Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-06-07
. Diaries Of German Soldiers Tell
of Murder and PiIIage in
Belgian Cities.
CALLED DISGRACE TO ARMY"
No Discrimination Made Between In
nocent and Gulty--Infants Shot
In Dead Mothers Arms-Tes-
timony Of Brand WhitIock.

hare been taken prisoner had kept
diaries, and these hare been cOnfS-
Gated By the captorS. Many hare
been published, frequently with fac
Simile reproductions to guarantee
their authenticity The following
extracts, with the testimony of
Brand Whitlock, are made public by
the committee on public information
at Washington:
Aug. %. 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 Lotto of them. They
were drawn up in three ranks; the
same shot did for three at n time.
The men had already shown
their brutal Instincts; 49,.
1.-THE sight of the bodies of all the
inhabitants who had been shot was
Undesirable. 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 well as the
women and children who were In the
convent, since shots had been fired
from the convent windows; and we
burnt 1t afterwards.
1.-THE inhabitants might have es-
capped the penalty by handing over the
guilty and paying 1900 francs.
"The inhabitants fired 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
dOssus, however. was apparently set
on fire without cause. A cyclist fell
off his machine and his rifle went off.
He Immediately said he had been shot
at. All the inhabitants were burnt
in the houses. / hope there will be no
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 as
to their guilt instead of shooting
them.
''In the evening we marched to
Maubert-Fontaine. Just rs we were
having our meal the alarm was sound
ed--everyone is very jumpy
september 3. Stlll at Rethel, on
guard over prisoners. The houses
are charming inside. The middle class
in France has magnificent furniture.
We found stylish pieces everywhere
and beautiful silk, but in what II state
Good God Every bit of
furniture broken, mirrors smashed.
The Vandals themselves could not
have done more damage. This place
is II disgrace to our army. The in
hahitantS who fled could not have eX-
pectcd, of course, that all their goods
would have been left intact after SO
many troops had passed. But the col
ulnn commanders are responsible for
the greater part of the damage, rs
they could have prevented the lootlng
and destruction. The damage amounts
TO millions of marks; even the safes
have been attacked.
'In solicitors house, in which, as
luck would have II, all was In excel
lent taste, including collection OF
old lace and Eastern works of art
everything was smashed to bits.
IL could not resist taking little
memento myself here and there.
One house was particularly elegant
everything in the best taste. The hal
was of light oak; | found splendid
raincoat under the staircase and &
camera for Felix" (From the diary
of an officer in the One Hundred
Seventy-cghth regiment, Twelfth Sax
on corpse
But his horror apparently was no
shared by the German commander II
chief, as Is evident from the follow
ing:
"Order.
"To the People Of Liege.
"Thc population of Andenne, afte
making II display of peaceful inten
lions toward our troops, attacked then
in the most treachcrous manner Wit
my authorization, the general com
handing these troops has reduced tn
town to ashes and has had 40 person
shot
Il bring this fact TO the knowledg
of the people of l.Iegc in order tina
they may know what fate to eXpec
should they adopt II similar attitude.
"Liege, 22d August, 1914.
GENERAL Won BUELOW."
Brand Whitlock Writes Of Massacre'
In his report Of September II, 1871
to the secretary of state, Ministe
Whitlock has much to tell of the po
icy of frightfulness. The followin
passages refer To the subject of mas
sacres
Summary executions took place "a
Dlnan) without the least semblanc
of judgment. The names and numbe
of the victims are not known, but the
must be numerous. | have been III
able to obtain precise details in thi
respect and the number of person
who have fled is unknown. Among IL