On the station square captured guns. At the end of a
main street there is the Council Hall which has been
completely preserved with all its beautiful turrets; a sharp
contrast: 180 inhabitants are stated to have been shot after
they had dug their own graves."
The last and most important entry is that contained in Diary No. 19.
This is a blue book interleaved with blotting paper, and contains no
name and address; there is, however, one circumstance which makes it
possible to speak with certainty as to the regiment of the writer. He
gives the names of First Lieutenant von Oppen, Count Eulenburg, Captain
von Roeder, First Lieutenant von Bock und Polach, Second Lieutenant
Count Hardenberg, and Lieutenant Engelbrecht. A perusal of the Prussian
Army list of June, 1914, shows that all these officers, with the
exception of Lieutenant Engelbrecht, belonged to the First Regiment of
Foot Guards. On Aug. 24, 1914, the writer was in Ermeton. The exact
translation of the extract, grim in its brevity, is as follows:
"24.8.14. We took about 1,000 prisoners: at least 500 were
shot. The village was burned because inhabitants had also
shot.
Pages:
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485