Part 3

Prof. Hollmann attempted to prove that Bédier had made mistakes in translating and interpreting, but he did not deny the genuineness of the diaries. "These notebooks," he says, "may well be authentic and I accept this without further comment for all those which are provided with the name of their authors and whose authenticity can in any case be established after the war."

[Sidenote: American sources.]

The American evidence is drawn mainly from material in the archives of the State Department. In addition, statements from our ambassadors and ministers and other well-known officials and authors are given. Messrs. Hoover, Kellogg, and Walcott have written statements especially for this pamphlet. All of this material is essentially the testimony of neutrals, for it is based wholly on observations made before the United States entered the war. Occasionally official documents and well authenticated facts from foreign sources are used.

[Sidenote: Frightfulness as a system.]

The purpose of this pamphlet is to show that the system of frightfulness, which is itself the greatest atrocity, is the definite policy of the German Government, against which more humane German soldiers themselves revolted at times. For this reason it has not seemed necessary to set forth the individual acts of cruelty; such acts are cited only when necessary to illustrate the system. Anyone who wishes to read chapters of horrors can find them in the _Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages_, presided over by the former British Ambassador to this country and therefore generally known as "the Bryce report;" in the official reports by the Belgian _Commission d'Enquête_; in the official French reports compiled under the auspices of the French minister for foreign affairs; in many other publications, and especially in the conclusive admissions of the official _German White Book_ cited above. The last, published by the German Government, is the most damning testimony concerning the system of frightfulness.

I. MASSACRES.

[Sidenote: Protection of noncombatants agreed to by Germany.]

[Sidenote: But her military leaders did not acquiesce.]

In the wars waged in ancient times it was taken for granted that conquered peoples might be either killed, tortured, or held as slaves; that their property would be taken and that their lands would be devastated. "_Vae victis!_--woe to the conquered!" For two centuries or more there has been a steady advance in introducing ideas of humanity and especially in confining the evils of warfare to the combatants. The ideal seemed to have become so thoroughly established as a part of international law that the powers at The Hague thought it sufficient merely to state the general principles in Article XLVI of the regulations: "Family honors and rights, the lives of persons and private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must be respected. Private property can not be confiscated." Germany, in common with the other powers, solemnly pledged her faith to keep this article, but her military leaders had no intention of doing so. They had been trained in the ideas voiced by Gen. von Hartmann 40 years ago: "Terrorism is seen to be a relatively gentle procedure, useful to keep the masses of the people in a state of obedience." This had been Bismarck's policy, too. According to Moritz Busch, Bismarck's biographer, Bismarck, exasperated by the French resistance, which was still continuing in January, 1871, said:

[Sidenote: Bismarck's idea in 1871.]

"If in the territory which we occupy, we can not supply everything for our troops, from time to time we shall send a flying column into the localities which are recalcitrant. We shall shoot, hang, and burn. After that has happened a few times, the inhabitants will finally come to their senses."

The frightfulness taught by the German leaders had held full sway in Belgium. This is best seen in the entries in the diaries of the individual German soldiers.

EXTRACTS FROM GERMAN WAR DIARIES.

"During the night of August 15-16 Engineer Gr---- gave the alarm in the town of Visé. Everyone was shot or taken prisoner, and the houses were burnt. The prisoners were made to march and keep up with the troops." (From the diary of noncommissioned officer Reinhold Koehn of the Second Battalion of Engineers, Third Army Corps.)

* * * * *

"A horrible bath of blood. The whole village burnt, the French thrown into the blazing houses, civilians with the rest." (From the diary of Private Hassemer, of the Eighth Army Corps.)

* * * * *

"In the night of August 18-19 the village of Saint-Maurice was punished for having fired on German soldiers by being burnt to the ground by the German troops (two regiments, the 12th Landwehr and the 17th). The village was surrounded, men posted about a yard from one another, so that no one could get out. Then the Uhlans set fire to it, house by house. Neither man, woman, nor child could escape; only the greater part of the live stock was carried off, as that could be used. Anyone who ventured to come out was shot down. All the inhabitants left in the village were burnt with the houses." (From the diary of Private Karl Scheufele, of the Third Bavarian Regiment of Landwehr Infantry.)

* * * * *

"At 10 o'clock in the evening the first battalion of the 178th marched down the steep incline into the burning village to the north of Dinant. A terrific spectacle of ghastly beauty. At the entrance to the village lay about fifty dead civilians, shot for having fired upon our troops from ambush. In the course of the night many others were also shot, so that we counted over 200. Women and children, lamp in hand, were forced to look on at the horrible scene. We ate our rice later in the midst of the corpses, for we had had nothing since morning. When we searched the houses we found plenty of wine and spirit, but no eatables. Captain Hamann was drunk." (This last phrase in shorthand.) (From the diary of Private Philipp, of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Regiment of Infantry, Twelfth Army Corps.)

* * * * *

"Aug. 6th crossed frontier. Inhabitants on border very good to us and give us many things. There is no difference noticeable.

"Aug. 23rd, Sunday (between Birnal and Dinant, village of Disonge). At 11 o'clock the order comes to advance after the artillery has thoroughly prepared the ground ahead. The Pioneers and Infantry Regiment 178 were marching in front of us. Near a small village the latter were fired on by the inhabitants. About 220 inhabitants were shot and the village was burnt--artillery is continuously shooting--the village lies in a large ravine. Just now, 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the crossing of the Maas begins near Dinant * * * All villages, châteaux, and houses are burnt down during this night. It was a beautiful sight to see the fires all round us in the distance.

"Aug. 24th. In every village one finds only heaps of ruins and many dead. (From the diary of Matbern, Fourth Company, Eleventh Jäger Battalion, Marburg.)

* * * * *

"A shell burst near the 11th Company, and wounded seven men, three very severely. At 5 o'clock we were ordered by the officer in command of the regiment to shoot all the male inhabitants of Nomény, because the population was foolishly attempting to stay the advance of the German troops by force of arms. We broke into the houses, and seized all who resisted, in order to execute them according to martial law. The houses which had not been already destroyed by the French artillery and our own were set on fire by us, so that nearly the whole town was reduced to ashes. It is a terrible sight when helpless women and children, utterly destitute, are herded together and driven into France." (From the diary of Private Fischer, Eighth Bavarian Regiment of Infantry, Thirty-third Reserve Division.)

Other German soldiers, too, we are glad to see, show their horror at the foul deeds.

"The inhabitants have fled in the village. It was horrible. There was clotted blood on all the beards, and what faces one saw, terrible to behold! The dead, sixty in all, were at once buried. Among them were many old women, some old men and a half-delivered woman, awful to see; three children had clasped each other, and died thus. The altar and the vaults of the church are shattered. They had a telephone there to communicate with the enemy. This morning, September 2, all the survivors were expelled, and I saw four little boys carrying a cradle, with a baby five or six months old in it, on two sticks. All this was terrible to see. Shot after shot! Thunderbolt after thunderbolt! Everything is given over to pillage; fowls and the rest all killed. I saw a mother, too, with her two children; one had a great wound on the head and had lost an eye." (From the diary of Lance-Corporal Paul Spielmann, of the Ersatz, First Brigade of Infantry of the Guard.)

* * * * *

* * * In the night the inhabitants of Liége became mutinous. Forty persons were shot and 15 houses demolished, 10 soldiers shot. The sights here make you cry.

"On the 23rd August everything quiet. The inhabitants have so far given in. Seventy students were shot, 200 kept prisoners. Inhabitants returning to Liége.

"Aug. 24th. At noon with 36 men on sentry duty. Sentry duty is A 1, no post allocated to me. Our occupation, apart from bathing, is eating and drinking. We live like God in Belgium." (From the diary of Joh. van der Schoot, reservist of the Tenth Company, Thirty-ninth Reserve Infantry Regiment, Seventh Reserve Army Corps.)

* * * * *

"August 17th. In the afternoon I had a look at the little château belonging to one of the King's secretaries (not at home). Our men had behaved like regular vandals. They had looted the cellar first, and then they had turned their attention to the bedrooms and thrown things about all over the place. They had even made fruitless efforts to smash the safe open. Everything was topsy-turvy--magnificent furniture, silk, and even china. That's what happens when the men are allowed to requisition for themselves. I am sure they must have taken away a heap of useless stuff simply for the pleasure of looting."

"Aug. 23rd. * * * Our men came back and said that at the point where the valley joined the Meuse we could not get on any further as the villagers were shooting at us from every house. We shot the whole lot--16 of them. They were drawn up in three ranks; the same shot did for three at a time.

"* * * The men had already shown their brutal instincts; * * *

"The sight of the bodies of all the inhabitants who had been shot was indescribable. Every house in the whole village was destroyed. We dragged the villagers one after another out of the most unlikely corners. The men were shot as well as the women and children who were in the convent, since shots had been fired from the convent windows; and we burnt it afterwards.

"The inhabitants might have escaped the penalty by handing over the guilty and paying 15,000 francs.

"The inhabitants fired on our men again. The division took drastic steps to stop the villages being burnt and the inhabitants being shot. The pretty little village of Gue d'Ossus, however, was apparently set on fire without cause. A cyclist fell off his machine and his rifle went off. He immediately said he had been shot at. All the inhabitants were burnt in the houses. I hope there will be no more such horrors.

"At Leppe apparently 200 men were shot. There must have been some innocent men among them. In future we shall have to hold an inquiry as to their guilt instead of shooting them.

"In the evening we marched to Maubert-Fontaine. Just as we were having our meal the alarm was sounded--everyone is very jumpy.

"September 3rd. Still at Rethel, on guard over prisoners. * * * The houses are charming inside. The middle class in France has magnificent furniture. We found stylish pieces everywhere and beautiful silk, but in what a state * * * Good God! * * * Every bit of furniture broken, mirrors smashed. The Vandals themselves could not have done more damage. This place is a disgrace to our army. The inhabitants who fled could not have expected, of course, that all their goods would have been left intact after so many troops had passed. But the column commanders are responsible for the greater part of the damage, as they could have prevented the looting and destruction. The damage amounts to millions of marks; even the safes have been attacked.

"In a solicitor's house, in which, as luck would have it, all was in excellent taste, including a collection of old lace and Eastern works of art, everything was smashed to bits.

"I could not resist taking a little memento myself here and there. * * * One house was particularly elegant, everything in the best taste. The hall was of light oak; I found a splendid raincoat under the staircase and a camera for Felix." (From the diary of an officer in the One Hundred Seventy-eighth Regiment, Twelfth Saxon Corps.)

But this horror apparently was not shared by the German commander in chief, as is evident from the following:

"ORDER.

"_To the People of Liége._

"The population of Andenne, after making a display of peaceful intentions towards our troops, attacked them in the most treacherous manner. With my authorisation, the General commanding these troops has reduced the town to ashes and has had 110 persons shot.

"I bring this fact to the knowledge of the people of Liége in order that they may know what fate to expect should they adopt a similar attitude.

"Liége, 22nd August, 1914.

"GENERAL VON BÜLOW."

The following "Order of the Day" shows how the town of Huy escaped a like fate. Drunken German soldiers were frightened and began to shoot men and burn houses. The commanding officer condemned this because it was not done by his order and because two German soldiers were wounded. It is evident that massacres and arson were permitted only when commanded by the officers.

"Last night a shooting affray took place. There is no evidence that the inhabitants of the towns had any arms in their houses, nor is there evidence that the people took part in the shooting; on the contrary, it seems that the soldiers were under the influence of alcohol, and began to shoot in a senseless fear of a hostile attack.

"The behavior of the soldiers during the night, with very few exceptions, makes a scandalous impression.

"It is highly deplorable when officers or noncommissioned officers set houses on fire without permission or order of the commanding, or, as the case may be, the senior officer, or when by their attitude they encourage the rank and file to burn and plunder.

"I require that everywhere strict instructions shall be given with regard to the treatment of the life and property of the civilian population.

"I prohibit all shooting in the towns without the order of an officer.

"The miserable behaviour of the men caused a noncommissioned officer and a private to be seriously wounded by German bullets.

"The Commanding Officer, "MAJOR VON BASSEWITZ."

In his report of September 12, 1917, to the Secretary of State, Minister Whitlock has much to tell of the policy of frightfulness. The following passages refer to the subject of massacres:

[Sidenote: Germans force wives to witness husbands' executions.]

"Summary executions took place [at Dinant] without the least semblance of judgment. The names and number of the victims are not known, but they must be numerous. I have been unable to obtain precise details in this respect and the number of persons who have fled is unknown. Among the persons who were shot are: Mr. Defoin, mayor of Dinant; Sasserath, first alderman; Nimmer, aged 70; consul for the Argentine Republic, Victor Poncelet, who was executed in the presence of his wife and seven children; Wasseige and his two sons; Messrs. Gustave and Léon Nicaise, two very old men; Jules Monin and others were shot in the cellar of their brewery. Mr. Camille Pistte and son, aged 17; Phillippart, Piedfort, his wife and daughter; Miss Marsigny. During the execution of about forty inhabitants of Dinant, the Germans placed before the condemned their wives and children. It is thus that Madame Albin who had just given birth to a child, three days previously, was brought on a mattress by German soldiers to witness the execution of her husband; her cries and supplications were so pressing that her husband's life was spared."

"On the 26th of August German soldiers entered various streets [of Louvain] and ordered the inhabitants of the houses to proceed to the Place de la Station, where the bodies of nearly a dozen assassinated persons were lying. Women and children were separated from the men and forced to remain on the Place de la Station during the whole day. They had to witness the execution of many of their fellow-citizens, who were for the most part shot at the side of the square, near the house of Mr. Hemaide. The women and children, after having remained on the square for more than 15 hours, were allowed to depart. The Gardes Civiques of Louvain were also taken prisoners and sent to Germany, to the camp of Münster, where they were held for several weeks.

"On Thursday, August 27th, order was given to the inhabitants to leave Louvain because the city was to be bombarded. Old men, women, children, the sick, priests, nuns, were driven on the roads like cattle. More than 10,000 of the inhabitants were driven as far as Tirlemont, 18 kilometers from Louvain."

"One of the most sorely tried communities was that of the little village of Tamines, down in what is known as the Borinage, the coal fields near Charleroi. Tamines is a mining village in the Sambre; it is a collection of small cottages sheltering about 5,000 inhabitants, mostly all poor laborers.

[Sidenote: Massacres in Tamines.]

"The little graveyard in which the church stands bears its mute testimony to the horror of the event. There are hundreds of new-made graves, each with its small wooden cross and its bit of flowers; the crosses are so closely huddled that there is scarcely room to walk between them. The crosses are alike and all bear the same date, the sinister date of August 22d, 1914."

"But whether their hands were cut off or not, whether they were impaled on bayonets or not, children were shot down, by military order, in cold blood. In the awful crime of the Rock of Bayard, there overlooking the Meuse below Dinant, infants in their mother's arms were shot down without mercy. The deed, never surpassed in cruelty by any band of savages, is described by the Bishop of Namur himself:

[Sidenote: Slaughter of the innocents at Rocher Bayard.]

"One scene surpasses in horror all others; it is the fusillade of the Rocher Bayard near Dinant. It appears to have been ordered by Colonel Meister. This fusillade made many victims among the nearby parishes, especially those of des Rivages and Neffe. It caused the death of nearly 90 persons, without distinction of age or sex. Among the victims were babies in arms, boys and girls, fathers and mothers of families, even old men.

"It was there that 12 children under the age of 6 perished from the fire of the executioners, 6 of them as they lay in their mothers' arms:

"The child Fiévet, 3 weeks old. "Maurice Bétemps, 11 months old. "Nelly Pollet, 11 months old. "Gilda Genon, 18 months old. "Gilda Marchot, 2 years old. "Clara Struvay, 2 years and 6 months.

"The pile of bodies comprised also many children from 6 to 14 years. Eight large families have entirely disappeared. Four have but one survivor. Those men that escaped death--and many of whom were riddled with bullets--were obliged to bury in a summary and hasty fashion their fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters; then after having been relieved of their money and being placed in chains they were sent to Cassel [Prussia]."

Mr. Hugh Gibson, the secretary of our legation in Belgium, visited Louvain during its systematic destruction by the Germans. In _A Journal from our Legation in Belgium_, New York, 1917, pages 164-165, he relates what the German officers told him:

"It was a story of clearing out civilians from a large part of the town, a systematic routing out of men from cellars and garrets, wholesale shootings, the generous use of machine guns, and the free application of the torch--the whole story enough to make one see red. And for our guidance it was impressed on us that this would make people respect Germany and think twice about resisting her."

German pastors and professors far from the excitement of the firing have defended this policy of frightfulness, e.g.:

[Sidenote: Pastor defends frightfulness.]

"We are not only compelled to accept the war that is forced upon us * * * but are even compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device, unknown in any previous war." Pastor D. Baumgarten, in _Deutsche Reden in schwerer Zeit_, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."

* * * * *

"The fate that Belgium has called down upon herself is hard for the individual, but not too hard for this political structure (_Staatsgebilde_), for the destinies of the immortal great nations stand so high that they cannot but have the right, in case of need, to stride over existences that cannot defend themselves, but live, as parasites, upon the rivalries of the great." Prof. H. Oncken, in _Süddeutsche Monatsheft_, "South German Monthly."

Would they have dared to defend such a policy if they could have seen the announcement sent out by the parish of St. Hadelin with its silent eloquence?

This is an invitation to a service in memory of 60 men and women from one parish, of whom all but two were killed by the Germans in the massacre of August 5 and 6, 1914. The closing sentences are:

PRAY TO GOD FOR THE REPOSE OF THEIR SOULS.

Gentle Heart of Mary, be my refuge. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. St. Joseph, patron of Belgium, pray for us. St. Hadelin, patron of the parish, pray for us. Sainte Barbe, patroness of kindly death, pray for us.

After reading such ghastly accounts, many of them written by German eyewitnesses, and knowing that similar tales were published widely in the German newspapers, it is difficult to read with patience such words as these:

"The German Army (in which I of course include the Navy) is to-day the greatest institute for moral education in the world."

"The German soldiers alone are thoroughly disciplined, and have never so much as hurt a hair of a single innocent human being." Houston Stewart Chamberlain, in _Kriegsaufsätze_, "War Essays", 1914.

"We see everywhere how our soldiers respect the sacred defencelessness of woman and child." Prof. G. Roethe, in _Deutsche Reden in Schwerer Zeit_, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."

II. HOSTAGES AND SCREENS.

The massacres described above were a part of the German system of frightfulness. Another feature of this system was the use of civilians as hostages and for screens.

In discussing the use of hostages the _German War Book_ (_Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege_) says:

[Sidenote: Views of the German General Staff.]

"By hostages are understood those persons who, as security or bail for the fulfillment of treaties, promises, or other claims, are taken or detained by the opposing State or its army. Their provision has been less usual in recent wars, as a result of which some professors of the law of nations have wrongly decided that the taking of hostages has disappeared from the practice of civilized nations. * * *