Would they have dared to defend such a policy if they could have seen the announcement sent out by the parish of St. Hadelin with its silent eloquence?
This is an invitation to a service in memory of 60 men and women from one parish, of whom all but two were killed by the Germans in the massacre of August 5 and 6, 1914. The closing sentences are:
PRAY TO GOD FOR THE REPOSE OF THEIR SOULS.
Gentle Heart of Mary, be my refuge.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
St. Joseph, patron of Belgium, pray for us.
St. Hadelin, patron of the parish, pray for us.
Sainte Barbe, patroness of kindly death, pray for us.
After reading such ghastly accounts, many of them written by German eyewitnesses, and knowing that similar tales were published widely in the German newspapers, it is difficult to read with patience such words as these:
"The German Army (in which I of course include the Navy) is to-day the greatest institute for moral education in the world."
"The German soldiers alone are thoroughly disciplined, and have never so much as hurt a hair of a single innocent human being." Houston Stewart Chamberlain, in Kriegsaufsätze, "War Essays", 1914.
"We see everywhere how our soldiers respect the sacred defencelessness of woman and child." Prof. G. Roethe, in Deutsche Reden in Schwerer Zeit, "German Speeches in Difficult Days."
II. HOSTAGES AND SCREENS.
The massacres described above were a part of the German system of frightfulness. Another feature of this system was the use of civilians as hostages and for screens.
In discussing the use of hostages the German War Book (Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege) says:
Views of the German General Staff.