The Kadoka press and Kadoka reporter. [volume] (Kadoka, S.D.) 1910-1923, 1917-12-28
Frightfulness Taught by German
Leaders Belongs IL Age Of
Barbarism.
SOLEMN PLEDGE MERE WORDS
kaisers Statesmen Had No Intention
OF Keeping Faith With Their
Agreement on international Law
Horrors Told by Diaries.

mainly from German and american
sources The German sources IN
clude official proclamationS and
other official utterUnceS, letters and
diaries of German soldiers and qu0-
totions from German newspapers
The Rules for FieId Seruice" Of The
German army adUiSeS each soldier
to keep such diary while on actire
SerUice.
In the wars waged. in ancient times
it was taken for granted that con
quered peoples might be either killed,
tortured. or held AS slaves; that their
property would be taken and that their
lands would be devastated. "Vae vic
It's woe to the conquered ~ For two
centuries or more there has been "A
steady advance in Introducing ideas of
humanity and especially in Contining
the evils of warfare to the Combatants.
The ideal seemed to have become so
thoroughly established as a part of in
ternatiOnal law that the powers nj The
Hague thought Ii sufficient merely TO
state the general principles in Article
NLVl of the regulations: Family hon.
orS and rights. the lives of persons
and private property, as well as re-
ltgious convictions and practice, must
be respected. Private property cannot
be confiscated." Germany. in common
with the other powers, solemny
pledged her faith to keep this article.
but her military leaders had no inten-
tion of doing 40. They had been
trained in the ideas voiced by Gen. Won
Hartmann 40 years ago: Terrorism
is seen to be a relatively gentle pro-
cedure, useful to keep the masses of
the people In state of obedience" "
This had been Bismarck's policy, too.
According to Moritz Busch, Bismark s
biographer, Bismarck, exasperated by
the French resistance, which was still
continuing in January, 1871, said:
''If in the. territory which we occupy.
we cannot supply everything for our
troops, fr0u time to time we shall send
a flying column into the localities
which are recalcitrant. We snail shoot.
hang and burn. After that has hap
pened a few times, the inhabitants will
finally come to their senses"
Horrors Told in Soldiers Diaries.
The frightfuineSS taught by the Ger
man leaders held full sway in Belgium.
This is best seen in the entries i'm the
diaries Of the individual German sol
diers.
During the night of August 1916
Engineer CIR gave the alarm in the
town of Wise. Every one was shot or
taken prisoner, and the houses were
burnt The prisoners were made TO
march and keep up with the troops
Trom the diary of noncommisSioned
officer Reinhold Koehn of the Second
battalion OF engineers, Third army
corpse
"A horrible bath of blood. The whole
village burnt. the French thrown into
the blazing houses, civilians with the
rest" FrOm the diary of Private
Hassemer of the Eighth army corps.)
''In the night Of August 1919 the vii.
lage of Saint Maurice was punished
for having fred on German soldiers by
being burnt to the ground by the Ger
man troops 1.-TWO regiments. the
Twelfth landwehr and the Seven
teenth.) The village was surrounded
men posted about a yard from one an.
other, so that no one could get ont
Then the Uhlnns set fire to II. house
by house. Neither man. woman. nor
child could escape: only the greater
part of the live stock we carried of.
as that could be used. Anyone who
ventured 10 come out was shot down
All the inhabitants left in the village
were burnt with the houses" From
the diary Of Private Karl Scheufcle of
the Third Bavarian regiment and land
wehr infantry)
AT ten O'Clock in the evening the
first battalion of the one hundred md
Seventy eighth marched down The steep
burning village 10 the north Of Dinant.
A terrific spectacle of CHASTITY beauty.
AZ the entrance 10 the village Law about
fifty dead civilians. shot for having
fired upon our troops from ambush In
the course Of the night many others
were also shot, 50 that we counted over
900, Women and children. lamp In
hand. were forced 10 look on ar the
horrible scene. We ate our rice later
In the midst of the corpSes, for we had
had nothing since morning. When we
searched the houses we found plentv
Of wine and spirit, but no eatahles.
Hamann was drunk" (This
last phrase In shOrthand) (From The
diary Of Private Philip of the one
Hundred and Seventy eighth regiment
Of infantry, Twelfth army corps)
Writing from Belgium In 1916 Irwin
:. Cobb said
,'I.rifly Yhaf I saw was tbiS. .o-