Part 1

THE MARTYRDOM OF BELGIUM

OFFICIAL REPORT OF

Massacres of Peaceable Citizens, Women and Children

BY THE

German Army

TESTIMONY OF EYE-WITNESSES

“It is by a deep study of the history of wars that one may protect oneself against exaggerated humanitarian ideas.” --“KRIEGSGEBRAUCH IM LANDKRIEGE” Published by the German General Staff, 1902. Pages 6 and 7.

THE W. STEWART BROWN COMPANY, INC. PRINTERS BALTIMORE, MD.

PREFACE.

The Official Belgian Commission of Inquiry, which has been charged with the task of examining into the violation of the rules of International Law and of the Customs of War, is composed of Statesmen and Jurists of the highest standing. The Reports of the Commission have been published from time to time. Report XI will be found in the following pages.

These reports are given out by the Commission only after careful examination of the evidence. Consequently the findings of the Commission command the same respect as the findings of the highest Law Court.

Names of witnesses have, in certain cases, been withheld from publication. All the depositions are, however, in the possession of the Commission and the names of the witnesses will be given out at the proper time. The publication of these names at the present moment would, inevitably, cause the German troops to take revenge upon witnesses, or upon the relatives of witnesses, remaining within the German lines.

The authenticity of the depositions is guaranteed by the eminent Statesmen and Jurists who compose the Commission and who have signed the Reports.

No commentary can add anything to the tragic eloquence of these simple and well-authenticated depositions. Who can read the recital of these horrors without feeling his heart throb with righteous indignation, and without feeling an infinite sorrow at the thought that these abominations have been committed, after two thousand years of Christian civilization, by a nation which, only yesterday, claimed to be the foremost in modern Progress.

It should be remembered that Belgium had done nothing to bring on the war nor to involve her in it. She was a neutralized country. Every shot fired by a German soldier in Belgium is a violation of the solemn treaty whereby Germany pledged her faith to uphold the neutrality of Belgium.

At the end of this pamphlet (page 20) will be found extracts from the “Laws of War on Land,” published by the German General Staff in 1902, and other documents, showing that the massacres, arson and pillage committed by the German army in Belgium are attributable, not to the innate brutality of the German soldier, but rather to an organized system of terrorism laid down and ordered by the superior German Military authorities.

The authenticity of the following text of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry is certified by the Belgian Legation, Washington, D. C.

OFFICIAL BELGIAN COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

on the violation of the Rules of International Law, and of the Laws and Customs of War.

ELEVENTH REPORT SUBMITTED TO HIS EXCELLENCY, MR. CARTON DE WIART, Belgian Minister of Justice.

(I.) INCIDENTS AT NAMUR.

On August 21st, 1914, the Germans bombarded the town of Namur, without any previous notice given. The bombardment began about 1 p. m. and continued for twenty minutes. The besieger was in possession of long-range guns, which enabled him to fire upon the town before the forts had been taken. Shells fell upon the prison, the hospital, the Burgomaster’s house and the railway station, causing conflagrations and killing several persons.

On August 23rd, the German Army pierced the exterior line of defence, and the Belgian 4th Division retreated by the angle between the rivers Sambre and Meuse, while the greater number of the forts were still uninjured and continuing to resist. The German troops penetrated into the town of Namur on the same day about 4 p. m.

On this day order was preserved: officers and soldiers requisitioned food and drink, paying for them sometimes with coined money, more often with requisition-certificates. Most of the latter were bogus documents, but the townspeople were trustful and ignorant of the German language, and so accepted them without making difficulties.

Matters went on in the same way on August 24th till 9 o’clock in the evening. At that hour shooting suddenly began in several quarters of the town, and German infantry were seen advancing in skirmishing order down the principal streets. Almost at the same moment an immense column of smoke and fire was seen rising from the central quarter of the place: the Germans had fired houses in the Place d’Armes and four other spots, the Place Leopold, Rue Rogier, Rue St. Nicolas and the Avenue de la Plante.

All was now panic among the peaceable and defenseless townsfolk: the Germans began breaking open front doors with the butts of their rifles, and throwing incendiary matter into the vestibules. Six dwellers in the Rue Rogier, who were flying from their burning houses, were shot on their own doorsteps. The rest of the inhabitants of this street were forced to avoid a similar fate by escaping through their back gardens. Many of them were in their night clothes, for they had not the time to dress or to pick up their money.

In the Rue St. Nicolas several workmen’s dwellings were set on fire, and a larger number, together with some wood-yards, were burned in the Avenue de la Plante.

The conflagration in the Place d’Armes continued till Thursday. It destroyed the Town Hall, with its archives and pictures, the adjacent group of houses, and the whole quarter bounded by the Rue du Pont, the Rue des Brasseurs, and the Rue Bailly, with the exception of the Hotel des Quatre Fils Aymon.

No serious attempt was made to prevent the fire from spreading. At its commencement some of the townspeople came out at the appeal of the Fire-Bell, but they were forbidden to stir from their houses. The Chief of the Fire Brigade, though the balls were whistling round him, got as far as the site of the disaster; but an officer arrested him in the Place d’Armes, and then, acting under the orders of his superior, sent him away under an escort.

The Germans, with the object of justifying their proceedings, alleged that shots had been fired against their troops on the Monday evening. Every circumstance demonstrates the absurdity of this statement. The juxtaposition of observed facts and the sequence of concordant evidence lead to the conclusion that the incidents at Namur were deliberately prepared, and merely formed part of the general system of terrorism which was habitually practised by the German Army in Belgium.

Fifteen days back the people of Namur had given over to the Belgian Authorities all the firearms that they possessed. They had been informed by Official Notices as to the tenor of the Laws of War, and had been invited by the Civil and Military Authorities, by the Clergy and the Press, to take no part with the belligerents. The Belgian troops had evacuated the town 36 hours before the conflagration. The people, even if they had possessed weapons, would not have been so insane as to rise and assail the masses of German troops who crowded the town and occupied all its approaches. And how can anyone account for the strange fact that, at all the five points at which the alleged rising was supposed to have broken out, the Germans were found in possession of the incendiary substances which were required for the prompt burning of the place?

The disorder which followed helped the pillage in which the German Army habitually engages. In the Place d’Armes houses were thoroughly sacked before they were set on fire. In the quarter by the Gate of St. Nicolas the inhabitants, when they returned to their homes, found that everything had been plundered; in one case a safe had been broken up and 17,000 francs worth of securities had disappeared.

On the subsequent days, though things were comparatively quiet, pillage continued. In several houses where German officers were quartered, the furniture was broken up, and wine and underclothing (even female underclothing) was stolen.

Our witnesses have detailed to us several outrages on women. In one case we have evidence concerning the rape of a girl by four soldiers. A Belgian quartermaster of Gendarmes saw the daughter of the proprietor of the hotel in which he was staying outraged by two German soldiers, without being able to intervene for her protection, at four o’clock in the morning.

Many inhabitants of Namur perished during the fire and the fusillade. Some aged people were left in the burning houses: others were killed in the streets, or shot in their own dwellings. In all, seventy-five civilians perished in one of these ways or another on the 23rd-24th-25th August.

We may mention, without detailing, the arrest of hostages, and the brutal treatment to which the most distinguished inhabitants of the town were exposed during the early days of German occupation.

Namur and the seventeen neighbouring communes were subjected to a war contribution of fifty million francs (£2,000,000), which was afterwards reduced to thirty-two millions, on condition that the first million should be paid within twenty-four hours. The deposits at a private bank (the _Banque Generale_ Belge) were confiscated. On the petition of its directors the concession was made that the sum seized should count towards the war contribution.

The immediate neighborhood of the town was the scene of many similar acts of violence. In this part of the province many mansions and villas were systematically pillaged. One citizen of Namur saw his own furniture from his country house going to the rear on a German cart. The plunder was all sent off to Germany.

At Vedrin a boy was shot because he was found to have in his possession an empty German cartridge case. Twenty-six priests and members of religious orders were shot in the diocese of Namur.

(II.) MASSACRE AT TAMINES.

Tamines was a rich and populous village situated on the Sambre between Charleroi and Namur. It was occupied by detachments of French troops on the 17th, 18th and 19th of August last. On Thursday, the 20th August, a German patrol appeared in front of the suburb of Vilaines. It was greeted by shots fired by French soldiers, and by a party of the Civic Guards of Charleroi. Several Uhlans were killed and wounded, and the rest fled. The people of the village came out of their houses and cried: “Vive la Belgique!” “Vive la France!” In all probability it was this incident which caused the subsequent massacre of Tamines.

Some time afterwards the Germans arrived in force at the hamlet of Alloux. They there burnt two houses and made all the inhabitants prisoners. An artillery combat broke out between the German guns posted at Vilaines and at Alloux and the French guns placed in a battery at Arsimont and at Hame-sur-Heure.

About 5 o’clock on 21st August, the Germans carried the bridge of Tamines, crossed the River Sambre, and began defiling in mass through the streets of the village. About 8 o’clock the movement of troops stopped, and the soldiers penetrated into the houses, drove out the inhabitants, set themselves to sack the place, and then burnt it. The unfortunate peasants who stopped in the village were shot; the rest fled from their houses. The greater part of them were arrested either on the night of the 21st of August or on the following morning. Pillage and burning continued all next day (22nd).

On the evening of the 22nd (Saturday) a group of between 400 and 450 men was collected in front of the Church, not far from the bank of the Sambre. A German detachment opened fire on them, but as the shooting was a slow business the officers ordered up a machine gun, which soon swept off all the unhappy peasants still left standing. Many of them were only wounded and, hoping to save their lives, got with difficulty on their feet again. They were immediately shot down. Many wounded still lay among the corpses. Groans of pain and cries for help were heard in the bleeding heap. On several occasions soldiers walked up to such unhappy individuals and stopped their groans with a bayonet thrust. At night some who still survived succeeded in crawling away. Others put an end to their own pain by rolling themselves into the neighboring river.

All these facts have been established by depositions made by wounded men who succeeded in escaping. About 100 bodies were found in the river.

Next day, Sunday, the 23rd, about 6 o’clock in the morning, another party consisting of prisoners made in the village and the neighborhood were brought into the Square. One of them makes the following deposition:--

“On reaching the Square the first thing that we saw was a mass of bodies of civilians extending over at least 40 yards in length by 6 yards in depth. They had evidently been drawn up in rank to be shot. We were placed before this range of corpses, and were convinced that we too were to be shot.

“An officer then came forward and asked for volunteers to dig trenches to bury these corpses. I and my brother-in-law and certain others offered ourselves. We were conducted to a neighbouring field at the side of the Square, where they made us dig a trench 15 yards long by 10 broad and 2 deep. Each received a spade. While we were digging the trenches soldiers with fixed bayonets gave us our orders. As I was much fatigued through not being accustomed to digging, and being faint from hunger, a soldier then brought me a lighter spade, and afterwards filled a bucket of water for us to drink. I asked him if he knew what they were going to do with us. He said that he did not. By the time that the trenches were finished it was about noon. They then gave us some planks, on which we placed the corpses and so carried them to the trench. I recognized many of the persons whose bodies we were burying. Actually fathers buried the bodies of their sons and sons the bodies of their fathers. The women of the village had been marched out into the Square, and saw us at our work. All around were the burnt houses.

“There were in the Square both soldiers and officers. They were drinking champagne. The more the afternoon drew on the more they drank, and the more we were disposed to think that we were probably to be shot too. We buried from 350 to 400 bodies. A list of the names of the victims has been drawn up and will have been given to you (the Commissioner).

“While some of us were carrying the corpses along I saw a case where they had stopped and called to a German doctor. They had noticed that the man whom they were conveying was still alive. The doctor examined the wounded man and made a sign that he was to be buried with the rest. The plank on which he was lying was borne on again, and I saw the wounded man raise his arm elbow-high. They called to the doctor again, but he made a gesture that he was to go into the trench with the others.

“I saw M. X---- carrying off the body of his own son-in-law. He was able to take away his watch, but was not allowed to remove some papers which were on him.

“When a soldier, seized with an impulse of pity, came near us, an officer immediately scolded him away. When all the bodies had been interred, certain wounded were brought to the Church. Officers consulted about them for some time. Four mounted officers came into the Square, and, after a long conversation, we with our wives and children were made to fall into marching order. We were taken through Tamines, amid the debris which obstructed the streets, and led to Vilaines between two ranks of soldiers. Think of our mental sufferings during this march! We all thought that we were going to be shot in the presence of our wives and children. I saw German soldiers who could not refrain from bursting into tears, on seeing the despair of the women. One of our party was seized with an apoplectic fit from mere terror, and I saw many who fainted.”

When the cortege arrived at Vilaines, an officer told the unhappy people that they were free, but that anyone returning to Tamines would be shot. He obliged the women and children to cry: “Vive l’Allemagne.” The Germans burnt, after sacking them, 264 houses in Tamines. Many persons, including women and children, were burnt or stifled in their own homes. Many others were shot in the fields. The total number of victims was over 650. The Commission of Enquiry devoted special attention to ascertaining whether the inhabitants of the village had fired on the German troops. Every surviving witness unanimously declared the contrary. They explained the massacre of their fellow-villagers by the fact that the Germans attributed to the inhabitants the shots which had been fired by the French skirmishers, or perhaps to the anger produced among the Germans by the success of an attack which had been made on them that night by the French troops.

(III.) PILLAGE AND MASSACRE AT ANDENNE.

The town of Andenne is situated on the right bank of the Meuse between Namur and Huy. It is connected by a bridge with the village of Seilles, which is built along the river on the opposite, or left, bank. The German troops who were wishing to invade the territory on the left bank of the Meuse arrived at Andenne on Thursday, August 19th, in the morning. Their advance guard of Uhlans found that the bridge was not available. A regiment of Belgian Infantry had blown it up at 8 o’clock on the same morning. The Uhlans retired after having seized the Communal cash box at Andenne and brutally maltreated the Burgomaster, Dr. Camus, an old man of more than 70 years. The Burgomaster had several days before taken the most minute precautions to prevent the population from engaging in hostilities. He had posted up everywhere placards ordering non-resistance. All firearms had been collected in the Hotel de Ville, and the local authorities had personally visited certain of the inhabitants to explain their duty to them.

The main body of the German Troops arrived at Andenne in the afternoon. The Regiment halted in the Town and outside it, waiting for the completion of a pontoon bridge, which was not finished till the following morning. The first contact between the troops and the people was quite pacific. The Germans ordered requisitions, which were satisfied. The soldiers at first paid for their purchases and for the drink which they served to them in the Cafes. Towards the evening the situation began to grow more strained. Whether it was that discipline was getting relaxed, or that alcohol commenced to produce its effect, the soldiers ceased paying for what they were taking. The inhabitants were too scared to resist. No friction took place and the night was calm.

On Thursday, the 20th August, the bridge was finished and the troops defiled through the town in great numbers in the direction of the left bank. The inhabitants watched them passing from their houses. Suddenly, at 6 o’clock in the evening, a single rifle shot was heard in the street, followed immediately by a startling explosion. The troops halted, their ranks fell into disorder, and nervous men fired haphazard. Presently a machine gun was set up at a corner and commenced to fire against the houses, and later a cannon dropped three shells into the town at three different points.

At the first rifle shot the inhabitants of the streets through which the troops were defiling, guessing what might happen, took refuge in their cellars or, climbing out over the walls of their gardens, sought refuge in the open country or in distant cellars. A certain number of people who would not or could not make their escape were killed in their houses by shots fired from the street, or in some cases by soldiers who burst into their dwellings.

Immediately afterwards commenced the pillage of the houses in the principal streets of the Town. Every window shutter and door was broken in. Furniture was smashed and thrown out. The soldiers ran down into the cellars, got drunk there, breaking the bottles of wine that they could not carry away. Finally, a certain number of houses were set on fire. During the night rifle shooting broke out several times. The terrified population lay low in their cellars.

Next day, Friday, the 21st August, at 4 o’clock in the morning, the soldiers spread themselves through the Town, driving all the population into the streets and forcing men, women and children to march before them with their hands in the air. Those who did not obey with sufficient promptitude, or did not understand the order given them in German, were promptly knocked down. Those who tried to run away were shot. It was at this moment that Dr. Camus, against whom the Germans seemed to have some special spite, was wounded by a rifle shot, and then finished off by a blow from an axe. His body was dragged along by the feet for some distance. A watchmaker, a Fleming by birth, who had lived for some time in the Town, was coming out of his house on the order of the soldiers, supporting on his arm his father-in-law, an old man of 80. Naturally, therefore, he could not hold up both his hands. A soldier stepped up to him and struck him with an axe on the neck. He fell mortally wounded before his own door. His wife tried to bring him assistance, was pushed back into the house, and had to assist helplessly at the last agony of her husband. A soldier threatened to shoot her with his revolver if she crossed the door-sill.

Meanwhile the whole population was being driven towards the Place des Tilleuls. Old men, the sick and the paralysed were all brought there. Some were drawn on wheel-chairs, others pushed on hand carts, others, again, borne up by their relations. The men were separated from the women and children, then all were searched, but no arms were found on them. One man had in his pocket some empty cartridge cases both German and Belgian. He was immediately apprehended and set aside. So was a cobbler who had a wounded hand; the wound was a month old. An engineer was also put apart because he had in his pocket a spanner, which was considered as a weapon. Another man seems to have been arrested because his face showed his contempt and rage at what was going on. These people were shot in presence of the crowd and all died bravely.

Subsequently the soldiers, on the order of their officers, picked out of the mass some 40 or 50 men who were led off and all shot, some along the bank of the Meuse, and others in front of the Police Station.

The rest of the men were kept for a long time in the Place. Among them lay two persons, one of whom had received a ball in the chest, and the other a bayonet wound. They lay face to the ground with blood from their wounds trickling into the dust, occasionally calling for water. The officers forbade their neighbours to give them any help. One soldier was reproved for having wished to give one of them his water-bottle. Both died in the course of the day.

While this scene was going on in the Place des Tilleuls, other soldiers spread themselves through the Town, continuing their work of sack, pillage and arson. Eight men belonging to the same household were led out into a meadow some 50 yards from their dwelling, some of them were shot, the rest cut down with blows of an axe. One tall red-haired soldier with a scar on his face distinguished himself by the ferocity with which he used an axe. A young boy and a woman were shot.