The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-28
He Witnessed the Burning of
AerschOt He Says.
700 HOUSES WERE DESTROYED
Prisoners Lined Up and Every
Third One Shot.
Hundreds of Citizens of Lou
Vaine Were MaSsacred.

Belgian now living in To-
peka who was in his native land
when the Germans invaded the
country was interviewed today by q
reporter for the State Journal. A year
has past since the incident occurred
that cost the lives of hundreds of this
mans friends and left the city of his
birth a mass of ruins. That his MEM
ory of the events has not become
dimmed since that time is discernible
from the clearness and ease with
which he tells his story. Without
hesitancy and almost as if the events
had occurred but yesterday the man
told of phases of the German inva-
sion of Belgium that have seldom been
aired
When the war broke out he was at
the home of his parents on a noun
talnside midway between Louvaine
and Aerschot. From the elevation he
saw much of the activities of both the
German and Belgian forces in that
neighborhood. While a visitor in the
invading forces. Brutalities inflicted
on aged men and on women and chill
dren, he claims are unprecedented.
A heavy force of Germans was in
last August. A small force of Bel
gians was concealed nearby. When
detachment of Germans went into
the river to swim, the Belgians opened
lire and retreated when the Germans
were reinforced.
That night, according to the mans
story. the Germans entered Aerschot.
The following day all the women and
children in the city were called to the
market in the center of the town.
Then the Germans set fire to the city,
burning practically every house in
town excepting those in the market.
More than 700 buildings were de-
stroyed. And in the center of this
furnace were huddled the feminine
populace of the Aerschot that had
been.
The next morning the Germans
dealt punishment to the male inhabi-
tants of the city. Every male Bel
gian who could be rounded up was
put into line in the center of the
ruined city. A firing line was sta
toned before the prisoners. Then the
German officer counted, 'Eins, tzwei, |
drei." Every third man stepped back !
and as he stepped he was shot down. !
The counting continued, Elm zwci |
drei," and at every third num- =
Belgian fell.
Massacre of Louvaine.
Shortly after the burning of Aer- /
sehot, the Belgian from whom this |
story was gotten, went to visit a, |
brother in Louvaine. He was in that |
town when it was burned by the Ger |
mans and when he claims hundreds |
of its citizens were massacred.
For several days after the Germans |
entered the city the inhabitants were |
not molested. Belgians and German
soldiers met on terms of most
and cafes were --equent. No alarm |
was felt.
Then one day came a force of Ger |
mans under command of an officer |
whom the Belgian calls 'Manteufel." /
Immediately conditions changed. De-
mands for provisions were made on |
residents of the city and indignities |
heaped upon them.
Several days after the arrival of /
the new Teutonic force, the city was |
destroyed. Preceding the burning of /
the city the Germans charged through |
the streets firing their guns as they /
meant almost certain death, says the |
Belgian. Flames from the houses, al /
ready fired, were Illuminating the |
sky. On their own block, the corner |
by way of street was futile
With his brother, two sisters-in-law |
was a guest at the home, he slipped |
into garden in the rear of the house. |
A high wall fenced in the garden. Be
yond the wall was q neighbours yard |
flying about them, the party scaled |
the wall, says tie Belgian, and |
reached the chicken coop unframed. |
In that place they spent the night.
Thrust Into the Line
The next morning the residents of |
the city were called to the railway |
station. Two lines of men were being |
formed. One consisted of married |
men, the other of unmarried. The |
Belgian who describes these incidents |
was carrying the babe of the woman |
who had the day before been a guest |
in his brothers home. Without be- |
ing questioned as to his matrimonial |
state, he was thrust into the line of |
married men.
The Belgians were then notified |
that they would have to leave the |
city. The unmarried men were made |
prisoners of war. Those married men |
who made up. the front end OF their
line suffered a like fate. The major |
ity of the married men, however, were |
notified that with the women and |
children they would have to march to |
Tirlemont. On this march, the men
under "ManteufeF' committed acts of l
extreme cruelty, according to the Bel /
gian narrator. Women who tired /
after having carried their babes for
eight or ter miles were prodded and
told 20 hurry on. Men We're shot
down for the slightest cause. At one
place along the road the soldiers
found two Belgians beside well that
had gone dry. Because the soldiers
were unable to- quench their thirst,
the men beside the wall were shot.
When the exiles arrived in Tirle-
mont, the German officer was notified
BclgianS could not be kept at that
place. They were then given their
liberty.
Prisoners Tied Together.
While in Belgium during the war,
the Belgian was n prisoner of war
four times, according to his story.
Once the line of prisoners of which
he was q member were tied together
by having the right leg of every man
in line bound to the left leg of the
man on his right ride. Baling wire
was used in binding the legs of the
men The line was then placed in
front of the German cannon to pre-
vent return fire by the Belgians who
were being shelled. That evening the
Belgian made his escape.