The Kingdom of serbia : report upon the atrocities committed by the Austro-Hungarian Army during the first invasion of Serbia

MASSACRES OF CIVILIANS 131

national Commission is in absolute accordance with the facts of the case, and that the death of the victims enumerated in the report is certainly the result of a system of extermination and vindictive warfare.’

The statements of my witnesses, both Austrian prisoners and Serbian civilians, contain repeated allusions to a butchery of civilians behind the Church of Shabatz. Some of the witnesses allege that the common grave contains 120 victims, others say that there are no more than 60. I caused the grave to be opened in the presence of Mr. Yovanouvitch, Mayor of Shabatz, Dr. Milutinovitch, Cavalry Lieutenant, Mr. Zdravkovitch, Mr. Lazitch, Prefect of Shabatz, and Mr. Crawfurd Price, correspondent of the Zmes. The Prefect of Shabatz drew up an official report of the proceedings.

The dimensions of this common grave are 9 metres by 3 by 8:50 metres. When the earth had been removed to a depth of about 1 m. corpses In various positions began to be uncovered. These bodies were garbed in the national peasant dress, and the feet still wore the “opantzi.” A thick rope was still twined round the arm of one of the corpses. Owing to the advanced state of decomposition and the confused way in which the bodies were lying, it was impossible to form an exact estimate of the number of the victims. It was similarly impossible, by examining the wounds, to establish the cause of their deaths. I therefore considered it sufficient to have only part of the grave opened, in order to ascertain whether the

1 See ‘“ L'Illustration ” (Paris), 13 février 1915,