Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-11-27
The CRIMES
.OFCERMANY
AbStracted From
Authenticated Official
Reports.
Sheltering Behind Women

put up their hands,, or waved n
white flag, and cried, "kamerad," pre-
tending to surrender thus drawing our
unsuspecting men towards them and
then suddenly moving aside, to leave
the field open to a party of riflemen
or a machine gun hidden away behind
them.
These are the tricks of towards,
which were constantly employed at the
beginning Of the war, and our men Cat
the cost Of many victims) learned at
last to guard against them.
But they Have done even more cow
ardly things than this.
There was the German officer who,
to protect himself from danger while
taking observations. put three children
round him. :
At Nory, Is persons, women and chill
dren. were compelled. to walk at the
side of a Boche column to protect It
from being enfiladed.
Near Malines, six German soldiers
who were taking with them five young
girls, on meeting Belgian patrol,
placed the girls all around them to
prevent the enemy from firing.
At Jodoigne they put cure in front
arms folded, and they did the same at
| Hougaerde to another cure. who was
killed.
A similar fate befell several civilians
at Mons.
| At Senlis, our men were firing TO
cover our retreat. and the Germans took
some inhabitants out of the houses
and made them walk In The middle
on the streets while they themselves
kept along by the walls. Many of these
unfortunate people were killed. I'm
numerous places" says the Belgian
commission of inquiry, "the Germans
made civilians-men and women
walk IN front Of them" In this way
a German column passed through
Marchienne, pushing ahead of them a
body Of several hundred civilians. They
took the road for Montigny-le TilleuI.
where the first important battle with
the French forces took place.
At Sempst, men and women were
placed in the front rank of the firing
line. At Erpe, German column, at
tackled by a Belgian motor machine
gun, took out of the houses 20 to %
men and young people Qncluding a
child of 49,, and made them walk in
front in the middle of the road. The
mavhine -gunners, seeing civilians in
| front of them, ceased firing.
At Alost, a German company at
tackled a bridge. In front marched
some 80 civilians with a machine-gun
hidden behind them.
\ At Vimy, with the butt-ends Of their
rifles, they drove in front Of them 500
men, women and children towards the
not fire; and in this way the Eighty
fourth and Eighty-fifth Schleswig
regiments We're able to continue their
heroic march as far as Maubeuge.
When their adversary cannot actual
ly see the human shield that they are
using, they send warning. The
Deaths Head Hussars shut up all the
inhabitants of the village with them
in the Chateau of Saint Ouen-sur-
NORM, and then, to avoid being shelled
informed the English of their "dispo-
sitions." They fired on anyone who
tried to escape.
/, At Mouzon, number of civilians
were pushed in front of the enemy with
i, the butt ends of rifles. and the allie.
a stopped firing. The wretched people
moved suddenly to one side Of the road
Q uncovering the Germans. and ther
the allies fired. The Boches, furious
fired their first volley point blank a
1 these non combatants, who were deci
mated.
The towards chiefly used civilians a.
shields, but sometimes they also mad
v use of prisoners. At Keyem. the!
, pushed one hundred Belgian soldier
in front of them, some with thei
4 hands tied, and others with thei
r arms in the air.
At Dixmude, they advanced undo
a the shelter of 40 disarmed marines VIII
had been taken prisoners. When the,
q got in front Of our lines our marine
. shouted, For Gods sake fire, thes
are Germans" and these heroes fel
II gloriously under the French bullets
: Such deeds are countless.
r The Boches will deny them later OF
n but In 1914 they did not deny then
but rather gloried in them as goo
n idea" We can see this from the lette
" of the Bavarian Lieutenant Eberiir
;. published on the 7th Of October. 1871
: by a leading Munich paper. I'VE ha
10 arrested three other civilians when
'goc 1 idea struck me. We made theI
" sit on chairs in the middle OF the stree
-supplications from them. and blow
with butt ends of rifles from us.
last they were Ieated outside In On
street with Il. cir hands clasped togetr
RS err. felt sorry for them. but the pia
ID worked at o-ce. As ! learned late
Be the regiment which entered saint-Di'
further to the north of u.s. had PR
As cisely similar experiences to our ow
~ The civilians. whom they had put
the same ways In the middle OF u
street, were killed by French ouhe'
] saw their dead bodies"
Mia Anuuefa Sosanan. Of MiiWauke