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How To Write A Letter From A German Soldier

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Humanity Hist 1004 X : Introduction to European History Marius Bausinger Letter from a German soldier to his family August 9, 1914 Dear father, We have been bombarding the Belgian forts continuously but the beggars refuse to surrender. The air reeks of gunpowder and smoke raises from their fortifications, the clatter of the new guns keeps me up most nights. The guns are proving to be exceptionally powerful ; I don’t think that any fort can withstand them. They have no chance at victory. Liège will soon fall. Sometimes I wonder what kind of victory would this be for us? The morale is high and our men in high spirits. Ask mother and Bertha to pray that the situation remains favorable for us and that by God’s grace we always have the upper …show more content…

He refuses to speak to anyone and his nerves rack up at the slightest disturbance, it seems to me that he has lost much hearing. This is deeply depressing, such brilliant young men, their youth taken away by steel and the violent ambition that is driving the people. How must the Germans soldier feel about all this I wonder? We are firmly entrenched and the men are constantly digging out more. The smell is foul and the area the most unhygienic. The stench of rotting flesh is now starting to get to me as well. The men hope for victory and have conducted themselves most valiantly. What wrenches the heart is to see the dead bodies of these starry eyed ones, which I think, will kill me before the Hun’s bullet or shell. It is too terrible to be called a human affair; I pray it ends soon, so must you. The Germans try to capture our trenches and we try to capture theirs, with no one actually being able to get hold of the other’s. A futile exercise, slaughtering dozens of men in but a few minutes. Marie Edamer Notes of a German Munitions Factory

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