chapter x
along the meuse to huy, andenne, and namur
between two of my several trips to louvain i made one to namur in the beginning of september, after having secured at liège, by a trick, a splendid permit which enabled me to travel even by motor-car.
there was a little more order in the whole district round liège, since the germans behaved more decently, and provisions had arrived. the shock, which the burning and butchering of so many places and persons gave to the whole world, had also influenced the conduct of the germans, and from the beginning of september they made a practice of asking each time when they thought that they had behaved decently: "well, are we such barbarians as the world calls us?"
in this relative calm the population felt somewhat relieved, and ventured again into the streets. outdoors on the "stoeps" of the houses men sat on their haunches smoking their pipe and playing a game of piquet. most of them were vigorous fellows, miners, who did not mind any amount of work, but now came slowly under the demoralising influence of idleness.
my motor whirled along the gloriously fine road148 to huy. it is a delicious tour through the beautiful valley of the meuse, along sloping light-green roads. had the circumstances not been so sad, i should have enjoyed it better.
i had already been near huy, at a time when several burning houses shrouded the whole town in clouds of smoke. on august 24th, at ten o'clock at night, some shots had been fired in the neighbourhood of the viaduct. this was a sign for hundreds of soldiers to begin shooting at random and arrest several persons. several houses were perforated like sieves by bullets, and an entire street of twenty-eight houses, the rue du jardin, was reduced to ashes. no civilians were killed.
it is evident from the "report on the violations of international law in belgium" that the germans themselves admit that they were in the wrong with regard to the atrocities which were committed here. the following order of the day proves it:
"last night a shooting affray took place. there is no evidence that the inhabitants of the towns had any arms in their houses, nor is there evidence that the people took part in the shooting; on the contrary, it seems that the soldiers were under the influence of alcohol, and began to shoot in a senseless fear of a hostile attack.
"the behaviour of the soldiers during the night, with very few exceptions, makes a scandalous impression.
"it is highly deplorable when officers or non-commissioned officers set houses on fire without the permission or order of the commanding, or, as the case may be, the senior officer, or when by their attitude they encourage the rank and file to burn and plunder.
"i require that everywhere a strict investigation shall take place into the conduct of the soldiers with regard to the life and property of the civilian population.
149 "i prohibit all shooting in the towns without the order of an officer.
"the miserable behaviour of the men has been the cause that a non-commissioned officer and a private were seriously wounded by german ammunition.
"the commanding officer,
"major von bassewitz."
i was informed further that there had been no fighting for the possession of huy. the citadel on which the german flag flew had not been put in a state of defence on account of its great age. the old bridge over the meuse at huy had been wrecked by the belgians, but the germans had simply driven stout piles into the river, to support a floor which they put over the wrecked part, and so restored the traffic.
during my visit i happened to make the acquaintance of mr. derricks, a brother of the lawyer who had been murdered so cruelly at canne, and also a member of the provincial states. the poor man was deeply moved when he heard the details about his brother's death. i made him very happy by taking a letter with me for his sister-in-law, who was now at maastricht.
at andenne things seemed much worse than at huy. i stopped there on my way to namur, and had been prepared in liège for the sad things i should hear. a proclamation posted in the last-named town ran as follows:—
"august 22nd, 1914.
"after having protested their peaceful sentiments the inhabitants of andenne made a treacherous attack on our troops.
"the commanding general burned down the whole150 city with my consent, shooting also about one hundred persons.
"i acquaint the inhabitants of liège of this, that they may understand what fate threatens them if they should assume a similar attitude.
"the commanding general-in-chief,
"von buelow."
general von buelow says here that he gave his consent to the shooting of about one hundred persons, but i can state with absolute certainty that there were about 400 victims. we must therefore assume that the other 300 were killed without his consent.
andenne, on the right bank of the meuse, was a town of 8,000 inhabitants. when the germans arrived there on the morning of august 19th they found the bridge connecting andenne and seilles wrecked. in the afternoon they began building a pontoon bridge, which was ready the next day. they were very much put out about the wrecking of the other bridge, by the belgian soldiers, a couple of hours before their arrival. their exasperation became still greater when they discovered after having finished the pontoon bridge, that the big tunnel on the left bank of the meuse had also been made useless by barricades and entanglements.
by refusing to pay at cafés and shops the military already expressed their dissatisfaction. then on thursday, august 20th, about six in the evening, after a great many troops had crossed the river by the pontoon bridge, a shot was heard which seemed the sign for a terrible fusillade. guns seemed to have been mounted at convenient places outside151 the town, for shells exploded right at its centre. the troops did no longer cross the bridge, but spread themselves in a disorderly manner all over the town, constantly shooting at the windows. even mitrailleuses were brought into action. those of the inhabitants who could fly did so, but many were killed in the streets and others perished by bullets entering the houses through the windows. many others were shot in the cellars, for the soldiers forced their way in, in order to loot the bottles of wine and to swallow their fill of liquor, with the result that very soon the whole garrison was a tipsy mob.
it struck me always that as soon as something took place anywhere which might lead to disorder, the method adopted was as follows: first a fusillade in order to scare the inhabitants, secondly looting of numberless bottles of wine, and finally cruel, inhuman murders, the ransacking and the wrecking.
the game of shooting and looting went on all through the night of the 20th. not a window or door remained whole even if the house was not burned down altogether.
at four o'clock in the morning all the men, women, and children who had not yet been put to death were driven to the place des tilleuls, but on the way many men had their brains blown out. amongst others, dr. camus, the septuagenarian burgomaster, was then wounded and afterwards received the finishing stroke by a hatchet.
at the place des tilleuls fifty men were taken from the crowd at random, escorted to the meuse, and shot. in the meantime other soldiers went on wrecking, firing, and looting.
152
andenne offered a dismal spectacle. the doors and windows of the houses that were not completely burned down had been kicked and beaten to pieces, and boards had been nailed before the holes. the inhabitants hung about disconsolately, and i could tell by their faces how they suffered, for every family in the town mourned the death of one dear to them.
they all became excited whenever i mentioned the accusations brought against them. they asserted with the greatest emphasis that it was an absolute lie that the civilians had shot. "even if they torture me to death," said most of them, "i'll still contend that this accusation is untrue."
the german officers, of course, held a different opinion; they alleged that the shooting by the civilians was even very general and purported to be a decided attack on the army. i asked them whether they had found any rifles or other arms at the "searches" of the houses—i expressed myself somewhat cautiously on purpose—for that ought to have been the case if such a great number of citizens had joined in the shooting. "no," they answered, "they were sly enough to see to it that we did not find these. they had been buried in time, of course."
the answer is, surely, not very convincing!
the germans had flung some more bridges across the river beyond andenne, which had been used for the occupation of namur chiefly, and lay idle now guarded by only one sentry. i left by the town-gate without any difficulties; the german soldiers jumped out of the way and stood to atten153tion, as soon as they noticed the netherland flag flying at the front of the motor. to the right and the left of the gateway they had written in gigantic letters: "newspapers, please!"
namur was shelled on august 21st and the 23rd. many houses were then already wrecked, many civilians killed. on the 23rd the belgian army withdrew and only some of the forts were defended. this withdrawal of the belgian army may have been a strategical necessity, but it is certain that the forts had not been defended unto the last. five forts fell into the hands of the germans without having suffered any damage.
on the afternoon of the 23rd the hostile troops entered the town, and on that day the inhabitants had not to suffer, excepting from requisitions made. but the following evening it was suddenly on fire at various spots, and the soldiers began to shoot in all directions, making many victims. before setting the houses on fire, with a liberal use of the lozenges mentioned already, the usurpers ransacked them and removed numerous pieces of valuable furniture. the place d'armes, the place léopold, the rue st. nicolas, rue rogier, and the avenue de la plante were almost entirely reduced to ashes. with the town-hall many valuable pictures were destroyed. the day following the conflagration they left off shooting at last, but the looting went on for days more.
when i drove into namur, i found the town comparatively quiet; there was some traffic in the streets, and belgian army surgeons and british nurses in their uniforms walked about freely.154 there were many wounded: the german wounded were all placed in the military hospital; the belgians and the french had been taken to the sisters of mercy, the institution saint louis, the high school for girls, and the sisters of our lady.
when i was eating a little at one of the hotels near the railway station, i was offered the newspaper l'ami de l'ordre, which had appeared again for the first time on that day, september 7th, under the censorship of the german authorities. for curiosity's sake i translate here the first leaderette, published under the rule of the new masters:—
"enough destroyed, enough distressed!
"more than one hundred houses have been burned or wrecked at namur, among them the town-hall, the house at the namur citadel, and the institution for ophthalmology in the place léopold. in the grand marché and its neighbourhood about sixty have been destroyed by fire. if we add to this the damage done by the bombardment from friday the 21st until sunday the 23rd august, and the wrecking of the bridges after the retreat of the army, we may estimate the losses at 10,000,000 francs.
"industry, trade, and agriculture exist no longer, labour is unemployed, and food is getting scarce, and over this dismal scene hovers the memory of numerous victims, of hundreds of prisoners of war or missing soldiers. during the bombardment of august 23rd one hundred persons were killed outright, or succumbed to their wounds. there are innumerable other wounded. this it is plain must have plunged the town into deep distress.
"it mourns the lost liberty, the happiness, the peace, the brightness of her past prosperity which has vanished for a long season to come, it laments on account of the prisoners of war, the wounded, the dead.... and every morning the155 brilliant sun rises on the scene, the warm rays bathe town and country, both alike cruelly lashed by the frightful scourge.
"yesterday crowds of believers prayed for peace, for that blessing which is only valued when it is lost. let us repeat our supplications twofold, let us increase our zeal. lord! o lord! listen to the voice of thy people who pray to thee! be merciful! give us back our peace!"
