Prussians! Oh, Prussians!' But there was no mercy.
Our Captain had ordered: 'The whole lot must die;
so rapid fire.'

"As I have heard, five men and one officer on our
side went mad from those heart-rending cries. But
most of my comrades and the officers joked as the
unarmed and helpless Russians shrieked for mercy
when they were being suffocated in the swamps and
shot down. The order was: 'Close up and at it
harder!'

"For days afterward those heart-rending yells
followed me, and I dare not think of them or I
shall go mad. There is no God, there is no
morality and no ethics any more. There are no
human beings any more, but only beasts. Down with
militarism!"

This was the experience of a Prussian soldier. At present
wounded; Berlin, October 22, 1914.

"If you are a truth-loving man, please receive
these lines, from a common Prussian soldier."

Here is the testimony of another German soldier on the East
front:

"Russian Poland, Dec. 18, 1914.

"In the name of Christianity I send you these
words. My conscience forces me as a Christian
German soldier to inform you of these lines.

"Wounded Russians are killed with the bayonet
according to orders, and Russians who have
surrendered are often shot down in masses
according to orders in spite of their
heart-rending prayers.

"In the hope that you, as the representative of a
Christian State, will protest against this, I sign
myself, '_A German Soldier and Christian._'

"I would give my name and regiment, but these
words could get me court-martialed for divulging
military secrets."

The following letter is from a soldier on the Western Front:

"To the American Government, Washington, U. S. A.:

"Englishmen who have surrendered are shot down in
small groups. With the French one is more
considerate. I ask whether men let themselves be
taken prisoner in order to be disarmed and shot
down afterward? Is that chivalry in battle?

"It is no longer a secret among the people; one
hears everywhere that few prisoners are taken;
they are shot down in small groups. They say
naively, 'We don't want any unnecessary mouths to
feed. Where there is no one to enter complaint,
there is no judge.' Is there, then, no power in
the world which can put an