Author Archives: Caterina Katzer

A war correspondent from Budapest told the following moving stories from overseas.

A pale Austrian lieutenant came to the dressing station, didn’t look wounded, waited until he stood in front of the doctor and then died immediately, because he was shot right in the heart. A Russian volunteer was carried by two Hungarian soldiers, but one could see that it was too late for him. His last words were: “I was never angry with you, I never hated you. Why have you murdered me?…Oh God, I want to live.” On the battle field lay the wounded and the dead soldiers. Army chaplains went around and blessed the men. With the help of a mirror, a doctor identified the still living wounded and brought them to the dressing station. The coldness relieved the pain of the dying people. The dead were interred and the soldiers gave them all little farewell presents on their graves before they sang a song.

(„Wie Soldaten sterben“, Berliner Journal, 3 February 1915)

Two German officers wrote letters to the parents of a dead soldier. The Berliner Journal printed these as an answer to the English propaganda messages that only fear of punishment was preventing a riot in the German army. Rather, the letters showed evidence of true comradeship.

In the first letter, his family is told that the soldier was wounded and died days later. He was very popular among the soldiers because of his character and his braveness. He received the Iron Cross very early and his death touched the soldiers, doctors and officers deeply. The second letter also spoke of his kind and noble character and that his comrades all loved him very much.

(„Kameradschaft“, Berliner Journal, 10 February 1915)

At the beginning of the war, the British government told lies about suspected German abominations. Later investigations showed that this wasn’t true. Thousands of Belgians who stayed in Britain at that time were not aware of any abominations by the Germans. The Belgians did suffer, but because of the consequences of the war, not from Germans who specifically meant them harm. The war itself, continued the article, was an abomination that everyone should want to stop.

(„‘Greuel‘ waren erlogen, sagt die englische Regierung“, Berliner Journal, 10 February 1915)

The pastoral address of Archbishop von Hartmann from Cologne was printed in the “Kölnische Volkszeitung”. It said that God would be with the heroic German fighters in the west, in the east, on the water and in the air. The archbishop said God would be with the German nation which was willing to endure the pain of war because it trusted in God to provide victory in the end.

(„‘Gott ist mit den Deutschen‘, sagt Erzbischof von Köln“, Berliner Journal, 17 February 1915)

A letter from an Austrian soldier in Servia told this story: The soldiers didn’t always have the time to bury their dead comrades with the dignity that heroes deserved. A few days ago they found a little child, perhaps one year old, lying dead on the roadway. They wondered what could have happened to the parents. The sergeant commanded the soldiers to shovel a grave while he made a wooden cross on which he wrote a little verse. Everyone spoke a prayer for the little Serbian child and many men cried and thought of their home and beloved family.

(„Eines Kindes Begräbnis in Feindesland“, Berliner Journal, 17 February 1915)

A fictional story, which was connected to the war and its difficulties, was printed in the Berliner Journal. It dealt with a young German girl, who was engaged to a Russian student, who had to go back to St. Petersburg. She was sad about it and missed him. When she learned that there would be war against Russia, she was very afraid and didn’t know what to do. She searched every day in the newspapers after the name of her fiancé, trying to find out if he was imprisoned as a spy. Over a few days, she noticed a man, which seemed very old and very young at the same time and she was worried about him. At a public assembly she noticed the strange man again and suddenly recognized that it must be her fiancé. She called his name out loud and then he was arrested as a Russian spy. The young woman cried and realized that she had made her sacrifice for the war effort.

(„Ihr Opfer“, Berliner Journal, 7 April 1915)

A German senior lieutenant wrote in a military letter how horrible it was to see all the dead soldiers. There were notes about the dead recruits, how they died and who their doctor had been. The men prayed and cursed the enemies who had killed their comrades, but these “cold wretches” would never see the dead and their empty eyes. Furthermore, the senior lieutenant asked who exactly were the “cold wretches” because every nation saw their enemies this way. The lieutenant repeated that this war had lasted eight months now without any hope for an end so he asked when this terrible massacre would stop, nations would see reason and conclude peace.

(„Die kalten Schufte“, Berliner Journal, 7 April 1915)

The Frenchman Gustave Herve got angry, when people of his nation berated Germany and the Germans as a “dirty race”. He gave examples of Germans who did their best to help the French people during the war. One German recruit for example cared for his French neighbour in the next bed and gave him his food although he only had one leg left. Another German saved the life of seven French soldiers who otherwise would have drowned. Gustave Herve said that the Germans had a different sense of freedom than the French had, but that they still had lots of good characteristics such as bravery, patriotism, tenacity and a wonderful talent for organisation which made German industry a world leader. After that he mentioned the suffering and bloodshed the French nation brought upon Europe just a century ago through the revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte, without being called a “dirty race”.

(„Der Franzose, Gustave Herve…“, Berliner Journal, 21 April 1915)

The Manchester “Guardian” wrote about the expectations the British people had when the war started in August 1914. They thought the Russians would beat the Germans in a few months. Another expectation was that the British could starve the Germans because of their great navy and financial power. After eight months of war, however, one could say that no Russian soldier was at the moment on German ground. Surprisingly, the Germans could always find resources to keep the war going and the German trade and industry was even being relieved through the war. There were no signs of an upcoming catastrophe.

(„Der Manchester ‚Guardian‘…“, Berliner Journal, 21 April 1915)