GERMAN ATROCITIES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2350, 5 January 1915, Page 6

GERMAN ATROCITIES

ANOTHER CATALOGUE OP DEPREDATION CRIES IN BELGIUM The Belgian: Legation communicates the following report, drawn up by a member of- the Commission of Inquiry on the Violation of the Rights of Nations, and of the Laws and Customs of War:— (I).—Massacre at Tamlnes. Tamines was a rich and populous village situate-on the Sambre, between. Oharleroi and Naraur. It waß occupied by detachments of French troops on August 17, 18, and 19 last. On Thunjday, August 20, a German patrol appeared in front of the suburb of Vilaines. It was greeted by shots fired by the French soldiers, and by a party of civic guards at Charleroi. Several Uhlans were killed and wounded, and the rest fled. The people of the village came out „of their houses and cried 1 : "Vive . les Belgiquesl" and "Vive la France 1" In all probability it was this incident which, caused the subsequent massacre, of Tamines. Some time afterwards the Germanß arrived in force at the hamlet of AJloux. They there burnt two houses and made all the inhabitants prisoners. Ail artillery combat broke out between the Ger. man guns posted at Vilaines and, at Alloux, and the French guns placed in a battery at Arsimont and at Ham-sur-Eleuro. About five o'clock on August 21 the Germanß carried the bridge of Tamines, crossed'the'River Sambre, and began defiling.ihi mass through the streets of the village. About eight o'clock the movements of troops stopped, and the soldiers penetrated _ into the houses, drove out. the inhabitants,' set' themselves to sack the place, and then burnt if. The unfortunate peasants who stopped in the village were shot;-the Tost fledifrom their houses. The greater part of-them-were arrested either on the night of August 21 or on the following morning. Pillage and burning continued* all next day. ' : On the evening of the 22nd (Saturday) a group of. between 400 and 450 men was collected in front of the church, not far from the bank of the Sambre. A German detachment opened fire on them, but as the shooting was a slow business, tile' officers ordered up a machine gun, which soon swept oft all the unhappy peasants still left standing. Many of them were only wounded, and, hoping to save their lives,, got with- difficulty on : their feet again. Many wounded still lay among the corpses. Groans of pain and cries for help were heard in the bleeding heap. On several - occasions soldiers walked up to such:unhappy individuals and stopped their groans with a bayonet_ thrust. At night- some who still survived succeeded in crawling away. Others put an end to their own pain by rolling themselves into tho neighbouring river. t Next day, Sunday, thq 23rd, about sis o clock in the morning, another' party, oonsisting of prisoners made in the village and the neighbourhood, were brought into the Square. One of them makes tho following deposition: "On reaching the Square the first thing that we saw was a mass of bodies of civilians extending over at least fortyyards > n Jength. by sis yards in depth.' 'They hid evidently been drawn up in rank to-be shot;: We were placed before this range of. corpses, l and were convinced that we too were to be shot. "Aj l officer then came forward and aßkod for' .volunteers to dig trenches to bury these corpses. I and my bro-ther-in-law : and certain others offered ourselves.We were conducted to a neighbouring field at the side of the Square, where they made us' dig a ti;ench fifteen yards long by ten broad roi iwo •P' received a spade. While we were digging the trenches soldiers with fixed bayonets' gave " 3 ,. our orders. As j was much fatigued, through not being accustomed ™ digging, and being faint from hun•ger; a soldier then brought me a lighter spade; and afterwards filled a bucket of water for us to drink. I asked him if ne_knew what they were going to do witt us. - He said that he did not. By tho time that tlje trenches were finished it was about, noon. Then they gave usi Borne planks, on which we placed the corpses and 60 carried them Ito the trench.' I recognised many of the persons whose' bodies we . were burying. Actually fathers buried the bodies of their sons, and sons the bodies of their fathers. The women of the village had been marched out into the square, and saw us at pur work. All round were the burnt houses. "There were in the square both soldiers and officers. They were drinking champagne. The more the afternoon drew on the more they drank, and the more we .were disposed to think that we were probably to be shot too.. We buried from 350 to 400_ bodies. A list' of the names of tho victims has been drawn up,, and will havo been given to you ..(thei Commissioner). "While some of us were carrying the corpses along, I saw a case where they had -stopped and called to. a German doctor. They had noticed that the man whom,, they were conveying was still alive. The doctor examined the wounded man and made a sign that he was to be buried with the rest. The plank on which he was lying was borne on again, and I saw.-fhe wounded man raise his arm elbow high. They called to the doctor again, but ho made a. gesture that he was to go into the trench with the others. -.

, "I saw M. X—— carrying off the body of his own son-in-law. He was able to' take away his watch, but was not allowed to' remove some papers which were on him.

"When a soldier, seized wifcn an impulse of pity; came near us, an officer scolded him away. 1 When all the bodies had been interred, certain wounded were brought to the church'. Officers consulted, about them for some time. Four mounted officers came into the square, and after a long conversation we, with- our wives and children, were made to fall into marching order. _Wa were taken through ■Tamines amid the debris which obstructed the streets and led to Vilaines between two, ranks of soldiers.' Think of our moral sufferings during this march'. We all thought that we were going to be-shot in the presence of onr wives and children. I saw German soldiers who could not Tcfrain from bursting into tears ; on seeing the despair of the women. .One of our party was seized with im apoplectic fit from mere terror, and I saw many who fainted."

When the cortege arrived at Vilaines an officer told the unhappy people that they were free, but that anyono returning to Tamines would bo shot. Ho obliged the women and.children to cry "Vive l'Allemange." The Germans burnt, after sacking them, 264 houses in Tamines. Many persons, including women and children, were burnt or stifled in their own homes. Many others woro shot in the fields. Tho total number of victims was over 650.

The Commission of Inquiry devoted special attention to ascertaining whether the inhabitants of the village had fired on the German troops. Every surviving witness unanimously declared the contrary. They explained tli'o massacre of their follow villagers hy the fact that the Germans attributed to tho inhabitants the shots which had been fired by tho French" skirmishers, or perhaps to tho anger produced among tho Germans by tho success of an attack which had been made on them that night by the French troops. (2) SaoU of Dlnant, town of .Dinaat waa saoked wid

destroyed by tlio Gorman Army, and its population was decimated on. August 22, 23, 24, and 25. On August 15, a lively engagement took place at Dinant between the French troops on the left bank of the Mouse and tho Gorman troops coming up from tho East. The German troops were routed by the French, who passed over to the right bank of the river, following them. The town had little to suffer that day. Some houeep were destroyed by German shells, aimed no doubt at French regiments on the left bank, and a citizen of Dinant, belonging to the Red Cross, was killed by a German ball as he was picking up a wounded man.

The days which followed were calm. The French occupied the neighbourhood of the town. No engagement took place between the hostile armies, aiid nothing happened which could be interpreted as an act of hostility by tho population. No Gorman troops were anywhere near Dinant. On Friday, the 216t, about nine o'clock in the evening, German troopa coming down the tu -D cS Ciney the town by the Hue St. Jacque.-r. On entering they began ■ firing into .-the windows of the nouses, and killed a workman returning to his own house, wounded another inhabitant, and forced him to cry Long Live t> ""aiser." They bayoneted a third' jrson In the stomach. They entered the cafes, Baked tiie liquor, got drunk, and retired after having set fire to several houses and broken the doors and windows of others. The population was terrorised and stupefied, and shut itself up in its dwellings. Saturday, August 22, was a day ..of relative calm. All life, however, was ?\ a " 6n d m the streets. Part of the inhabitants, guided by the instincts of self-preaervation, fled into the . neighboring countryside. The.' rest, more , ? th , e , lr homes > and rendered confident • by the conviction that : nothing had happened which could be interpreted as an act of hostility on their part, remained hidden in their nouses.

On Sunday morning next, the 23rd, at ihatu'i • m , <)r ° ljr le. soldiers of the .loath Eegimont of Infantry invaded the L/Jiurch of tho Premonastrensian Fathers, drove out tho congregation, separated the women from the men, and shot Mty of the latter. . Between 7 and 9 the same morning the .soldiers ■ cavo themselves up to pillage and arson, going from house to house and driving the inhabitants into the street. Thoso who tried to escape were shot." About 9 in the morning the soldiery, driving before them by blows from tho butt-ends ot rifles, men, women, and children, pushed them all into the Parade Square whore they were kept prisoners till 6 o clock m tho evening. The guard took pleasure in repeating to them that they would soon be shot. About six 0 clock a captain separated the men from the women and children. The women were placed in front of a rank of infantry soldiers,' the men were ranged along a wall. The front rank of "them wore then told to kneel, the others .remaining standing behind them. A platoon of soldiers drew up in face of 'hese unhappy men. It was in vain tnat the women oried out for mercy for Uieir husbands, sons, and brothers. Xhe officer ordered his men to fire. There had been no inquiry nor any pretence of a trial. About twenty of tho inhabitants were only wounded, but fell among the dead v The soldiers, to make sure, fired a new volley into the heap of them. Several citizens escaped this double' discharge. They shammed dead for more than 1 two. hours, .remaining motionless among the corpses, and when mght fell succeeded in saying themselves in the hills. .'Eighty-four corpses' were left on the Square, and buried in a neighbouring garden. The day,of August 23 was made bloody by several more massacres. Soldiers discovered some inhabitants of 1 the Faubourg St. Pierre in the cellars of a brewery there and shot them. ' Since the previous; evening a crowd of workmen belonging to the factory of M. ; Hiinmer had. hidden themselves, along with their Tfives and ohildren, in the cellars of the building. They had been joined there 1 by many 1 neighbours and several members of the family of their employer. About six o'olook in the evening these unhappy people made 'up their minds to come out of their refuge, and defiled all -trembling from the cellars with the .vftite flag in front. Thev were immediately seized and violently attacked by. the soldi era/ Every, man was shot on the ;spot. Almost all the men of the-Faubourg de Leffe were executed en masse.- In another part of the town twelve civilians were killed in a cellar. In. the Rue en lie a paralytio was shot in his armchair.; In the Rue •Enfor the soldiers killed a young boy of fourteen.