The Elk Mountain pilot., 1917-12-20
please receive these lines from q COM
mon Prussian soldier"
Soldier Tells of Atrocities.

ooI0ieT ! eit9 OF AtfoCitte8.
Here is the testimony of another Ger
man soldier on the eastern front:
Russian Poland, December 1S. IA.
''In the name Of Christianity l send
you these words.
wounded Russians are killed with
the bayonet according to orders.
"And Russians who have surrender
ed are often shot down In masses ac-
cording to orders, in spite of their
heart-rending prayers.
I'm the hope that you, as the repre-
sentative of Christian state, will
protest against this, sign myself.
"A GERMAN SOLDIER AND
CHRISTIAN.
The third letter. from the western
front, shows the same horror of the
system of which the writer was wit
ness.
ITO the American Government,
Washington. U. S. A.
''Englishmen who have surrendered
are shot down in small groups. With
the French one is more considerate.
ask whether men let themselves be
taken prisoner in order to be dis
armed and shot down afterward? Is
that chivalry in battle? 1t is no longer
secret among the people; one hears
everywhere that few prisoners are
taken; they are shot down in small
groups. They say naively: we don't
want any unnecessary mouths to feed
Where there Is no one to enter COM
plaint. there is no judge Is there
then no power in the world which can
put an end to these murders and res
cue the victims? Where is Chris
tianity? Where Is right? Might is
right.
"A SOLDIER AND A MAN WHO IS
NO BARBARIAN"
Socialists Oppose System
Many of the Germans. as has been
already indicated. do not believe the
reports of the atrocities committed by
the Belgian civilians and refuse to ac-
cept the system Of frightfulness. The
Vorwaerts, the leading socialist paper
which has very wide circle of read
ers. has opposed the policy of fright
fulness. All honor to its editors who
have so courageously opposed the pow
erful military authority Its editorial
entitled "Our Foes" published August
%. 1914, reads as follows:
"what should one say when even
such an organ as the Deutsches On
zier-Blatt expresses its sympathy with
demand that the beasts who are
taken us francs-tireurs should not be
killed. but only wounded so that they
may then be left to a fate which makes
any help impossible?' Or what should
we say when the Deutsches Ofiizier-
Blatt states that a punitive destruc-
ton even of whole regions cannot 'af-
ford full recompense for the bones of a
single murdered Pomernnian grena-
dierT Those are the desires OF blood
thirsty fanatics and we are thoroughly
ashamed of ourselves because 1t is
possible that there are people among
us who urge such things"
"earbarisrn," Declares vor~aerts.
On the following day, August "a.
1914. the Vorwaerts returned to the
attack in an editorial Against Bar
barism."
"One might, in the first
place. possibly believe that such n de-
mand for bloody vengeance [against
alleged Belgian outrages1 emanates
from single disease-racked brain
but It appears that whole groups
among certain classes who represent
German kultur want to indulge in Or
gies of barbarism and to devise a
whole system for the purpose Of or
ganizing a war OF revenge
lot OG 1917
the Vorwaerts quoted the following
passage from the Deutsche Tageszei-
tung:
1--WE have ring Of politicians who
hold that might makes right (Macht-
politiker), who despise the forces Of
the inner life and believe that they
must eliminate all ethical points of
view o.. from foreign and social
politics. For them. Germany of the
try of the Krupps and Borsigs. Of the
Zeppelins and the U-boats. Any idea
of n connection between politics and
morals is rejected and any reference
to the right of moral method of con-
sideration Is ridiculed as delusion and
sentimentnlity."
The German officers were provided
with the forms to be used in terror
izing the conquered people. The COM
mon soldiers were provided with
phrase books which would enable them
to impose their will upon the terrified
people. Minister Brand Whitlock in
his report to the state department on
September 10. 1917. writes:
"The German soldiers were provid-
ed with phrase books giving alternate
translation In German and French of
such sentences as:
"'Hands up ut Is the very first
sentence In the book.)
"'Carry out all the furniture.
"T am thirsty. Bring me some beer,