Evening journal., 1918-02-12

Al Crolsmare, mile OF two further
up the Vezouse, on Aug. %, the Ger
mans fired at every civilian they saw
as they were passing through the Wiz
lage in retreat A mounted officer shot
one man outright. and then made Two
Others line up in front Of him while ne
reloaded his revolver. He dropped three
CARTRIDGES and made them pick them
up. They asked for mercy and he an
swered: "Nicht pardon, cochon de
Franzosei kaputr' With that he nred
twice, wounding one victim in the
shoulder and manning the others hand
A nieht or two later. In the streets OF
Croismare. the report Of a rifle was
heard. sThat is enough TO get you and
fbe bureomaster shot" remarked a
German oficer TO the cure. sir re-
plled the cure, "you are too intelligent
not TO recognize the sharp report of
YOUR own German rifle. / certainly
recognize IL myself" The officer, the
cure adds. did not pursue the converse
tion further.
At Embermenil, further east again,
the Bavarians shot a woman with child
and a young man in the sight of the
rest OF the inhabitants; but this was
later-On Nov. sand meanwhile their
columns. advancing from northwest
and north and northeast had occupied
Luneville for three fun weeks-Aug.
% TO Sept I--and had perpetrated
there some Of the worst atrocities Of
snY that were done In the whole in
vasion Of Belgium and France.
Luneville.
The outbreak OF the Bavarians at
funeville on Aug 25 bears a sinister re-
semblance TO the outbreak at Louvain,
on the same date. OF other German
troops; but there Is little likelihood
That these outbreaks were timed to CO.
incidc and little evidence even, that
either OF them was preconcerted, at a
nxed hour, by the Higher Command.
'The outbreaks themselves, and the ex-
fraordinarily similar courses they fol- |
lowed, are accounted for by the gem |
eral spirit which the Higher Command /
instilled into the German soldiery, and /
by the standing orders they gave TO The |
Of officers through whom /
their executive orders reached the men
IN the ranks. The private soldier was
encouraged TO look on every French
and Belgian civilian as an unconfessed
and treacherous fronc-tireur The com
panv officers and y. e.. O.'s were in
siructed upon the least suspicious
light a tramp Of feet
the report Of a rifle shot fired no mat
ter by whom-to foresiall trouble by
the worst passions of their
men. The Higher Command accom-
plished its policy Of "Friehtfulness' by
more nubtle methods than . Is COM
monty supposed. Its influence on its
subordinates' minds was penetrating i'm
proportion as It was Indirect, and It's
responsibility was often greatest where
the Individual soldiers action appeared
10 flow spontaneously from criminal
tendert les in himself.
The evidence relating to the conduct |
Of the German Army at Luneville IS |
summarized as follows by the French
Commission -
"BuneVille was occupied by the Ger
mans from Aug. q 10 Sept. A. During
the first few days they were content
30 rob the inhabitants without molest-
ing them In any other way. Thus, In
particular on Aug. 2i. the house Of
Nine. beaumont was plundered. The
objects stolen were loaded on 20 a
large vehicle in which there were three |
women, one OF them dressed in black /
and the two others wearing military /
cOstumes, and appearing. as we were 4
told, to be canteen-women.
ron the 25th the attitude OF the in
Vaders suddenly changed NJ. Keller, the
mayor, went to the hospital about half
past three IN the afternoon, and saw
soldiers firing IN the direction Of the
attic Of a neighboring house, and heard
the whistllng Of the bullets. which ap-
peared to him 20 come from behind.
The Germans declared TO him that the
inhabitants had fired on them. iie pro-
tested. and offered TO go round the
town with them in order 10 prove the
absurdity Of this allegation. His pro-
posal was accepted and as at the be-
ginning Of the circuit they came across
the body Of NJ Crombez IN the street,
the oflcer commanding the escort said
20 NJ Keller: You see this body. IT Is
that Of a civilian who has been killed
by another civilian who was firing on
aus from a house near the Synagogue.
Thus. in accordance with our law. we
have burnt the house and executed the
Inhabitants He was speaking OF the
murder Of a man whose timid character
was known 90 all, the Jewish officiating
minister Well. who had just been
killed in his house, together with his
i6-year-old daughter. The same officer
added. In the same way we have
burnt the house at the corner Of the
Rue Castara and the Rue Girardet. be-
cause civilians fired shots from there
It is from this dwelling that the Ger
mans alleged that shots had been fired
into the courtyard OF the hospital. but
the position Of the building makes 10 4
Impossible fer such a statement Go be /
true
while the mayor and the soldiers /
who accompanied him were pursuing
their investigation. the conl8grail0n 4
broke out on different sides; the Hotel I
de-Ville was burnt as well as the syna- /
gogue, and a number Of houses in lhe
Rue Castara and the Faub0urg dim i
Vile were in flames. The massacres. f
which were continued until the next I
day. began at the same time Without
counting N. Crombez and the 0niciatne
minister WE'LL and his daughter. whose
deaths we have already mentioned. The j
So sIl'z5 5IEzlIiII1 I1ls1zlllyi /
HnTET