The Benson signal., 1918-01-05
WRITTEN RECORD
OF Atrocities
Diaries of German Soldiers Tell
of Murder and PiIIage in
Belgian Cities.
CALLED "DISGRACE TO ARMY"
No Discrimination Made Between In
nocent and Guity-Infants Shot
in Dead Mothers Arms-Tes-
timony of Brand Whitlock.

Very naaray German soldiers who
haze been taken prisoner had kept
diaries, and these haze been confs-
Gated By the captors. Many h0ue
been published, frequently with fac
simize reproductions to guarantee
their authenticity. The following
extracts, with the testimony of
Brand Whitzock, 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 Meuse 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 a time.
>. The men had already shown
| their brutal instincts; =.
"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 well as the
women and children who were in the
convent, since shots had been fired
from the convent windows; and we
burnt it afterwards.
"The inhabitants might have es-
capped the penalty by handing over the
guilty and paying $4,000 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-F -Fontaine. Just as we were
having our meal the alarm was sound
ed-everyone is very jumpy.
"September 3. Still 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 state
Good God! . Every bit Of
furniture broken, mirrors smashed.
The Vandals themselves could not
have done more damage. This place
is a 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 so
many troops had passed. But the col
umn commanders are responsible for
the greater part of the damage, as
they could have prevented the lOOting
and destruction. The damage amounts
to millions of marks; even the safes
! have been attacked.
"In solicitors house, in which, as
luck would have it, all was in excel
lent taste, including a collection of
old lace and Eastern works of art,
everything was smashed to bits.
II could not resist taking a little
memento myself here and there.
One house was particularly elegant,
everything in the best TASTE The hall
was of light oak; 1 found splendid
raincoat under the staircase and a
camera for Felix" (From the diary
of an officer in the One Hundred
Seventy-eighth regiment, Twelfth Sax
on corps.)
But his horror apparently was not
shared by the German commander in
chief, as is evident from the follow
ing:
"Order.
''To the People of Liege.
"The population of Andenne, after
making a display of peaceful inten-
tions toward our troops, attacked them
in the most treacherOus manner With
my authorization, the general COM
manding these troops has reduced the
town to ashes and has had 110 persons
shot.
81 bring this fact to the knowledge
Of the people of Liege in order that
they may know what fate to expect
should they adopt a similar attitude.
GENERAL Won BUELOW."
| ~~~~~~~-~~~~~
HuRInIIc CONVERSATIONS