Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-06-07

ty: Consul for the Argentine Republic
Victor Poncelet. who was executed in
the presence of his wife and seven
children Wasseige and his two sons;
Messrs. Gustave and Leon Nicaise,
two very old men; Jules Monin and
others all shot in the cellar of their
brewery; Mr. Camille Pistte and son,
aged seventeen; Phillippart Piedfort,
his wife and daughter; Miss Marsig-
ny. During the execution OF about
forty inhabitants of Dinant the Ger
mans placed before the condemned
their wives and children. II Is thus
that Madam Albin who had just given
birth to child, three days previously,
was brought on Il mattress by German
soldiers to witness the execution of
her husband; her cries and supplica-
tons were so pressing that her hus-
bands life was spared"
"On the Goth Of August German sol
diers entered various streets (of Lou
vain) and ordered the inhabitants of
the houses to proceed to the Place de
la Station. where the bodies of nearly
dozen assasslnated persons were ~
ing. Women and children were sepa-
rated from the men and forced to re-
main on the Place de la Station dur
ing the whole day. They had TO wit
ness the execution of many Of their
fellow citizens, who were for the most
part shot at the side of the square,
near the house of Mr.. Hemaide. The
women and children, after having re-
manned on the square for more than
| 10 hours, were allowed to depart. The
| Gardes Civiques of Louvain were also
| taken prisoners and sent to Germany,
to the camp of Munster, where they
were held for several weeks.
"On Thursday, August ~, order was
| given to the inhabitants to leave Lou
vain because the city was to be bonn
barded. Old men, women, children,
the sick, priests, nuns, were driven on
the roads like cattle. More than TO-
600 of the inhabitants were driven as
far as Tirlemont nearly II miles from
Louvain.
Infants Shot in Mothers Arms.
"One of the most sorely tried COM
of Tamines, down in what is known
as the Borinage, the coal fields near
Charleroi. Tamlnes Is q mining VII
lage in the Sambre; IL is u collection
of small cottages sheltering about o.
600 inhabitants, mostly all poor labor
ers.
''The little graveyard in which the
| or g l.
mony to the horror of the event. There
are hundreds of new-made graves, each
with its small wooden cross and its
bit of flowers; the crosses are so close
ly huddled that there is scarcely room
to walk between them. The crosses
are alike and all bear the same date
the sinister date of August %, 1914"
"But whether their hands were cut
off or not, whether they were impaled
on bayonets or not, children were shot
down, by military order, in cold blood
In the awful crime of the Rock of Bay
ard, there overlooking the Meuse be
low Dnant, infants in their mothers
arms were shot down without mercy
The deed, never surpassed in cruelt!
by the bishop of Namur himself:
zone scene SURPRISES in horror al
others; 1t Is the fusillade of the
Rocher Bayard near Dinant. 1t ap
pears to have been ordered by Colonel
Melster This fusillade made many
victims among the nearby parishes
especially those of DIES Rivages and
Neffe. 1t caused the death of nearly
90 persons, without distinction of age
or sex. Among the victims were ba
bics in arms, boys and girls, fathers
and mothers of families, even old
men.
Dead Children in Pile of Bodies.
cit was there that II children under
the age of six persisted from the fire
of the eXecutlOners, six of them rs
,, they lay in their mothers arms:
""Thc child Fievet, three weeks old
"Maurice Betems, eleven months
old.
"'Nelly pollet, eleven months old.
"Gilda Genon, eighteen months old
zelda Murchot, two years old.
"'Clara Sruyay, two years and sil
months.
"'The pile of bodies comprised alst
many children from six To fourteen
years. Eight large families have en-
tirely disappeared. Four have but on,
survivor. Those men that escape
death--and many of whom were rid
, died with bullcts-were obliged I,
bury in summary and hasty fashiol
their fathers. mothers, brothers or sis
ters; then after having been relieved
of their money and being placed il
chains they were sent to Cassel (Prus
sia).'"
Mr.. Hugh Gibson, the secretary O
our legation in Belgium, visited Lou
vain during it's systematic destructio
by the Germans. In "a Journal FrOl
our Legation in Belgium" New Yorh
! 1917, pages l64-l65, he relates wha
= the German officers told him:
1T was n story of clearing out civil
= ians from n large part Of the town,
systematic routing out of men froI
cellars and garrets, wholesale shoe
ings, the generous use of machln