Citizens of neutral States who visited Belgium in December and January
report that the German authorities do not deny that noncombatants were
systematically killed in large numbers during the first weeks of the
invasion, and this, so far as we know, has never been officially denied.
If it were denied, the flight and continued voluntary exile of thousands
of Belgian refugees would go far to contradict a denial, for there is no
historical parallel in modern times for the flight of a large part of a
nation before an invader.
The German Government have, however, sought to justify their severities
on the grounds of military necessity, and have excused them as
retaliation for cases in which civilians fired on German troops. There
may have been cases in which such firing occurred, but no proof has ever
been given, or, to our knowledge, attempted to be given, of such cases,
nor of the stories of shocking outrages perpetrated by Belgian men and
women on German soldiers.
The inherent improbability of the German contention is shown by the fact
that after the first few days of the invasion every possible precaution
had been taken by the Belgian authorities, by way of placards and
handbills, to warn the civilian population not to intervene in
hostilities.
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