There is something, after all, in what they say of German
barbarians."
"_Ottignies._ The village was pillaged. The blond beast has made plain
what he is. The Huns and the free-lances of the Middle Ages could not
have done better."
"_Cirey._ During the night incredible things were done: shops sacked,
money stolen, rapes: enough to make one's hair stand on end."
FOOTNOTES:
[3] We have not found this fact recorded in the Commission's Reports. It
was told to us, on his return from captivity, by Dr. Marlier, of the
20th Corps, taken prisoner at Morhange, and Dr. Marlier is the soul of
honour.
INCENDIARISM
In order to punish imaginary crimes, attributed to individuals or
townships, or without even taking the trouble to discover any kind of
pretext, the Germans often, especially after looting, set everything on
fire _so as to make all traces disappear_. Sometimes, as at Courtacon,
they compelled the inhabitants to provide the material for burning their
own houses; or, as at Recquignies, forced prisoners "to set the houses
of the doctor and mayor on fire with lighted straw." But generally they
do the work themselves. They have a _special service_ for this, and all
the requisite incendiary material is carefully prepared; torches,
grenades, fuses, oil pumps, firebrands, satchels of pastilles containing
very inflammable compressed powder, etc. German science has applied
itself to the perfecting of the technique of incendiarism.
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