‘The Zeppelins have orders to drop their bombs only on fortifications and soldiers,’ he answered.

“‘As a matter of fact,’ I remarked, ‘they destroyed only private houses and innocent civilians, several of them women. If one of those bombs had dropped 200 yards nearer my hotel I wouldn’t be smoking one of your excellent cigars to-day.’

“‘That is a calamity which, thank God, didn’t happen,’ he replied.

“‘If you feel for my safety as deeply as that, General,’ I said earnestly, ‘you can make quite sure of my coming to no harm by sending no more Zeppelins.’

“‘Well, Herr Powell,’ said he, laughing, ‘we will think about it, and,’ he continued gravely, ‘I trust that you will tell the American people through your great paper what I have told you to-day. Let them hear our side of this atrocity business. It is only justice that they should be made familiar with both sides of the question.’

“I have quoted my conversation with General von Boehn as nearly verbatim as I can remember it. I have no comments to make.

“I will leave it to the readers of the _World_ to decide for themselves just how convincing are the answers of the German General to the Belgian accusations.”

“=We cannot doubt their (the Belgian Commission) competency for the task entrusted to them; nor can we mistrust their good faith. And of what nature is the story which their report, item by item, unrolls? They recount a series of acts committed by the German soldiery which, if even a half or a quarter be true, are enough to condemn them to everlasting shame as barbarians grosser and more criminal than Huns or Visigoths, or the hordes led by Yenghis Khan or Tamerlane the Great.=”

--From the _Daily Telegraph_.

X.

Atrocities Around Liége.

Belgian officials reported from Liége devilish atrocities committed in the town and suburbs. In the Place de l’Université, the Rue des Pitteurs, and the Quai des Pecheurs most of the houses were burned. The occupants, who had been awakened by the acrid smoke, fled in terror, and fifteen persons, men, women, and children, were killed as they ran, while in one instance a family were called together, and father and son were killed and then mutilated in front of them. Apparently many of the soldiers breaking into _cafés_ were drunk, and after firing accused the inhabitants of it, taking vengeance by burning and murders without restraint. This indeed appeared to be part of the German campaign, for not only in Belgium, but also in France, the same inhuman and dastardly excuses were resorted to in order to attempt to justify the awful crimes which these “cultured” barbarians committed.

Road Strewn with Dead.

Georges Just, a restaurant-keeper at Chenee, province of Liége, said: “When we heard of the German approach my wife and I fled across the river into Liége. It seems now like a dream. Just before they entered the town the Germans committed all kinds of outrages. Never shall I forget the terrible sights along the roadside. Mutilated corpses of people I knew, and many wounded and dying, lay strewn in our path. In some places we saw the dead piled in heaps fifteen feet high.”

A letter written by a niece of Mr. John Redmond, M.P., who was living in a Belgian town occupied by the Germans, contained the following:--

“They are absolute barbarians, and treat the women like dogs. For the least thing the inhabitants are shot, and they all live in fear of their lives. The town’s most prominent men, in relays of three, guarded by soldiers, guarantee with their lives the good behaviour of the people. My husband is one of the guarantors. On Wednesday night he spent his hours of vigil in the town hall. Imagine my feelings.

“The Germans take everything. No matter how well they are treated and received, they behave filthily and brutally, officers and men alike. Empty houses they smash from top to bottom.”

“=The Belgian people are enduring the horrors of war, and after making every allowance for the source from which our information comes, we do not doubt that they are enduring them in a form which ought to be impossible amongst civilized nations.=”--_Bonar Law._

What an Eye-Witness Saw.

Another eye-witness was Mr. Henry Frenkel, a Russian living in Antwerp, who volunteered in the 6th regiment of the line to serve with his Belgian friends. While the Germans were in Liége he was sent there upon an important mission. This is how he tells his story:--

“I got into Liége by Holland. I went first to Rosendael, then to Maastricht, last to Eysden, and then openly passed the frontier. I will not describe Visé, Mouland, Berneau, and other places, all burned, sacked, and devastated in the most horrible fashion. Although all I have seen has hardened my nerve, I still shiver when I think of it. One cannot grasp the idea of all that has really taken place there. The Germans, mad with rage on account of the resistance which we opposed to them, have acted like wild beasts, to give it a mild name. I have seen men, women, and children hanged or horribly mutilated. I have seen heaps of corpses, of which no trace will be left in a few hours, as the inhabitants round Liége have been commandeered to bury them in lots. Ah! the Prussians will have to render us a terrible account. I witnessed an incident on the Place Lambert, in Liége. A Belgian chauffeur was arguing with a German officer. Visibly, the Belgian chauffeur could not understand what was wanted of him. The crowd gathered, and I could not follow the rest of the scene; but I heard a revolver shot. Then German soldiers rushed out of the palace to stop the crowds, and I saw the chauffeur, with blood-covered face, carried into a house by two soldiers. Not a sign of revolt from the crowd. The rifles are loaded, ready to go off. At my side a German said, laughingly: ‘Ach, das ist nichts! Eine kleinigkeit.’ (‘Oh! that’s nothing. Only a small thing.’)”

Dinant Destroyed.

It was at Dinant, one of the most famous beauty spots of Belgium, and which is so well known to English tourists, who flock to it in great numbers every year, that some particularly atrocious outrages took place. According to the message of Reuter’s correspondent at Ostend, the women were confined in convents whilst hundreds of men were shot. A hundred prominent citizens were shot in the Place d’Armes. M. Hummers, manager of a large weaving factory employing two thousand men, and M. Poncelet, son of a former Senator, were both shot, the latter in the presence of his six children. The Germans appeared at the branch of the National Bank, where they demanded all the cash in the safe. When the manager refused to give them the money they tried to blow the safe open. Not succeeding in this they demanded the combination for the lock. The manager refused. On this the Germans shot him immediately, together with his two sons. Dinant was afterwards destroyed by shell-fire and incendiarism.

“=The modern Attila respects neither the laws of nations nor the laws of God. His evil deeds cry aloud to Heaven and to the horror-struck watching nations.=”--_Times._

The wanton destruction of this ancient and beautiful town is a crime second only to that committed at Louvain.

Children Outraged.

A Belgian soldier who fought at Dinant was eye-witness of a terrible scene. Several German infantrymen had entered a house in a small village on the Meuse, and he, with four other Belgians, lay in wait for them. The Germans emerged with a young woman, whom they subjected to brutal ill-usage. The Belgians feared that if they fired they might hit the woman, but presently one of the Kaiser’s savages drew his bayonet and plunged it into the poor girl’s breast, whereupon she sank down uttering a piteous cry.

At Harseet the Uhlans suddenly descended upon the village, shot the first men they came across, numbering seven; this was followed by outrages on women, and twenty-two men were carried off as prisoners. Two Uhlans demanded a fowl from a peasant, who replied that he had none. They found one, and promptly shot him.

Because two Jesuit professors at Louvain University were found with newspapers upon them, telling of German atrocities, one was shot, while thirty of the Jesuits were taken away in carts to an unknown fate.

In La Préville a number of Uhlans who broke open a _café_ and satiated themselves with drink saw a little boy of seven playing with a toy gun. Because he pointed it at a German soldier he was shot.

Base Act of Ingratitude.

Many Belgian refugees, after weary wanderings, found themselves in Paris, and some of them were given shelter in the vast Cirque de Paris, where straw was laid upon the floor upon which those made homeless and destitute by the Kaiser’s savage barbarians made their bed.

One old grey-haired man, bent and travel-stained, was found by a correspondent seated alone and silently weeping. A kindly Red Cross nurse inquired the reason of his despondency. He said: “My name is Jean Beauzon. I kept a little coffee-house just across the river from Liége, in the town of Grivegnee. When the army was mobilized my two sons, both strapping fine fellows, went off to join the regiment. I have two daughters, one left with my old father and the other here”; so saying he pointed to a bright-eyed girl of sixteen, whose face and head were swathed in bandages.

“You see,” he went on, “that poor dear face. Well, a German did that. They burst into my place and demanded wine, which I gave them. What happened then I cannot exactly remember. It all seems like a horrible nightmare. We subsequently left our home and wandered away in the opposite direction from the terrible cannonading that was going on.

“After walking in the dark for two hours my other daughter became too tired to go any farther and sat down in despair by the roadside.

“This girl here and I then went on to try to find some means of conveyance for her. A little way down the road we came upon a riderless horse, which we managed with great difficulty to catch and mount. We then went back to find my other daughter. We had not left her for more than half an hour, but she was no longer there. We spent the rest of the night looking for her, but found no sign or trace of her, and in the end were obliged to give up the search.

“Finally we got into a train, which brought us here. I was cared for by the Red Cross. I don’t know where they found me or anything else except that I have prayed all the time to the Blessed Virgin to return my cherished lamb to me undefiled.”

“=What kind of soldiers can these be who slaughter old women with bayonet thrusts, who violate young girls and then murder them, who strip and stab young boys, who hang and burn old men, and who subject to degradation and insult innocent and unoffending priests?=”

--From the _Daily Telegraph_.

XI.

The Crime of Louvain.

“=In destroying the ancient town of Louvain, the German troops have committed a crime for which there can be no atonement, and Humanity has suffered a loss which can never be repaired.=”--_Press Bureau._

No words can adequately describe the wave of disgust which swept over the whole of the civilized communities of the world when it became known that the Germans had reduced to ashes the beautiful old city of Louvain. Mr. Asquith has described the sack of Louvain as

“=the greatest crime committed against civilization and culture since the Thirty Years’ War. With its buildings, its pictures, its unique library, its unrivalled associations, a shameless holocaust of irreparable treasures lit up by blind barbarian vengeance.=”

This ancient city, the Oxford of Belgium, has been reduced by the new Huns to a heap of ashes. “Every traveller in Belgium,” says Sir William Robertson Nicoll, “will remember the ancient mediæval town, its wonderful Hotel de Ville, the most perfect piece of architecture in Belgium, the Church of St. Peter, begun in 1425, and the University with its priceless library. All have perished, and why? The civil population had been disarmed, but in a night skirmish German soldiers accidentally fired on their own guard, and it was decided in the panic of the hour to destroy the whole town. A town of forty-five thousand inhabitants, the intellectual metropolis of the Low Countries since the fifteenth century, is now no more than a heap of ashes.”

The wanton destruction of this ancient seat of learning, rich in historic associations, was an act of vandalism almost without parallel in history, a crime not only against humanity, but against the generations of future years.

The restrained and dignified words in which our own Official Press Bureau made known the ruthless sacking of Louvain constitute a fearful indictment of German Militarism, which can give official sanction to such an appalling deed. Here are the words of the Press Bureau:--

“Ancient and beautiful Louvain, a town of forty-five thousand people, a seat of learning, famous for its ancient and beautiful churches and other buildings, many of them dating from the fifteenth century, has been utterly destroyed by one of the Kaiser’s commanders in a moment of passion to cover the blunder of his own men. The excuse for this unpardonable act of barbarity and vandalism is that a discomfited band of German troops returning to Louvain were fired upon by the people of the town, who had been disarmed a week earlier. The truth is that the Germans, making for the town in disorder, were fired upon by their friends in occupation of Louvain, a mistake by no means rare in war. The assumption of the German commander was, in the circumstances, so wide of probability that it can only be supposed that in the desire to conceal the facts the first idea which occurred to him was seized upon as an excuse for an act unparalleled in the history of civilized people.