That’s truer than you think. She began by playing the game of our enemies; and, if we had not struck the first blow, we should have been the victims of our confidence in her loyalty.
The Burgomaster
Look here, Otto, I know you for an intelligent, conscientious and thoroughly honest man. You have lived among us and you know what sort of people we are. How can you stand there and seriously utter such—I don’t know what word to use, or, if I did, it wouldn’t be a pleasant one. Let them tell that sort of humbug to your wretched soldiers, or to a pack of Junkers fuddled with pride and stupidity, but not to a man like yourself! You know the plain, terrible truth as well as I do, just as you know what to think of the hideous massacres at Vise, Andenne, Dinant, Aerschot, Louvain and other places.
Otto
Excuse me, it is not the same thing. I admit that the violation of Belgium was a regrettable incident; in my opinion it was a mistake, necessary perhaps, from certain points of view, but one which will cost us dear. But I do not admit the massacres. There have been executions of hostages and reprisals necessitated by incessant acts of treachery committed by the civil population. Here and there, perhaps, there has been some excess of zeal; that, unfortunately, is inevitable. But I know the German army better than you do, because I belong to it; and it is the most highly disciplined army in the world. It is extremely rare, not to say impossible, for the army to act without orders, or to overstep the orders which it receives.
The Burgomaster
That’s just what I blame it for. To judge by the effects, those orders are execrable!
Otto
It’s lucky that we’re alone. Don’t use words like that: with the best will in the world, I might not always be able to save you from the unpleasant consequences.
The Burgomaster