The Vorwärts, of Berlin, October 22, 1914, said:
Refutation by Vorwärts.
"We have already been able to establish the falseness of a great number of assertions which have been made with great precision and published everywhere in the press, concerning alleged cruelties committed, by the populations of the countries with which Germany is at war, upon German soldiers and civilians. We are now in a position to silence two others of these fantastic stories.
"The War Correspondent of the Berliner Tageblatt spoke a few weeks ago of cigars and cigarettes filled with powder alleged to have been given out or sold to our soldiers with diabolical intent. He even pretended that he had seen with his own eyes hundreds of this kind of cigarettes. We learn from an authentic source that this story of cigars and cigarettes is nothing but a brazen invention. Stories of soldiers whose eyes are alleged to have been torn out by francs-tireurs are circulated throughout Germany. Not a single case of this kind has been officially established. In every instance where it has been possible to test the story its inaccuracy has been demonstrated.
"It matters little that reports of this nature bear an appearance of positive certitude, or are even vouched for by eyewitnesses. The desire for notoriety, the absence of criticism, and personal error play an unfortunate part in the days in which we are living. Every nose shot off or simply bound up, every eye removed, is immediately transformed into a nose or eye torn away by the francs-tireurs. Already the Volkszeitung of Cologne has been able, contrary to the very categorical assertions from Aix-la-Chapelle, to prove that there was no soldier with his eyes torn out in the field ambulance of this town. It was said, also, that people wounded in this way were under treatment in the neighborhood of Berlin, but whenever enquiries have been made in regard to these reports, their absolute falsity has been demonstrated. At length these reports were concentrated at Gross Lichterfelde. A newspaper published at noon and widely circulated in Berlin printed a few days ago in large type the news that at the Lazaretto of Lichterfelde alone there were 'ten German soldiers, only slightly wounded, whose eyes had been wickedly torn out.' But to a request for information by comrade Liebknecht the following written reply was sent by the chief medical officer of the above-mentioned field hospital, dated the 18th of the month:
"'Sir,
'Happily there is no truth whatever in these stories.
'Yours obediently,
'Professor Rautenberg.'"
German soldiers protest against atrocities.
Thus the teachings of the German War Book and of the German apostles of frightfulness, suspicion, and hatred, had now begun to bear their natural fruit. But the voice of protest was not entirely silent. A considerable number of letters by German soldiers who were shocked by the German atrocities were sent to Ambassador Gerard, because he was the representative of the United States, the leading neutral nation. The three letters which follow, in translation, were received by the American ambassador from German soldiers. They were obtained for this pamphlet from Secretary Grew; they illustrate both the system and the horror of it, which the writers felt.
Here is the protest of a German soldier, an eyewitness of the slaughter of Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes and swamps:
"It was frightful, heart-rending, as these masses of human beings were driven to destruction. Above the terrible thunder of the cannon could be heard the heart-rending cries of the Russians: 'O Prussians! O Prussians!'—but there was no mercy. Our Captain had ordered: 'The whole lot must die; so rapid fire.' As I have heard, five men and one officer on our side went mad from those heart-rending cries. But most of my comrades and the officers joked as the unarmed and helpless Russians shrieked for mercy while they were being suffocated in the swamps and shot down. The order was: 'Close up and at it harder!' For days afterwards those heart-rending yells followed me and I dare not think of them or I shall go mad. There is no God, there is no morality and no ethics any more. There are no human beings any more, but only beasts. Down with militarism.
"This was the experience of a Prussian soldier. At present wounded; Berlin, October 22, 1914.
"If you are a truth-loving man, please receive these lines from a common Prussian soldier."
Here is the testimony of another German soldier on the Eastern front.
"Russian Poland, December 18, '14.
"In the name of Christianity I send you these words.
"My conscience forces me as a Christian German soldier to inform you of these lines.
"Wounded Russians are killed with the bayonet according to orders.
"And Russians who have surrendered are often shot down in masses according to orders, in spite of their heart-rending prayers.
"In hope that you, as the representative of a Christian State will protest against this, I sign myself,
"A German Soldier and Christian.
"I would give my name and regiment, but these words could get me court-martialed for divulging military secrets."