rsyslog adding old entries again

[mj <lists@merit.unu.edu>]

Hi,

I'm sure this is a faq, but I cannot find the answer. :-(

On debian 9, rsyslog with some rules to log to certain specific files.

Now: when I:
- stop rsyslog
- delete those specific log files
- reboot my server

I would expect to find only *new* and *recent* log lines in those files.

However: old entries are appearing also, up to weeks ago. So it seems 
rsyslog actually noticies that those entries are not in the files, and 
adds them again.

I don't want that :-)

How is that behaviour configured, can I stop rsyslog from doing that? Or 
is there an other way to empty these log files, and start again from 
scratch, with only new entries?

Again: really seems like a FAQ, but I can't find it...

MJ