Karl Zimmer of the Fifty-fifth
Infantry, or that of the Private Erich Pressler of the 100th Grenadiers,
First Saxon Corps, &c., and if we will note that, among the exactions
reported above, there are very few that are the work of isolated brutes,
(such as, unfortunately, may be found even in the most noble armies,)
but that, on the contrary, the crimes represented here are collective
actions in obedience to service orders, and such as rest upon and
dishonor not only the individual but the entire troop, the officers, and
the nation; and if we will further note that these thirty notebooks
taken at random--Bavarian, Saxon, Pomeranian, Brandeburger, or from the
provinces of Baden and the Rhine--must of necessity represent hundreds
and thousands of others quite similar, as we may judge from the
frightful monotony of their recitals; if we consider all this, we must,
I think, be forced to admit that these atrocities are nothing less than
the practical application of a methodically organized system.
[Illustration: Figure 12.]
VII.
H.M. the Emperor of Germany, by ratifying The Hague Convention of 1907,
covenanted (Article 24) that "it is forbidden (c) to kill or wound an
enemy who, having laid down his arms, or being without means of defense,
has surrendered unconditionally.
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