Timeline

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)

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)

In March 1915, German classes in Canadian schools were abolished. The Berliner Journal described the reasons the government had to make this decision and partly justified them. Nevertheless, they also printed articles which were clearly in favor of the German lessons. Supporters stated that learning a second language always has advantages and that since there were many people of German origin in the Waterloo region, the diversity of cultures and languages should be preserved instead of being eliminated. When the teaching of German finally was abolished, the newspaper clearly expressed anger and disappointment. Furthermore, they reported on a meeting of the “Deutscher Schulverein” (“German School Association”) where members of the German community protested against the decision.

(“Das Deutsche in der Schule” Berliner Journal, 10 March 1915; “Deutscher Unterricht abgeschafft” Berliner Journal, 24 March 1915; “Der Unterricht im Deutschen” Berliner Journal, 31 March 1915)