Note 34 — Chapter I · INTRODUCTORY

The story of Aerschot is peculiarly horrible. It was here that the priest was placed against the wall with his arms raised above his head; when he let them fall through weariness, the German soldiers brought the butt-ends of their rifles down upon his feet. He was kept there for hours, and as German soldiers passed they used him as a lavatory and a latrine until he was covered with filth. Eventually they shot him. This is but one of many such horrors (see the Bryce Report, Appendix, pages 29, 46. See also the fourth and fifth Belgian Reports). The German White Book admits (Appendix A 2) that “every third man was shot.”