Belgians Under the German Eagle

by Jean Massart

Every time it has been possible to obtain any kind of inquiry from the Germans it has resulted in their confusion; at Huy the bullets found in the bodies of Germans were German bullets; the General was forced to stop the burning of the village; he even admitted that a mistake had been made.

An example of another kind, also taken from the N.R.C., is equally characteristic. During the night a German soldier fired a rifle-shot, no one knew why, in a village of Western Flanders. Great alarm immediately. "The village is going to be burned!" But before they had time to get to work an important piece of evidence, the empty cartridge-case, proved that it was really a German soldier who fired. However, if by chance this blessed cartridge-case had not come to hand the village would have burned. Too often, alas! the German army does not trouble to postpone the reprisals awhile ... and the houses are in ashes before the falsity of the accusations has been proved. It is to be remarked, indeed, that it is never the Germans who prove the truth of their allegations, but the Belgians who have to prove the Germans in error. It is justice reversed.

It is easy to understand that a non-lieu does not please the German authorities. In fact, their object is not to render justice but to terrorize the population; and if it were necessary to examine the bona-fides of their accusations they would not be able to exercise "reprisals," which would not suit them at all!

If the accusations had really been justified by the attacks of "francs-tireurs" the Germans would have taken care to establish their existence irrefutably. For we must not forget that according to Article 3 of the Hague Convention they ought to indemnify us for all the burnings and massacres commanded by them.

A "Show" Inquiry.

They know, however, how contrary these summary executions are to the spirit of justice, and they sometimes attempt to lay a false trail. Read, for example, the chapter devoted by Dr. Sven Hedin to the "francs-tireurs." The great Swedish geographer, of whose wonderful Asiatic journeys every one has heard, made a tour along the Western front. He therefore visited the occupied portion of France and Belgium, and wrote an enthusiastic book on the German Army, Ein Volk in Waffen. In the course of this work, he describes the manner in which an inquiry is held into the circumstances of an attack by "francs-tireurs." Everything is done as regularly as possible, and the affair ends in an acquittal. Was the tribunal authentic, or was it merely a parody?[18] It matters little; the essential thing for us is that it was desired to prove to Dr. Hedin that the Germans are not barbarians, and that they observe the forms of justice even while on campaign.

Mentality of an Officer charged with the Repression of "Francs-tireurs."

Let us now compare with the account of Dr. Hedin that of a German officer entrusted with the repression of "francs-tireurs." Captain Paul Oskar Höcker gives a few curious details in his interesting book, An der Spitze meiner Kompagnie. He had to clear of "francs-tireurs" a portion of the territory comprised between the German frontier and the Meuse. His mission consisted in this: to present himself at houses, to ask if there were arms, and in case of a reply in the negative, to search the house; if arms were discovered the householder was shot on the spot; in case of resistance the house was burned (p. 83). The first farm he visits is Jungbush, near Moresnet; the inhabitants assure him they have no arms. They are told that if they are hiding one rifle they will be punished with death; they repeat that they have none. And now the soldiers bring up a boy of fifteen who was hiding under the straw with a Belgian rifle and five cartridges. He is shot without further inquiry (p. 26). It is permissible to ask whether it would not have been juster and more humane to have looked into the matter a little more closely. The remainder of the book instructs us as to the psychology of Captain Höcker. At the house of the vicar of Thimister, where he passed the first night in Belgium, his bedroom door did not lock, and this was enough to make him shake with fear (p. 29). On the following morning he had a pigeon shot, which he suspected of being a carrier of despatches to "francs-tireurs"; "and in truth," he says, "the pigeon bore a stamp on the left wing" (p. 30). This proof is perhaps somewhat slender in a country where all pigeons which take part in matches have a mark of this kind. He confiscates all the small-arms and parts of arms in the establishments of the innumerable armourers of the district, and smashes everything in their workshops. On one such occasion he burns a house whose owner does not consent with good grace to the destruction of his plant (p. 30). On the same day he finds that all the houses from which shots were fired have been burned; in his satisfaction he does not even ask himself whether those who fired were soldiers or civilians (p. 31). Neither has he a word of reprobation for the fury which the Germans display against Belgium: Belgium, forced to take the side of the Allies when her territory was violated by Germany. He reaches Visé at the moment of its burning; he accepts immediately the legend according to which the bridge has been destroyed by "francs-tireurs" (p. 34). According to him, the Belgians of good society do not become soldiers; he is convinced that substitution is still in force with us, and that for 1,600 francs (£64) one can escape from one's military obligations (p. 39). To him, therefore, all civilians appear cowards, and he is not surprised to see them become "sneaking francs-tireurs." When he passes through the streets of Louvain he listens to the story that Germans have that very day been fired upon (p. 47). Further on he admits without hesitation that the German soldiers taken prisoners before Liége must have expected to be shot by the Belgians (p. 71).

We do not question the sincerity of Captain Höcker. But why was so credulous and so suggestible a person selected to search out and punish "francs-tireurs"? Assuredly because it was desired that "reprisals" should be carried out without previous discussion, and by some one whose conscience should, nevertheless, be at rest.