Their Crimes - Various
THEIR CRIMES
Translated from the French
1917.
_It is proposed to devote any profits from the sale of this work to The
League of Remembrance, or for relief work in Lorraine_.
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Robbery
Incendiarism
Murder
Outrages on Women and Children
Killing the Wounded
Sheltering behind Women
Martyrdom of Civilian Prisoners
German Excuses: Lies and Calumny
The German Appeal
Appeal by Belgian Workmen
Conclusion
PREFACE.
The purpose of this book is to remind English-speaking people all over
the Empire and our Allies in America of the wanton destruction and
unspeakable terror which have overwhelmed the regions of France and
Belgium occupied by the Boche, and also to quicken a true perception of
the reparation and punishment due when peace is made with the enemy. In
many minds time has dimmed the horrors of August and September 1914.
When war weariness is apt to sap resolution and the possibility of a
patched up peace is furtively canvassed, the great world of the
English-speaking race should call to remembrance the inhuman and barely
credible acts of brutality and bestiality committed in cold blood by the
German race.
No apology is made for this book. It is a translation of a document
which has created a profound impression in France. It is an
authoritative record of German crimes committed on the people of Belgium
and Northern France, attested by the Mayors of twenty-six French towns.
Some time ago permission was obtained from the French Committee of
Publication (the Prefect of Meurthe-and-Moselle, and the Mayors of Nancy
and Luneville) to produce an English version on condition that the
translation be an "exact and literal translation." This has been
completed and the Editor, the Rev. J. Esslemont Adams, an Assistant
Principal Chaplain with the British Expeditionary Force in France, is
indebted to the friends who have assisted in producing the work.
INTRODUCTION
This is a book of horrors, but a book of plain truths! Where have we
discovered our facts? They are taken from three sources: _First_, Four
reports issued by the French Commission of Enquiry[1]; and "Germany's
Violation of the Laws of Warfare," published by the French Ministry of
Foreign Affairs; _Second_, Two volumes containing twenty-two reports of
the Belgian Commission[2], and the Reply to the German White Book of the
15th May, 1915; _Third_, Notebooks found upon a large number of German
soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers, who have been wounded
or taken prisoners, and translated under the direction of the French
Government. These valuable records, in which the bandits and their
leaders have imprudently given themselves away, are real "_pieces a
conviction_."
These reports in their entirety form an overwhelming indictment. We
wish that everyone could study them in full. But the books are large,
running to thousands of pages, and will not find their way to the
general public.
Yet everyone ought to know how the Germans carry on war. We have
therefore made selections from these documents in order to compile this
small pamphlet. A dismal task, this wading through mud and blood! And a
hard task, to run through all these reports, pencil in hand, with the
idea of underlining _the essential facts_! You find yourself noting down
each page, marking each paragraph; and, lo and behold, at the end of the
book, you have selected _everything_--- that is to say, nothing. One
might as well start to gather the hundred finest among the leaves of a
forest, or to pick up the hundred most glittering grains among the sand
on a beach. All we can do is to take the first examples which come to
hand. This, then, is not a collection of the most stirring and striking
German crimes, but simply a book of samples. Until complete statistics
are forthcoming, two classes of outrage stand out, and must remain ever
present to the mind: murdered civilians can be counted in thousands;
houses wilfully burned, in tens of thousands.
For want of time and space we have concerned ourselves here only with
crimes committed in Belgium and France, and we have had no thought of
separating the two neighbouring sister nations.
Our part in this work is a modest one. Taking at random a certain number
of _facts_, we have grouped them under different headings to make
perusal easier for the reader. To indicate the references would have
been impossible. Each line would have required a foot-note; the notes
would have been as long as the text, and both the length of, and the
cost of producing this pamphlet would have been doubled.
It is enough to state that there is not a single fact published here
that cannot be verified by our readers in one or other of the documents
already referred to. Nothing but facts are set down, absolute bare
facts, and it is for the reader to form his own conclusions. When he has
studied these "samples," and begins by means of them to learn the truth,
then, and only then, will he have the right to choose, according to his
conscience, between remembrance and oblivion, between pardon and
punishment.
L. MIRMAN, Prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
G. SIMON, Mayor of Nancy.
G. KELLER, Mayor of Luneville.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The members of this Commission were MM. G. Payelle (Premier
President de la Cour des Comptes), A. Mollard (Ministre
Plenipotentiaire), G. Maringer (Conseiller d'Etat), E. Paillot
(Conseiller a la Cour de Cassation)--Rapports et Proces-verbaux, vols
i., ii., iii., iv., Imprimerie Nationale.
[2] The Commission, consisting of men of the highest position in
Belgium, is presided over by M. Van Iseghem (President de la Cour de
Cassation). Its reports and the "Reply to the German White Book" have
been published by Berger-Levrault, from which firm we have also "Carnets
de Route" (J. de Dampierre) and "Paroles Allemandes." "Crimes allemands
d'apres des te-moi gnages allemands," by J. Bedier, is published by
Colin.
ROBBERY
We shall not waste time over the looting of cellars, of larders, of
poultry yards, of linen-chests, or of whatever can be consumed promptly,
or immediately made use of by the troops--all these are the merest
trifles. Let us also dismiss pillage, organised on a large scale by the
authorities, of all sorts of raw material and industrial machinery: the
bill on this score will come to several thousand million francs. Let us
likewise put aside official robberies, committed by governors of towns,
or provinces, from municipal treasuries (even the treasury of the Red
Cross at Brussels was robbed), usually under the form of fines, or of
taxes imposed under transparent pretences. There again there will be
millions to recover.
We shall deal here with _personal robberies_ only, as distinct from the
pilfering carried on by hungry soldiers, distinct too from the regular
contributions levied on a conquered country by an unscrupulous
administration. These robberies are innumerable, committed sometimes by
private soldiers, but often by officers, doctors, and high officials.
Here are some examples.
(1) _Soldier thieves_: They are rougher in their dealings, and kill
those who offer resistance. It is a case of "Your money or your life."
Madame Maupoix, aged 75, living at Triaucourt, was kicked to death while
soldiers ransacked her cupboards. Monsieur Dalissier, aged 73,
belonging to Congis, was summoned to give up his purse: he declared
that he had no money; they tied him up with a rope and fired fifteen
shots into his body. Let us pass quickly over the "soldier
thief"--merely small fry!
(2) _Officer thieves_: At Baron, an officer compelled the notary to open
his safe, and stole money and jewellery from it. Another, after going
through several houses, was seen wearing on his wrists and fingers six
bracelets and nine rings belonging to women. Soldiers who brought their
officer a stolen jewel received a reward of four shillings. The
robberies at Baccarat and Creil were "directed" by officers. At Creil, a
captain tried to induce Guillot and Demonts to point out the houses of
the richest inhabitants, and their refusal cost them harsh treatment. At
Fosse, a French military doctor in charge of an ambulance, conveying two
hundred patients, and himself wounded, was arrested and taken before a
captain. The captain told the doctor that he would have him shot, and
meanwhile opened the doctor's tunic with his own hand, took out his
pocket-book and appropriated the 400 francs he found in it.
Officers and privates sometimes share the stolen money. From a diary
belonging to a titled Lieutenant of the Guards, let us quote this
note:--
"Fosse. Village entirely burnt. The 7th Company made
2000 francs in booty."
From another officer's note-book:--
"More than 3000 francs booty for the battalion."
Another diary, after the sacking of a place, gives a detailed account
of the distribution thus:--
"460 francs for the first lieutenant, 390 francs for the
second lieutenant, etc...."
(3) _Doctor thieves:_ At Choisy-au-Bac, two army doctors, wearing their
brassards, personally sacked the house of a family named Binder. At
Chateau-Thierry some doctors were made prisoners: their mess-tins were
opened and found to be full of stolen articles. After Morhange, a French
doctor of the 20th Corps remained in the German lines to be near his
wounded. He was accosted by one of his German 'confreres.'[3] who with
his own hands stole his watch and pocket-book.
At Raon-sur-Plaine, after the retreat of our troops, Dr. Schneider
remained behind with thirty wounded. Next day up came a German ambulance
with Professor Vulpius, a well-known German scientist of Heidelberg
University, who must have presided over many international medical
congresses. As soon as he was installed, "Herr Professor" intimated to
his French fellow-doctors that he was "going to begin with a small
customary formality." The formality was a simple one: his colleagues
were to hand over to him "all the money they had on them." "I strongly
protested" (declared the French doctor, on oath), "but we were compelled
to hand over our purses and all their contents. Having relieved us in
this way, he turned to our poor wounded, who were all searched and
stripped of their money. There was nothing to be done: we were in the
hands, not of a doctor, but of a regular brute...."
(4) _Royal thieves_: After living about a week in a chateau near Liege,
H.R.H. Prince Eitel Fritz, the Duke of Brunswick, and another nobleman
of less importance, had all the dresses that could be found in the
wardrobes belonging to the lady of the house and her daughters packed up
before their own eyes, and sent to Germany.
* * * * *
These thieves are often _facetious_: they give as compensation a
so-called receipt or bond (in German, of course), which in French means,
"Good for a hundred lashes," or "Good for two rabbits," or "To be shot,"
or "Payable in Paris".... They are also _disgusting_. In houses robbed
by them they leave, by way of visiting cards, excrement in beds, on
tables, and in cupboards. They are sometimes _unnaturally vicious_. In a
village of Limbourg they burnt in a stable a stallion valued at 50,000
francs, and "forced the farmer, his wife and children to witness the
crime on their knees with their arms raised." Amongst the crowd of
unfortunate people brought from Louvain to Brussels were thirteen
priests. The soldiers at a German guard-house stopped the column, and
ordered the priests to come out. To shoot them? No. They forced them
into a pigsty, from which they had driven out the only pig. Forthwith
they compelled most of them to strip off all their clothes, and robbed
them of everything of value they possessed.
These thieves are _practical_ too. At Dinant, safes were opened with
oxy-hydrogen blow-pipes, brought expressly for that purpose. They have a
partiality for safes, and in this connection the story of Luneville
deserves recording. A house near the station, belonging to M. Leclerc,
was set on fire; the walls alone remained standing, and in one of them
(on the second floor) a safe was left intact. A non-commissioned
officer, named Weill, with a party blew up the wall with dynamite, and
the safe was extricated from the rubbish, carried to the station, put on
a truck, and sent to Boche-land. This man Weill, before the war, often
came to Luneville on business with hops, was always well received there,
made himself agreeable and knew everybody. When the Germans settled in
the unfortunate town he played a very important part, in spite of his
low rank, in acting as agent, confidential clerk and guide to the
Commanding Officer.
The robbers are also business-like in their transport arrangements as to
carriages, military waggons, lorries, and motor cars. At Compiegne,
where the home of the Orsetti family was sacked, silver plate, jewellery
and articles of value were collected in the courtyard of the chateau,
then classified, registered, packed and "put into two carts, upon which
they took care to place the Red Cross flag." We read in the note-book of
a wounded German soldier, under medical treatment at Brussels, "A car
has arrived at the hospital, bringing war booty, a piano, two sewing
machines and all sorts of other things."
In 1870, our clocks were in most demand; now, pianos form the
attraction, and an immense number have been sent to Germany. They are
the article particularly favoured by the Boche ladies. In a chateau
retaken by our troops, an officer left behind a letter from his wife, in
which is written, "A thousand thanks for the beautiful things you sent
me. The furs are magnificent, the rosewood furniture is exquisite; but
don't forget that Elsa is always waiting for her piano."
These women, however, are not all as patient in waiting as Elsa. They
frequently come and choose for themselves, and preside over the packing.
They have been seen arriving in motor cars from Strasbourg or Metz, at
many towns in Lorraine, at Luneville, Baccarat, and elsewhere.
All note-books, more or less, contain such items as these: "Wholesale
pillage and abundant loot," "Everything destroyed or sacked," "Looting
going strong," "Played the piano; looting going strong." This very
German formula frequently occurs, "_Methodically_ plundered." And again,
"We have been allowed to plunder; we didn't require to be told twice:
whole bales of loot."
"_Rethel._ The Vandals could not have done better." (The officer who
makes this indiscreet admission and seems to protest against the thefts
committed, writes on the following page: "I have found a silk rainproof
coat and a camera for Felix.")
"_Courcy._ The village, and the workmen's cottages looted and sacked.
Atrocious. There is something, after all, in what they say of German
barbarians."
"_Ottignies._ The village was pillaged. The blond beast has made plain
what he is. The Huns and the free-lances of the Middle Ages could not
have done better."
"_Cirey._ During the night incredible things were done: shops sacked,
money stolen, rapes: enough to make one's hair stand on end."
FOOTNOTES:
[3] We have not found this fact recorded in the Commission's Reports. It
was told to us, on his return from captivity, by Dr. Marlier, of the
20th Corps, taken prisoner at Morhange, and Dr. Marlier is the soul of
honour.
INCENDIARISM
In order to punish imaginary crimes, attributed to individuals or
townships, or without even taking the trouble to discover any kind of
pretext, the Germans often, especially after looting, set everything on
fire _so as to make all traces disappear_. Sometimes, as at Courtacon,
they compelled the inhabitants to provide the material for burning their
own houses; or, as at Recquignies, forced prisoners "to set the houses
of the doctor and mayor on fire with lighted straw." But generally they
do the work themselves. They have a _special service_ for this, and all
the requisite incendiary material is carefully prepared; torches,
grenades, fuses, oil pumps, firebrands, satchels of pastilles containing
very inflammable compressed powder, etc. German science has applied
itself to the perfecting of the technique of incendiarism. The village
is set alight by a _drilled_ method. Those concerned act quite coolly,
as a matter of duty, as though in accordance with a drill scheme laid
down and perfected beforehand.
Of course, fire once let loose, these people have to see that it does
its work completely: accordingly, at Louvain, they destroyed the
fire-engines and fire-escapes; at Namur, they stopped the firemen at the
very moment they were preparing to do their duty.
In this way they sometimes wilfully burned down whole blocks of
dwellings (Luneville): sometimes an entire district (105 houses at
Senlis, 112 at Baccarat): sometimes almost a whole town itself (more
than 300 houses at Gerbeviller, 800 at Sermaize, 1,200 at Dinant, 1,800
at Louvain[4]). On other occasions they did not leave a house standing
(Nomeny, Clermont-en-Argonne, Sommeilles).
The complete list of buildings, cottages, farms, villas, factories, or
chateaux, burned wilfully in this way by hand, will be a formidable one,
amounting to tens of thousands.[5]
Refinement of cruelty frequently occurs. At Aerschot "women had to
witness the sight of the conflagration holding their hands up. Their
torture lasted six hours." At Crevic, the Germans began their sinister
work by burning a chateau which they knew belonged to General Lyautey.
The troops, commanded by an officer, shouted out for Madame and
Mademoiselle Lyautey "that they might cut their heads off."
The houses destroyed by fire were not always uninhabited. At Maixe, M.
Demange, wounded in both knees, dragged himself along and fell prostrate
in his kitchen; his house was set on fire and Madame Demange was
forcibly prevented from going to the rescue of her husband, who perished
in the flames. At Nomeny, Madame Cousin, after being shot, was thrown
into the burning building and roasted. At the same place, M. Adam was
thrown alive into the flames. Let us note in connection with him, to
their credit, an act of comparative humanity. Finding that the unhappy
man was not being burnt fast enough, they ended his misery in the flames
by shooting him. At Monceau-sur-Sambre, where they set fire to 300
houses, they confined the two brothers S. in a shed, and the unfortunate
men were burnt alive.[6]
The soldiers' diaries are filled with descriptions of incendiarism, some
of which we now quote. "Returned by Mazerulles, which was burnt as we
passed through, because the engineers found a telephone there connected
up with the French."[7] "The whole village was in ablaze. Everything
destroyed in the street, except one small house; in front of the door
was a poor woman with her six children, her arms raised and begging for
mercy. And every day it is the same thing."
_Parnx_. "The first village burnt (in Lorraine, on the 10th August);
after that the fun began. Villages in flames, one after the other."
Another note-book simply states, "Sommepy--horrible carnage. The village
entirely burnt; the French thrown into the burning houses; civilians
with the rest." Another recalls theatrical memories. "The village is
ablaze; it reminds one of the conflagration of Walhalla in the 'Twilight
of the Gods.'"
Here is a poet speaking: "The soldiers set up the red cock (_i.e._,
fire) upon the houses, just as they like." This poet is moved, and
speaks of "pure vandalism" on the part of his companions in arms. And
again, a musician writes, "Throwing of incendiary grenades into the
houses; a military concert in the evening--'Nun danket alle Gott'! (Now
thank we all our God)." Finally, a Bavarian: "The village
(Saint-Maurice, Meurthe-et-Moselle) was surrounded, and the soldiers
posted one yard apart so that no one could escape. Then the Uhlans set
fire to the place, one house after the other. No man, woman, or child
could possibly escape. Only the cattle were removed in safety, because
cattle have some value. Anyone trying to escape was shot. Everything in
the village was destroyed." We shall see presently that they even went
so far as to burn ambulances.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] They destroyed by fire the Library at Louvain, with its 200,000
volumes and its incomparable treasures. By means of shells and fire they
have injured in one place, totally destroyed in another, wonders of art
that were an integral part of our human heritage; our Cathedrals at
Rheims, Arras, Ypres, &c.
[5] Belgium alone accounts for about 20,000.
[6] This fact is quoted in the admirable book by Captain A. de Gerlache,
entitled "Belgium and the Belgians during the War," published by the
firm of Berger-Levrault.
[7] See note at foot of page 31. (this is foot-note 11)
MURDER
Not having sufficient space for a complete catalogue, we shall here
simply mention the judicial murders of Miss Cavell, Eugene Jacquet,
Battisti, and others, in order to honour the memory of those noble
victims. For the same reason, as they are now well known to everyone, we
content ourselves with merely recalling the criminal torpedoing of the
_Lusitania,_[8] _Ancona, Portugal, Amiral-Ganteaume_.... all merchant
steamers, without any military character whatever, employed in carrying
passengers of every nationality, and the last-named crowded with
refugees.
We may pass over the crimes committed _from a distance_, so to speak, on
unfortified towns, with fieldpieces, long-range guns, aeroplanes, and
Zeppelins, merely noting that the Germans _were the first_ to fire
shells into the centre of towns indiscriminately. If they made an
exception, it was to aim at the cathedral square, when people were
leaving after Mass, as at Nancy, or into the market-place at the time
when women are busiest, as they did at Luneville.
We only mention here such outrages as were committed at close quarters
with hand-weapons, bayonets or rifles. The list is a long one. Will the
exact number of victims ever be known? In Belgium alone it has been
proved that up to now more than 5,000 civilians have been assassinated:
grown men, old people, women and children. They slaughtered their
victims sometimes one by one, sometimes in groups, often in masses. They
were not content only with killing. At one place they organised round
the massacre such tragic scenes, and at another displayed such
refinements of cruelty, that reason falters in face of their acts, and
asks what terrible madness has brought this race to such low depths? Is
it possible? Yes, it is. Judge by the following examples:--
At Foret, the village schoolmaster was shot for refusing to trample
under foot the national flag, torn down from the front of the school.[9]
At Schaffen, A. Willem was tied to a tree and burnt alive, and two other
unfortunate men were buried alive. Madame Luykx and her little girl, 12
years old, were shot together in a cellar. J. Reynders and his young
nephew, 10 years of age, were both shot in the street. At Sompuis, an
old man named Jacquemin, aged 70, was bound to his bed by an officer and
left there without food for three days, dying soon after his release.
A Westphalian prisoner states, "The commanding officer ordered us to
shoot two women, and we did so. One of them was holding a child by the
hand, and in falling she dragged the child over with her. The officer
gave orders to shoot the child, because it could not be left alone in
the world." At Rouves, a Government clerk refused to tell a Bavarian
officer the numbers of the French regiments in the neighbourhood. The
officer killed him with two shots from his revolver. At Crezancy,
another officer shot with his own hand young Lesaint, 18 years old, "to
prevent his being a soldier later on." At Embermenil, Madame Masson was
shot for having, in absolute good faith, given some wrong information.
As she was obviously in a state of pregnancy they made her sit down on a
bench to meet her fate. At Ethe, two priests were shot "for having
buried some weapons." At Marqueglise, a superior officer ordered the
arrest of four young fugitives. Learning that two of them came from
Belgium, he exclaimed, "The Belgians are filthy people," and without
more ado took his revolver and shot them one after the other. Three were
killed outright, the fourth expired the following day.
From the crowd of fugitives which left Louvain in flames, the priests
were singled out, and searched. On one of them, a Jesuit father, by name
Dupierreux, they found a note-book containing the following note in
French, "When I used to read about the Huns under Attila devastating
towns, I smiled. I smile no longer now that I have seen with my own eyes
the hordes of to-day setting fire to the churches and library of
Louvain." In front of the assembled troops the priests were placed in a
semi-circle round the Jesuit Father. The incriminating phrase was read
out, and then translated into German. The lieutenant said that it
constituted an incitement to murder, and that the Jesuit must be shot on
the spot. The sentence was carried out forthwith, and the other
priests, his companions, were made to bury him where he fell.