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

MASSACRES OF CIVILIANS 37

but the men were incited by their officers to commit atrocities. Wherever the regiment passed through the officers urged them to kill everything, cows, pigs, chickens, in fact everything whether it was required for the subsistence of the army or not. The men got dead-drunk, with <schnaps 5 in the cellars. They allowed the liquor to run out of the barrels, so that often the cellars were inundated with alcohol.

From Uzovnitza the regiment proceeded to Krupanj. In one village they found great barrels of brandy in the house of a peasant. The soldiers went into the cellar, got drunk, and allowed the liquor to run out till the cellar was full of it. The master of the house make the remark: © Brothers, don’t do that, drink as much as you like.” A Hungarian sergeant took him by the throat, threw him into the yard and shot him with his revolver. The battle of Krupanj began about an hour afterwards.

At Krupanj witness was shown a young girl who said she had been violated by an officer and then by about 50 men. The girl was pretty and 16 years old. T'wo women supported her statement.

After the battle of Krupanj they marched on Bela Twrkoa, and everywhere witness saw the bodies of peasants, old men and young, who had been killed. The Austrians sustained a great defeat at Bela Txrkva. Everybody lost their heads, especially the officers. The latter had always said « Forward, forward. At 3 o'clock on the 18th of August we must be in Valievo to celebrate the Emperor’s birthday there.”