In order to punish imaginary crimes, attributed to individuals or
townships, or without even taking the trouble to discover any kind of
pretext, the Germans often, especially after looting, set everything on
fire _so as to make all traces disappear_. Sometimes, as at Courtaçon,
they compelled the inhabitants to provide the material for burning their
own houses; or, as at Recquignies, forced prisoners "to set the houses
of the doctor and mayor on fire with lighted straw." But generally they
do the work themselves. They have a _special service_ for this, and all
the requisite incendiary material is carefully prepared; torches,
grenades, fuses, oil pumps, firebrands, satchels of pastilles containing
very inflammable compressed powder, etc. German science has applied
itself to the perfecting of the technique of incendiarism. The village
is set alight by a _drilled_ method. Those concerned act quite coolly,
as a matter of duty, as though in accordance with a drill scheme laid
down and perfected beforehand.
Of course, fire once let loose, these people have to see that it does
its work completely: accordingly, at Louvain, they destroyed the
fire-engines and fire-escapes; at Namur, they stopped the firemen at the
very moment they were preparing to do their duty.
In this way they sometimes wilfully burned down whole blocks of
dwellings (Lunéville): sometimes an entire district (105 houses at
Senlis, 112 at Baccarat): sometimes almost a whole town itself (more
than 300 houses at Gerbéviller, 800 at Sermaize, 1,200 at Dinant, 1,800
at Louvain[4]). On other occasions they did not leave a house standing
(Nomeny, Clermont-en-Argonne, Sommeilles).
The complete list of buildings, cottages, farms, villas, factories, or
châteaux, burned wilfully in this way by hand, will be a formidable one,
amounting to tens of thousands.[5]
Refinement of cruelty frequently occurs. At Aerschot "women had to
witness the sight of the conflagration holding their hands up. Their
torture lasted six hours." At Crévic, the Germans began their sinister
work by burning a château which they knew belonged to General Lyautey.
The troops, commanded by an officer, shouted out for Madame and
Mademoiselle Lyautey "that they might cut their heads off."
The houses destroyed by fire were not always uninhabited. At Maixe, M.
Demange, wounded in both knees, dragged himself along and fell prostrate
in his kitchen; his house was set on fire and Madame Demange was
forcibly prevented from going to the rescue of her husband, who perished
in the flames. At Nomeny, Madame Cousin, after being shot, was thrown
into the burning building and roasted. At the same place, M. Adam was
thrown alive into the flames. Let us note in connection with him, to
their credit, an act of comparative humanity. Finding that the unhappy
man was not being burnt fast enough, they ended his misery in the flames
by shooting him. At Monceau-sur-Sambre, where they set fire to 300
houses, they confined the two brothers S. in a shed, and the unfortunate
men were burnt alive.[6]
The soldiers' diaries are filled with descriptions of incendiarism, some
of which we now quote. "Returned by Mazerulles, which was burnt as we
passed through, because the engineers found a telephone there connected
up with the French."[7] "The whole village was in ablaze. Everything
destroyed in the street, except one small house; in front of the door
was a poor woman with her six children, her arms raised and begging for
mercy. And every day it is the same thing."
_Parnx_. "The first village burnt (in Lorraine, on the 10th August);
after that the fun began. Villages in flames, one after the other."
Another note-book simply states, "Sommepy--horrible carnage. The village
entirely burnt; the French thrown into the burning houses; civilians
with the rest." Another recalls theatrical memories. "The village is
ablaze; it reminds one of the conflagration of Walhalla in the 'Twilight
of the Gods.'"
Here is a poet speaking: "The soldiers set up the red cock (_i.e._,
fire) upon the houses, just as they like." This poet is moved, and
speaks of "pure vandalism" on the part of his companions in arms. And
again, a musician writes, "Throwing of incendiary grenades into the
houses; a military concert in the evening--'Nun danket alle Gott'! (Now
thank we all our God)." Finally, a Bavarian: "The village
(Saint-Maurice, Meurthe-et-Moselle) was surrounded, and the soldiers
posted one yard apart so that no one could escape. Then the Uhlans set
fire to the place, one house after the other. No man, woman, or child
could possibly escape. Only the cattle were removed in safety, because
cattle have some value. Anyone trying to escape was shot. Everything in
the village was destroyed." We shall see presently that they even went
so far as to burn ambulances.