The purpose of this book is to remind English-speaking people all
over the Empire and our Allies in America of the wanton destruction and
unspeakable terror which have overwhelmed the regions of France and
Belgium occupied by the Boche, and also to quicken a true perception of
the reparation and punishment due when peace is made with the
enemy. In many minds time has dimmed the horrors of August and
September 1914. When war weariness is apt to sap resolution and
the possibility of a patched up peace is furtively canvassed, the great
world of the English-speaking race should call to remembrance the
inhuman and barely credible acts of brutality and bestiality committed
in cold blood by the German race.
No apology is made for this
book. It is a translation of a document which has created a
profound impression in France. It is an authoritative record of
German crimes committed on the people of Belgium and Northern France,
attested by the Mayors of twenty-six French towns. Some time ago
permission was obtained from the French Committee of Publication (the
Prefect of Meurthe-and-Moselle, and the Mayors of Nancy and Luneville)
to produce an English version on condition that the translation be an
"exact and literal translation." This has been completed and the
Editor, the Rev. J. Esslemont Adams, an Assistant Principal Chaplain
with the British Expeditionary Force in France, is indebted to the
friends who have assisted in producing the work.
This
is a book of horrors, but a book of plain truths! Where have we
discovered our facts? They are taken from three sources: First,
Four reports issued by the French Commission of Enquiry[1]; and
"Germany's Violation of the Laws of Warfare," published by the French
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Second, Two volumes containing
twenty-two reports of the Belgian Commission[2], and the Reply to the
German White Book of the 15th May, 1915; Third, Notebooks found
upon a large number of German soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and
officers, who have been wounded or taken prisoners, and translated
under the direction of the French Government. These valuable
records, in which the bandits and their leaders have imprudently given
themselves away, are real "pieces a conviction."
These
reports in their entirety form an overwhelming indictment. We
wish that everyone could study them in full. But the books are
large, running to thousands of pages, and will not find their way to
the general public.
Read More
