The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards FellowshipPicton, Harold W. (Harold Williams)
History
The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards Fellowship
Picton, Harold W. (Harold Williams)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals, charities, etc.; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
The Serbians shelled Batochina, and so killed some of their own people.
While the doctor was passing through the streets, some German soldiers
beckoned her to take shelter in a café where they were. This she
ultimately did. “I could not have had more consideration shown me,” she
averred. One little incident is singularly expressive. One of the
Germans had bought a glass of brandy. Dr. Scarlett-Synge, with the
picture of drunken soldiery very vivid in her remembrance, ventured to
remonstrate. She pointed out to the man what the Serbians had become
under the influence of drink. He said nothing, but presently he got up
and threw the brandy out of the door. “There’s not much good in that
stuff, anyway,” he said. It is not surprising that after such
experiences the doctor was puzzled at the ordinary British view of the
German army. “How do you account for these lies?” she asked a Bavarian
soldier. “Ah, without lies there would be no war,” he said.
In her travels in Germany Dr. Scarlett-Synge experienced uniform
kindness, and brought away with her a deep conviction of the
self-sacrificing patriotism of the German people. “Moreover,” she said,
“I was able to express my views to them, and they were always listened
to with tolerance and courtesy.”
I give Dr. Scarlett-Synge’s experiences as she describes them. Of her
own honesty and accuracy there can be no question. It may be said, with
reason, that there is another side. Dr. Scarlett-Synge came across the
better German and the better Germany. The important fact is that the
better Germany exists, and that those who have been in Germany since the
war began have found that better element conspicuous. This is much to
say for a country at war.
In case Dr. Ella Scarlett-Synge’s testimony is thought to need
confirmation, I may add the following from a private letter:—“Dr. A.P.
was interned in Serbia for some months with about thirty other doctors
and nurses. She sent to me over twelve months since saying she would
like to be of some use to German prisoners in this country, as a slight
return for the consideration and kindness shown by Germans and Austrians
whom she had to do with while in Serbia.”
A WITNESS FROM FRANCE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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