German Newspapers

The American consul general visited Berlin for a few days and reported about the life there during the war. He said that there were no changes in the daily life since the war had started. All shops, restaurants and coffee houses were still open and had as many guests as usual. They didn’t have a problem with groceries, because they solved the lack of wheat flour by adding potatoes to it. Except for the prices of wheat, no other prices had increased so far. The problem of prewar unemployment was solved through the mobilization of soldiers and the need for industrial production for the war. The situation on the western front would not be considered as dangerous, as the Germans pressed forward deeply into France. The Germans would educate their reservists, but there were millions of soldiers still in Germany. Despite the losses, the German people would not mourn so much, they would hide their grief and feelings of revenge.

About life in Germany during the war (28 April 1915)

An Italian journalist travelled through Germany and gave the following insights and picture of life there during the war. He noticed two things: first, Germany wouldn’t forget commerce because of the war and second, the people wouldn’t forget the war because of their interest in business. They would keep going to fight, to work, to drink beer, to help the wounded, to amuse themselves and to sacrifice themselves. Germany was never more tense, active, productive or more creative than at that time according to the Italian. To stagnate in its industrial production would do more harm than a military defeat, and many Germans hoped that shortly after signing a peace treaty that international trade would resume as it had been before the war.

(„Ein interessantes Bild von dem Leben in Deutschland“, Berliner Journal, 16 December 1914; „Ein fesselndes Bild…“, Berliner Journal, 28 April 1915)

The first volunteer from Stratford to die a hero’s death, was Thomas Bain. He had been in his old home Scotland, when the war broke out and he volunteered in a Scottish regiment, which went to war in August 1914, long before any of the Canadian regiments had arrived in Europe. The news of his death reached Stratford in mid-December, 1914.

(„Der erste Stratford Freiwillige…“, Berliner Journal, 23 December 1914)

This story in the Berliner Journal showed that the reports about German cruelties were just rumours, and also humanized the enemy in a way that the local English papers generally failed to do. A German soldier saved the life of a British soldier in Nieuport after the Germans attacked a British regiment and left many dead. When the Germans withdrew, the British went to attack them. One British soldier wanted to follow, but a grenade detonated right beside him. When he awakened, he lay in a German trench, while a soldier was bandaging his head. The battle wasn’t over, but the German refused to leave him. When the German soldier finally stood up, he was wounded by a British soldier. The wounded British soldier became unconscious and when he came conscious again, he found the German soldier badly wounded. The German gave him his water because he was about to die and the British man needed it more. After first refusing, the British soldier took the water. The whole day they lay side by side, until the British fainted again. The German soldier died in the meantime but his kindess led the British to try to find his relatives to report his gallant behaviour.

(„Sterbender Deutscher rettete Britens Leben“, Berliner Journal, 23 December 1914)

In this incident reported by the Journal, the Germans had taken about 80 prisoners on the western front and were turning their guns on the captives. Then one of the French prisoners spoke to the Germans in their own language with a Low German accent, which took his captors by surprise. The French soldier did not want to be shot, and because he lived and worked so long in Hamburg the Germans felt remorse and imprisoned him instead.

(„Plattdeutsch als Lebensretter im Kriege“, Berliner Journal, 23 December 1914)

A letter from a Belgian grenadier reported about the effects of German cannons. He told about a long battle the Belgians fought against the Germans and that they were hungry, thirsty and tired, but that the situation helped them to achieve more. They had to flee from the house where they hid because it was destroyed. They hid the whole night in a cistern with their legs in the water. The next day, the Germans had disappeared and the Belgian soldiers put on the clothes of their dead comrades because their own were wet and burned. They found their own regiment, marched forward until they got into another battle lasting eight hours against the horrible German cannons. Many of the Belgians died or were wounded. When they could finally flee, they reached a river, where many of them drowned.

(„Auf der Flucht“, Berliner Journal, 30 December 1914)

In January 1915, the editors of the Berliner Journal published an article about the difficulties of being the editors of a German newspaper in Canada. They were well aware of their tenuous situation and made it clear that as naturalized citizens they had to show loyalty to their “adoptive homeland”. Therefore, they emphasized that they only published dispatches which were officially confirmed, and were trying to stay neutral. As a result, the newspaper had to face criticism from parts of the German community which accused them of being anti-German. The editors explained their position and stated that living in a country which had always treated them well and provided good living conditions meant they had to show loyalty to their new home. Nevertheless, they wanted to preserve their German heritage. By clearly taking up a neutral or pro-Canadian position they avoided censorship.

(“Der Stand deutscher Zeitungs-Herausgeber” Berliner Journal, 20 January 1915)

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)