A victim reported his adventures in another Leipzig paper[32]:  “I have just read your article admonishing the ‘hot-heads’ to keep cool.  The General commanding Leipzig has also warned members of the public not to allow excitement to lead them to ‘deeds of brutality and crime.’  I am a good German patriot, and yet nearly lost my life at the hands of my own countrymen.”

[Footnote 32:  Leipziger Neuesten Nachrichten, August 9th.]

The “good patriot” then relates that during the week he had spent an evening at a concert in a beer-garden.  Patriotic music was the order of the day, and as each national song was sung he stood up with the rest of the company.  Towards the close of the evening he felt unwell and remained sitting, an indiscretion which he truthfully says “nearly cost him his life.”  Three skull wounds several inches long, his body beaten black and blue, and ruined clothes, was the punishment for not joining in with the “hurrah-patriots.”

Dozens of similar instances might be cited, but for the sake of impartiality it is preferable to allow a German to generalize:  “The rage of the populace has found vent not only against foreigners, but also against good German patriots, indeed even against German officers."[33]

[Footnote 33:  Leipziger Volkszeitung, August 12th.]

Probably one of the most glaring instances of German indifference to brutality is afforded by the following incident.  A commercial traveller named Luederitz, aged twenty-three, murdered his sweetheart in a Leipzig hotel by strangling her with his necktie.  He alleged that he had killed the girl at her wish, and the judge sentenced him to three years, six months’ imprisonment—­not even penal servitude!  The report concludes[34]:  “As the accused has been called up to serve in the army, he was allowed to go free for the present.”  Which means that if he survives the war he may be called upon to undergo his sentence.

[Footnote 34:  Ibid., August 28th.]

A South German newspaper[35] advised “German wives and maidens to avoid wearing striking costumes, dresses and hats.  Such restrictions are not only desirable in the serious time through which our dear Fatherland is passing, but such precautions are urgently necessary in the interests of personal safety.  For amidst the excitement which has unfortunately taken possession of our people, ladies are not safe, either from insult or assault, in spite of the fact that the police do their best to protect them.”

[Footnote 35:  Muenchen-Augsburger Abendzeitung, August 5th.]

These are the bare facts, in a very limited selection, as regards German brutality towards Germans.  In the light of these events the question suggests itself:  How did foreigners fare in the midst of this Kulturvolk?  The answer is simple and expressive:  “Not half has ever been told;” yet the German newspapers contain more than sufficient materials to prove that the floodgates of barbarism were opened wide.