Vagabonding Through Changing GermanyFranck, Harry Alverson
History
Vagabonding Through Changing Germany
Franck, Harry Alverson
Germany -- Description and travel; Germany -- Social life and customs
Whatever the docility, the conciliatory attitude of our forced hosts,
however, I have yet to hear that one of them ever expressed repentance
for the horrors their nation loosed upon the world. The war they seemed
to take as the natural, the unavoidable thing, just a part of life, as
the gambler takes gambling, with no other regret than that it was their
bad luck to lose. Like the gambler, they may have been sorry they made
certain moves in the game; they may have regretted entering the game at
all, as the gambler would who knew in the end that his adversary had
more money on his hip than he had given him credit for in the beginning.
But it was never a regret for being a gambler. Did not Nietzsche say
that to regret, to repent, is a sign of weakness? Unless there was
something under his mask that never showed a hint of its existence on
the surface, the German is still a firm disciple of Nietzschean
philosophy.
There was much debate among American officers as to just what surge of
feeling passed through the veins of a German of high rank forced to
salute his conquerors. With rare exceptions, every Boche in uniform
rendered the required homage with meticulous care. Now and then one
carefully averted his eyes or turned to gaze into a shop-window in time
to avoid the humiliation. But for the most part they seemed almost to go
out of their way to salute, some almost brazenly, others with a
half-friendly little bow. I shall long remember the invariable click of
heels and the smart hand-to-cap of the resplendent old general with a
white beard who passed me each morning on the route to our respective
offices.
That there was feeling under these brazen exteriors, however, was proved
by the fact that most of the officers in the occupied area slipped
quietly into civilian clothes, for no other apparent reason than to
escape the unwelcome order. From the day of our entrance no German in
uniform was permitted in our territory unless on official business,
sanctioned by our authorities. But the term “uniform” was liberally
interpreted. A discharged soldier, unable to invest in a new wardrobe,
attained civilian status by exchanging his ugly, round, red-banded
fatigue-bonnet for a hat or cap; small boys were not rated soldiers
simply because they wore cut-down uniforms. Then on March 1st came a new
order from our headquarters commanding all members of the German army in
occupied territory never to appear in public out of uniform, always to
carry papers showing their presence in our area to be officially
authorized, and to report to an American official every Monday morning.
The streets of Coblenz blossomed out that day with more varieties of
German uniforms than most members of the A. E. P. had ever seen outside
a prisoner-of-war inclosure.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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