New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-13

C1rCum Sta0fidl IN us dctall9, OF N'N
women were publicly raped IN the mar
ket place Of the city, five young Ger
man officers assisting. At Aerschot men
and women were deliberately shot when
coming out OF burning houses. At
Licge, Louyain, Sempst and Malncs
women were burned 10 death. either
because they were surprised and stupc-
fed by the fumes Of the conhaEraton
or because they were prevented from
escaping by German soldiers. W.T.
ncsscs recount how "A great crowd OF
men, women and children from Acr-
schot were marched 20 LOuvain, and
then suddenly exposed 20 a fire from
mitraillcusc and rifles. I've were
all placed recounts a sufferer, "in sta
ton street, LOuvain, and the German
soldiers fred on US. ! saw the corpses
o. some Of the women in the street. !
fell down, and a woman who had been
shot fell on top of me- Women and
children suddenly turned into the
streets and compelled TO witness the
destruction by fire Of their homes
provided sad spectacle to such
as were sober enough TO see. 4 hu-
name German officer, witnessing the
ruin OF AerSchot. cXclaims in disgust:
Il am father myself, and | cannot
bear this II 'g not war. but butchery.'
Officers as well rs men succumbed 10
the temptation of drink, with results
which may be illustrated by an incl
dat which occurred at Campenhout.
In this village there was certain
well-to-do merchant name given,
who had good cellar of cham
p.sne. On the afternoon of the
l4th or 18th of August, the German
cavalry officers entered the house and
demanded champagne. Having drunk
ten bottles, and invited five or six Of
hcers and three or four private soldiers
to Join them. they continued their ca
rouse, and then called for the master
and mistress of the house. "lmmedi-
ately my mistress came in says the
valet de Chambre, zone Of the officers
who was sitting on the floor got up and,
putting a revolver to my MISTRESS
temple. shot her dead. The officer was
obviously drunk The other officers
continued 10 drink and sing, and they
did not pay great attention 10 the kill
ing of my mistress. The officer who
shot my mistress then told my master
TO dig a grave and bury my mistress
My master and the officer went into the
garden. the officer threatening my mas
ter with a pistol. My master was then
forced 10 dig the grave and to bury
the body of my mistress in II. ! can
not say for what reason they killed my
mistress The officer who did II was
singing all the time"
In the evidence before US there are
cases tending TO show that aggravated
crimes against women were sometimes
severely punished. One witness re-
ports that a young girl who was being
pursued by a drunken soldier at Lou
vain appealed 20 a German officer. and
that the offender was then and there
shot; another describes how an officer
of the 32d Regiment Of the Line was
led ont TO execution for the violation
Of two young girls. but reprioved al
the request or with the consent OF the
girls mother. These instances are SUI
icient 10 show that the maltreatmcnt
OF women was no part OF the military
scheme Of the invaders. however much
il may appear 20 have been the newt
able result Of the system Of terror
deliberately adopted in certain regions.
Indeed. so much is avowed. 81 asked
the commander why we had been
spared says a lady in Louvain, who
dcpOses to having suffered much bru-
tai treatment during the sack lie said,
I'VE will not hurt YOU any more. Stay
in LOuvain. All is finished" 1t was
Saturday, August %, and the reign o.
terror was over.
Individual Outrages.
Apart from the crimes committed in
special areas and belonging to scheme
of systematic reprisals for the alleged
shooting by civilians, there IS evidences
Of offences committed against women
and children by individual soldiers, or
L 4 l . L.
advance through Belgium and France,
a in the retreat from the Marine. In
deed, the discipline appears to have
been loose during the retreat, and
there is evidence as TO the burning of
villages and the murder and violation
Of Their female inhabitants during this
episode of the war
In this tale of horrors hideous forms
of mutilation occur with some fire.
ouency in the dispositions, two of which
may be connected in some instances
with a perverted form of sexual in
stinct
A third form of muArtion. the cut
ting of one or both hands, is frequently
said TO have taken place. In some cases
where this form Of mutilation is al
legged to have occurred, il may be the
consequence of a cavalry charge up
village street, hacking and slashlng at
everything in the way; in others the
victim may possibly have held wea-
pom. in others the motive may have
been the theft Of rings.
We find many established cases
of the slaughter (often accompanied
by mutilatiOn) Of whole families, in
Guiding not infrequently that of quite
small children. In two cases, il seems
TO be clear that preparations were made
10 burn a family alive. These crimes
were committed over a period OF many
weeks and simultaneously in many
places, and the authorities must have
known or ought TO have known that
cruelties of this character were being
perpetrated; nor can any one doubt
that they could have been stopped by
swift and decisive action on the part
Of the heads Of the German army.
Women's Bodies Mutilated.
The cases Of violation, sometimes
under threat of death. are numerous
and clearly proved. We referred here
to comparatively few out of the many
that have been placed in the Appendix,
because the circumstances are in most
instances much the same. They were
often accompanied with cruelty, and the
slaughter of women after violation is
more than once credibly attested.
II is quite possible that in some cases
where the body Of Belgian or
French woman Is reported as lying in
the roadside pierced with bayonet
wounds or hanging naked from n tree
or else as lying gashed and mutlated
in cottage kitchen. or bedroom, the
woman in question gave some provoca-
tion. She may by act or word have ir-
ritated her assailant. and in certain in
stances evidence has been supplied both
as to the provocation offered and as