THE TRAGEDY OF DINANT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 260, 30 July 1919, Page 7

THE TRAGEDY OF DINANT

GERMAN WAR CRIME RECALLED

NEW LIGHT ON FOUL ATROCITIES

Of all the scenes of German atrocities Dinant is the place which, to my mind, is to-day the most impressive to the visitor, writes the London "Times" correspondent from .Brussels. Many of the towns and villages devastated by the Germans have already lost much of the hideousness of the contlilion in whieli the outrages left them. At Louvaiu, for instance, it would be easy for anyone who had never seen the place before the war, or who was lacking in imagination, to walk through tho town without, being violently shocked. It is not until one comes to explore the empty shell of the university buildings that the sight of the material destruction really overwhelms one. Here ono is afflicted by a sense of acute physical pain. One opens one's mouth to speak and remains silent, choking with anger. When one comes to talk to the inhabitants ono realises the moral iniquity of the Germans to tho full. The station open space has been renamed Place des Martyrs in memory of the slaughter of civilians there. The Germans looted the houses before burning them. Many of tho buildings were marked with chalk upon the door—"This house has been visited; all correct." Tho occupants for a moment lifted up their hearts, imagining the inscription to mean that the house was to be spared. But, on the contrary, what it really meant was:— "This house has been, looted of everything worth taking; go ahead and burn it." A few houses havo nlready been rebuilt—l regret to say in a "lavatory" style quite "unworthy of the opportunity which now presents itself for beautifying the town. Tho lecture rooms of the university still exist, and 2000 students arc said to be at work, despite tho fact that their board and lodging cost three times what they did before the war. Fate of Civilians.

At Dinant, however, comparatively little has been done towards starting life anew. Nearly 1200 houses, more than two-thirds of the town, including all tho public buildings, except tho Palais de Justice, are still but ghastly shells. •The houses facing the ends of streets running at right angles (o the Mouse are covered with the marks of riflo bullets fired by the French during their last, stand on the other side of thejiver. But the really human interest lies in the marks of other and German bullets, those fired through tho bodies of harmless civilians, men, women, and children. At one place thero is a hole in a stone window-sill, not. much more than two feet from the ground. I asked a passing girl about it. She said that that vis where, i" her own presence, tho son of the local K.C. was shot, at a distance, of five paces. "Why is the bullet-mark po near the around?" "Because ho was ill and they shot him in a chair." I was recommended, to talk with a

young man who was oilc of tho few who escaped .death by falling underneath a heap of corpses. In the course of a long aiid perfectly calm conversation, and subject to my cross-examination, he told the following story. I should preface it" by saying that the Gorman advanced guard "reached Dinant on the evening of August 21, but, apart from killing'or wounding three men, one woman, and a small child, merely, set fire to a large workmen's dwelling and burned a fnmily of four persons and another man to death. All but 3000 of the population lied across tho river in boats. Nothing much else happened on August 22. Drunken Soldiery. On August 23 the battle (with the French) began again. About 3 o'clock in the afternoun we heard a fearrul row,. It was the Germans coming down tho Rochefort road, smashing doors and windows. They camo into niy uncle's house, where I was, and asked whether we had arms, wine, and food. We replied that tliero was not a weapon in the house, for, ly order of the Burgomaster, all. civilians had to hand in their arms at the Hotel de Ville, but any wine and food we had was at their disposal. In a moment tho house was thoroughly searched. They found no arms, but took all tho food, drank a great deal of wine, and tried to break open a. safe with a beam. The men were separated from the women and taken into the street. At first I was put with the men, but because 1 was only 15 I was sent by an officer, together with my brother, to join the women in the kitchen. Soon a soldier came to fetch me. He mado me and my brother load a handcart with stores from my uncle's storeroom. I could uot carry the weights. Every time I stopped to take breath the soldiers, their hideous faces swollen with drink, cursed and pushed mo along. At last I collapsed against a cask. A soldier took pity on me and sent me back to my mother in the kitchen. The women were crying and begging the Germans on their knees nor to shoot their men. My little sister, sick with fear, was lying on two -chairs. My aunt, aged 6S, had hidden in a cupboard on the first lloor. Tho Germans found her, and drove her downstairs with blows of their butts. They kept on repeating that they were going to burn all the houses, and that then everybody would be shot. About half-past three we were taken into the.street, where the men were, and an officer told us that we were goiiig to cross the bridge first, but that if he heard a single shot from the French wo should be fil shot. The column of civilians with cries and tears, slowly approached the place where the engineers were building the bridge. Thero was a hundred of us, men, women, children, and babies. Just before Teaching the bridge I heard shots fired.. I immediately crouched down The cries of fear uf the crowd were mingled with cries of pain. My brother said to me: "Tho Germans aro firing o.Vus; I think 1 am wounded; 1 feel bad.'' ■ A Heap of Corpses. i did not hear the rest of the sentence, for we were pushed against a low wall. I saw the soldiers load their rifles, get in front of us, and take aim. Instinctively I lay down, and immediately afterwards there was a fresh fusillade, much more violent than tho first. 1 felt the weight of the dead increasing and pressing upon mo. The soldiers uttered cries of rage and triumph around the heap of corpses. I kept motionless, holding my breath. I felt the( limbs of tho dying stiffen. I heard their death-rattle and their last murmured words. Some prayed, others said Good-bye. One woman close to ■me spoke as she died to the baby dead in her arms. All the whilo I could hear the heartrending voice of my brother calling for water. As tho night grew cold, some of tho wounded recovered consciousness and began to ask for water or lo bo finished oif. Several shots were fired; then all was still. About midnight I got up, together with tho few survivors. A small, fat soldier beckoned to us to approach. We wero robbed of our money, tied two and two together without our hands behind our backs, and taken to the bank of tho river. We passed the night lying on tho ground. Several regiments passed without ill-treating us; others insulted us, spat in our faces, and gave us kicks. At dawn the soldiers set fire to tho houses facing tho bridge. About 7 o'clock in the morning we were untied and forced 'to carry the corpses of tho civilians lo a pit already dug by tho engineers. 1 buried my brother, then my sister, whose brains wero blown out, and finally my father, most of whoso head was gone, and my mother. Then an oflicor assembled us in the garden, highly praised Ihe victorious German Army, and told us Hint all Belgians deserved death for having opposed the- pnssage of the- German Army, but that the Kainor had pardoned us, and llisit we should bo prisoners in Germany. Eighty-three persons, including 20 wo.men anil IS children under 15, were 'shot on Ibis particular occasion, the oldest being a woman of 88, and the youngest a baby girl of three weeks. The marks in tho wall aro very visible. The accursed deed above related was performed .by the 101 st Grenadier. Regiment of the XII Saxon Army Corns', under tho command of General von Elsa. The officer who carried out the order for tho massacre was Maior Schlick, commanding the Ist battalion.