THE EXODUS
What a touching spectacle–that of a whole people fleeing to another
country! This sight we witnessed in all its tragic pathos. While the
Germans approached from the east and south-east towards Antwerp, the
population of Malines and the neighboring villages, the people of the
villages situated between the outer and the inner lines of the forts,
the inhabitants of Duffel, Lierre, Contich, Viedieux and fifty other
villages had poured into Antwerp, and when it became evident, on
Tuesday and Wednesday, the city would be subjected to the bombardment
of the German artillery, all these brave people, probably 300,000 in
number–men, women, and children–who had sought refuge in Antwerp, where
they hoped they would be safe from the onslaught of the Huns, scattered
in all directions to escape the threatening fire. Some 200,000 people,
perhaps, crossed the Escaut river and fled, some in the direction of
Holland, others toward Ostend. Between 250,000 and 300,000 traversed
the highway which leads from Antwerp to Holland.
During the last days of the agony of Antwerp, I was the witness of the
constant departure of this desolate people towards Holland.
I had to journey each morning on my bicycle from Capellen to Antwerp
and return in the evening. In the morning I had to ride against the
surge of escaping refugees; in the evening I rode with the tide, as it
were. How can I describe the pathetic sights I witnessed during these
days of horror? I saw men and women–many far advanced in years; some
of them carried young children on their backs, some in their arms;
others pushed carts and wheelbarrows and small vehicles of all kinds,
which contained these people’s whole belongings, remnants of the wreck
of their homes; beds and bedding, furniture and clothing, religious
books and articles of piety. In this great moving caravan were cows
and goats, horses and sheep, and the ever-faithful dog–all being led
away by the refugees–truly a shattered cohort wending its way with
bowed heads, drawn faces, weary eyes, haggard and livid. I say it was
a terrible, heartrending sight to witness, one that I hope God will
prevent me from ever seeing again.
I shall never forget one case, more pitiful, perhaps, than all the
others. It was that of an old man who was pushing a wheelbarrow in
which sat his old wife, crippled and paralyzed. It was night, about 9
o’clock. We invited the old couple to spend the night in our home.
During the last week of Antwerp’s resistance, hundreds of refugees
would enter the enclosure of our home at Capellen and there improvise
for themselves a refuge for the night in the bushes or under the trees.
Others, the older men, the women folk and the children, were lodged
in the building. Rooms, corridors, garrets, and even the cellars were
filled to capacity.
On the following morning these poor refugees would start again on their
distressing journey towards Holland–the long, sad walk of a whole
people leaving behind them their beloved country, their souls tortured
by grief and anguish.
On Friday, the day Antwerp fell, the German troops entered the city
at about 9 o’clock in the morning, and what I relate now was conveyed
to me personally by a German officer, who took part in the attack on
Antwerp and was billeted in our house for more than three months after
the capture of the city.
When the Belgian military resistance ended–that is, during the night of
the 8th to the 9th of October–the Germans, as I have already stated,
continued to bombard the city, but in the morning at 7 o’clock the
artillery’s action ceased. Two hours later the order was given to a
regiment to pass inside the walls of the city. The Germans thought they
would have to fight foot by foot within the walls. For some reason,
the opinion prevailed that the whole Belgian army–between 90,000 and
150,000 in number–had concentrated for a last stand within the walls
of the city itself.
The Germans, who, according to the information given to me by the
officer I have mentioned, had only 55,000 men, actually feared to meet
the Belgian army in close battle. But the order was given to enter, and
regiment after regiment, with fixed bayonet, marched into the city,
alert but quietly, as though in constant dread of being surrounded.
The city was virtually empty. No civilians or military were to be
found. The German troops were ordered to halt in front of the Athenée,
and a group of officers were directed towards the Belgian army
headquarters, in order to obtain information. They were met by one lone
janitor, who heroically refused to state where the Belgian army had
gone.
The deputation of officers next crossed to the City Hall, where the
principal municipal officials awaited them. Here also information as to
the direction the Belgian army had taken was refused.
A demand was then made by the German officers for the surrender of
the city, but the municipal authorities replied: “As the city is under
the command of the military authorities, we have not the necessary
authority to surrender it.”
And that is why on the following day a German officer staying at
Capellen told us that the situation at Antwerp was rather precarious.
While the Germans occupied the ground, the city had not surrendered!
Antwerp had only fallen. The Belgian army had withdrawn towards Ostend.
It had traversed the coast road to Nieuport, where the troops took up
their position. We all know now what an important and heroic part they
played behind the locks of Nieuport. But the whole Province of Antwerp
had fallen under heel of the Hun!
[Illustration: MADAME BELAND
In the rear of Starrenhof, her residence in Capellen]