Peace; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
Our special train that was to take us to Holland left on Tuesday, so we
had to be at the Embassy on Monday for our tickets. Though the tickets
were not sold until eleven o'clock that morning, by nine many were
waiting patiently to put in their orders. There were first, second and
third class tickets sold, but these could only be bought by Americans. I
tried to get one for our Swiss courier, but I was told that this was a
special train for Americans, and so I had to leave him behind. As I look
back to those few days spent in Berlin, many pleasant incidents in the
midst of the Prussian capital in the throes of a world war recur to
mind. One of these was the approach of the Kaiser, accompanied by a high
government official, as they rode through the Brandenburger Thor along
Unter den Linden to the ministry of war. He was simply swarmed by his
people, who yelled, "Unser Kaiser! Unser Kaiser! Hoch! Hoch!" Although
he appreciated their loyalty and patriotism, his face showed great care
and worry and he seemed to have grown ten years older in a few weeks.
A pathetic incident was the great crowds of people who came and went out
of the Dom Church Sunday morning, where they went to pray for strength
and resignation. The crowd was so great that only Germans were allowed
to enter church that morning. It was an inspiring sight to see men of
all ages, accompanied by their wives, children or sisters, come out
with resolute faces, realizing the danger but determined to give their
all for the cause.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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