A War-time Journal, Germany 1914 and German Travel Notes | Page 5

will not allow any of us to go by or near the Rhine.
August 19th.--The German Press is to me a revelation of bombast, self-righteousness, falsehood, and hypocrisy. What shocks one most is the familiar and perpetual calling upon God to witness that He alone has led the Germans to victory and blessed their cause. I read a poem yesterday, which began "Du Gott der Deutschen," as if indeed the Deity were the especial property of the German Nation! Massacre, pillage, destruction, violation of territory, everything wicked God is supposed to bless! What hideously distorted minds, and where is the sane, if prosaic Teuton of one's imaginings! I wake often in the morning and wonder if all that has happened here has not been a horrible nightmare--if it can be possible in the twentieth century that I, a woman, am a prisoner, and for no sin that one has committed. I cannot order an Einsp?nner and drive to the station without a challenge and danger. I cannot possibly get away without my passport. If I attempted to drive to the Rhine my fate might be that of the poor Russians who were shot the other day. In any case I could not leave Germany without my passport nor enter Dutch territory without permission from the Netherlands Consul at Frankfort. It seems all hopeless and heartbreaking.
August 20th.--Another terrific blow! Fraulein S---- came into my room this morning and said: "Kein Engl?nder, kein Ausl?nder, kann Deutschland verlassen" (no Englishman, no foreigner can leave Germany). I rushed off immediately to the Polizei Amt and found it only too terribly true. Worse! Mr. W---- and Mr. S----, who tried to arrange for a steamer on the Rhine to take us away, have been arrested, and are being tried on a trumped-up charge of forgery, and the Company who were the go-betweens demand 3,000 marks because the boat came a certain distance down the river in order to embark us.
(Later) The Englishmen have been acquitted of forgery, but we fear we shall have to pay the ￡120. I have one mark left!
There is jubilation all over the town as the Germans have taken Belfort. K?thchen enters triumphantly. "Unter Führung des Kronprinzen von Bayern haben Truppen gestern in Schlachten zwischen Metz und den Vogesen noch einen Sieg erk?mpft," and she goes on with the weary old story of "viele tausend Gefangene" (many thousand prisoners).
August 21st.--I found that charming old American friends of mine, the W----s, were here, and I went to see them at the Grand Hotel. They have been to a Nach Kur in Thuringia, and have had most alarming and unpleasant adventures coming back. However, being American their pains and penalties are nearly over. A special train is to take them and their compatriots to the Hague on Wednesday next. They go to the flesh-pots of Egypt, and we are left to eat manna in the wilderness! They can drive in the country, while we poor Britishers may not go outside the town, and oh! how sick we are of the avenues and streets of the red-roofed Bath Houses and shop windows whose contents we know by heart. Mr. W---- told me a good tale of the chef of a Hotel here, who was obliged to obey his country's call and join the French forces. When he found German bullets whizzing about him at Mülhausen, he said to himself (so the story goes), "What is my duty? Is it best for me to let these cursed Germans make an end of me, or live to cook another day for my country?" He decided that living was his game, threw his rifle away, lay flat on his face, and let the bullets whistle over him. He was taken prisoner to his great relief, and now lies in Frankfort prison where his German brother chef has visited him! The French of course are a brave nation, but I daresay the poor cook was more at home with his pots and pans than with bayonets and rifles!
No papers! no letters! no news! no chance of escape! Two men were put in prison yesterday for laughing at Germany. Two Russians were stopped in a motor car, and when arms were found upon them they were put up against a wall and shot.
August 22nd.--Altheim has gone mad with joy over the victory near Metz. Church bells chime and German children sing "Deutschland über Alles" ad nauseam; and the Kur Haus and all private dwellings are draped with bunting. Red Cross people are busy preparing for the wounded--sewing classes are held every day in Bad Haus 8, and the doctors are full of work. Mr. S----, a young Englishman, formerly in the army, has been arrested, and also the hall-porter of the "Grand," and two English valets.
August 24th.--A terrible day! First