chapter ix

louvain under the mailed fist

the next day at maastricht i tried to cure the evil results of that night on the damp floor in louvain by eating great quantities of rice and drinking much cocoa with liberal doses of cinnamon, but as it was of no avail, i started again the next morning.

the majority of the refugees returning to louvain belonged to the lower classes, and they began to loot and plunder the town, encouraged thereto by the german soldiers, who threw the things into the streets, and said: "take it, if you like!" in extenuation of the looting and plundering i might say that the poor wretches tried before all to get hold of half-burned eatables.

during my first visit i estimated the number of civilian victims at about eighty. this number turned out to be larger, as many during the second fire fled to their cellars, exits of which were however choked up by the collapsing walls. the corpses of numerous suffocated citizens were found in these cellars.

at many monasteries i heard painful details of the treatment suffered by priests. the majority were made prisoners, and many were tied to trees during a whole night and afterwards released. several were killed. i heard, for example, at the133 convent of the jesuits that a student of theology, eugène dupiereux, had been murdered, simply because he was found to have kept a diary of the war in which he had expressed a rather unfavourable opinion about the germans. in the same manner two josephite brothers were murdered, who later on were found to be germans; of other priests who had been killed, the names were not yet known.

many clerical gentlemen connected with the university had been ill-treated in the most atrocious manner. the architect lenertz, a native of luxemburg, also connected with the university, had been shot, for no reason at all, before the eyes of his wife at the moment that he left the house. and louvain was so effectively cut off from the outer world that in most convents i was asked whether the rumour was true that the pope was dead! and at that time his successor had already been appointed.

i succeeded in laying my hands on an original copy of a proclamation that ought not to have been posted before the following day. i took the document with me to the netherlands, and it is of special interest, because in it the germans admit to have tyrannised the people, and to have not only burned louvain, but also ransacked the town. the proclamation had been drawn up in concert with the german authorities and was approved by them. it was in french and in flemish, and read as follows:

"proclamation

"to the inhabitants of the city of louvain

"we have in vain visited our municipal representatives. the last of them, alderman schmidt, who was prevented134 from fulfilling his office, surrendered to us the municipal power on august 30th.

"i believe that it is my duty to take that task upon me, assisted by some well-known burgesses, who have undertaken to stand by me.

"in agreement with the german military authority i invite the inhabitants of louvain to return to the city, and to take up again their usual occupations.

"the orders issued by monsieur collins remain valid.

"i mention more especially:—

"1. that it is prohibited to be out of doors after seven o'clock (belgian time) in the evening.

"2. that all who are in possession of any arms, of whatever description, or any munition must at once deliver everything at the town-hall.

"3. that everything that may appear hostile to the german army must be avoided with the utmost care.

"the german military authority have promised us that on these conditions no further burning and looting shall take place and that the population shall no longer be threatened or embarrassed.

"we are engaged now most actively upon the re-establishment of the municipal services: police, municipal register, and the services of the canals, which services will all be reopened as soon as possible.

"the police service will be performed in the daytime by some volunteers, who will wear an armlet in the municipal colours, and an identity card, both officially stamped. well-minded persons, who are willing to perform these duties, are urgently requested to present themselves at the town-hall to-day at four o'clock in the afternoon.

"the acting burgomaster, a. nerincx.

"the town-clerk, eug. marguery.

"the committee of burgesses! dr. boine, pastor claes, dr. p. debaisieux, dr. deconinck, ch. de la vallée-poussin, monseigneur deploigne, p. helleputte, a. thiery, dr. tits, l. verhelst, v. vingeroedt.

"louvain,

"september 1st, 1914."

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pastor claes, mentioned in the above proclamation, has done very much for the miserable louvain population; they owe him especially much gratitude for an act of devotion with regard to the murdered victims.

in the immediate neighbourhood of the railway station a house was being built, of which only the foundations were laid. the place showed nothing beyond a huge cavity. i had noticed already several times that there was an atrocious stench near the station, which at last became unendurable. pastor claes, who courageously entered all destroyed houses to look for the dead, had discovered the victims also in this place. in the cave just mentioned he found sixteen corpses of burghers, two priests among them. in order to remove them from the street the germans had simply thrown them into that cave, without covering the corpses in any way. they had been lying there for days, and were decaying rapidly.

i witnessed pastor claes's labours for a moment only, for the smell was unbearable even at a somewhat considerable distance. the good pastor persevered in the work after having started it, with the assistance of some faithful helpers, who all of them had sealed their mouths with a sponge soaked in some disinfectant. the corpses were taken from the cave, money and documents put away in separate bags, and the unfortunate owners coffined and blessed.

during the next days i found a hospitable domicile at the convent of the sacred heart on the namur canal ("naamsche vest"). it is a seminary for missionaries, and when i went to them for the first136 time i had a letter from their head, the "provincial" in the netherlands, who sent the order that all the theological students should be transferred to the netherlands as quickly as possible. they received me with the greatest kindness, and ever since i enjoyed their hospitality.

a short time after the destruction i was even obliged to accept it for a whole week, as on the same day on which i arrived in louvain for another visit there was renewed fighting round the town. the belgians had advanced as far as rotselair, where the next day they held their ground against overwhelmingly superior numbers; but at last they had to retire, leaving a great many dead behind. the belgians had even got on to the road tirlemont-louvain, and blown up the railway line in two places.

on that occasion the germans arrested me at about two miles from tirlemont. firstly, because i travelled by bicycle, and secondly, because i was accused of having "cooked" one of my passports.

this was so far true that i had altered the dates of a passport, which allowed me to stay in louvain from september 6th till the 14th, into the 8th and the 16th. when taken to the commanding officer in tirlemont, i convinced him so thoroughly of my complete innocence, that the next day i was allowed to go on to louvain.

there the german authorities detained me for a full week, by prohibiting me to return: "for the sake of your own safety," they told me courteously. during the day i was busy enough, and in the evenings i enjoyed the pleasant company of the three fathers of the sacred heart who had remained in the137 mission house, and with whose photographic instrument i took many a snapshot of the louvain ruins.

the mission house had become a sanctuary for a good many people. as bread was lacking, two brothers fried pancakes all day long and distributed them among the numberless persons who asked for food. among these were people who a few days earlier belonged to the well-to-do, but who saw their business, in which often more than their own capital was invested, wrecked by fire, and were now obliged to appeal to the charity of these monks. indeed during the first weeks after that terrible event many starved, and i assisted often at the distribution of the pancakes, because they were short-handed.

in this grand old monastery, both inside and out a jewel of architecture, about five hundred people had found shelter. they were lodged in halls, rooms, and kitchens. the fathers gave them everything in the way of food they might require, but they had to do their own cooking. as not one of these people had a home left, which they could call their own, no wonder that they greatly admired the fathers. often when i strolled about with one of these, one or other of the refugees came to him to press his hand and express gratitude for the hospitality offered.

in this way i got into conversation with a middle-aged lady. her husband had been shot, and she got a bullet in her arm, which had to be amputated in consequence. the poor creature had lost all courage, and lived on her nerves only. it was remarkable to hear this father find the right words, and succeed in making her calm and resigned.138 before she left us, she had promised that for her children's sake she would do all in her power to control herself.

during the week of my compulsory stay in louvain i had also the privilege of making the acquaintance of two brave compatriots; i mean professor noyons and his wife.

they never left louvain. on august 25th information was sent to the leo xiii institution for philosophy, a building turned into a hospital, that a hundred wounded men might be expected towards evening. that evening began the wild shooting and burning of houses by the germans, and soon a large number of wounded was taken to the institution. suddenly professor noyons recognised one of his servants among the wounded who were brought to him for treatment. she had three bullets in her side. after having bandaged her wounds, he hurried away to his house, in order to see what had happened.

he thought that it was sufficiently protected by the immense red cross flag, and the words written on the door by the germans themselves: "professor noyons, netherland physician, to be spared." but he had been mistaken. the soldiers did not respect anything, and had forced an entry into the house, wounded that servant, and then wrecked everything in the most scandalous manner. beautiful large japanese jars had been smashed to pieces, valuable furniture damaged by knocking and breaking large pieces out of it with rifles and bayonets. a fine carpet was burned, as well as many pieces of furniture. a hole was burned even in the floor.

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professor noyons took me over the house and showed me the destruction. bullets had been lodged in the inner walls after piercing the windows and on a level with the windows. by lengthening the line of trajection one found that the bullets must have been fired at a distance of nearly six hundred yards, which proves that the germans simply fired at random.

as professor noyons heard that other hospitals, churches, and ancient buildings were not spared either, he went to the commanding officer through the rain of bullets, clad in his white overalls, to claim protection for everything that lawfully displayed the red cross flag, and to request that churches, convents, ancient buildings, and especially the town-hall should be spared. it is only owing to his intervention that not much more was destroyed in louvain.

on the thursday of the week of destruction the inhabitants were notified that they had to leave the town, but professor noyons and his wife decided to stay on, as they could not leave the one hundred and fifty wounded men who were laid up at the institution.

they carried all those patients into the cellars on stretchers, and there waited with the nursing staff for the bombardment that had been announced, but never came off.

professor noyons took me all over the hospital, and if i should describe all i saw and heard there, that story alone would fill volumes. he took me, for example, to a boy of eight years old, whose shoulder was shattered by rifle-shots. his father and140 mother, four little brothers and a sister, had been murdered. the boy himself was saved because they thought that he was dead, whereas he was only unconscious. when i asked for his parents, brothers and sister, he put up his one hand and, counting by his little fingers, he mentioned their names.

there lay also a woman, with one leg amputated. her husband had been murdered, another bullet had entered the leg of the baby in her arms. another woman had her child murdered in her arms.

women and children had frequently been ill-treated in a most atrocious manner, aged and sick people were dragged out of the houses, and flung down in the street. this happened, for example, to an old man, who lay dying in his cellar. in spite of the supplications of his wife and two sons, he was flung on the cobbles, where he died soon. the sons were taken prisoners and sent away. his widow assists at present nursing other unfortunates at professor noyons' hospital.

a paralysed woman who had also been flung into the street was nursed at the hospital, and lay with many others in the chapel of the institution, which had been turned into a ward.

belgian and german soldiers found excellent nursing here. many convalescents were allowed to walk in the large garden, which was happily divided by a large wall, so that the one-time combatants could be separated.

professor and mrs. noyons were busy day and night on behalf of their fellow-men, and one could quite well tell by their looks that they were overworked. they took their rest in the kitchen, which141 was built in the basement. all male and female voluntary nurses took their meals there.

once i enjoyed the pleasure of partaking of such a "dinner," as the guest of professor and mrs. noyons. the company was very mixed, and men who never in their lives had ever done anything else but spoiling their eyes for the sake of science, by reading all manner of ancient manuscripts, were now busy, dressed in a blue apron, stirring the soup and mashing potatoes or vegetables. the menu comprised nothing but potatoes, a little vegetables, and a finely calculated piece of meat.

at that dinner i also made the acquaintance of professor nerincx, the acting burgomaster. it was a courageous act to assume the government of the town destroyed by the germans; he did it for the sake of his fellow-citizens, who will never be able to requite their indebtedness to the temporary burgomaster for what he did for them; and most of them do not even know it.

the war is not over yet, and much is still hidden under a veil, but after the war it will undoubtedly be the duty of the louvain people to twine a magnificent wreath round the three names noyons-nerincx-claes.

the names of many priests will be found in the register of belgian martyrs. i have mentioned already some who, although innocent, gave their life for their country. during my week's stay at louvain i heard of other cases. the priest of corbeek-loo, for example, was simply tortured to death on account of one of his sermons in which he said that the fight of the belgian army was beauti142ful "because it lawfully resists an unlawful invasion," and further for announcing a holy requiem mass for the souls of the "murdered" citizens.

at blauwput, near louvain, where, according to the germans, there had been also shooting, many houses were set on fire and the men placed in a row. it was then announced that by way of punishment every fifth man would be shot. when the germans counted as tenth the father of a large family, that man fainted, and they simply killed number eleven, a capuchin.

very many other cases of martyrdom among priests remained unknown to me, but the various belgian bishops examined all these events with praiseworthy zeal and scrupulousness, and by taking extensive evidence established the fact that in no case the victims could be reproached with any act that justified the sentence against them. after the war the world will surely be made acquainted with the horrible truth.

the foregoing record of my experiences in louvain will make it sufficiently clear to the unprejudiced reader that the destruction and wholesale murders were nothing but wanton crimes committed by the german troops stationed there, crimes which it is impossible to justify on any ground.

the duration of the war has more or less surprised me, and i postponed writing this book for a long time as i wished to quote the evidence of persons in high places, clergymen, and educated foreigners. as the war is not over yet, i must omit these in the interest of their safety.

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but from my personal knowledge and the evidence referred to, i am able to establish the following facts in connection with the events that preceded and followed the destruction of louvain.

on august 25th the antwerp garrison made a sortie, in the direction of louvain. at the beginning the belgians were successful, and came within four and a half miles of this town. for a moment the situation became critical, and at about seven o'clock a small troop of cavalry came at a furious gallop from the scene of battle to louvain, probably to summon the assistance of the garrison.

at that hour the namur canal ("naamsche vest") was already dark in consequence of the thick foliage of tall trees, and suddenly the wild horsemen were shot at. several neutral witnesses established the fact that this was done by a small troop of german infantry who came from the station, probably on their way to the battle-field, and thought that belgian cavalry came racing into the town.

the men stopped their horses, dismounted, and returned the fire from behind their animals. this went on for about a quarter of an hour. every one was alarmed by this shooting; other soldiers came racing in from the station, and others ran to and fro near that building crying, "a surprise attack!" some, thinking that the attack came from the advancing belgians, rushed to the place where the fighting took place, others misunderstood the cry, believed that the citizens assaulted them, and began to shoot at these, and at the houses.

before those on the naamsche vest found out their mistake, the shooting was going on in the144 greater part of the town, and the excited men, who at first had been shooting at each other, soon joined the rest. some wounded troopers were taken to one of the convents on the vest, but a couple of hours later they were suddenly fetched away again.

the whole evening and the next day the germans went on shooting people and firing houses. it is worth recording that the library was already set on fire that same evening of the fray on the naamsche vest; it was burning at eight o'clock.

on thursday everyone, even the persons staying in the institution and hospitals, were ordered to leave the town, as it was to be shelled. they seemed to have no pity even on the wretched wounded men. only the male and female nurses remained with these, of their own free will, determined to die with them if necessary.

the inhabitants were driven to the station, where the husbands were cruelly separated from their wives and several persons were shot. other men were escorted to a place behind the station, and their wives and children were told that those men were going to be shot. the poor things heard indeed the click-clack of the rifles and thought that their dear ones were dead. however, many returned later, and their "shooting" seems to have been a mere sham.

great crowds walked the long way to tirlemont. they were constantly threatened by german soldiers, who aimed their rifles at them; passing officers commanded from time to time that some should stay behind, and others were shot. especially did the clerics amongst the refugees suffer a great deal;145 many were not only scandalously scoffed at, but also maliciously injured. the greater part of the germans showed a strong anti-catholic bias, in particular against the clergy, whom they accused of having incited the people against them.

this is only a short record of the destruction of louvain, the truthfulness of which will be firmly and fully established after the war by extensive, accurately drawn up declarations.

louvain had been destroyed because a crowd of wanton soldiers, who were garrisoned there, who hated the belgians, and who had been kept within bounds with difficulty, seized on their own stupid mistake to give rein to their passions.

their commanding officer was the worthy head of such a mob, a heartless creature, who did not show the slightest remorse for the destruction of those magnificent libraries, set on fire by his order.

it has been alleged that civilians had been shooting from the halls, but when a committee examined the remains in the building with the consent of the military, they found there the carcase of a german horse. they were ordered to stop their investigations immediately, for that horse was evidence ... that german military men had been billeted on the building, and thus no civilians could have been there. this will also be published later in the reports.

the german authority left indeed no effort untried to cover up their atrocious action. already in a communication from wolff, dated august 29th, they attempted to violate the truth by asserting that:—

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"the houses caught fire from burning benzine, and the flames burst out in other quarters also. on wednesday afternoon part of the town and the northern suburb were in flames."

they have not been able to maintain that story for very long; the truth overtook the lie.

may all the nations of the world after the war collaborate to compensate louvain for her martyrdom, see that this city shall be restored to her former, happy prosperity, and get a library which approaches as much as possible the one she lost. the germans can probably do their part by investigating where the motor-cars went which left the halls on that wretched tuesday night, heavily laden with books.