Evening star., 1934-07-29

Numbers. The French papers I
eaoule not believe: but did not doubt
fer q moment the German chsncel-
iers announcement about the French
bombs.
Volunteer for Service.
Like hundreds Of thousands Of
others. I offered myself a. volun-
Ger TO defend 5000 10 thought - my
country. my native land
Now the lies OF school. Of the his
twy books, OF the newspapers. came
home to us what else was war for
u but q heroic game. accompanied
W the splendid thunder of guns.
knightly combat Of man against man.
modern crusade In which human
courage and audscity could be nobly
proved and developer
Had they not taught US In school
that a peaceful death vas not worthy
OF man. and that only death on the
battle field merited our striIfnF7 Had
we not sung II to musief At every
threat OF conflict in Europe we
schoolboys were on the alert. We
ionged for war And when war came
We greeted u with roar Of jubila-
ton.
What did we know Of the forces
which behind the scenes had organ
lied the war? What did We know OF
its social causes, OF the unscrupulous
policy OF the imperial government?
German youth went blind and bewil-
dered into the war. And German
youth was criminally sacrificed. For
was IL not a crime when German gem
erals sent regiments Of young men
Rimiessly and thoughtlessly into the
fire OF the enemy artillery? And, as
was revealed later. It was not only
the shots Of the enemy's guns that
smashed them to pieces. The shots
lof our own guns that fell short also
did their bit.
War as Business.
For years the war lasted. Fields
son which corn and fruit had grown
were the scenes OF hecatombs. Mil
llions OF men had 10 die. According
10 q statistical calculation. the death
sof each man cost $685. 900, and on each
corpse the arms manufacturers earned
a profit OF $4,000. The war was, in
scidentally, an international business
corncern. (For further details on this
subject see war for Profits.")
In Germany the lists of casualties
could no longer be published. 1t was
feared that the people would see
through the lies Of the official dis
patches For we heard OF nothing
but victories. There was not a day
on which another victory was not
gained.
That the whole world was allied
against imperial Germany was no
cause for reflection. but for a frenet-
ical excitement. Many enemies,
much honor" we cried, 1.-The more
enemies, the betterl"
That the German forces had lost
the decisive battle of the Marine no
one knew.
But there is one thing about which
the German people cannot be de-
ceived. And that is hunger. For they
feel 1t with their own flesh. The milk
became thin, the bread bad. Food
stuffs were made out of ali kinds of
substitutes. Milled sawdust was add
ed to the wretched -four; instead Of
coffee beans, acorns were used; sac
charine replaced sugar and jam was
made out of turnips. And the pro-
fessors proved that these substitutes
were good, indeed, better than but
ter. -four and sugar. For there is no
tomfoolery which cannot be scien-
tifcally justified by some professor or
other.
Each Side Gets Weapons.
And while In every country the peo-
pie fought, starved and died, the
"enemy" armament industries supplied
each side with weapons. The interna-
tional Nobel Dynamite Trust divided
its enormous dividends simultaneously
among the antagonists. German iron
and German steel we're sent through
Switzerland to France and Italy to be
made into weapons that shot down
German soldiers; French sulphuric
products we're sent to Germany and
there made into gas which poisoned
the French troops.
In Germany it was the young men
who rebelled first. They had seen the
face of war at the front: no servile
newspaper could deceive them any
longer. They were filled once more
with a brotherly feeling for those
whom it was their duty to call enc
mics. They wanted to find a way TO
peace. They hated 'the great time"
which for them was a wretched time
They attacked the war and its sense
less sacrifice. Persecution and death
did not frighten them. Had not death
already accompanied them in trenches
and ruined villages? This Europe
must be plowed up they vowed A
purer. luster. more brotherly world
must grow from the blood and tears of
these years.
Ali in Vain?
These young men who we're the first
to rebel we're put in prison or sent
back to the front And still the war
went on.
Until suddenly the offer of peace,
which on the proposal Of Gen. Luden-
dorff was handed in on the night of
october 3-4, opened the eyes of the
German people. Then 1t was all in
vain-the millions dead, the millions
wounded, the death and the hunger.
All in vain?
The monarchy which had seemed
20 strong and invincible, collapsed. But
its successors do not know what to
do with the power which has come to
them
The nation felt itself betrayed 1t
had believed too long in victory. The
nation had hungered and bled enough.
1t demanded peace.
But this was not the expected
peace that the treaty of Versailles
brought.
All, only the dead had found per-
petual peace.
Turns 20 Rearming.
Now. 20 years afterward, we see
that Europe thinks only of one thing
of rearning. We see how in Ger
many the people are once again de-
ceived and betrayed And the bitter
est thing OF all is to observe how many
people have learned nothing how they
have forgotten their own experience,
their own knowledge of war