German Atrocities: An Official Investigation

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J. H. Morgan. German Atrocities: An Official Investigation

German Atrocities: An Official Investigation

Table of Contents

PREFATORY NOTE

Chapter I. INTRODUCTORY

I. THE BRITISH ENQUIRY

II. THE GERMAN CASE—A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE GERMAN WHITE BOOK

German Invocation of The Hague Conventions

Charges against the Belgian Government

Belgian “Atrocities.”

The Massacres—Andenne

Jamoigne and Tintigny

The Tragedy of Dinant

“We gave them coffee.”

The Children were “quite happy.”

Aerschot

Louvain

A “murderous” attack; German casualties—five

Contradictory witnesses

The Priests

What is the true explanation?

III. GERMAN CREDIBILITY—A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE

The German Diaries

German Credibility

The Guilt of the German People

New Russian Evidence

The German Ideal—Europe in Chains

A Moral Distemper

IV. THE FUTURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE QUESTION OF RETRIBUTION

The Dissolution of Europe

The Casuistry of the Intellectual Savage

Germany as a Moral Pervert

The Bankruptcy of The Hague Conventions

The Effect on International Law

The German as Outlaw

Conclusion

Chapter II. THE BRITISH ENQUIRY IN FRANCE

Methods of Enquiry

Outrages upon Combatants in the Field

The Proofs of Policy

Treatment of Civil Population

Outrages upon Women—The German Occupation of Bailleul

Private Property

Observations on a Tour of the Marne and the Aisne

Bestiality of German Officers and Men

Conclusion

Chapter III. DOCUMENTARY. I

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(2)

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(39, 40 and 41)

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II. DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE GERMAN OCCUPATION OF BAILLEUL93 République Française VILLE DE BAILLEUL, COMMISSARIAT DE POLICE

(1) Procès-Verbal No. 2. Meurtre de trois civils non combattants par des soldats allemands

(2) Procès-Verbal No. 1. Meurtre du jeune B——, Albert, par soldats allemands

Procès-Verbal, No. 3.—Meurtre des nommés Itsweire Donat, et Torrez Edouard, par une patrouille allemande

Procès-Verbal No. 4. Viol de la demoiselle D——, Marie Thérèse, par deux officiers allemands (4)

III. EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE MURDER OF ELEVEN CIVILIANS AT DOULIEU. Gendarmerie Nationale

IV. DEPOSITION OF A SURVIVOR OF THE MASSACRE OF TAMINES. Traduction de la déclaration faite en flamand par V—— A—— F——, mineur à TaminesParquet du Tribunal de 1re Instance d’Ypres Pro Justicia

V. FIVE GERMAN DIARIES

Extrait du Bulletin de Renseignements de la VIº Armée du 30 avril, 1915

VI

I. Violation of a Sister of Mercy

II. Violation of a Girl

III. Murder of Wounded Soldiers

IV. Murder of Wounded Soldiers

V. Murder of Wounded Soldiers

VI. Burning the Russian Wounded. Evidence of the Private Nicholas Semenov Dorozhka

VII. Ill-Treatment of Prisoners of War

VIII

IX

VII. THE GERMAN WHITE BOOK

The Introductory Memorandum

VIII. MASSACRE OF BRITISH PRISONERS BY GERMAN SOLDIERS AT HAISNES ON SEPTEMBER 25TH, 1915

IX. REPORTS RELATIVE TO THE USE OF INCENDIARY BULLETS BY GERMAN TROOPS96

Use of Incendiary Bullets by the Enemy

X

A FRESH EXAMINATION OF GERMAN WAR METHODS99

Footnote

Отрывок из книги

J. H. Morgan

Published by Good Press, 2021

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I turn to the case of Dinant, one of the most appalling massacres that have ever been perpetrated,28 even by the hordes of Kultur. No attempt is made to deny the wholesale slaughter; it is freely admitted, and with sanguinary iteration we are told again and again “a fairly large number of persons were shot, “all the male hostages assembled against the garden wall were shot.” Such battues occur on page after page.29 What is the German excuse? It is that the civilian population offered a desperate resistance. To prove how desperate it was, and consequently to establish the “military necessity,” it has to be conceded that they were organised. But this is proving too much, for “organised” civilian combatants are entitled to the privileges of lawful belligerents. Therefore it is argued that they were “without military badges”: this phrase occurs with a curious lack of variation in the words of each witness. It is added that women and “children (including girls) of ten or twelve years” were armed with revolvers! “Elderly women,” “a white-haired old man,” fired with insensate fury. None the less—says one ingenuous German witness—“the people had all got a very high opinion of Germany.” At intervals during the engagement not only were groups of civilians, alleged to have arms in their hands, shot in groups, but unarmed civilians were shot—“all the male hostages.” In other words the whole of the German defence that the German troops were punishing illicit francs-tireurs is suddenly abandoned. Tiring apparently of these laboured inventions, the German staff, in a grim and sombre sentence, suddenly throws off the mask:

“In judging the attitude which the troops of the 12th Corps took against such a population, our starting point must be that the tactical object of the 12th Corps was to cross the Meuse with speed, and to drive the enemy from the left bank of the Meuse; speedily to overcome the opposition of the inhabitants who were working in direct opposition to this was to be striven for in every way.... Hostages were shot at various places and this procedure is amply justified.”30

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