"
The entry, though dated Aug. 5, was evidently written on the 6th or
later, because the writer refers to the suspicious civilians as having
been shot on that day. Hoffman does not indicate of what offense these
civilians were guilty, and there is no positive evidence to connect
their slaughter with the report made by the German who had been fired on
by his comrades. They were "suspicious" and that was enough.
The systematic execution of civilians, which in some cases, as the diary
just cited shows, was founded on a genuine mistake, was given a wide
extension through the Province of Liege. In Soumagne and Micheroux very
many civilians were summarily shot. In a field belonging to a man named
E. fifty-six or fifty-seven were put to death. A German officer said:
"You have shot at us." One of the villagers asked to be allowed to
speak, and said: "If you think these people fired kill me, but let them
go." The answer was three volleys. The survivors were bayoneted. Their
corpses were seen in the field that night by another witness. One at
least had been mutilated. These were not the only victims in Soumagne.
The eyewitness of the massacre saw, on his way home, twenty bodies, one
that of a young girl of thirteen.
Pages:
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422