Present:
President of the Court, Jäger.
Secretary, Brehmer.
There appeared as witness the soldier Koch, 4th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 25. After he had been made aware of the object of the inquiry, and the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, he was examined as follows:
As to Person: My Christian name is Mathias. I am 32 years of age; Catholic; smelter by trade; living in Eschweiter-Röhe.
As to Case: Up to August 16th of this year I belonged to the 1st Company of the Ersatz Battalion, Infantry Regiment No. 25. We were assigned as escort to guard the motor ambulances. The motor ambulances had been provided by the Voluntary Aid Society, and ran between Liège and Aix-la-Chapelle. One day in the period from 10th-16th August I was ordered to accompany one of these motors. We drove towards the battlefield in the vicinity of the town of Visé. In front of us the men of the Voluntary Aid Society deployed, and we followed slowly after them. From some rising ground I could easily survey the land lying in front of me. At a distance of about 500 metres I saw near a wounded German soldier two women sitting in a crouching position. I at first assumed that the women were praying beside the soldier. Hard by, three or four men were standing. One of these suddenly fired at me. I replied to the shot, whereupon the men and both the women ran away. I then went up to the wounded soldier, who was bleeding from a wound in the chest. His trousers were open in front and partly drawn back. On nearer inspection I ascertained that the sexual organ of the soldier had been completely severed and placed in his mouth. The soldier showed no longer any signs of life, but his body was still warm. The sight appeared to me so terrible that tears came into my eyes. I removed what had been put in the mouth, and buried it in the ground. I left the soldier lying there, as he was unquestionably dead.
On the same day I also found the body of a German, whose ring finger had been cut off. When I told this to the men of the Voluntary Aid Society, they gave me to understand that this was no news to them, as they had often seen the same thing before.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: Mathias Koch.
The witness was sworn.
Proceedings end.
Signed: Jäger. Signed: Brehmer.