100 years ago - Edith Cavell, nurse and martyr
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/archive/first-world-war/article4584783.ece
Recent evidence from the military archives suggests that Cavell and her accomplices were working as Allied spies
Edith Cavell, a British nurse serving in Belgium, was executed by a German firing squad on October 12, 1915, for helping Allied prisoners to escape during the First World War.
Born December 4, 1865, Cavell worked or a short time as a governess before being trained as a nurse at The London Hospital (now The Royal London Hospital) and moved to Brussels in 1907 to become matron of the Berkendael Medical Institute.
When the Great War broke out, and Brussels was consequently occupied on August 20, 1914, Cavell joined the Red Cross and continued nursing at the Berkendael Institute, which was converted into a hospital for wounded soldiers of all nationalities. She became part of an undercover network that arranged for the concealment and escape of allied soldiers, sometimes disguising them among her patients at the clinic.
The leader of this network was eventually arrested and Cavell, along with one of her assistants, was taken into German custody. Nine people were put on trial for facilitating the escape of over 200 soldiers, and Cavell, from whom the Germans had extracted a confession during a 9-week period in solitary confinement, was among four sentenced to death on the October 7, 1915.
Despite wide publicity and attempts to reverse the sentence through diplomatic channels, including those from the American Minister at Brussels, Cavell was executed five days later.
Cavell instantly became a martyr figure, a model of female heroism for the war, and her widely publicised death served to harden popular public opinion over German barbarism - The Times reported on October 22, 1915, “that the woman had passed her life in the service of humanity and at the beginning of the war had tended suffering Germans makes the crime of her execution the more revolting”.
Cavell’s execution was also used as a centre point for recruitment propaganda and helped to draw tens of thousands of young outraged men to the front lines.
Recent evidence from the military archive in Belgium, presented by the former director-general of MI5 Dame Stella Rimington, suggests that Cavell and her accomplices were also working as Allied spies. This claim was made by the Germans in 1915 but was adamantly denied by the Allied governments.
The Times, October 26, 1915
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/archive/first-world-war/article4584760.ece
Why Miss Cavell was shot
A telegram from Berlin to the Associated Press gives the following statement of Herr Zimmermann, German Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, upon the execution of Miss Edith Cavell in Belgium
New York, Oct 25.
A telegram from Berlin to the Associated Press gives the following statement
of Herr Zimmermann, German Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
upon the execution of Miss Edith Cavell in Belgium:
I see by the British and American Press that the shooting of an Englishwoman
and the conviction of several other women in Brussels for treason have
created a great impression, and that we are being severely criticized. It
is, indeed, hard that a woman has to be executed, but think what a State is
to come to which is at war if it allows to pass unnoticed a crime against
the safety of its armies because it is committed by women. No law-book in
the world, least of all those dealing with war regulations, makes such a
differentiation, and the female sex has but one preference, according to
legal usage - namely, that women in a delicate condition may not be
executed. Otherwise a man and a woman are equal before the law, and only the
degree of guilt makes a difference in the sentence for a crime and its
consequences.
“A WELL-THOUGHT-OUT CONSPIRACY.”
In the Cavell case I have reviewed the decision of the Court and examined the
evidence down to the smallest details. The result is so convincing; all the
circumstances are so clear and convincing, that no court-martial in the
world could have reached any other decision. For it concerns not the act of
one single person, but rather a well-thought-out, long-sighted conspiracy
which succeeded for nine months in rendering the most valuable service to
the enemy to the disadvantage of our Army. Countless British, Belgian, and
French soldiers are now again fighting in the Allies’ ranks who owe their
escape from Belgium to the activity of the band now sentenced, at the head
of which stood Miss Cavell. With such a situation under the very eyes of the
authorities only the utmost severity can bring relief, and a Government
violates the most elementary duty towards its Army that does not adopt the
strictest measures. These duties in war are greater than any.
All those convicted were fully cognizant of the significnce of their actions.
The Court went into just this point with particular care, and acquitted
several co-defendants because it believed a doubt existed regarding their
knowledge of the penalties for their actions. Those convicted knew what they
were doing. Countless public proclamations had declared that support of
enemy armies would be treated with the severest penalties, and even that the
lives of traitors would be sacrificed.
I admit certainly that the motive of those convicted was not unnoble, that
they acted out of patriotism, but in war time one must be ready to seal
one’s love of Fatherland with one’s blood, whether one opposes the enemy in
battle or whether one commits acts in its interest which justly carry with
them the death penalty. Among our Russian prisoners are several girls who
fought against us in soldiers’ uniforms. Should one such have fallen, no one
would have accused us of treating women cruelly, so why now, when another
woman has met the death which she risked quite as thinkingly as her battle
comrades? There are moments in the lives of peoples when consideration for
individuals is a crime against the whole, moments that make severity, yea,
harshness, a duty for those entrusted with the safety of their own
countrymen.
HEEDLESS OF THE WORLD’S VERDICT.
Once for all, the activity of our enemies has been stopped, and the sentence
has been carried out to frighten those who might presume on their sex to
take part in enterprises punishable with death. Should one recognize these
presumptions, it would open the door for the evil activities of women, who
often are handier and cleverer in these things than the craftiest male spy.
He who bears responsibility, however, cannot do that. Heedless of the
world’s verdict we must travel the hard road of duty.
That, despite these facts, leniency towards others who were convicted and who,
according to recognized law, have forfeited their lives is being considered
is proof of how earnestly we are trying to reconcile feelings of humanity
with the commands of a rigid duty. If the others are shown mercy it will be
at the cost of our Army, for it is to be feared that new attempts will be
made to injure us if it is believed that escape without punishment is
possible, or with the risk of only a light sentence.
Only pity for the guilty can lead to a commutation. It will not be an
admission that the executed sentence was too severe, for this, harsh as it
may sound, was absolutely just and could not appear otherwise to an
independent judge. The weakness of our enemies’ arguments is proved by the
fact that they do not attempt to combat the justice of the sentence, but try
to influence public opinion against us by false reports about the execution.
It is asserted that the soldiers told to carry out the execution refused at
first to shoot, and finally fired so faultily that an officer had to kill
the accused with his revolver. No word of this is true. I have an official
report of the execution, in which it is established that it took place
entirely in accordance with the established regulations, and that death
occurred immediately after the first volley, as the physician present
attess. Reuter.
Recent evidence from the military archives suggests that Cavell and her accomplices were working as Allied spies
Edith Cavell, a British nurse serving in Belgium, was executed by a German firing squad on October 12, 1915, for helping Allied prisoners to escape during the First World War.
Born December 4, 1865, Cavell worked or a short time as a governess before being trained as a nurse at The London Hospital (now The Royal London Hospital) and moved to Brussels in 1907 to become matron of the Berkendael Medical Institute.
When the Great War broke out, and Brussels was consequently occupied on August 20, 1914, Cavell joined the Red Cross and continued nursing at the Berkendael Institute, which was converted into a hospital for wounded soldiers of all nationalities. She became part of an undercover network that arranged for the concealment and escape of allied soldiers, sometimes disguising them among her patients at the clinic.
The leader of this network was eventually arrested and Cavell, along with one of her assistants, was taken into German custody. Nine people were put on trial for facilitating the escape of over 200 soldiers, and Cavell, from whom the Germans had extracted a confession during a 9-week period in solitary confinement, was among four sentenced to death on the October 7, 1915.
Despite wide publicity and attempts to reverse the sentence through diplomatic channels, including those from the American Minister at Brussels, Cavell was executed five days later.
Cavell instantly became a martyr figure, a model of female heroism for the war, and her widely publicised death served to harden popular public opinion over German barbarism - The Times reported on October 22, 1915, “that the woman had passed her life in the service of humanity and at the beginning of the war had tended suffering Germans makes the crime of her execution the more revolting”.
Cavell’s execution was also used as a centre point for recruitment propaganda and helped to draw tens of thousands of young outraged men to the front lines.
Recent evidence from the military archive in Belgium, presented by the former director-general of MI5 Dame Stella Rimington, suggests that Cavell and her accomplices were also working as Allied spies. This claim was made by the Germans in 1915 but was adamantly denied by the Allied governments.
The Times, October 26, 1915
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/archive/first-world-war/article4584760.ece
Why Miss Cavell was shot
A telegram from Berlin to the Associated Press gives the following statement of Herr Zimmermann, German Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, upon the execution of Miss Edith Cavell in Belgium
New York, Oct 25.
A telegram from Berlin to the Associated Press gives the following statement
of Herr Zimmermann, German Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
upon the execution of Miss Edith Cavell in Belgium:
I see by the British and American Press that the shooting of an Englishwoman
and the conviction of several other women in Brussels for treason have
created a great impression, and that we are being severely criticized. It
is, indeed, hard that a woman has to be executed, but think what a State is
to come to which is at war if it allows to pass unnoticed a crime against
the safety of its armies because it is committed by women. No law-book in
the world, least of all those dealing with war regulations, makes such a
differentiation, and the female sex has but one preference, according to
legal usage - namely, that women in a delicate condition may not be
executed. Otherwise a man and a woman are equal before the law, and only the
degree of guilt makes a difference in the sentence for a crime and its
consequences.
“A WELL-THOUGHT-OUT CONSPIRACY.”
In the Cavell case I have reviewed the decision of the Court and examined the
evidence down to the smallest details. The result is so convincing; all the
circumstances are so clear and convincing, that no court-martial in the
world could have reached any other decision. For it concerns not the act of
one single person, but rather a well-thought-out, long-sighted conspiracy
which succeeded for nine months in rendering the most valuable service to
the enemy to the disadvantage of our Army. Countless British, Belgian, and
French soldiers are now again fighting in the Allies’ ranks who owe their
escape from Belgium to the activity of the band now sentenced, at the head
of which stood Miss Cavell. With such a situation under the very eyes of the
authorities only the utmost severity can bring relief, and a Government
violates the most elementary duty towards its Army that does not adopt the
strictest measures. These duties in war are greater than any.
All those convicted were fully cognizant of the significnce of their actions.
The Court went into just this point with particular care, and acquitted
several co-defendants because it believed a doubt existed regarding their
knowledge of the penalties for their actions. Those convicted knew what they
were doing. Countless public proclamations had declared that support of
enemy armies would be treated with the severest penalties, and even that the
lives of traitors would be sacrificed.
I admit certainly that the motive of those convicted was not unnoble, that
they acted out of patriotism, but in war time one must be ready to seal
one’s love of Fatherland with one’s blood, whether one opposes the enemy in
battle or whether one commits acts in its interest which justly carry with
them the death penalty. Among our Russian prisoners are several girls who
fought against us in soldiers’ uniforms. Should one such have fallen, no one
would have accused us of treating women cruelly, so why now, when another
woman has met the death which she risked quite as thinkingly as her battle
comrades? There are moments in the lives of peoples when consideration for
individuals is a crime against the whole, moments that make severity, yea,
harshness, a duty for those entrusted with the safety of their own
countrymen.
HEEDLESS OF THE WORLD’S VERDICT.
Once for all, the activity of our enemies has been stopped, and the sentence
has been carried out to frighten those who might presume on their sex to
take part in enterprises punishable with death. Should one recognize these
presumptions, it would open the door for the evil activities of women, who
often are handier and cleverer in these things than the craftiest male spy.
He who bears responsibility, however, cannot do that. Heedless of the
world’s verdict we must travel the hard road of duty.
That, despite these facts, leniency towards others who were convicted and who,
according to recognized law, have forfeited their lives is being considered
is proof of how earnestly we are trying to reconcile feelings of humanity
with the commands of a rigid duty. If the others are shown mercy it will be
at the cost of our Army, for it is to be feared that new attempts will be
made to injure us if it is believed that escape without punishment is
possible, or with the risk of only a light sentence.
Only pity for the guilty can lead to a commutation. It will not be an
admission that the executed sentence was too severe, for this, harsh as it
may sound, was absolutely just and could not appear otherwise to an
independent judge. The weakness of our enemies’ arguments is proved by the
fact that they do not attempt to combat the justice of the sentence, but try
to influence public opinion against us by false reports about the execution.
It is asserted that the soldiers told to carry out the execution refused at
first to shoot, and finally fired so faultily that an officer had to kill
the accused with his revolver. No word of this is true. I have an official
report of the execution, in which it is established that it took place
entirely in accordance with the established regulations, and that death
occurred immediately after the first volley, as the physician present
attess. Reuter.