Neufchâtel, March 2nd, 1915.
In the inquiry concerning the events in Dinant there appeared as witness Major von Zeschau, who stated:
As to Person: My name is Karl Adolf Heinrich von Zeschau. I am 46 years old; Protestant; Major and Adjutant, General Command, XII. Army Corps.
As to Case: On the 23rd of August 1914 I arrived at the Meuse in Les Rivages at 6 p.m. All the houses were closed; none of the inhabitants were to be seen. The Grenadiers stood in column of route on the by-road which enters Les Rivages, the head of the column at the valley road. I inquired whether the houses had been searched. Thereupon a patrol was dispatched to search the houses, and an acting-sergeant-major reported to me that the houses were empty. I stayed there about a quarter of an hour and watched the effect of our artillery on the houses on the left bank of the Meuse. At this time there came along by the valley road from Dinant a number of inhabitants—men, women, and children—who were held up by the Grenadiers.
As the bridge was half finished and some pontoons with Grenadiers were at the opposite bank, my task was finished and I returned to the Commanding General. When I again returned to the bridge-head at Les Rivages there lay there a heap of corpses. I learned that shortly after my departure there had been firing from the seemingly empty houses. In the night several hundred inhabitants who had come from Dinant arrived at the crossing-place. These were well treated; many women and children were also provided with provisions by the soldiers.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: von Zeschau.
The witness was thereupon sworn.
Signed: Schweinitz. Signed: Lips.
C. App. 46.