The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-03-22
EYEWITNESS OF BRUTAL HUN
ATROCITIES TELLS HER STORY
Makes An Affidavit Before Notary Public In Iowa; Ter
rible Tale Related By Former Belgium
Resident; the Recital

diers rob the people of my village,
and burn their houses and cut the
! fingers from the women and children
for the rings on them. Two young
boys We're imprisoned in house
which was then burned. saw children
around Leavio that had their hands
cut off by the German soldiers. saw
a woman carrying two buckets of
water and saw soldier pass her and
draw his sword ana cut off her right
bend. | saw the priest of the Catholic
church plead with the soldiers to
spare the lives of the women and
children, and saw one of the soldiers
draw his saber and cut off the priests
head.
Told of Outrages.
81 know of two young girls, eight
cen and twenty years of age who had
| to submit to the German officers aft
er serving them their dinner. This
was told to me by themselves.
know shortly after this one of these
two girls became insane and the 9TH
err committed suicide. l saw five
young boys shot by the German SOL
diers while out riding on their bicyc-
c'es. knew young married couple
that had retired for the night when
five soldiers forced the door to their
room and forced the woman to sub
nit to them. while others stood guard
over her husband with a revolver
This was told me by the woman her
SELF
"At the depot at Vlaanderen l saw
an English soldier wounded that had
,, no hat or shoes or sotks and it was
cold and he complained because he
suffered with the cold and I found an
old blanket and covered him and then
the soldier on guard knocked me
down for doing it. l saw German
soldiers have in their possession the
cutoff fingers of women and chill
dren with rings on them.
81 saw French airplane shot down
and the aviator wounded, and then l
saw the wounded aviator thrown into
hole by the German soldiers and
buried alive. l could hardly stand the
sight. / saw German aviators fly over
our village and drop bombs on the
people. Under penalty of death we
were then forced by the German SOL
diers to say it was done by the French
and Eng 'ish.
Husband Was Shot
Mrs. Peter De Broom and Lillian
| Winaberry told me that they were
! forced to submit to being outraged by
the German soldiers. Mrs. De Broom
also told me that her husband came
to her assistance, and then the sold
iers shot him through the head, the
ball passing through both cheeks
and the sheet iron stove
Il was stopping at small house
with my mother, sister and children
and a German officer came in and
demanded that | submit to his wish
es He forced me into small room,
but | fought him and got away All
this happened in the town of Lend
elede in Belgium.
i left Belgium on January 8 1915
to come back to America. Wen |
came to leave Belgium, before they
would give me my passports | had to
swear before a German official that
| would not tell any of these things
either to the French or the English,
nor divulge anything I had seen or
knew to have happened in Belgium.
Il travelled on foot with my two
little children from Lendelede, and
when | got to my destination our
shoes were worn from our feet
MRS. FLORENCE CLAERHOUT''
Subscribed and sworn to before
me by Florence CIaerhout, this 2Sth
day of February, A. d. 191S.-Henry
Westphal, Notary Public in and for
Scott County, Iowa.
THAT indeed is a most shocking
recital of dastardly deeds committed
by the Huns. and they are the skunks
that such papers as The New Ulm
Review and Viercks publica ton and
others of their character would have
the American people take to their
bOsoms and love. The suggestion is
an insult to womanhood and American
itizenship.-Editor of The Free
Press.l