Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-05-13

master were shot according to martial
law" The diary of a member OF the
Fourth Company Of Jagers says. I'M
der date of August %, About 220 In
habitants and the village were burnt.
Artillery is continuously shooting.
begins near Dinant. All villages,
Chateaux and houses are burnt down
during the night. 1t is beautiful
sight to see the fires all round us III
the distance" Another diary, by
member of the Second Mounted Bat
terry, First Kurhessian Field ARTILLERY
Regiment, No. II, records an incident
which happened in French territory
near Lille on October IL:
I'VE had no fight. but we caught
about 20 men and shot them"
Killing Of Unarmed Habit.
The committee says of this las
diary: by this time killing not in a
fight would seem to have passed into
a habit.''
The report adds that the most i'm
portant entry is contained in diary
No. 10. This contains no name AMI
taddress, but names referred to in the
diary indicate that the entries were
made by an officer Of the First Regi-
ment of Foot Guards. The entry
made at Eermeton on August "a says:
We took about 1000 prisoners; at
least 500 were shot, The village was
burnt because inhabitants had also
shot. Two civilians were shot a!
once"
Tie conclusions of tie committee,
as to the various detailed recitals, are
as follows:
We may now sum Up and endeav1r
to explain the character and slgnln"
canoe of the wrongful acts done by
the German army in Belgium.
IF a line is drawn on a map from
the Belgian frontier to Liege and con-
tinued to Charleroi, and a second line
drawn from Liege to Malines sor.
of figure resembling an irregular
Will be formed. 1t is along this
that most of the systematic (as OPP
posed to isolated) outrages were COM
mitted If the period from August 4
to August 80 is taken it will be found
to cover most of these organized out
RACES. Termonder and Alost extend!
it is true beyond the Y lines, and they
belong to the month Of September.
Murder, rape arson and pillage began
from the moment when the German
army crossed the frontier. For the
first fortnight Of the war the towns
tand villages near Liege were the chief
sufferers. From August 18th to the
end of the month outrages spread IN
the directions of Charleroi and Ma .
lines and reach their period Of great
est intensity. There is a certain sig
nificance in the fact that the outrageS
around Liege coincide with the unex
pected resistance of the Belgian army
in that district, and that the slauSh-
ter which reigned from August 10 t.
the end of the month is contempor-
aneous with the period when the Ger
man Army's need for a quick passage
through Belgium at all costs was
deemed imperative.
Here let a distinction be drawn be-
tween two classes of outrages.
Rape, Plumber and Slaughter.
Individual acts of brutality,.-ill-
treatment of civilians. rape, plumber,
and the like-were very widely COM
mitted These are more numerous
and more shocking than would be ex-
pected in warfare between civilized
Powers, but they differ rather in ex.
tent than in kind from what had hap
pened in previous though not recent
wars.
In all wars many shocking and
outrageous acts of men of crimina,
instincts whose worst passions were
Embossed by the immunity which the
conditions Of warfare afford. Drunk
enness, moreover, may turn even
soldier who has no criminal habits
into a brute, who may commit out
RACES at which he would himself be
shocked in his sober moments, and
there is evidence that intoxication
was extremely prevalent among the
German army. both in Belgium and in
France, for plenty Of wine was to be
found in the villages and country
houses which were pillaged. Many of
the worst outrages appear to have
been perpetrated by men under the
! influence of drink. Unfortunately
little seems to have been done to re-
press this source of danger.
I'm the present war, however-and
| this is the gravest charge against tho
German army-the evidence shows
that the killing of nom combatants
was carried out to an extent for which
no previous war between nations
claiming to be civilized tfor such cas-
es as the atrocities perpetrated by tn"
! Turks on the Bulgarian Christians in
| 1876, and on the Armenian Christians
| in 1895 and 1896. do not belong to that
category furnishes any precedent.
That this killing was done as part =
deliberate plan is clear from the
| facts herein before set forth regard
ing Louvain, Aerschot. Dinant and
other towns. The killing was done
under orders in each place. 1t began
at certain fixed date. Some of tn.
officers who carried out the work did
it reluctantly. and said they were
! obeying directions from their Chiefs
The same remarks apply to the des-
truction of property. House burning
was part Of the program; and the vii
| lagos. even large parts of city. We're
given to the flames as part OF the
terrorizing policy. 49,.
Germany Does Not Deny It.
Citizens of neutral states who
visited Belgium in December and
| January report that the German au-