Metal grave markers at the Laventie German Military Cemetery, Laventie, France. A plowed field and village is in the background. © 2013 by John M. Shea

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Friday, October 11, 1918

"Frenchman, from Brest, Bordeaux, Garonne;

Ukrainian, Cossack from the Urals, from Dnjestr and Don;

Austrians, Bulgarians, Turks and Serbs,

All of you in the raging whirlpool of action and dying —

Britisher, from London, York, Manchester,

Soldier, comrade-in-arms, truly fellow human being and best of men —

American, from the populous states of freedom:

Throw away partisanship, national pride and antagonism!

If you were an honourable enemy, become an honourable friend.

Here is my hand, so that hand in hand may now be linked together

And our new day find us sincere and humane."

Quotation Context

Stanza from 'An die Soldaten des Grossen Krieges' ('To the Soldiers of the Great War', translated by Patrick Bridgwater) by Gerrit Engelke, German writer and soldier, wounded on October 11, 1918, dying on the 13th. Engelke served at Langemarck, Verdun, the Somme, Champagne, and St. Mihiel and was a recipient of the Iron Cross.

Source

The Lost Voices of World War I, An International Anthology of Writers, Poets and Playwrights by Tim Cross, pp. 89–90, copyright © 1989 by The University of Iowa, publisher: University of Iowa Press, publication date: 1989

Tags

1918-10-11, 1918, October, Engelke, Gerrit Engelke, peace, Peace, Laventie cemetery and village