This notice has been produced to the committee. After the removal of the
valuables this house also was burned.
German soldiers had arrived on the 15th at Blegny Trembleur and seized a
quantity of wine. On the 16th prisoners were taken; four, including the
priest and the Burgomaster, were shot. On the same day 200 (so-called)
hostages were seized at Flemalle and marched off. There they were told
that unless Fort Flemalle surrendered by noon they would be shot. It did
surrender and they were released.
Entries in a German diary show that on the 19th the German soldiers gave
themselves up to debauchery in the streets of Liege, and on the night
of the 20th (Thursday) a massacre took place in the streets, beginning
near the Cafe Carpentier, at which there is said to have been a dinner
attended by Russian and other students. A proclamation issued by General
Kolewe on the following day gave the German version of the affair, which
was that his troops had been fired on by Russian students. The diary
states that in the night the inhabitants of Liege became mutinous and
that fifty persons were shot. The Belgian witnesses vehemently deny that
there had been any provocation given, some stating that many German
soldiers were drunk, others giving evidence which indicates that the
affair was planned beforehand.
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