Prohibition of the Belgian Colours in Brussels.
Suddenly, without any pretext, the sight of the little tricolour decorations worn by the people of Brussels began to offend the Germans, and the national emblem was prohibited from the 1st July, 1915. The prohibition was posted only on the 30th of June. It made a distinction between the Belgian colours, the wearing of which was tolerated if it was not provocative, and the colours of our Allies, the display of which, even if not provocative, was absolutely prohibited. How were our German bumpkins going to make this much too subtle distinction between provocative and non-provocative display? This evidently left the door open to all sorts of arbitrary actions. So the people of Brussels judged it prudent to renounce their badges entirely. A few, however, replaced the rosette by an ivy-leaf, the emblem of fidelity in the language of flowers. What were the Germans to do now? Prohibit the wearing of the ivy-leaf, perhaps, for by the 5th July they had forbidden the manufacture and sale of artificial ivy-leaves, whether of cloth or paper. But they did not persist in this course. For the first time since we had been subject to them they conceived a witty idea. They themselves began to display the ivy-leaf; from that moment this emblem could not decently be worn by any of us. It would be interesting to know who inspired them with this ingenious idea.
The "Te Deum" on the Patron Saint's Day of the King.
Let us note the date of L'Ami de l'Ordre which contained Baron von Hirschberg's announcement: the 15th November, the patron saint's day of the King. The same copy of the paper reproduced an article from Düsseldorfer General Anzeiger, which doubtless had escaped the censor, doing homage to the valour of the King and Queen. On the following day L'Ami de l'Ordre had to announce that the usual Te Deum would not be performed. Why was the ceremony suppressed? The paper did not say; but we can easily guess; the superior German authorities had decided otherwise.
In Brussels also the Te Deum of the 15th November was prohibited. It was decided to replace it by a mass which would be sung at 11 o'clock in the church of St. Gudule. By 10.30 the church was overflowing with people; but towards 11.0 a priest passed quietly through the ranks of the faithful, announcing that the singing of the Mass had been prohibited by the Germans, and that it would be replaced by a Low Mass. After this some hundreds of persons repaired to the Palais Royal, to the gate in the Rue Bréderode; they expected that a book would be there, as usual, to receive their signatures. The register had been there, but the German authorities had removed it. The callers then decided merely to leave their cards; but a Palace servant came to inform them that the Germans, after removing the register, had also forbidden the formation of assemblies near the Palace, and had even made some arrests; he therefore begged the public to disperse. More respect for patriotic sentiments!
The Portraits of the Royal Family.
Since then it has been forbidden to sell portraits of the Royal Family published since the outbreak of the war. In particular those picture-postcards are prohibited which represent the King as a soldier, the King with his Staff, the King in the trenches, the King on the dunes, the King with General Joffre, the King at Furnes, the Queen as a nurse, Prince Leopold as a trooper, etc. The prohibition is applied with an incoherence which accords ill with the wonderful spirit of organization with which our persecutors are credited. In certain parts of Brussels the vendors have never been disturbed; in others, they may sell the cards in the shops, but may not expose them in the windows; elsewhere it is a crime even to have the cards in stock. In short, all is left to the caprice of the police. These make the round of the stationers' shops, seizing all prohibited cards, and very often, too, seizing other cards on their own initiative and for their own use. To a stationer who was privily selling us some prohibited cards, we put the question, whether the police did not often enter his shop, in order to seize whatever displeased them. "What displeases them?" he replied. "No, no; they seize more particularly whatever pleases them!" Another merchant, who was summoned to attend at the German police bureau in the Rue de l'Hôtel des Monnaies, was assured by the commissioner that the police had the right to take "everything that might excite the patriotism of the Belgians." This official put his own interpretation on Baron von der Goltz's regulations with regard to patriotism.
Not far away, at St. Gilles, on Sunday the 14th February, an under-officer brutally snatched away the national flag which covered the coffin of a Belgian soldier. Here is another example of individual ideas as to the respect to be paid to patriotism and piety.
While in Brussels the Germans prohibited only the more recent Royal portraits, at Gand, in February 1915, the commandant of the Magazine,[42] in order to show his zeal, forbade the sale of any portraits of the Royal Family, of whatever date or nature.
The Burgomaster of Gand has received the following letter, the communal administration sending us a translation of the same:—
2. mob. Etappen Kommandantur.
Reference No. 1095.Gand, 4th February, 1915.
To the Burgomaster of the City,—
I beg you again to draw the attention of all the booksellers, stationers' shops, etc., by hand-bill or by means of the newspapers, that they are forbidden under any circumstances to display the portraits of the Royal Family of Belgium, either in the windows or in the interior of the shops.
Those who act otherwise will be severely punished.
The Commandant of the Magazine,
P.O.
(Signed) Henz.
(Le Bien Public, 13th February, 1915.)