The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1918-03-14

y
ONLY have they employed these atroc-
ious weapons, but the Belgian Gov
ernment has openly encouraged and
since long carefully prepared the par
ticipation of the Belgian civil popu-
lation in the fighting. The atrocl'
ties committed even by women and
priests in this guerilla warfare, also
on wounded soldiers, medical stan
and nurses, doctors killed. hospitals
attacked by rife fire, were such that
nv generals finally were compelled
to take the most drastic measures in
order to punish the guilty and to
frighten the blood-thirsty population
from continuing their work of vile
murder and horror. Some villages
and even the old town of LoeWen
Uouvain), excepting the fine hotel
de Vile, had to be DESTROYED in self
defense and for the protection of my
troops. My heart bleeds when l see
that such measures have become un-
avoidable and when l think of the
numerous innocent people who lose
their home and property as a conse-
quence of the barbarous behavior Of
thise criminals. Signed. William,
Emperor and King
GERARD. Berlin"
Lorenz Muller in the German Cath
olic review, Der Fels, February, 1915,
made the following statement in re-
gard to the Emperor's telegram:
Refutation by German.
"Oficially no instance has been
proven of persons having fired with
the help of priests from the towers
of churches. All that has been made
known up to the present, and that
has been made the object of inquiry,
concerning alleged atrocities attribu-
ted to Catholic priests during this
war. has been shown to be false and
altogether imaginary, without any ex-
ception. Our Emperor telegraphed
TO the President of the United States
of America that even women and
priests had committed atrocities DUR
ing this guerilla WARFARE on wounded
soldiers, doctors and nurses attached
to the field ambulances. How this
telegram can be reconciled with the
fact stated above we shall not be able
to learn until after the war
The Vorwarts, of Berlin, October
%, 1914, said:
kefutation by Vorwarts.
We have already been able to es-
tablish the falseness of great num-
Der of assertions which have been
made with great precision and pub
lshed everywhere in the press, con-
corning alleged cruelties committed,
by the populations of the countries
with which Germany is at war, upon
German soldiers and civilians We
are now in position to silence two
others of these fantastic stories.
''The War Correspondent of the
Berliner Tageblatt spoke few weeks
ago of cigars and cigarettes filled
with powder alleged to have been
given to our soldiers with diabolical
intent. He even pretended that he
had seen with his own eyes hundreds
of this kind of cigarettes. We learn
from an authentic source that this
story of cigars and cigarettes is moth
ing but a brazen invention. Stories
of soldiers whose eyes are alleged to
have been torn out by francs-tireurs
are circulated throughout Germany.
Not a single case of this kind has
been officially established. In every
instance where it has been possible
to test the story it's inaccuracy has
been demonstrated.
"It matters little that reports of
this nature bear an appearance If
positive certitude, or even vouched
for by eye-witnesses. The desire for
notoriety, the abse&ce of criticism,
and personal error play an unfortu-
nate part in the days in which we are
living Every nose shot off or simply
bound up, every eye removed, is i'm
mediately transformed into nose
or eye torn away by the francs
tireurs. Already the Volkszeitung of
Cologne has been able, contrary to
the very categorical assertions from
Aix-la-Chappelle, to prove that there
was no soldier with his eyes torn out
in the field ambulance of this town.
1t was said, also, that people wound
ed in this way were under treatment
in the neighborhood of Berlin, but
whenever enquiries have been made
in regard to these reports, their abso-
lutte falsity has been demonstrated.
At length these reports were concen-
trated at Gross Lichterfelde. A news
paper published at noon and widely
circulated in Berlin printed a few
days ago in large type the news that
at the Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone
there were ten German soldiers, only
slightly wounded, whose eyes had
been wickedly torn out But to re-
quest for information by comrade
Liebknecht the following written re-
ply was sent by the chief medical
officer of the aforementioned field
hospital, dated the 18th of the
month: Sir, Happily there is no
truth whatever in these stories.
Yours obediently,
PROF. RUTENBERG.'
German Soldiers Protest Against
Atrocities.