The men were being led out of the town, as Captain Karge’s prisoners had been led out a few hours before, to be shot. The Burgomaster, his brother, and his son were in this second convoy. “Under the glare of the conflagration,” writes the Burgomaster’s wife, “my eyes fell upon my husband, my son and my brother-in-law, who were being led, with other men, to execution. For fear of breaking down his courage, I could not even cry out to my husband: ‘I am here.’” There were 50 or 60 prisoners altogether, and another batch of 30 followed behind.[96] “They made us walk in the same position, hands up, for 20 minutes,” one survivor states (c 4). “When we got tired we put our hands on our heads.”--“One of the prisoners,” states a second member of the convoy (c 8), “was struck on the back with a rifle-butt by a German soldier. The young man said: ‘O my father.’ His father said: ‘Keep quiet, my boy.’ Another soldier thrust his bayonet into the thigh of another prisoner, and afterwards compelled him to walk on with the rest.”--“Our hands,” states a third (R. No. 7), “were bound behind our backs with copper wire--so tightly that our wrists were cut and bled. We were compelled to lie down, still bound, on our backs, with our heads touching the ground. About six in the morning, they decided to begin the executions.” An officer read out a document to the prisoners.--One out of three was to be shot. “It was read out like an article of the law. He read in German, but we understood it.... They took all the young men....” (c 4). The Burgomaster’s chief political opponent was among the prisoners. He offered his life for the Burgomaster’s--“The Burgomaster’s life was essential to the welfare of the town.” The Burgomaster pleaded for his fellow citizens, and then for his son. The officer answered that he must have them all--the Burgomaster, his son and his brother. “The boy got up and stood between his father and uncle.... The shots rang out, and the three bodies fell heavily one upon another....” (R. No. 7). “The rest were drawn up in ranks of three. They numbered them--one, two, three. Each number three had to step out of his rank and fall in behind the corpses; they were going to be shot, the Germans said. My brother and I were next to each other--I number two, he three. I asked the officer if I might take my brother’s place: ‘My mother is a widow. My brother has finished his education, and is more useful than I!’ The officer was again implacable. ‘Step out, number three.’ We embraced, and my brother joined the rest. There were about 30 of them lined up. Then the German soldiers moved slowly along the line, killing three at every discharge--each time at the officer’s word of command” (R. No. 7).