[86] The passage suggests that our wounded were killed, but it is not conclusive. “Noch lebenden,” i.e., “still living,” would appear to mean the wounded found in our trenches and unable to escape with the others. The fact of some prisoners being taken does not dispose of the suspiciousness of the passage.
[87] Brenneisen is now a prisoner in England. The diary was a most carefully kept one. Since I first published it, it has been republished by the French authorities.
[88] What follows refers principally to the portion of Northern France now occupied by the British troops. The case of Belgium has been sufficiently dealt with by the Committee.
[89] See Chap. III., Section 2.
[90] Ibid., Section 3.
[91] After the outrage they dragged the girl outside and asked if she knew of any other young girls (“jeunes filles”) in the neighbourhood, adding that they wanted to do to them what they had done to her. See Chap. III. (2) No. 4.
[92] Presumably La Couture.—J. H. M.
[93] I have suppressed the names of the witnesses for fear of their relatives, if any, in German hands being subjected to vindictive measures. Also in the case (selected from some twenty similar cases equally authenticated) of rape I have omitted certain details which seem to me too disgusting for publication.—J. H. M.
[94] Note.—This diary is a laconic example of a hundred such village tragedies. According to the Eleventh Belgian Report (page 133), twenty-six priests and monks were shot in Namur alone. And see the pastoral letter of Cardinal Mercier (ibid., page 165) on what he calls “this sinister necrology.” In his own diocese alone (that of Malines) he records thirteen priests as having been killed. According to a German soldier the guilt of priests was established by the fact that church-bells often rang!—(Bryce Appendix, page 163).
[95] This savage credulity found its sequel in the murder of many unoffending priests not only in Belgium but in France. I quote one case from the depositions in my possession: