Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Dave Morgan and PG Distributed Proofreaders
Translated from the French
1917.
It is proposed to devote any profits from the sale of this work to TheLeague of Remembrance, or for relief work in Lorraine.
Preface
Introduction
Robbery
Incendiarism
Murder
Outrages on Women and Children
Killing the Wounded
Sheltering behind Women
Martyrdom of Civilian Prisoners
German Excuses: Lies and Calumny
The German Appeal
Appeal by Belgian Workmen
Conclusion
The purpose of this book is to remind English-speaking people all overthe Empire and our Allies in America of the wanton destruction andunspeakable terror which have overwhelmed the regions of France andBelgium occupied by the Boche, and also to quicken a true perception ofthe reparation and punishment due when peace is made with the enemy. Inmany minds time has dimmed the horrors of August and September 1914.When war weariness is apt to sap resolution and the possibility of apatched up peace is furtively canvassed, the great world of theEnglish-speaking race should call to remembrance the inhuman and barelycredible acts of brutality and bestiality committed in cold blood by theGerman race.
No apology is made for this book. It is a translation of a documentwhich has created a profound impression in France. It is anauthoritative record of German crimes committed on the people of Belgiumand Northern France, attested by the Mayors of twenty-six French towns.Some time ago permission was obtained from the French Committee ofPublication (the Prefect of Meurthe-and-Moselle, and the Mayors of Nancyand Luneville) to produce an English version on condition that thetranslation be an "exact and literal translation." This has beencompleted and the Editor, the Rev. J. Esslemont Adams, an AssistantPrincipal Chaplain with the British Expeditionary Force in France, isindebted to the friends who have assisted in producing the work.
This is a book of horrors, but a book of plain truths! Where have wediscovered our facts? They are taken from three sources: First, Fourreports issued by the French Commission of Enquiry[1]; and "Germany'sViolation of the Laws of Warfare," published by the French Ministry ofForeign Affairs; Second, Two volumes containing twenty-two reports ofthe Belgian Commission[2], and the Reply to the German White Book of the15th May, 1915; Third, Notebooks found upon a large number of Germansoldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers, who have been woundedor taken prisoners, and translated under the direction of the FrenchGovernment. These valuable records, in which the bandits and theirleaders have imprudently given themselves away, are real "pièces àconviction."
These reports in their entirety form an overwhelming indictment. Wewish that everyone could study them in full. But the books are large,running to thousands of pages, and will not find their way to thegeneral public.
Yet everyone ought to know how the Germans carry on war. We havetherefore made selections from these documents