The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-05-18

Ass&%f @1a @sAttN
actually followed by murder Of the
victim. were committed by some CT
the German troops
Women Much Maltrcatcd.
\ special chapter Is given to the
treatment Of women and children. The
latter. II is said. frequently received
milder treatment than the men. But
many instances were given OF cal
eulated cruelty. often going the
length Of murder, towards the women
and children. At Aerschot. il SAYS,
women and children were herded into
the church which had recently been
used as a stable. detained for forty
eight hours with no food other than
coarse bread, and denied the common
d~ecencies OF life. In other cases
women and children were marched
for long distances. the laEgards being
lady complains Of having been brutal
~ kicked by private. Others weU
lstruck with the butt end OF rifles.
AT Liege women and children
were chased about the streets by
soldiers. a witness gives IA story. very
circumstantial in its details, of how
" omen Were publicly raped in the
market place OF the city, five young
Gernan officers assisting" Another
witness tells of a carousel Of officers,
at which the woman of the house was
shot dead, and her husband then COM
pell to dig a grave in the garden and
* wi He wiz" IL tpt1 Esf>
on:
In the evidence before US there
are cases tending to show that agra
waited crimes against women were
sometimes severely punished. one
witness reports hat a young girl who
: was being pursued by "A drunken sol
? der at Louvain appealed To a German
] offlcer. and that the offender was then
: and there shot: another described how
an officer OF the 32nd Regiment OF
D, the Line was led out TO execution for
q the violation Of two young girls. but
+ reprieved at the request or with the
consent of the girls mother. These
e instances are sufficient TO show that
the maltreatment OF women was no
n part of the military scheme of the in
r vaders, however much it may appear
e to have been the inevitable result Of
n the system Of terror deliberately
Y adopted in certain regions.
r In this tale of horrors hideous
n forms of mutllation occurs with some
frequency in the dispositions. two of
which may be connected in some in
stances with "a perverted form Of seXu-
n al instinct.
d Whole Families Killed.
a " find many well-estahlished
o cases of the slaughter GOTTEN accom-
n panied by mutilation) of whole faIni-
10 lies, including not ~infrequently that
< Of quite small children. In two cases
IL SceiifS u Ut titdI Una preparations
d were made to burn a family alive,
as These crimes were committed over a
L period of many weeks and simultane-
ouSly IN many places, and the au-
n thorities must have known or ought
r to have known that cruelties of this
r character were being perpetrated, no.
can any one doubt that they coul,
have been stopped by swift and deci
RS sive action on the part of The head,
OF of the German army.
st 1T is clearly shown that many Of
IS. fenses were committed against infant
a and quite young children. On on
r occasion children were even roped to
is gether and used as a military screc1
against the enemy, on another thre'
~ soldiers went into action carryin;
ss, small children to protect themseIve
Sc from flank fire. A shocking case o
rlt soldier at Malines is reported by on
he eyewitness and confirmed by anoth
m er.
ty I'VE cannot tell whether these act
es of cruelty to children were part Of
of scheme for inducing submission b
to inspiring terror. In bouvain, wher
IT, the system of terrorizing was carrie
d. to the furtherest limit, Outrases q
n children were The same
SO however. cannot be said OF some @
at the smaller villages which were sub
at jected to the system. In Hofstade an
p Sempst, in Haecht, Rotselaer an
it Wespelaer, many children were mur
he dered. Nor can it be said of the vii
o. lage Of Tamines where three sma
en- children fwhoSe names are given b
CT an eyewitness of the crime) wer
slaughtered on the green for no al
no parent motive. 1t is difficult TO in
nd agine the motives which may hav
It'll prompted such acts. Whether or NJ
on Belgian civilians fired on German so
diers. young children at any rate di
not fire"
TIL Many instances are given Of III
on use of civilians as screens during til
ed military operation. Another branc
an Of the eport deals with looting. burr
n ing, n destruction of property. TT
III general conclusion the report say
by is that the burning and destructio
as Of property which took place was onl
in a very small minority of Gases i'll.