III.
I copy from the first page of an unsigned notebook, (Fig. 5:)
Langeviller, Aug. 22.—Village destroyed by the Eleventh Battalion of Pioneers. Three women hanged to trees; the first dead I have seen.
Who can these three women be?—criminals undoubtedly—guilty of having fired upon German troops, unless, indeed, they may have been "in communication by telephone" with the enemy; and the Eleventh Pioneers unquestionably meted out to them just punishment. But, at all events, they expiated their guilt, and the Eleventh Pioneers has passed on. The crime these women committed is unknown to the troops which are to follow. Among these new troops will there be found no chief, no Christian, to order the ropes cut and allow these dangling bodies to rest on the earth?
Figure 5.
No, the regiment passes under the gibbets and their flags brush against the hanging corpses; they pass on, Colonel and officers—gentlemen all—Kulturträger. And they do this knowingly; these corpses must hang there as an example, not for the other women of the village, for these doubtless already understand, but as an example to the regiment and to the other regiments that will follow, and who must be attuned to war, who must be taught their stern duty to kill women when occasion offers. The teaching will be effective, unquestionably. Shall we look for proof of it? The young soldier, who tells us above that these corpses were the first dead he had ever seen, adds a week later, on the tenth and last page of his notebook, the following, (Fig. 6:)
In this way we destroyed eight dwellings and their inhabitants. In one of the houses we bayoneted two men, with their wives and a young girl 18 years old. The young: one almost unmanned me, her look was so innocent! But we could not master the excited troop, for at such times they are no longer men—they are beasts.
Figure 6.
Let me add a few texts which will attest that these assassinations of women and children are customary tasks set to German soldiers:
(a) The writer in a notebook, unsigned, reports that at Orchies (Nord) "a woman was shot for not having obeyed the command to halt!" whereupon he adds, "the whole locality was set on fire." (Fig. 7.)
Figure 7.
(b) The officer of the 178th Saxon Regiment, mentioned above, reports that in the vicinity of Lisognes (Belgian Ardennes) "the Chasseur of Marburg, having placed three women in line, killed them all with one shot."
(c) A few lines more, taken from the notebook of the Reservist Schlauter (Third Battery, Fourth Regiment, Field Artillery of the Guard,) (Fig. 8:)
Aug. 25, (in Belgium.)—We shot 300 of the inhabitants of the town. Those that survived the salvo were requisitioned as grave diggers. You should have seen the women at that time! But it was impossible to do otherwise. In our march upon Wilot things went better; the inhabitants who wished to leave were allowed to do so. But whoever fired was shot. Upon our leaving Owele the rifles rang out, and with that, flames, women, and all the rest.
Figure 8.