277. A NUN'S ACCOUNT OF THE BURNING DOWN OF THE CITY OF LOUVAIN A lengthy 6pp. A.L.S., Garrison, N.Y., April 15, [1915], from and Irish nun retelling how the Germans burned the occupied city of Louvain in August of 1914, purportedly in retaliation for sniper shooting resulting in the death of German soldiers. In part: "Reverend Mother tells me you would like to hear from me something of what we went through in Louvain, Belgium, before the Germans made us evacuate the city...I must tell you first that there was no provocation given by the citizens; they strictly followed the advice given them by the Belgian staff, when the latter held the place; up to the 18th August, to keep very quiet & offer no resistance. They freely gave up all their firearms...even those who had rusty guns, dating from the days of Waterloo...The universal impression was that the War was a thing to be managed on the battlefield, only that the civilians would have nothing to with it except to pray that it would soon be over...On the evening of Tuesday the 25th Aug. at about 7pm we were suddenly terrified by the deafening noise of firing; it seems as if all the guns in the country were firing within a few yards of us...Most people fled to their cellars; some who went to their street were shot dead. -- It was the German soldier that had been sent out through the streets with...(machine guns) to fire on all the houses. The strength of these guns is so great that the bullets go through walls [as if] made of cheese...After about half an hour they stopped firing and began burning the city. they took about 36 hours to do it. Groups of 5 or 6 soldiers went about, one officer being with each group to see that they did it. Hundreds of our poor neighbors climbed over our walls & gathered round us. When they tried to flee from their houses into the streets they were driven back into the flames. One poor woman, a marie de Bekker...was shot through the side because she tried a second time to escape from her house. the bullet passed thro' the flesh past over the hip bone...Towards 8 o'clock on Thursday morning (27th Aug) soldiers came into the house crying out, as if they were in a great hurry & in great fear, that we were to flee at once, that the city was going to be bombarded. They were kind & even respectful...We had to go to the big open square in front of the railway station...we had to wait for about 1/2 hour till the population of that part of the city had been gathered there. Then we had to march to Tirlemont. We numbered about 7,000. A good number of priests were arrested..." Much more detailed content. Sister O'Kavanaugh goes on to explain her present mission in the United States, to raise funds to help care for the victims of war. Small tear at top right corner of all pages, top page unevenly trimmed at left margin upon removal from hinge, lightly affects a few words, otherwise good. $600-800