---
title: Veröffentlichungen des deutschen General-Gouvernements (Cavell notice, Brussels)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/general-gouvernement-cavell-notice-brussels-1915/
description: A three-column notice in German, Dutch and French, dated 2 December 1915, answering British use of the execution of Edith Cavell to allege a German…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Veröffentlichungen des deutschen General-Gouvernements (Cavell notice, Brussels)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/general-gouvernement-cavell-notice-brussels-1915.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/general-gouvernement-cavell-notice-brussels-1915.jpg)

# Veröffentlichungen des deutschen General-Gouvernements (Cavell notice, Brussels)

A three-column notice in German, Dutch and French, dated 2 December 1915, answering British use of the execution of Edith Cavell to allege a German 'reign of terror' in Belgium. The tells: it meets the accusation by pointing to other cases (French shootings of women, and a woman shot in August 1914 under a Belgian court-martial, shown by a facsimile letter) instead of addressing the Cavell case itself.

- **Date:** December 2, 1915
- **Period:** [First World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwi)
- **Made by:** German General Government in Belgium (Generalgouvernement in Belgien), Brussels
- **Region:** [Western and Central Europe](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=western-central-europe)
- **Country:** [German Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=german-empire)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [State](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=state)
- **Regime:** [German Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=german-empire)
- **Leader:** [Wilhelm II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=wilhelm-ii)
- **Audience:** [Mixed](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=mixed)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Media and information](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=media-information), [Security and surveillance](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=security-surveillance)
- **Event:** [World War I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=world-war-i)
- **Techniques:** [Whataboutism](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/whataboutism/)
- **Regime:** [German Empire under Wilhelm II](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/german-empire/)
- **Leader:** [Wilhelm II](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/german-empire/#wilhelm-ii)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons (photograph by Brigade Piron of the copy in the Mons Memorial Museum)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edith_Cavell_poster_Dec_1915.jpg), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Poster: German official notice of 1915, public domain (published before 1931); photo: CC BY 3.0 Photograph by Brigade Piron (own work), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; poster in the collection of the Mons Memorial Museum.

## Text on the object

Original (German) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
[left column, German:]
Veröffentlichungen des deutschen General-Gouvernements.

Brüssel, den 2. Dezember 1915.

In England hat Regierung und Oeffentlichkeit den Fall Cavell zum Anlass genommen, zum soundsovielten Mal das Vorhandensein einer deutschen Schreckensherrschaft in Belgien zu behaupten, die sogar an Frauen kriegsgerichtliche Todesurteile vollstrecken lasse. Dass die Franzosen im Laufe des Krieges Frauen erschossen haben, wurde bereits festgestellt. Ob bei den in England nachweislich Gehenkten auch Frauen waren, bleibt noch abzuwarten. Tatsache aber ist, dass in dem gleichen Belgien, das unter der deutschen Schreckensherrschaft leiden soll, vor der Okkupation nach den gleichen Grundsätzen gehandelt wurde, die für die deutsche Justiz im Fall Cavell massgebend waren. Am 18. August 1914, 12 Tage vor der Einsetzung des deutschen Generalgouverneurs, ist in Löwen die verehelichte Julia Van Wauterghem, geboren zu Brüssel am 26. Januar 1872, wegen Kriegsverrats standrechtlich erschossen worden und mit ihr zwei andere Belgier. Das Urteil wurde in der Nacht nach seiner Fällung vollstreckt. Der Anschlag dieses Urteils ist der Stadt Antwerpen in einem Brief befohlen worden, der neben anderen auch die Unterschrift des Beauftragten des belgischen Kriegsministers trägt und jetzt unter den damals unbestellt gebliebenen Postsachen aufgefunden wurde. Hier der Text des Briefes, dessen Facsimile nebenstehend beigefügt ist:

(unleserlich) Verwaltung von Antwerpen.
Antwerpen, 20. August 1914.

Herr Bürgermeister.

Im Namen des Herrn Generalbefehlshabers der Provinz habe ich die Ehre, Sie zu ersuchen, so schnell als möglich den folgenden Auszug aus einem vom Kriegsgericht der 3. Division gefällten Urteil in Ihrer Gemeinde anschlagen zu lassen:

"Das Kriegsgericht der 3. Division hat in seiner Sitzung zu Löwen vom 17. August 1914 in Sachen:
1. Troupin, Karl, Journalist, geboren zu Lüttich, den 24. Februar 1873, wohnhaft zu Brüssel, Nordlaan, Nr. 8;
2. Romel, Friedrich Wilhelm, geboren zu Verviers, den 12. April 1887, Ingenieur und Elektrotechniker, wohnhaft zu Paris;
3. Van Wauterghem, Julia, geboren zu Brüssel, den 26. Januar 1872, Ehefrau des Eugen Hontamc, wohnhaft zu Brüssel, Nordlaan Nr. 6
die drei Angeklagten zum Tode verurteilt, den Erstgenannten wegen Verrats und Spionage, die beiden anderen wegen Spionage."

Das Urteil wurde zu Löwen am 18. dieses Monats vollstreckt.

Der General-Auditor, (gez.) Baron Durutte.
Der Kriegsminister. Auf Befehl: Für den Generaldirektor, (gez.) V. de Longueville.
Der Gouverneur, Baron J. van de Werve en van Schilde.

[middle column, Dutch: heading, dateline and foot line only; body and facsimile letter are a parallel text and are not transcribed here]
Mededeelingen van het Duitsche Generaal-Gouvernement.
Brussel, den 2n December 1915.
[Dutch facsimile letter, centre, typewritten:] Antwerpen, 20 Augusti 1914. Mynheer de Burgemeester, ...
Het Generaal-Gouvernement in België.

[right column, French: heading, dateline and foot line only; body is a parallel text and is not transcribed here]
Nouvelles publiées par le Gouvernement Général allemand.
Bruxelles, le 2 décembre 1915.
Le Gouvernement Général en Belgique.

[foot line, left:] Das Generaal-Gouvernement in Belgien.
[corner mark, lower left:] FA 854 [digits uncertain]
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
[left column, German:]
Publications of the German General Government.

Brussels, 2 December 1915.

In England the government and the public have taken the Cavell case as the occasion to assert, for the umpteenth time, the existence of a German reign of terror in Belgium which even has court-martial death sentences carried out on women. That the French have shot women in the course of the war has already been established. Whether the persons demonstrably hanged in England included women remains to be seen. But it is a fact that in that same Belgium, which is said to be suffering under the German reign of terror, the same principles were applied before the occupation as were decisive for German justice in the Cavell case. On 18 August 1914, 12 days before the installation of the German governor-general, the married Julia Van Wauterghem, born in Brussels on 26 January 1872, was shot in Leuven under summary martial law for treason in wartime, and with her two other Belgians. The sentence was carried out in the night after it was passed. The posting of this sentence was ordered to the city of Antwerp in a letter which, among others, also bears the signature of the deputy of the Belgian war minister and has now been found among the postal items that at the time remained undelivered. Here is the text of the letter, a facsimile of which is attached alongside:

(illegible) Administration of Antwerp.
Antwerp, 20 August 1914.

Mr Mayor.

In the name of the general commander of the province I have the honour to request you to have the following extract from a judgment passed by the court-martial of the 3rd Division posted as quickly as possible in your municipality:

"The court-martial of the 3rd Division, in its session at Leuven of 17 August 1914, in the matter of:
1. Troupin, Karl, journalist, born in Liège on 24 February 1873, resident in Brussels, Nordlaan, No. 8;
2. Romel, Friedrich Wilhelm, born in Verviers on 12 April 1887, engineer and electrical technician, resident in Paris;
3. Van Wauterghem, Julia, born in Brussels on 26 January 1872, wife of Eugen Hontamc, resident in Brussels, Nordlaan No. 6
has sentenced the three accused to death, the first-named for treason and espionage, the other two for espionage."

The sentence was carried out at Leuven on the 18th of this month.

The Auditor General, (signed) Baron Durutte.
The War Minister. By order: for the Director General, (signed) V. de Longueville.
The Governor, Baron J. van de Werve en van Schilde.

[middle column, Dutch: heading, dateline and foot line only]
Announcements of the German General Government.
Brussels, 2 December 1915.
The General Government in Belgium.

[right column, French: heading, dateline and foot line only]
News published by the German General Government.
Brussels, 2 December 1915.
The General Government in Belgium.

[foot line, left:] The General Government in Belgium.
[corner mark, lower left:] FA 854 [digits uncertain]
```

Read from a 1280 px view of a creased, partly reflective phone photograph. The German column and the German facsimile letter are transcribed in full; the Dutch and French body columns are parallel text and are not transcribed. The German foot line is printed 'Das Generaal-Gouvernement in Belgien' (sic). Translation is FRAME's own literal rendering, machine-assisted and not verified by a fluent reader.

[← Tasvir-i Efkar front page, 29 October 1915: Ottoman-Entente war anniversary](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/tasvir-i-efkar-war-anniversary-1915/) [Attendrons-nous que les nôtres brûlent? Enrôlons-nous dans le 178ième Bataillon Canadien Français →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/attendrons-nous-que-les-notres-brulent-178e-1916/)

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