German Atrocities: A Record of Shameless DeedsLe Queux, William
History
German Atrocities: A Record of Shameless Deeds
Le Queux, William
World War, 1914-1918 -- Atrocities
Having fallen ill on the journey, M. Michel asked to be allowed to see a
doctor, but, in lieu of medical advice, he was given a very strong dose
of castor oil, which made him very much worse. The conditions under
which these four men and a boy lived cannot be described. The gaolers
would not allow them nor anyone else to clean out the cell. Night and
day the unfortunate prisoners were herded together. Their only
recreation, a daily walk of half an hour’s duration, was taken in
company with the convicts.
Ten days after leaving Dantzig Mr. Drummond Hay was set free, but the
others were detained amid the awful surroundings which have been
described.
It was ascertained that there were forty-eight other foreigners--among
them fifteen Frenchmen--who are being kept in the town of Bentheim under
the strictest military observation.
The state of affairs in Dantzig when the Consuls left was terrible; many
people were being shot daily, often upon the very scantiest suspicion.
If the Germans treated responsible Government officials in the manner
described above, how much worse was the case of unfortunate girls and
women stranded alone in Germany. In many cases English governesses in
German families were cast adrift, to starve and endure the insults of
the savage enemy. Hundreds of English men and women, many of them
tourists, were thrown into prison without any trial, and suffered the
same indignities as did our Consul at Dantzig.
Englishwoman’s Experience.
A well-authenticated story was related by the headmistress of a London
elementary school, who was in Switzerland when the war broke out and who
returned to England prostrate with shock at the horror of scenes she
witnessed while passing through Germany. The train, she said, was
packed; all windows were closed, and the blinds drawn, and the
passengers were forbidden on peril of their lives to raise them.
Glimpses of troop trains were caught at intervals, and to allow these to
pass frequent stops were made. The pace was slow, and the crowded,
unventilated carriages became unendurably close. In the same compartment
as the lady in question were two English women, whom she learned to be
teachers in the provinces. One of these became ill, and at last, when
the train came to a stop at a countryside place between stations--there
was no means of locating it--her friend helped the sick girl to alight
in order to breathe some fresh air. Instantly bullets hailed upon them,
and both were shot dead. Their travelling companions dared make no
attempt to recover the bodies, and when the train passed on they were
left beside the line.
Two teachers of another London girls’ school state that a woman
travelling with them through Germany was shot for failing to show her
passport, and her body thrown out upon the line. Other ladies in the
same train stated that they had been stripped by German officers on the
pretence of searching them.
[Illustration: A MALINES RED-CROSS WARD WHICH WAS SHELLED BY THE
GERMANS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account