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

32 AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ATROCITIES

them of their courage in fighting the enemy) that they have almost come to accept the evils that have fallen upon them as natural and inevitable. This is a state of mind which does not predispose to exaggeration. Thus the number of the wounded, which 1 adduce in the statistical notes at the foot of the chapter, certainly falls far below the actual number, because the great majority of the victims did not report their case to the authorities. 1 have had proof of this fact in many localities, where I asked for the number of the wounded. The mayor or his deputy would give me a figure which my personal inquiry proved to be too small by far. Thus, at Lipolist the mayor gave the number of the wounded as 5. Within one hour's search through the village, I had found 17, and I am certain that there were even more. It is also to be noted that even where official lists of the killed and wounded have been drawn up, the number of the victims does not seem to be absolutely fixed; in other words, I think there are many more victims than appear in the lists.

I have also endeavoured to ascertain the number of the cases of rape committed by the army of invasion. This was even a more difficult task than to arrive at the number of the wounded. You, Monsieur le Président, are well aware of popular sentiment in your country in all matters touching the honour of the family, and you know that it is impossible, or at least, exceedingly difficult for a girl who has been outraged to find a husband. The families endeavour to conceal as far as possible the misfortune that has befallen them in the violation

pee ry

et