GERMAN BARBARITIES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2274, 7 October 1914, Page 6

GERMAN BARBARITIES

WHOLESALE SHOOTING OP

CIVILIANS

EFFECT ON FRENCH OPINION

Paris, August 19. _ The news of repeated' Gorman atrocities is producing a profound effect on public opinion in Paris. In the early days of tho war the more reasonable people felt that it was tho German Emperor and thcTwar party that were the real enemy. There wns a certain fooling of respect for the nation as a whole. The French, havo never pretended'to understand German civilisation, but they wero content to admit it ,*as something which, though different from their own, was not without 'its good points. The behaviour of the' German troops after all the boasts, made as to their perfect discipline has revolted public opinion.; From reading of what has been done in widely separated .districts,and judging tho Germans on their own showing, the conviction is steadily growing that Gcrmauy has failed to absorb European civilisation, and that, despite her achievements in the arts and sciences, elm is still at heart in a state of barbarism.. . ■ ■

The official communique issued at mid night yesterday throws further light on the situation, and, as will be eeen, is based on letters written by German soldiers at the front. The communique states: "A Consignment of letters written by. German soldiers to their' families has been seized in the course of the successful operations that have resulted in the French reaching "Lorraine. Badonviller, from which most of the letters are written, is a few, miles from the frontier. One" soldier writes: 'We are already forty miles into France.' Another writes: 'By the end of the month we shali be in Paris,' and a third. 'We are now in the South of France. A feature of the correspondence is tho insulting character of the references to the French troops. . Thus: 'As soon as the French meet the Germans they run away,' 'the French are cowards. . In many cases tho soldiers who havo written' in that strain belong to tho troops that have been steadily retreating from the French , for tho last.four days.

Eating and Drinking. "The oliief ..things they think about are eating and drinking. One man writes: 'We have, no need of.-mone.Tj, but simply, take what we want. , . Their method is explained in greater detail thus: 'If Monsieur lo Froncais won't give we shovo a revolver Tinder his noso. We make.no bones about it, so that he can be quite sure tho Germans are there.' Thanks' to this system the Germans want for nothing. As one of them put it: 'Before burning the villago we carried off.all there was to eat and drink.' . - . ; "Aliother writes: 'The first villago .we came to after crossing the frontier has been completely destroyed. It was a mournful though, pleasant sight.'. All French civilians are shot; if they even look hostile or suspicious.. fEveryono is shot, men and even quite young boys. 1 Another writes: 'I have .seen three convoys of prisoners, French peasants. All are to be shot.' In another letter: 'Wβ. have shot inhabitants between .the ages of fourteen 'and sixty, and bagged thirty head." In a score of letters such phrases constantly occur as that 'Everyone has been shot. There is not a living, inhabitant left except the women.' Pretext for Outrages. "In nearly all the letters the barbarity is explained on tho ground that civilians havo fired on ' the German troops, and.'that- tho French Government has distributed arms and ammunition, among them. Everyone, even in Germany, knows that tho charge is untrue. Mention has been made in a previous communique of the Gernian officer's note-book, which contained the words: 'Our story is that civilians fired on us, but they were Customs officers aud forest guards. . From the same batch of letters one has the information that several German .Reservists have.died on tho roads from, the heat, and that the losses of the Bavarian regiment engaged in that area have been colossal; ■ i "

"When- the French, troops reached Blamont a fewnights ago they found on the wall notices stating that next morning the Mayor and the chief people of the country would be shot. The rapid arrival of the French and the disorder of : tho German retreat saved their lives." . "

The offifiial communique of three o'clock this afternoon states that the examination of letters written by German soldiers makes it possiblo to base the f6llowing statements on absolutely irrefutable proofs: (1) The burning of villages has-been'a measure generally taken; (2) the execution of the inhabitants of these villages has been a measure taken equally-generally: (3) these atrocities have been committed in places defeaided by French regulars—that is to say, the shots fired were fired by them and not by civilians.! Four.orders fet the execution of the cifilians in question were given by commanding officers. —"Morning Post." ■