As to Person: My name is Heinrich Hartmann. I am 24 years old;
Protestant; Reservist in the 2nd Company, Infantry Regiment No. 165.
As to Case: I saw lying on the ground the Einjähriger of the 5th
Company, with his eyes gouged out. Our company leader, Hauptmann
Burkholz, ordered us to search the houses in the place. Inside the
house, by the garden fence of which the Einjähriger was found, we
came across a big strong man of middle age, who was lying on his bed
and pretending to be asleep. We brought him before the officer, who
cross-examined him. The man was then shot by a musketeer of the 4th
Company.
On the advance towards Liège we came across a German infantry-man who
had been thrust into a swampy pool with his head and half his body
under water; the man was dead.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: HEINRICH HARTMANN.
The witnesses were thereupon sworn.
Proceedings end.
Signed: KEIL. Signed: FAHLBERG.
App. 56.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Musketeer Paul Blankenburg, Infantry
Regiment No. 165.
BLANKENBURG (HARTZ), _November 14th, 1914_.
Herzogliches Amtsgericht.
Present:
Oberamtsgerichter Dr. SCHILLING, Judge.
Gerichtsobersecretär HORNIG, Secretary.
There appears as witness Musketeer Paul Blankenburg, 7th Company,
Infantry Regiment No. 165, at the present time in the Reserve Hospital
of this place. The witness, after the importance of the oath had been
pointed out to him, was examined as follows:
As to Person: My name is Paul Blankenburg. I was born in Magdeburg,
September 4th, 1893; Protestant.
As to Case: The following statement, which he had made on October 31st
of this year before 1st Lieutenant Reyner in this place, was read over
to the witness:
"We were on the march in close column, and in the course of it passed
through a Belgian village, lying west of Herve. In the village German
wounded were lying, and indeed I recognised some Jäger troops from
Jäger Battalion No. 4. The column in marching through suddenly came
under fire from the houses, and the order was therefore given to remove
all the civilians from the houses, and to get them together into one
place. While this was going on I noticed that some girls of eight or
ten years of age, armed with sharp instruments, were busying themselves
with the German wounded. I subsequently ascertained that, from the most
severely wounded, the lobes and the upper parts of their ears had been
cut off. On continuing our march, an ambulance soldier, belonging, as
far as I remember, to the 27th Regiment, was shot dead from a house by
Belgian civilians while he was occupied in a school-yard in rendering
assistance to a wounded man."
The witness therefore declared: "The statement just read over to me
corresponds to the truth. I again emphasise the fact that I myself
saw girls of some eight or ten years of age busying themselves with
severely wounded men in the Belgian village. The girls had steel
instruments in their hands--but they were not knives or scissors--and
with these instruments, which were sharp on one side, they busied
themselves among the wounded. We took the instruments from them. The
wounded had fresh wounds on their ears, from which the lobes and upper
portions had evidently been just cut off. One of the wounded told me in
reply to a question that he had been mutilated by the girls in the way
here described."
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: PAUL BLANKENBURG.
The witness was thereupon sworn.
Signed: Dr. SCHILLING. Signed: HORNIG.
App. 57.
STATEMENT and MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Dragoon Funke, 2nd
Hanoverian Dragoon Regiment No. 16.
CAISNES, _November 7th, 1914_.
Dragoon Funke states: At Herve men of the Magdeburg Field Artillery
Regiment, which was marching through the place, drew my attention
to the fact that a dead hussar was lying near a straw stack. I went
towards the body and saw that the ears and nose of the hussar had been
cut off, and also that the whole of his face had been mangled.
Signed: HEINICHEN, Lieutenant.
CAISNES, _November 7th, 1914_.
Present:
Deputy-President of the Court, Dr. STAHL (Gerichtsassessor).
Secretary, FREDERSDORF.
There appeared as witness Corporal Funke. The witness Funke made the
same statement as that previously made by Lieutenant Heinichen. After
this had been read over he declared, "This is so correct that I have
nothing to add to it."
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: FUNKE.
The witness Funke was thereupon sworn. Proceedings took place as above.
Signed: STAHL. Signed: FREDERSDORF.
App. 58.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Reservist Ernst Baldeweg, Infantry
Regiment No. 35.
MAGDEBURG, _November 1st, 1914_.
Gericht der immobilen Etappen-Kommandantur No. 1.
Present:
Military Assistant-Judge Dr. PAULS, Judge.
GLADROW, Secretary.
At the request of the Deputy-General in Command of the IV. Army Corps,
the Reservist Ernst Baldeweg, dairy assistant in Berlin, 37 Rathenower
Street, 11th Company, Infantry Regiment 35, 28 years of age, Reformed
Church of Germany, after the sanctity of the oath had been pointed out
to him, was examined as follows:
About the 8th of August 1914, in a village close to Verriers, I saw
with my own eyes that in one stable one horse, and in another stable
four horses, had had their tongues cut off. In the first case I noticed
that the tongue had not been completely severed, but hung from the
mouth on the jaws by a small fragment of flesh. I am of opinion that
Belgian civilians had mutilated the animals in order to prevent their
being taken on farther by the Germans.
Either on Sunday, August 9th, 1914, or on Monday, August 10th, 1914, I
saw at a village quite close to Herve in Belgium a German hussar bound
to a tree by his hands and feet. Two large, long nails had been driven
through his eyes and his head, so that he was fixed to the tree by the
two nails. The hussar had ceased to live. In the same village there
was lying by a wooden fence in front of a farm an infantry-man of the
52nd Infantry Regiment. His eyes had been put out, his ears, nose, and
fingers cut off, and his stomach slashed about so that the intestines
were visible. The breast of the dead soldier had also been so badly
stabbed that it was completely mangled. For both these cases of gross
cruelty the Belgian civilians alone can be held responsible.
I again assert that I have reported only what I personally observed,
and have refrained from any exaggeration.
Read over, approved, and signed.
Signed: ERNST BALDEWEG.
The witness was sworn.
Signed: Dr. PAULS. Signed: GLASDROW.
App. 59.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Musketeer Lagershausen, Ersatz Regiment
No. 230.
HANOVER, _November 21st, 1914_.
President of the Court, LINDENBURG.
Secretary, Non-commissioned Officer of Reserve KOEPF.
There appears as witness Musketeer Lagershausen, 1st Ersatz Company,
Reserve Regiment No. 230, who, after the importance of the oath has
been pointed out to him, made the following declaration:
As to Person: My name is Hugo Lagershausen. I am 19 years of age;
Protestant.
As to Case: I was attached to the 8th Company, Infantry Regiment No.
73, which had pushed forward from Spa towards Liège. We, _i.e._ a
corporal of Regiment No. 74, several musketeers of Regiments Nos. 82
and 83, and I myself, forthwith got the order to act as a reconnoitring
patrol on the right. This was on the night of August 5th-6th. As the
darkness had set in, and we had to proceed very quietly, I suddenly
found myself separated from all the rest of the patrol. Towards midday
on August 6th I reached a dressing-station which had been arranged in
some farm buildings near the village of Chênée. I found in the house
some fifteen severely wounded German soldiers, four or five of whom
had been shockingly mutilated. Both eyes had been put out, and some of
the victims had several finger joints cut off. Their wounds were still
comparatively fresh, though the blood was already somewhat coagulated.
These soldiers were still alive and groaning. It was impossible for
me to give them any help. There was no doctor in the place, as I had
already ascertained by questioning other wounded men lying in the
house. At the same time I came across in the house six or seven
Belgian civilians; four of these were women, who gave the wounded
water. The men remained quite inactive. I saw no weapons in their
possession; further, whether their hands were bloodstained I cannot
say, because they kept them concealed in their pockets. As regards the
point whether it was these persons who had perpetrated these cruelties
on the wounded soldiers, I can make no definite pronouncement. I could
take no action against these persons, because I was absolutely alone.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: Musketeer LAGERSHAUSEN.
The witness was sworn in accordance with regulations.
Signed: LINDENBERG. Signed: KOEPF.
App. 60.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of the soldier Koch, Infantry Regiment No.
25.
STADEN, _November 27th, 1914_.
Divisional Headquarters.
Present:
President of the Court, JÄGER.
Secretary, BREHMER.
There appeared as witness the soldier Koch, 4th Company, Infantry
Regiment No. 25. After he had been made aware of the object of the
inquiry, and the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, he
was examined as follows:
As to Person: My Christian name is Mathias. I am 32 years of age;
Catholic; smelter by trade; living in Eschweiter-Röhe.
As to Case: Up to August 16th of this year I belonged to the 1st
Company of the Ersatz Battalion, Infantry Regiment No. 25. We were
assigned as escort to guard the motor ambulances. The motor ambulances
had been provided by the Voluntary Aid Society, and ran between Liège
and Aix-la-Chapelle. One day in the period from 10th-16th August I
was ordered to accompany one of these motors. We drove towards the
battlefield in the vicinity of the town of Visé. In front of us the
men of the Voluntary Aid Society deployed, and we followed slowly
after them. From some rising ground I could easily survey the land
lying in front of me. At a distance of about 500 metres I saw near a
wounded German soldier two women sitting in a crouching position. I at
first assumed that the women were praying beside the soldier. Hard by,
three or four men were standing. One of these suddenly fired at me. I
replied to the shot, whereupon the men and both the women ran away. I
then went up to the wounded soldier, who was bleeding from a wound in
the chest. His trousers were open in front and partly drawn back. On
nearer inspection I ascertained that the sexual organ of the soldier
had been completely severed and placed in his mouth. The soldier showed
no longer any signs of life, but his body was still warm. The sight
appeared to me so terrible that tears came into my eyes. I removed what
had been put in the mouth, and buried it in the ground. I left the
soldier lying there, as he was unquestionably dead.
On the same day I also found the body of a German, whose ring finger
had been cut off. When I told this to the men of the Voluntary Aid
Society, they gave me to understand that this was no news to them, as
they had often seen the same thing before.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: MATHIAS KOCH.
The witness was sworn.
Proceedings end.
Signed: JÄGER. Signed: BREHMER.
App. 61.
REPORT of Medical Corps Company 2, VI. Army Corps.
BEINE, _October 15th, 1914_.
On August 23rd I went to the French field hospital through Rossignol,
where the company had established its chief dressing-station. On the
way a musketeer reported to me that a dead German was lying in a house.
I at once inspected the corpse and ascertained that, in addition to a
wound, which was not mortal, the head of the soldier had been burnt. A
few metres away stood a half-filled bottle of petroleum, and another
half-filled with benzin. One could clearly see from this that the
inhabitants had dragged the wounded soldier into the house, saturated
his head with petroleum and benzin, and then set it alight.
On the night of 24th-25th of August I drove in an automobile from
Rossignol to Florenville, where a number of inhabitants were standing
by a house engaged in a lively conversation. When, about 100 metres
farther on from this point, I stopped my automobile in order to
ascertain the direction from a signpost, I was suddenly exposed to
a vigorous fire from these people behind me, so that it was only by
driving off very quickly that I was able to save my life.
Signed: STERNBERG, Captain and Commander of Medical Corps Company 2,
VI. Army Corps.
App. 62.
STATEMENT of Senior Staff-Surgeon Dr. Kiefmann, Medical Corps, VIII.
Army Corps.
Proceedings at Field Hospital No. 3, VIII. Army Corps.
ST. MOREL, _October 15th, 1914_.
There appears as witness Dr. Beyer, who states that Lieutenant Erich
Koch, 8th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 160, who had received a severe
wound in the perinæum, with laceration of the rectum, informed him
after receiving his wound he had been stripped naked by the civilians,
robbed, and thrown into a cesspool.
Lieutenant Koch was in fact naked, and only wrapped in a blanket when
brought into the hospital.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: Dr. BEYER, Staff-Surgeon.
There appears as witness Acting-Sergeant-Major (Medical Service) Joseph
Steffen, who states in reference to the case in hand:
I can only confirm the statement of Staff-Surgeon Beyer. Lieutenant
Koch gave me the same information, and added the fact that the women
also had taken part in this outrage. Koch was wounded near Porcheresse.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: STEFFEN, Acting-Sergeant-Major, Medical Service.
Proceedings took place as above.
Signed: Dr. KIEFMANN, Senior Surgeon and Chief Staff-Surgeon.
App. 63.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Landwehr soldier Alwin Chaton, Reserve
Infantry Regiment No. 78.
BRAUNSCHWEID, _October 31st, 1914_.
(The Hospital "Konzerthaus.")
Gericht der stellvertretenden XL. Brigade.
Present:
President of the Court, Dr. BEHME.
Secretary, DE BOER.
There appeared to-day as witness the Landwehr soldier Alwin Chaton,
5th Company, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 78, who made the following
statement:
My name is Alwin Chaton. I am 32 years old; Protestant; book-keeper at
Emmerstadt, near Helmstadt.
During the street-fighting in Charleroi, in the course of the fight
we passed the main street and reached a side-street leading from the
main street. When I had come to the street corner and fired down the
side-street, I saw some 50 to 60 paces in front of me a German dragoon
lying in the street. Three civilians were near him, one of whom was
bending over the soldier, who was still kicking with his legs. I fired
among them and hit the last of the three civilians; the others ran
away. On coming nearer I saw that the civilian I had shot had a long
bloodstained knife in his hand. The right eye of the German dragoon had
been cut out, and the left one as well, though this was still hanging
from the side of his head. From the nature of the wounds there could be
no doubt that the eyes had been cut out, not in the fighting, but by
sheer malice. A great deal of smoke came from the body of the dragoon.
He had no doubt been soaked in inflammable liquid and set alight.
Later on I saw other bodies burning, though there was no sort of fire
in the vicinity; these also must have been set alight.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: ALWIN CHATON.
The witness was thereupon sworn.
Signed: BEHME. Signed: DE BOER.
App. 64.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Acting-Sergeant-Major Weinreich,
Infantry Regiment No. 20.
Court of the 6th Infantry Division.
Present:
Deputy-President of the Court, SCHMETZER.
Secretary, HÄNSE.
URSEL, _November 10th, 1914_.
There appears as witness Acting-Sergeant-Major Weinreich, Machine-gun
Company, Infantry Regiment No. 20, who, after the importance of the
oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement:
As to Person: My name is Adolf Weinreich. I am 32 years of age;
Protestant.
As to Case: One day in the middle of August this year, I proceeded with
the Company Transport, behind the company, which was taking part in
the fight. At the entrance of Neer-Linter I saw a German hussar lying
in the house covered with a sack. I dismounted from my horse, lifted
the sack, and noticed that the hussar was dead. His face was covered
all over with blood, the eye cavities were bored out, the eyeballs
themselves had been completely cut away and had disappeared. The coat
was torn open, the breast exposed, and showed marks of some twenty
stabs. I covered the corpse again with the sack.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: ADOLF WEINREICH.
The witness was hereupon sworn.
Signed: SCHMETZER. Signed: HÄNSE.
App. 65.
Herzogliches Amtsgericht.
Present:
Oberamtsrichter Dr. SCHILLING, Judge.
HORNIG, Secretary.
BLANKENBURG (HARTZ), _November 14th, 1914_.
There appeared as witness Fusilier Paul Rohr, 8th Company, Fusilier
Regiment No. 36, at present in the Reserve Hospital at this place; he
was examined as follows:
As to Person: My name is Paul Rohr; born on August 28th, 1892, at
Galbitz, near Cönnern; Protestant.
As to Case: The following deposition, which he had made before
Lieutenant Reyner on October 31st, 1914, was read over to witness:
"Whilst taking some straw for camp purposes from a barn near Brussels
we found two otherwise unwounded German Uhlans hidden under the straw.
Both had their eyes poked out. The case, as I know, has already been
reported to my battalion commander, Kirchner."
He thereupon declared: I affirm this deposition to-day, and add the
following detail: The occurrence took place in a village near Brussels
at about the end of August this year. The two German Uhlans I found
lying dead under the straw in the barn were absolutely unwounded, with
the exception of their torn-out eyes, and there exists no doubt in my
mind that the wounds inflicted, when their eyes were destroyed, were
the sole cause of their death.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: PAUL ROHR.
After the witness had been admonished as to the importance of the oath,
he was duly sworn.
Signed: Dr. SCHILLING. Signed: HORNIG.
App. 66.
MILITARY EXAMINATION of Captain Troeger, Reserve Infantry Regiment No.
204.
Ministry of War.
Military place of examination concerning violations of the Laws of War.
Present:
Kriegsgerichtzrat, Dr. LINDE, Judge.
PFITZNER, Secretary.
BERLIN, _November 24th, 1914_.
There appeared as witness Captain Troeger, Reserve Infantry Regiment
No. 204, who stated:
As to Person: My name is Hans Troeger; 45 years old; Protestant.
As to Case: On the march from Ghent to Thourout, two volunteers of
Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 203, who had collapsed from exhaustion,
were mutilated by Belgian villagers, their ears and noses were cut off,
their stomachs slit open, and one of them had his skull fractured by
the heel of a boot. This fact was made known to us amongst others by
the commanding officer of the company, Captain zur Nieden, to whose
company the two volunteers belonged.
The following is another case, which took place at Cessen-Kappel:
Non-commissioned Officer Schnitzer, 5th Company, Reserve Regiment
No. 204, reported to me on October 26th or 27th that he had found
a mutilated Prussian dragoon at Cessen-Kappel whose ears and nose
had been cut off, and his stomach slit open by villagers. The said
non-commissioned officer thereupon searched the farms in question with
a detachment of his men, and found a few armed inhabitants, who were
shot at once.
On our march through Belgium from Ghent onwards we were constantly
fired on by the inhabitants from houses and church towers.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: TROEGER.
The witness was sworn.
Proceedings concluded.
Signed: Dr. LINDE. Signed: PFITZNER.