Warrior Against His Will: A German Sapper's Account of World War One

SHOOTING CIVILIANS IN BELGIUM NEARLY BURIED ALIVE ON THE BATTLEFIELD SOLDIERS SHOOTING THEIR OWN OFFICERS MARCHING TO THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE THE BEGINNING OF TRENCH WARFARE IN THE HELL OF VAUQUOIS AND MORE... A vivid description of the life of a common German soldier. This soldier was a forced conscript in Kaiser's army despite disagreeing with it, but was nevertheless obliged to conform to the etiquette of war. He was a hater of militarism - for him there was no romance in war, but only butchery and brutality, grime and vermin, inhuman toil and degradation. His story also contains the first German description of the retreat of the Teutonic armies after the battle of the Marne. He eventually deserted and fled to America as a stowaway in the coal bunker of a Dutch ship. "Christmas in the trenches! It was bitterly cold. We had procured a pine tree, for there were no fir trees to be had. We had decorated the tree with candles and cookies, and had imitated the snow with wadding. Christmas trees were burning everywhere in the trenches, and at midnight all the trees were lifted on to the parapet with their burning candles, and along the whole line German soldiers began to sing Christmas songs in chorus. "0, thou blissful, 0, thou joyous, mercy bringing Christmas time!" Hundreds of men were singing the song in that fearful wood. Not a shot was fired; the French had ceased firing along the whole line. That night I was with a company that was only five paces away from the enemy. The Christmas candles were burning brightly, and were renewed again and again. For the first time we heard no shots. "From everywhere, throughout the forest, one could hear powerful carols come floating over "Peace on earth—" The French left their trenches and stood on the parapet without any fear. There they stood, quite overpowered by emotion, and all of them with cap in hand. We, too, had issued from our trenches. We exchanged gifts with the French—chocolate, cigarettes, etc. They were all laughing, and so were we; why, we did not know. Then everybody went back to his trench, and incessantly the carol resounded, ever more solemnly, ever more longingly—"O, thou blissful—" "All around silence reigned; even the murdered trees seemed to listen; the charm continued, and one scarcely dared to speak. Why could it not always be as peaceful? We thought and thought, we were as dreamers, and had forgotten everything about us. Suddenly a shot rang out; then another one was fired somewhere. The spell was broken. All rushed to their rifles. A rolling fire. Our Christmas was over."