Warning.
As fresh attempts at assassination have been made upon persons forming part of the German army I have had persons from many localities arrested as hostages. These will guarantee with their lives that no inhabitant will again dare to commit a malevolent action against German soldiers or attempt to damage the railway, telegraph or telephone line, or other objects useful to the operations of our army.
Persons not belonging to the army surprised in committing such actions will be shot or hanged. The hostages of the surrounding localities will suffer the same fate. I shall then have the neighbourhood burned to the last house, even if important towns are in question. If the hostages attempt to escape the locality to which they belong will be burned, and if captured the hostages will be hanged.
All inhabitants who give proof of their goodwill toward our troops are assured of the safety of their lives and property.
The Commandant entrusted with the
Protection of the Railways,
Freiherr von Malzahn.(Posted at Spa, Aywaille, Châtelineau.... 17th August, 1914.)
We do not know if hostages were shot or hanged in Belgium. But in the north of France, according to a military correspondent of the K.Z., at least one hostage was killed; this assassination was the more criminal in that it punished not a hostile act of the inhabitants, but a perfectly normal and regular operation of war: a bombardment.
A War Picture.
... A château stands beside the highway, at the back of a courtyard protected by a French spear-headed railing. It is intact, and shelters the staff of an infantry regiment. Facing it is the ruined façade of an incredibly pretentious building on whose pediment sprawls in letters of gold the one word, "Bank." Beside it is a wholesale corn-chandler's and a wholesale wine-merchant's. All this belonged to a single man. It was necessary to shoot him as hostage, because the French were persisting, despite all warnings, in throwing shells into the neighbourhood. In the wine-cellars stores of unexpected importance were found; according to the estimates there are more than half a million litres of red and white wine of very good quality. A great part of the wine was pumped out of the tanks and received, like an old acquaintance, by the comrades far and near.
The rich man of this quarter of the town had a companion who was more lucky, who in due time sought safety in flight.
(K.Z., 21st February, 1915.)
A very curious case of the punishment of innocent people in the case of "guilty" ones is the following: On the 7th October, 1914, the Germans posted statements that the militia-men of the occupied regions could not rejoin the Belgian army, and that in case of disobedience the young men would expose themselves to the risk of being sent into Germany as prisoners of war. So far, nothing illegal. But the placard then declared that in case of the departure of any militia-man his family would be held responsible. Now, how are the parents guilty, if their son intends at all costs to fulfil his obligations to his native country? On the 30th December, 1914, there was an aggravation of this measure: the burgomasters also were to be punished. On the 28th January, 1915, a new notice appeared: all Belgians between the ages of sixteen and forty years were to be regarded as capable of military service. So when a man of forty goes to join the Belgian army the members of his family will be punished! Truly the notice might have stated whether children would be punished for not preventing their father's departure!
Have there been cases of repression? The N.R.C. states that at Hasselt the Germans actually arrested the fathers and mothers of the young men who escaped.
The Tijd learns from Ruremonde:
At Hasselt and in the neighbourhood the Germans have hunted down the fathers of those young men who, liable to be called to the colours, have been able, in spite of strict prohibition and active supervision, to enter Holland, there to pass through England and France with the intention of eventually joining the army.
But as soon as they heard that the fathers were being arrested, these latter also crossed the frontier, and the Germans found that a great many birds had flown.
They did not stop then: the mothers were arrested in their place.
At the same time the Germans made it known that all these people would be transferred to the well-known camp at Münster, and warned the women to provide themselves with as much body-linen as possible. The whole of the little town was in consternation. Later arrived a telegram from General von Bissing, announcing that the departure for Münster was postponed for a week, and the prisoners were taken to Tongres.
(N.R.C., 3rd February, 1915.)
A last example of punishment inflicted upon the innocent, when the "guilty" person had already suffered punishment. A Belgian, having made signals to the enemy (that is, to the Belgian army), was killed while being arrested. Immediately the curé and the vicar were sent to Germany as being responsible for the members of their parish.
Important Notice.
Alidor Vandamme, inhabitant of Cortemarck, committed espionage by making signals to the enemy. Resisting arrest, he was killed by a rifle-bullet.
The German authority has taken the following measures of coercion in consequence of the crime committed by Vandamme:
1. The curé Blancke and the vicar Barra, responsible for the members of their parish, will be deported as prisoners of war to Germany.
2. The commune of Cortemarck must pay a fine of five thousand marks (5,000 M.).
(Posted at Thielt, Termonde, etc.)