The Dermott news., 1917-12-27
WRITTEN RECORD
OF ATROCITIES
Diaries of German Soldiers Tell
OF Murder and PiIage in
Belgian Cities.
CALLED "DlSGRACE TO ARMY"
No Discrimination Made Between In
nocent and Guilty-lnfants Shot
In Dead Mothers Arms-Tes-
timony Of Brand Whitlock.

Very many German soldiers ~ho
have been taken prisoner had kept
diaries, and these hare been confs-
Gated By the captors. Many hare
been published. frequently ruth fac
simtle reproductions to guarantee
their authenticity. The folloWing
extracts, NTH the testimony Of
Brand Whitlock, are made public by
the committee on public information
at Washington:
Aug. %. E. Our men came BACK
and said that at the point where the
valley joined the Mouse we could not
get any further. as the villagers were
shooting at us from every house. We
shot the whole lot-16 of them. They
were drawn up In three ranks; the
same shot did for three at time.
The men had already shown
their brutal instincts; -.
1.-The sight OF the bodies of all the
inhabitants who had been shot was
indescribable. Every house in the
whole village was destroyed. We
dragged the villagers one after an
other out Of the most unlikely corners.
The men were shot as we'll as the
women and children who were In the
convent, since shots had been fired
from the convent windows. and we
burnt 1t afterwards.
THE inhabitants might have es-
capped the penalty by handing over the
guilty and paying 1900 francs.
THE inhabitants fred on our men
again. The division took drastic
steps to stop this, the villages being
burnt and the inhabitants being shot
The pretty little village of Cue
d'Ossus, however. was apparently sci
on fire without cause. A cyclist fell
off his machine and his rifle went Off
He Immediately said he had been shoi
at. All the inhabitants were burnt
In the houses. | hope there will be nc
more such horrors.
disgrace to Our Army"
AT Leppe apparently 200 men were
shot. There must have been some in
nocent men among them. In future
we shall have to hold an inquiry u
TO their guilt instead of shooting
them.
an the evening we marched Il
Maubert-Fontaine. Just as we were
having our meal the alarm was sound
ed-everyone Is very jumpy.
september 3. Still at Rethel, OF
guard over prisoners The houses
are charming inside. The middle clas.
In France has magnificent furniture
We found stylish pieces everywhere
and beautiful silk. but in what STATE
Good God Every bit o
furniture broken. mirrors smashed
The vandals themselves could no
have done more damage. This place
Is disgrace to our army. The In
habitants who fed could not have ex
pected, OF course, that all their goods
would have been left intact after 81
many troops had passed. But the col
umn commanders are responsible 70
the greater part OF the damage. a
they could have prevented the tootini
and destruction. The damage amounts
to millions of marks; even the safe
have been attacked.
in q collectors house, In which, a
luck would have II. all was in excel
lent taste. including . collection 0
old lace and Eastern works Of ar,
everything was smashed TO bits.
II could not resist taking q littl
memento myself here and there. .
One house WAS particularly elegant
everything in the best taste. The hal
was OF light oak: found a splendi'
raincoat under the staircase and
camera for Felix" (From the diar
of an officer In the One Hundre
Seventy eighth regiment, Twelfth SAL
on cOrps.)
But his horror apparently was no
shared by the German commander Il
chief, as is evident from the follow
Ing:
"Order.
ITO the People of Liege.
1.-THE population Of Andenne, afte
making a display of peaceful inter
tons toward our troops. attacked ther
In the most treacherous manner. Wit
my authorization. the general con
handing these troops has reduced tn
town to ashes and has had 40 person
shot.
81 bring this fact TO the knowledg
Of the people of Liege In order tina
they may know what fate to expet
should they adopt a similar attitude.
GENERAL Won BUELOW."