The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-04-11
GERMANS EXCUSE
ATRCC|0US ACTS
Murder, PiIlage and Arson Part
Of Deliberate Scheme of
Warfare.
HIGH OFFICERS GO ON RECORD
No Possible Evasion Of Responsibility
for BestiaI Acts Which for centu-
ries Have Had No Parallel
Officially Endorsed.

NC PeoPte " " CHtten DthteS
IRE beginning to learn the truth con-
;erning the conduct of the var By
Germany. Proof is offered that Ger
nan officials deliberately lied in
heir statements concerning atroci-
les committed by Me Belgians and
lilies. That their oWn soldiers we're
iisgusted by the crueIties practiced
It the order Of high officers of the
aiser is shown. Ertracts taken
fom pamphlets issued follow:
The yorwaerts of Berlin, October %,
Ola, said:
ave have already been able to es-
rabllsh the falsGncss Of a great number
If assertions which have been made
With great precision and published
everywhere in the press, concerning al
legged cruelties committed, by the popu-
latiOns Of the countries with which
Germany is at war, upon German SOL
diers and civilians. We are 10Y in po-
sition to silence two others OF these
fantastic stories.
"The var correspondent of the Ber-
liner Tagehlatt spoke a few weeks
ago Of cigars and cigarettes filed with
powder alleged to have been given out
sold to our soldiers with diabolical
intent. He even pretended that he had
with his own eyes hundreds Of
this kind Of cigarettes. We learn from
an authentic source that this story of
and cigarettes is nothing but a
hrazen invention. Stories Of soldiers
whose yes are alleged 10 have been
torn out by francs.tireurs are c~irculat'
ed throughout Germany. Not a single
case of this kind has been officially cs-
tahlished.
"It matters little that reports of this
nature hear an appearance of positive
gertrude, or are even vOuched for by
eye.wltneSses. The desire for notoriety,
the absence Of criticism. and personal
error play an unfortunate part In the
days in which we are living. Every
nose shot of or simply bound mp,
every eye removed. Is Immediately
transformed into n lose or eye torn
away by the francs.tlreurS. Already the
volkszeitung IF Cologne has been able,
contrary TO the very categorical asser-
tions from AiY-la.Chapelle to prove
that there was no soldier with his eyes
torn out in the field ambulance Of this
town. It vas said, also, that people
wounded In this way We're under treat
inent In the ueighhnrhood of Berlin.
but whenever inquiries have been made
In regard to these reports their sbso-
lutte falsitv has been demonstrated. At
length these reports were concentrated
at Gross Lichterfelhe. A newspaper
published at noon and widely circu-
lated in Berlin printed n few days ago
in large type the news that at the
Lazaretto Of Lichterfelde alone there
were ten German soldiers, only slight
~ wounded, whose eyes had been wick.
'dly torn out But to a request for
Information by COmrade Liobknecht
ne followin" written reply was sent
x the chief medical officer Of the
aforementioned field hospital, dated
the eighteenth Of the month:
"'Sir: Happily there IS no truth
whatever In these stories.
Yours obcdicntly,
PROFESSOR RAUTENBERG,"
German Soldiers Protested.
Thus the tea chings OF the German
f,yc. DDn1- and 90 fI,n inrronn nnnctloc
# frightfulness suspicion and hatred,
had now begun to bear their natural
fruit. But the voice Of protest was
not entirely silent. A considerable
number Of letters by German soldiers
who were shocked by the German
Gerard. because he VAS the representa-
tive Of the United States, the leading
neutral nation. Tie three letters
which follow, IN translation, were re-
ceived by the American ambassador
from German soldiers
Here is the protest Of n German sol
der. an eyewitness of the slaughter Of
Russian soldiers in the MaSlirian lakes
and swnmps:
ut was friGhtful hrart-rendinc. as
these masses of human beings were
driven to destruction. Above the ter
ribIe thunder of IT," raNnon could be
heard the hCart.r"nding cries Of tho
Russians: % PrusSinns! q rruSsianS y
but there was no mcrcy. Our captaia
had ordered The whole lot must die:
so rapid fire. AS ] have bcnrd, five
men and one officer on our side went
mad from these heurt rending cries.
Pint most Of my comrades and the OF.
GERS jokcd rs tHC nnarmed and helpless
Russians shricked for mercy while
they We're being suffocatei in the
Swnmrs ard shot down. The order
was: Close NJ AMI at II harder For
days afterwards those hcart-rcnlirg
wells followed me and | dare not think
Of them or | shall 90 mad. There Is Nc
God, there Is no morality and NJ ethics
any more. There are no human beings
any more. but only beasts. Down with
miiitarism.
If you are a truth.loving man,
rlesse receive these lines from a con-
mon Prussian soldier"
Following Is the testimony Of another