[93] I have suppressed the names of the witnesses for fear of their relatives, if any, in German hands being subjected to vindictive measures. Also in the case (selected from some twenty similar cases equally authenticated) of rape I have omitted certain details which seem to me too disgusting for publication.--J. H. M. [94] NOTE.--This diary is a laconic example of a hundred such village tragedies. According to the Eleventh Belgian Report (page 133), twenty-six priests and monks were shot in Namur alone. And see the pastoral letter of Cardinal Mercier (_ibid._, page 165) on what he calls “this sinister necrology.” In his own diocese alone (that of Malines) he records thirteen priests as having been killed. According to a German soldier the guilt of priests was established by the fact that church-bells often rang!--(Bryce Appendix, page 163). [95] This savage credulity found its sequel in the murder of many unoffending priests not only in Belgium but in France. I quote one case from the depositions in my possession: “Marie B----, sœur du curé de Pradelles, a déclaré ‘Les Allemands rodant dans le village out enlevé la personne de mon frère M. l’Abbé Héléodore Bogaert, curé de cette paroisse, et l’ont fusillé au cimetière de Strazeele sans aucun motif le 9 octobre vers 1 heure et demie du matin.’” [96] These documents have been placed in my hands by the General Headquarters Staff. In accordance with the procedure adopted in the Bryce Report, and for military reasons, I have suppressed the names of the British regiments referred to and of their officers and men.--J. H. M. [97] This and the two following depositions are selected from a number of statements, mostly by Russian prisoners in German hands, who succeeded in escaping to the British lines. The statements (_b_) and (_c_) by these Russian soldiers are confirmed by the statement (_a_) which was volunteered by a German soldier, Stephan Grzegoroski, taken prisoner by the British troops. It is hardly necessary to point out that the employment of prisoners of war upon military works and their exposure to fire constitute a flagrant breach, not only of the Hague Regulations, but of the unwritten laws and usages of war.--J. H. M. [98] These two men escaped on December 8th, 1915, and reached the British Lines.--J. H. M. [99] “German Atrocities: An Official Investigation.” By J. H. Morgan, M.A., late Home Office Commissioner, with the British Expeditionary Force, Barrister-at-Law of the Inner Temple, and Professor of Constitutional Law in the University of London. (T. Fisher Unwin.) [Transcriber’s Note: Corrected the first two entries in the TOC to reflect the actual page numbers. Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.] End of Project Gutenberg's German Atrocities, by John Hartman Morgan