Annex II (p.67)

This Annex contains :
1. A letter from his Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbischop of Malines, to the Kreischef of the district of Malines, under date January 24, 1915.
2. A communication from His Eminence the Cardinal of Malines, forwarded to the General Government through the agency of Adjutant von Flemming, under date February 10, 1915.
3. A letter from the Lord Bishop of Namur to the Military Governor of Namur, under date April 12, 1915.
4. A note referring to a partial inquiry made by an Austrian priest appointed by the Wiener Priester Verein.
5. Correspondence of the Cardinal of Malines with His Excellency the German Governor-General on the question of outrages suffered by the nuns.

1. In his pastoral letter of Christmas, 1914, the Cardinal of Malines published the names of the innocent priests who had been put to death by the German troops.

Count von Wengersky, Kreischef of the District of Malines, wrote to the Cardinal on January 20 as follows :
The Kreischef Tgb. No.268/11 (p.68)
Malines, January 20th, 1915

To His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Malines

According to a newspaper notice several innocent priests are stated to have been put to death in the diocese of Malines.
In order that an inquiry may be set on foot may I beg Your Eminence to be so good as to let me know whether any priests, and, if so, which, have been put to death, being innocent, in the diocese of Malines.
I am very anxious to learn what circumstances have led up to this, which troops prove to be concerned, and on which days it happened.
The Kreischef
(signed) Wengersky
Colonel

The Cardinal replied as follows to Count von Wengersky :

The Palace of the Archbishop,
Malines, January 24th, 1915

M. le Kreischef,

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, 268/11, dated January 20, which you have been so good as to address to me.
The names of the priests and monks of the diocese of Malines, who, to my knowledge, were put to death by German troops, are as follows : Dupierreux, of the Company of Jesus; Brother Sebastien Allard, of the Society of St. (p.69) Joseph; Brother Candide, of the Society of the Brothers of Our Lady of Pity; Father Vincent, Conventual; Carette, a professor; Lombaerts, Goris, de Clerck, Dergent, Wouters, van Bladel, cures.
At Christmas time I was not perfectly certain what had been the fate of the cure of Herent. Since then his dead body has been discovered at Louvain and identified.
Other figures quoted in my pastoral letter must be increased to-day. Thus for Aerschot I gave the number of victims as 91. Now the total number of bodies of natives of Aerschot which have been exhumed had risen a few days ago to 143. But this is not the moment to dwell upon these particular cases; the proper place to give an account of them will be at the inquiry of which you give me hopes.
It will be a consolation to me to have full light thrown upon the events which I was compelled to mention in my Pastoral Letter and on others of the same nature.
But it is essential that the results of this inquiry should be made plain to all upon indisputable authority.
To insure this, I have the honor to propose to you, M. le Comte, and, through your kind intervention, to the German authorities, that the commission of inquiry should be composed in equal numbers of German representatives and of Belgian magistrates, chosen by our Chief (p.70) Magistrate, and presided over by a representative of a neutral country. I venture to hope that his Excellency, the United States Minister, would not 
refuse to accept this chairmanship, or to intrust it to a representative of his own choice.
I have the honor to be, M. le Kreischef,
(signed) D.J. Cardinal Mercier
Archbishop of Malines

Monsieur le Comte von Wengersky, Kreischef, Malines

This request met with no reply.

2. On February 10, 1915, Adjutant von Flemming called at the Palace of Malines, in the name of the Kreischef, to repeat verbally the questions to which the Cardinal had already replied in writing in his letter of January 24. The Cardinal informed the Adjutant that questions of this nature must be formulated and answered in writing. In consequence, he drew up, in the following terms, the questions of the Kreischef and the replies which they admitted of, and the document was then signed by the Adjutant and the Cardinal of Malines.

The Palace of the Archbishop of Malines.

Monsieur l'Adjutant von Flemming asks me in the name of the German Government :

1. Which are the communes where priests have been shot ?
2. Which troops put them to death and on what day ? (p.71)
3. Whether the Bishop of the diocese maintains that these priests were innocent ?

1. The names of the communes have been already printed in my Pastoral Letter of Christmas 1914, on page 65.
2. The German Staff is in a better position than anyone else to know what troops were occupying a commune on any particular day. The populations easily recognize the German uniform, but do not distinguish, for the most part, the regiments which compose the army.
3. My personal and reasoned conviction is that the priests whose names I have quoted were innocent. But as a matter of law, it is not for us to establish their innocence, it is for the military authorities who have treated them with this severity to establish their guilt.

Witnesses summoned to give evidence before a one-sided committee will generally be afraid of telling the whole truth. This can only be fully known and universally accepted on the condition that a mixed commission should be formed to collect it and to guarantee its impartiality and exactitude.
Also I can only repeat for the third time my proposal (1) for a mixed Commission, composed (p.72) partly of German magistrates and partly of Belgian magistrates, whose work it would be to throw full light on those facts, concerning which the General Government most properly desires to institute an inquiry. In order to give all desirable authority to the results of the inquiry, it is of importance that the tribunal should be presided over by a representative of a neutral State.
Given at Malines, February 10, 1915.
(signed) D.J. Cardinal Mercier
Archbishop of Malines
(signed) von Flemming
Rittmeister und Adjutant des Kreischefs in Mecheln

This letter remained without reply.

3. On the occasion of the publication of a confidential letter from the Prussian Minister of War to the High Chancellor, the Lord Bishop of Namur published a reply to that document on April 12, 1915.
But the Military Governor of Namur disputed the assertions contained in the bishop's reply, without, however, entering into any particulars.
The latter maintained his statements, and added : "In consideration of the difference of views which separate us, there is only one way of bringing the facts to the light and before the eyes of everyone, namely, to intrust their examination to the commission of inquiry which (p.73) I have proposed. I am confident that Your Excellency will agree with this, and will recommend the suggestion to the Governor-General."
(signed) T.L., Bishop of Namur

The proposal of the Lord Bishop of Namur received no reply.

4. A priest accredited by His Eminence Cardinal Piffl, Prince Archbishop of Vienna, made an inquiry in Belgium in the name of the Wiener Priester Verein. The results of this incomplete inquiry were published in the Tijd, of Amsterdam, and in the Politiken, of Copenhagen. They are overwhelmingly against the German military authorities. But, if we are correctly informed, the German and Austrian newspapers abstained from bringing them to the knowledge of their readers.

5. Before closing this Annex relating to the inquiries, we have to correct a mistake.
In their reply to the French Catholics, the German Catholics speak of the outrages upon the nuns, and write : "The German Government in Belgium has addressed the Belgian bishops on this subject .... The Archbishop of Malines has allowed it to be known that he could furnish no exact information as to any case whatever of the outrages upon nuns in his diocese."
This last phrase is, in substance, correct, but (p.74) gives a wrong impression to the casual reader. What I wrote to the Giovernor-General was, that I could furnish him with no exact information, because my conscience forbade me to hand over to a tribunal of any kind the information (alas ! very precise !) in my possession. Outrages have been committed upon nuns. I think they are, fortunately, not numerous, but to my knowledge there have 
been several. Since the Governor-General has thought himself entitled to give the public an extract from the reply I had the honor of addressing him on this delicate subject, it is my duty to reproduce here the entire text of our correspondence.
The following is the letter of March 30, 1915, written to me by the Governor General :

The Governor-General of Belgium.
Brussels, March 30th, 1915

Your Eminence,

A serious reproach has of late been repeatedly made in the foreign press, together with a number of other charges, which for the most part have already been proven incorrect, that German soldiers on the march through Belgium did not hesitate to assault Belgian nuns.
It is superfluous to point out, as to this, that such misdeeds (in case they should prove true) would certainly incur my own and the German Government's severest reprobation. At the same (p.75) time justice demands that accusations proved to be untrue should be duly repudiated. I assume that the disclosure of the full truth corresponds with the sense of justice as well as with the interests of the Catholic Church.
I think, therefore, that I may duly rely upon Your Eminence's cordial support when I beg you to help me in my efforts to discover the true facts.
The information which Your Eminence may desire to bring forward as to the violation of nuns in the said diocese will enable me to take the further steps necessary under the circumstances.

I have the honor to be
Your Excellency's most obedient
(signed) Fhr. von Bissing

To His Eminence, the Lord Archbishop of Malines

This is our reply :

The Palace of the Archbishop
Malines, April 16th, 1915

Monsieur le Gouverneur General,

I have received the letter No.1243 which your Excellency has done me the honour of addressing me, and I regret having been hindered from replying to it earlier.
There are in fact rumours in circulation, accepted by certain papers, denied by others, on the question of outrages which the Belgian nuns have had to suffer from German soldiers, and, in agreement with Your Excellency, I protest against (p.76) those who, lightly and without proof, publicly announce or support such odious accusations.
But when Your Excellency asks me to help you in throwing light upon whether these imputations are well or ill founded, I am obliged to ask you a preliminary question.
Has the civil authority the right to hold an inquiry upon facts of so delicate a nature ?
Whom would it question ?
The confessor ? The doctor ? They are bound by professional secrecy.
The Sisters Superior ? Do they always know the truth ? And if they do know it, having learned it under the seal of secrecy, have they the right to speak ?
Who would venture to question the victims ? Would not that be cruel ? Who would attempt to question witnesses at the risk of exposing the already wretched victim of violence to the burden of carrying the stain of dishonor in the face of public opinion ?
So far as I am concerned, I should not dare to subject anyone to an examination upon so delicate a subject, and my conscience forbids me to hand over to another the confidences which have been made to me, spontaneously on this matter.
Our duty, Your Excellency, is to discourage the public, by all means in our power, from giving countenance to these capricious and unwholesome (p.77) allegations. I shall heartily approve of repression by law of those who, either from prejudice or from unpardonable levity, invent or spread them. But I consider that we cannot go further without trespassing upon the rights of conscience and exposing ourselves to the risk of violating its liberty.
Accept, Monsieur le Gouverneur General, the assurance of my very high regard.
(signed) D.J. Cardinal Mercier
Archbishop of Malines

To His Excellency
Baron von Bissing, Governor-General, Brussels


(1) The proposal was formulated a first time in writing on January 24, and repeated verbally on February 8, by Monsieur van Roey, Vicar General, who had been summoned to the Commandatur at Malines. (back)

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