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Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2612, 6 November 1915, Page 3

MORE ATROCITIES

TORTURES ADMITTED IN GERMAN DIARIES HUN.S ORDERS "I WANT TO SHE NO ENGLISH PRISONER." j "Germany's Violations of the Laws of War." Published, under tho ; auspices of tlie French Foreign ; Office. With an introduction by ' J- 0. P. Bland. (Heinemann.) The French Government in this're- , markable work, whicli contains the official French record of German outrages, has' not been content to bring vague accusations against the enemy. The undertakings which Germany had given before the war are sot forth clauso by clause, and following each is a statement of cases in which that undertaking has been flagrantly violated. Tho Germans (says the "Daily Mail" or September 28) are rnado to* convict themselves out of their own mouths of deeds of horrible devilry and lust. Every German soldier, as is well known, is required to keep a diary, and in that diary he naively makes entries even of his crimes. Here in this volume a very large number of these ertries are reproduced, first in a facsimile obtained by photographing the page in the original diary ; whether captured on a prisoner of picked lip on the field of battle; thon in printed German; and finally in an. English translation. The effect of such evidence is overwhelming. This is not accusation but documentary proof. A Ghastly indictment. Testimony such as this proves clearly that these outrages are not "the independent acts of undisciplined individuals, not the result of misunderstandings or in the heat of fierce passions evoked by battle," but prepared by "the cold-blooded premeditation of general orders." The hook has a peculiar interest for the British people. The Germans, their newspapers tell us, have behaved with only too great "humanity" in Belgium and Francs. There will bo none of this if they reach England. Lord Bryco's Committee showed what was this "humanity" of theirs in Belgium as this report shows what was their "humanity" in France. "Cerman Barbarians." Every one of the gravest charges against the Germans is hero established. "There is really some truth in all the talk about German barbarians," writes Private Wix in his diary. "The village (of Courcy) and the workmen's houses have been plundered and ransacked from garret to basement. Horrible!" "Judging by a letter received from home our folks have an idea that war is a much more humane business than it really, is," writes a non-commis-sioned officer of Engineers. "There is no longer any consideration, any sentimental or aesthetic feeling; all moral sonse is deadened." And his diary gojt on to record how the German loot "so wantonly that what they cannot carry away they trample underfoot and destroy. Not even small personal ornaments escape. . . . Wo are doing infinite injury to our reputation." Men Burnt Alive. Burning alive their enemies, even when these were harmless non-combat-ants, was, and is, a common German practice. We have such appalling entries as.these: Septcmbor 3.—A horrible hath »f blood. The whole village (Somme-Py) burnt, tho French thrown into tho blazing houses, civilians burnt with tho rest.' And this deposition from a French witness, whoso evideuoo was supported by many facts: Jean Pierre Adam was thrown alive into the fire by the Gorman soldiers; as he did not burn quickly enough to please them they finished him off with rifle shots. Small wonder that a German lioncommissioned officer . writes in his diary: This method of making war is absolutely barbarous. I wonder how wo can have tho face to rail at the conduct of tho Russians when wo are behaving much worse in France, at every opportunity on one pretext or another we pillage or burrf. But God is just and sves everything. His mills grind slowly but they "grind exceeding small." Wounded Murdered. A number of entries confirm the charge that orders were issued by German officers of high rank, among others by a ruffian named General Stenger, commanding the 58th Brigade, to kill all prisoners or severely wounded prisoners. Thus: French prisoners and wounded aro all shot because they mutilate and ill-treat our wounded. Brigade Order. •The French lay in,heaps of eight or ten, wounded or dead, one on top of the other. Those who could still walk were made prisoners and carried off with .us. Those who were severely wounded, shot through the head or lungs, etc., and could not get up, received another bulled which put an end to them. These were the orders given to us. No quarter to be given to wounded Turcos. The oaptain called us round him and said: "In that fort we are going to take there will very probably be English soldiers. But I don't wish to see any English prisoner with my company." A general bravo! of approval was tho answer. Prisoners Tortured. The Germans not only killed the prisoners and wounded; thoy also tortured them -with the fiendish cruelty of Red Indians. This is the deposition of twelve witnesses as to the condition of the body of a soldier who had fallen into Gorman hands: There were no bullet wounds on the body, but the skull was literally in a jelly and the brains strewn out on the ground. There was r.othing left of the face and one ear had been cut off. They had literally kicked the wretched man's head to pieces. . . . Thero was no doubt that Private Ancel was made to suffor most terrible cruelties. One must have seen tho body to have any idea of the barbarities which the Germans can inflict.

The outrages of tho Germans upon women havo been such as to freezo the blood.

The charge that tho Germans habitually used prisoners and non-combatants as a screen behind which their gallant fellows advanced, is proved by abundance of evidence in this volume. Thus t.wo women 'Were driven by a German officer in front of a detachment of eight men. Tho French hesitated to open fire, but eventually picked shots were ordered to do so, when tho heroic enemy "dispersed." At Autricho tho women and children were placed by the Germans in front of the windows, and theso cowards fired from behind them. A_ letter from a Bavarian officer tells of his "brilliant idea," which was to protest himself by placing a number of French civilians in the line of fire, and adds: "The method was immediately effective. . . . They were killed • by French bullets." "Special Brutality" to British. Documents arc given showing that dmn-dum bullets were issued to tho German troops, but that tho supply was stopped when the German authorities discovered tho French shot all Germans caught with theso cruel projectiles upon them. One of tho iast documents in this extraordinary work testifies tx> the "quite special brutality" | with which tho Germans treated tho 1 Pritii&i ■