Evening star., 1919-12-07
GERMANS HELD
FOR WAR CRIMES
Prisoners Will Be Accorded
Full Rights at. Trial in
France.

Daily News. Copyright, 1919.
LILLE, France, December 3.-Thes
proposal to try certain Germans for
crimes committed during the war hasi
finally been put into practice Twenty
Germans are actually imprisoned ut
the citadel of Lille awaiting judgS
ment by a French court-martial. Per<
haps they form the vanguard of a
larger number to come. All save ones
are accused of minor crimes. such az
theft, pil1age and destruction. They
were arrested in the occupied partH
of Germany, and their Identification
is almost certain through finding in
their houses articles stolen during the
war, these articles having been re-
ported as lost by French citizens. In
prisoners will be confronted by. the
victims and thus Identified.
] am assured by Capt. Hillairet,
president Of the second council. that
the Germans will have all the rights
accorded to Frenchmen in similar cir
cumstances. will be defended by
French lawyers, and will have the
right to call witnesses, either French
or German. The one prisoner accused
of graver crimes is. Robert STANCE.
Halluin." When on the, point OF
leaving the country in October. 1919.
this soldier tried to. attack the pro-
prietress of the house in which he
lodged, but luckily, the, woman
proved strong enough to save herself
German Omeers Accused.
officer at present is Capt Won Klausa,
who is accused of carrying off indus
trial machinery worth millions OF
francs from the district of Lanne-'
Then come Capt. Everbusch, a man.
ufacturer. who forged reduisitiona
lighted in petty vexation agatnsc
helpless civilians and Lieut.. Bender;
a eoHnpisseur in -silyerYare,- and ma
Witnesses Proceedings have been pre-
pared against certain othero Germans
whom French military Justice hopes
TO capture within a few days, the
most prominent, of whom is Richard
Lange "a soldier accused Of murders
ing young girl at Conde, France
September 81. 1915.
The child had been suffering acute
ly from hunger. so the story runs,
and wandered to the Belgian border.
only a short distance away, in search
of food. On the other side or the
barbed wire fence was woman with
a large piece of bread In her arms.
The child. stuck her hand through the
wire to beg for a piece of it. Lange:
who was a German sentinel ordered
the hand withdrawn and when II was
not done imm mediatefy discharged MS
rifle at her. Whether the little girl
understood the command or not makes
little difference. The essential point Is
that a German bullet added another
victim to the long list OF German
atrocities. Lange was acquitted py tns
Germans on the ground that he had
stopped a fugitive from crossing 'he
/ Belgian border:
Among those against. whom pubic
oninion makes particular complainI
are the o-called Butchers of Lille.
At the head stand Rupprecht. the
crown prince of Bavaria, and Gen:
Won Graeyenitz military governor OF
tthe city. It is charged that they issued
orders that were unnecessarily crueI
and failed to punish ofncers tney
knew had done wrong. Besides sney
were responsible for all the acts zone
nnder their command. Next come Gen.
Won Heinrich, another governor gen
eraI. Gen. Won Zoellner, author OF Ing
notorious deportation oroer OF tsu'
Capt. Won Himmel, head OF tne S&nt &
man secret service in Lille, and capt
IN Hoecker. editor of the Liiter'
Kre;es Zeitung Whether they Will pc
tried or not am convinced tnat tnsir
names will remain execrateo IN 'hie
city for generations TO cohe.
wretched French i'm Prison.
Not onlv Germans, but a score OF
wretched Frenchwomen are ao ZEN
nrisoned in the citadel worse eH e
han their masters, they denounceo
their patriotic fellow citizens to tne
German kommandantur Ihe,T M WEI. WSI.
eminent victim. perhaps, was M.
in4 ed;tor Of EOiseau de France. a
man. ma as intelligent as he was brave
Seeing the work accomplished a Dy yyif,nt fHn /,
Esistent German propaganda, M. VIM
decided to publish surreptitiously ,
little allied newspaper This ne 1evr a,d 10
in his own room o st nri8sins iSs Sop,saa presses
he: concealed in the basement "A
wireless plant which h he ;,n Gansea nsws, 70, ):
If; og eusnap per which ran for many
months ratS published the allied com
muniaues and articles assinst wr'then the eery %
nr nanse It is little short of AS
marvel mar how NJ .Wiliot succeeded in!
concealins his work SO long; Fiasttyi .rrested
Ia sanfenced to ten years at forced
labor. In December of the same year
he died in his home, in Lllle, from
the results of his imprisonment.
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