Had he not been dragged back to the café by his companions, he probably would have continued his perilous insult until brought into the desired contact with some German. But such brief satisfaction would have caused not only distress to his entire family, but probably more wide-spreading difficulties. Another American was arrested and dragged to the Kommandantur for having been rude to a soldier in the street, and several were in the German black-book for betraying inimical feelings more or less openly.
Some time later, when the Teuton spirit was considerably broken, a young American accidentally trod on a soldier’s foot while boarding a tram and, being insulted, answered back, to be at once arrested by a spy who stood near. When brought to trial, guarded by armed men, before three officers with revolvers in their belts, he was ordered to stand straight, to take his hands from his pockets and show the respect that German officers demanded. He was, in fact, goaded and bullied in order to force him to a show of temper for which a larger fine could be imposed upon him!
The country’s distress was greatly augmented when hundreds of homes, already darkened by bereavement and want, echoed the wailing of women robbed of those dear to them under particularly painful circumstances. For every man, young or old, of those taken to Germany solemnly swore, before departing, that he would die of starvation rather than do a stroke of work for the hated enemy. All refused, also, to sign statements (into which the Germans endeavoured to trick them) declaring they left their country willingly!
But they were dragged off, crowded into cattle cars, side-tracked, and left to wait without warmth or food until the military authorities saw fit to let their train pass on. What those men suffered has been recounted by those who investigated these cruelties. I can only judge by the few instances I saw myself. The unspeakable horror of these will never leave me. Several lads came back to die, with hands and feet frozen, too far gone even to take hot milk with which one sought to coax them back to life. The butcher’s boy, also, who delivered our meat, returned maimed for life owing to the freezing of his feet.
These, like most others, had refused to help their country’s destroyers, and were consequently starved and subjected to all manner of ill-treatment. When reduced to the last atom of vitality they were shipped back like beasts—with less care, indeed, than beasts—locked into bitterly cold cars where the conditions became vile, since they were not allowed to leave them for a moment during the long, slow, oft-impeded journey. Many, it is stated, died on the way back, and a number of those who survived, after careful feeding with spoonfuls of hot milk, were cripples for life.
Much later, when life here became intolerable for these poor wretches and hope of deliverance had died in them, I believe that some of the weaker ones did go willingly to do harvest work in Germany. At the time referred to, however, all intended to work for the army refused as one man, and were taken by brute force.
But the German people were told that these men were carried off because they were starving at home! One of the most outrageous deeds in a whole list of evils was represented as an act of charity!
It is this trickery, this systematic lying, which, from the war’s very beginning, has stained the Prussian standard and will always stain it in the eyes of posterity. Their war has been one, unfortunately, in which the shameful deeds of their leaders must always overshadow the courage of their troops. Acts of severity, even crimes, when committed for a vital and otherwise unattainable object, if daringly and humanely done, command a certain amount of respect. But the Prussian tactics were neither daring, merciful, nor wise. Always some excuse, stupid and transparent, was offered, and never, under any circumstances, was tact exercised. Had those unhappy Belgians been well treated on their out-going journey (some even said the soldiers spat in their coffee, the only nourishment they received, after twelve hours locked up in the cars!), had they been cared for even as cattle must be, how much more likely would they have yielded to the demands of their persecutors!
Deceit, clumsiness, and obvious delight in giving pain were the principal elements of the German occupation; self-evident trickery like the trumped-up delegation of Flemings sent to Berlin; the hurling of shrapnel into the city of Brussels, and attributing it to the Allies! As the Germans photographed waving handkerchiefs at windows in Brussels when some Prussian of consequence visited the city, in order to impress Germany with the pro-German sentiment of a Belgia in love with her ravagers!