A communique from the German Great General Staff, the text of which is
published in the Cologne Gazette of Aug. 29, declares that the
"chastisement" inflicted upon Louvain was justified by the fact that a
battalion of Landwehr, which had been left unsupported in the town in
order to guard the communications, had been attacked by the civil
population, which was under the impression that the main German Army had
definitely retired. The same journal has published a narrative
purporting to come from a person who was a witness of the occurrence.
The inquiry has established that this statement must be considered
false. It is, in fact, ascertained that the people of Louvain, who,
moreover, had been disarmed by the Communal Authority, did not provoke
the Germans by any act of hostility.
The commission has resumed the inquiry begun at Brussels on the subject
of the occurrences at Vise.
This place was the first Belgian town destroyed in pursuance of the
system applied subsequently by the invader to so many other of our
cities and villages. It is for this reason that we have been careful to
determine what truth there is in the German version according to which
the civilian population of Vise took part in the defense of the town or
rose against the Germans after the town had been occupied.
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