Their Crimes | Page 2

facts, we have grouped them under different headings to
make perusal easier for the reader. To indicate the references would
have been impossible. Each line would have required a foot-note; the
notes would have been as long as the text, and both the length of, and
the cost of producing this pamphlet would have been doubled.
It is enough to state that there is not a single fact published here that
cannot be verified by our readers in one or other of the documents

already referred to. Nothing but facts are set down, absolute bare facts,
and it is for the reader to form his own conclusions. When he has
studied these "samples," and begins by means of them to learn the truth,
then, and only then, will he have the right to choose, according to his
conscience, between remembrance and oblivion, between pardon and
punishment.
L. MIRMAN, Prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
G. SIMON, Mayor of Nancy.
G. KELLER, Mayor of Luneville.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The members of this Commission were MM. G. Payelle (Premier
Président de la Cour des Comptes), A. Mollard (Ministre
Plénipotentiaire), G. Maringer (Conseiller d'État), E. Paillot (Conseiller
à la Cour de Cassation)--Rapports et Procès-verbaux, vols i., ii., iii., iv.,
Imprimerie Nationale.
[2] The Commission, consisting of men of the highest position in
Belgium, is presided over by M. Van Iseghem (Président de la Cour de
Cassation). Its reports and the "Reply to the German White Book" have
been published by Berger-Levrault, from which firm we have also
"Carnets de Route" (J. de Dampierre) and "Paroles Allemandes."
"Crimes allemands d'après des té-moi gnages allemands," by J. Bédier,
is published by Colin.

ROBBERY
We shall not waste time over the looting of cellars, of larders, of
poultry yards, of linen-chests, or of whatever can be consumed
promptly, or immediately made use of by the troops--all these are the
merest trifles. Let us also dismiss pillage, organised on a large scale by
the authorities, of all sorts of raw material and industrial machinery: the
bill on this score will come to several thousand million francs. Let us

likewise put aside official robberies, committed by governors of towns,
or provinces, from municipal treasuries (even the treasury of the Red
Cross at Brussels was robbed), usually under the form of fines, or of
taxes imposed under transparent pretences. There again there will be
millions to recover.
We shall deal here with personal robberies only, as distinct from the
pilfering carried on by hungry soldiers, distinct too from the regular
contributions levied on a conquered country by an unscrupulous
administration. These robberies are innumerable, committed sometimes
by private soldiers, but often by officers, doctors, and high officials.
Here are some examples.
(1) Soldier thieves: They are rougher in their dealings, and kill those
who offer resistance. It is a case of "Your money or your life." Madame
Maupoix, aged 75, living at Triaucourt, was kicked to death while
soldiers ransacked her cupboards. Monsieur Dalissier, aged 73,
belonging to Congis, was summoned to give up his purse: he declared
that he had no money; they tied him up with a rope and fired fifteen
shots into his body. Let us pass quickly over the "soldier thief"--merely
small fry!
(2) Officer thieves: At Baron, an officer compelled the notary to open
his safe, and stole money and jewellery from it. Another, after going
through several houses, was seen wearing on his wrists and fingers six
bracelets and nine rings belonging to women. Soldiers who brought
their officer a stolen jewel received a reward of four shillings. The
robberies at Baccarat and Creil were "directed" by officers. At Creil, a
captain tried to induce Guillot and Demonts to point out the houses of
the richest inhabitants, and their refusal cost them harsh treatment. At
Fossé, a French military doctor in charge of an ambulance, conveying
two hundred patients, and himself wounded, was arrested and taken
before a captain. The captain told the doctor that he would have him
shot, and meanwhile opened the doctor's tunic with his own hand, took
out his pocket-book and appropriated the 400 francs he found in it.
Officers and privates sometimes share the stolen money. From a diary
belonging to a titled Lieutenant of the Guards, let us quote this note:--

"Fossé. Village entirely burnt. The 7th Company made 2000 francs in
booty."
From another officer's note-book:--
"More than 3000 francs booty for the battalion."
Another diary, after the sacking of a place, gives a detailed account of
the distribution thus:--
"460 francs for the first lieutenant, 390 francs for the second lieutenant,
etc...."
(3) Doctor thieves: At Choisy-au-Bac, two army doctors, wearing their
brassards, personally sacked the house of a family named Binder. At
Château-Thierry some doctors were made prisoners: their mess-tins
were opened and found to be full of stolen articles.