There appears as witness engineer Weiss, who, after the importance of the oath has been pointed out to him, he declares as follows:
As to Person: My name is Robert Weiss; engineer, in Altona; aged 31; Christian; motor-driver.
As to Case: After mobilisation I offered my services as a volunteer, and went into the field as motor-driver on the staff of the IX. Reserve Army Corps.
On the afternoon of August 25th, 1914, we arrived at Louvain. The inhabitants behaved at first more than kindly towards us.
Towards the evening I had driven a wounded man to the field hospital near the market-place. The field hospital was established in a monastery. About 9 o'clock I drove the car with Captain von Harnier in it from the monastery back to the market-place, when suddenly firing began on all sides from the houses. I stopped my car and remained unhurt; Captain von Harnier was wounded in the arm; he hurried to the market-place, and I sought cover beneath the car.
I may have remained there about half an hour when a platoon of German infantry came along the road. I called to the leader, and he had the surrounding houses, from which the shooting continued, covered by fire. I then took the car to safety in the yard of the monastery.
When, after a short time, I wished to leave, Captain von Esmarch was carried in, covered with blood. Whilst being carried to the field hospital, he was fired upon from the monastery. I went into the monastery with an infantryman; we found a revolver, but to save ourselves from being cut off we could not enter the vaults of the monastery into which the people had evidently retired.
The Belgian field hospital did not want to bandage Captain von Esmarch; I finally forced a Belgian surgeon, whom I caught by the arm, to apply the bandage.
Subsequently, on driving my car to the market-place, and from there to the station with the General Staff, I saw everywhere on the way burning houses; now and again isolated firing from the houses still took place.
At the station there were no burning houses, and strict orders had been given to set no houses on fire there. After half an hour the firing from the hotels opposite the station began. From that point right to the station there was firing with machine-guns; I could distinctly hear the regular "tak, tak."