The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1917-11-29

their lines, brought out group of
French girls, built fire and tortured
the girls for half an hour, burning
some of them to death before their
countrymen's eyes, while the Ger
mans jeered. The colonel who had to
stand that rather than condemn his
men to death was given medal for
bravery by his country. 1t was one or
the bravest deeds of the war.
But as a result of it the French
chasseurs have continental reputa-
tion for the small number of German
prisoners they bring in. The Aus
trians went into battle with the Ital-
ians carrying great clubs-iron-spik-
ed at the end, with which they killed
the wounded in the trenches. There
can be no doubt of the fact that the
deliberate Turkish massacre of half
million Armenians was with official
German consent, and approved before
and after the deed.
German Prisoners Well Treated
Yet, barring the colonial troops of
the English and the French chas-
seurs, one who travels up and down
the western front of the Allies finds
no talk of hatred for the German SOL
died. Indeed the English Tommies are
prone to fraternize with German pris-
oners too much. The Canadians are
kind to prisoners once they come be-
hind the lines of the Allies, and no
one ever heard of French chasseur
lifting a hand against German in
prison camp-if he obeyed the regula-
tions. And so far as that goes the
German is generally glad enough to
be prisoner and does his work well.
In the morning or coming home at
night-a soldierly, well-set-up man,
generally marching in squads, some.
times in troops and never heavily
guarded. Those handsome fellows are
of the old draft-men captured in the
first two years of the war.
The draft today is a scrubbier lot.
It marches poorly, it doesn't do
good days work-not because it is
ugly about it. Heaven knows it is
docile enough, but the work isn't in
it. Yet this draft, composed of the
landstrum, and the boys and the de-
fectives, is treated decently by the
Allies, and in spite of the bitterness
of the people back of the firing line
for the Hun, even the imprisoned Hun
lies against the Hun is not against
the German soldiers, though as agents
of German officialdom German sol
diers have done all the awful deeds
which have turned civilization away
from Germany in revolving horror. In
Europe at least men draw a mark be-
tween Germany and the German SOL
diers. The Germans are the "Huns."
The German soldier is "Fritzie" or
the "Boche!" And neither term car
ries poison with it.
Europe's Hatred of Germany
But how Europe does hate Germany
not merely the kaiser; not even
merely the Hohenzollerns; not even
the Junkers alone, but Germany-all
Germany, the docile, stupid, hypno-
tized Germany that celebrated the
sinking of the Lusitania, that endors-
ed the submarine, that stands for the
enslavement of captive French and
Belgian civilians. that applauded the
rape of Belgium, that has backed up
| every atrocity of the war lords for
three years. That Germany is the
"Hun" whose name is an anathema all
over the civilized world. Therefore it
may be well to explain to Americans
just what the Hun is and why.
To begin to understand Germany
one must understand Germany's
mind. Two traits dominate the Ger
man mind: vast consuming egotism
and an absolutely material philoso-
ply. Vanity and materia1ism have
worked out Babylonian conceit and
a Babylonian ruthlessness. At every