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Stimmen aus den Schutzengräben #9 is dedicated to prisoners of war. More than 7 million soldiers were held prisoners during WWI. Many civilians were imprisoned as well, to be kept as hostages. The treatment of captive soldiers was disciplined by the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 (see episode #5). Here follows a selection of interesting articles:

„Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile Government, but not in that of the individuals or corps who captured them. They must be humanely treated. All their personal belongings, except arms, horses, and military papers remain their property.“ (Art. 4)

„The Government into whose hands prisoners of war have fallen is bound to maintain them. Failing a special agreement between the belligerents, prisoners of war shall be treated as regards food, quarters, and clothing, on the same footing as the troops of the Government which has captured them.“ (Art. 7)

„Work done for the State shall be paid for according to the tariffs in force for soldiers of the national army employed on similar tasks. “ (Art. 6)

„Officers taken prisoners may receive, if necessary, the full pay allowed them in this position by their country’s regulations, the amount to be repaid by their Government.“ (Art. 17)

Austro-hungarian prisoners in Russia, 1915. Rare colour picture taken by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky (Wikipedia)

The turn of events, however, prevented often from applying the Convention, especially in the Central Empires where the food was scarce and mostly sent to the frontline. The death rate among prisoners could vary a lot. The hardest conditions were suffered from the prisoners held in Russia, of which 25% died of sickness, starving, cold and fatigue. In Germany, despite the food shortage, the fatalities amounted to 5%.

The first „guest“ of the week is Carl Schmidt (see episode #8). His letter, written on the 28 October 1915, is not always clear. It is sure that, in the night between the 27th and the 28th, 30 Serbian prisoners were brought to him while he was sleeping in a pigsty. He affirms that he massed all the Serbians „one on top of each other“ in a pigsty where normally 4 German soldiers would barely fit. He then adds that he „would have ordered the pigs to be shoot down, if they hadn’t been already registered by the battalion“. Does he mean the animals, or the prisoners? Unsettling question…A transcription of Carl Schimdt’s letters is available at: http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/de/contributions/436.

British soldiers captured by the Germans,1918 (http://www.vlib.us/)

The second „guest“ Is Carlo Pokrajac, soldier of the Austro-Hungarian army. He was born in Istria, a region that was under Austrian control at the time, and today belongs to Croatia. In the beginning of the 20th century both Slavic and Italian families inhabited the region, that is why his diary is written in Italian. Pokrajac was taken prisoner in July 1915 while fighting the Russians on the eastern front. He had been drafted only 90 days before, and spent the rest of the war in captivity. In the selected passage of his diary he writes about his capture and his first impressions of the Russians. The enemies, he says, were not so terrible as they were depicted by the propaganda, and they took care of all the wounded regardless of their nationality. Longer extracts of his diary are available at: http://www.grandeguerra.ccm.it/scheda_archivio.php?goto_id=1219.

The third „guest“ is Charles Guilbert, a French cavalryman. On the 15th of October 1915 he was wounded and captured in a German ambush. The Germans took care of his wounds and gave him something to eat and drink, then they brought him in a stable. Suddenly French artillery shells and mashinegun bullets started falling all around, and the Germans left. The next day, Guilbert found out that he was left alone, and eventually a British patrol rescued him. His memories are available at: http://ppognant.online.fr/G141802.html.

-Credits-

Editing: Laura Leitner, Matteo Coletta.
Commentary: David Leberbauer.

Voices in this episode: David Leberbauer as Carl Schmidt,  Matteo Coletta as Carlo Pokrajac und Charles Guilbert.

Jingle:

Music: Gregoire Lourme, “Fire arrows and shields”
Concept: Matteo Coletta
Voices: Hannes Hochwasser, Matteo Coletta, Roman Reischl, L.J. Ounsworth, Norbert K. Hund.

„So A Theater“ meldet sich aus der Sommerpause zurück, denn im Toihaus herrscht schon wieder reger Betrieb. Kaum ist der Sommer vorbei wird schon wieder am neuen Programm getüftelt und das hat diesmal wieder so einiges zu bieten: In der kommenden Saison stehen neben Abendstücken, Theater für Kinder, Gastspielen und Workshops noch eine Menge anderer Dinge auf dem Programm: Im Dezember feiert das Toihaus sein 30jähriges Jubiläum, das Projekt „Tanzwut“ wird weitergeführt und auch das BIMBAM-Festival, das internationale Theaterfestival für Kinder findet wieder statt.

Ihr hört in der heutigen Ausgabe von So A Theater eine kleine Vorschau auf die kommenden Stücke im Herbst, Anfang Oktober geht es gleich mit den ersten Produktionen los. Ihr erfahrt heute etwas über ‚Licht und Schatten‘, eine Tanz und Musikperformance – hier setzt sich Katharina Schrott genau mit diesem Thema auseinander: Wie stehen Licht und Dunkelheit sich gegenüber und was spiegeln diese beiden Gegensätze wieder? Dann begibt sich das Toihaus wieder mal auf Besuch in die Residenzgalerie und spielt: „Toiart im Museum“. Und dann hört ihr noch etwas über „T.B.A“, einer Performance, die nur mit Musik und Sprache arbeitet, entwickelt von Hüseyin Evirgen. Alles dazu in der erstem September-Ausgabe von „So A Theater“.

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Stimmen aus den Schützengräben #8 is dedicated to artillery. Attrition and trench warfare required a massive use of artillery fire to prepare an attac, neutralise enemy batteries or even keeping the enemy morale low. An impressive amount of shells were fired during WWI, of witch 25-30% didn’t explode.  It is said that the number of shells fired reached 1.45 billion. Even nowadays, farmers keep finding unexploded war material under their fields (it’s the so-called iron harvest). Great economical and technological efforts were made to improve power and accuracy of the guns; the production process was made more effective as well. New tactics (like the creeping barrage) were developed to support infantry movements, and gas shells (see episode #5) were introduced in 1915. Despite the improvements, artillery needed huge logistic efforts and an excellent communication between batteries, command posts and front lines: when orders were misunderstood or the telephonic lines were interrupted, consequences were terrible. Unfortunately, such accidents were frequent on all fronts.

The German „Dicke Bertha“. The shells could weigh up to 1 ton.

The first „guest“ of the week is Carl Schmidt, a German soldier (or officer, according to some hints in his letters). He was affected first in France then in Serbia, and managed to survive the war. He committed suicide in 1931 during (and because of) the Great Depression. In a letter dated 24 April 1915 he greatly admires French artillery, stating that it is far better than the German. He then mentions an episode of friendly fire from the German artillery, who shoot on a company deployed on the right side of his sector.
A transcription of his letters is available at: http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/de/contributions/436.

The second „guest“ is French soldier Vincent Constant (1892-1979). In December 1917 he wrote a journal relating the most relevant episodes in which he and his regiment were involved. In February 1916 his unit was deployed near the Bois des Caures, at Verdun.

Vincent Constant in 1914

The battle of Verdun (21 February –  18 December 1916) was one of the longest and most costly battles of WWI, and an impressive clash of artilleries.
The aim of the German plan („Operation Gericht„) was not to conquer territory but to lure the French army into defending the position and anihilate it with heavy artillery . As a result, France would understand that the war was lost, and its capitulation would lead to a quick withdrowal of English troops on the Somme. At Verdun, artillery played a major role. The German secretly massed 1220 medium and heavy guns on only 14 Km of front – an astonishing average of one artillery piece every 12 meters.
The fortified city of Verdun became quickly a symbol: the honour of France was at stake, and the position had to be kept at all costs. A slogan quickly spread: „on ne passe pas!“ (they shall not pass). „Operation Gericht“ was a failure, and the price was extreamely heavy. The casualties on both sides (dead, wounded, missing) are estimated between 700.000 and 900.000.

On the 22th of February 1916, one day after the beginning of „Operation Gericht“, Vincent Constant is only a few hundred meters away from the Bois des Caures, a wood destroyed on the 21st by a massive artillery barrage. Constant is an eye witness of the chaos reigning in the french lines: units are retreating, the roads are full of corpses and abandoned gear, the French batteries are neutralised (either destroyed or out of ammunition). Without artillery support a counter-attack on the Bois des Caures is impossible and postponed to the next day. Selected parts of the war journal have been transcripted and are available (together with an english translation) at: http://vincent.juillet.free.fr/cahier-constant-vincent-1914-1.htm.

British Schrapnel shell (Wikipedia)

The third „guest“ of the week is sergeant Leonard J. Ounsworth (see episodes #1, #3 und #7). In a passage extracted from a longer interview he explains what a Schrapnel shell is and how it works. A Shrapnel is an anti-personal shell filled with metal bullets and provided with a time fuse on its top. To be effective the Schrapnel has to burst before hitting the ground, when it is right in front or above the target.
The complete interview can be downloaded at: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/document/9404?REC=1

The fourth and last „guest“ is Italian Officer Emilio Lussu. In a passage from his war memories „Un anno sull’altipiano“ he relates a terrible case of friendly fire. Italian batteries shoot for hours on the first lines, the shelters are built against Austrian artillery and are uneffective against the shells coming from behind. All attempts to communicate with the batteries fail, and panic seizes the infantry. Lussu is an eye witness of terrible episodes. He can hardly prevent a mashinegun section from assaulting the batteries, he meets an artillery colonel, completely crushed by the events, walking and screaming: „Kill us, kill us!„. When he meets the commanding officer of the artillery, Lussu exclaims: „What an awful lot of nonsense we’re doing today!“. „That’s our job„, replies the officer, sadly. His attempts at stopping the barrage have been failing for hours.

-Credits-

Editing: Eva Schmidhuber, Matteo Coletta

Voices in this episode: David Leberbauer as Car Schmidt, L.J. Ounsworth as himself, Matteo Coletta as Vincent Constant and Emilio Lussu.

Jingle:

Music: Gregoire Lourme, “Fire arrows and shields”
Concept: Matteo Coletta
Voices: Hannes Hochwasser, Matteo Coletta, Roman Reischl, L.J. Ounsworth, Norbert K. Hund.

Ewigkeitsfjord von Kim Leine.
Ich war heuer „das erste Mal“ in Island und völlig begeistert vom Norden, von Vulkanen, Gletschern und Wasserfällen und dem wundervollen Licht. Wir haben Island umrundet und ganz im Norden war die Luft so klar dass wir am Horizont Grönland sehen konnten. Seit dem zieht es mich noch weiter nach Norden. Das habe ich dem Buchhändler meines Vertrauens erzählt und er hat mir sofort ein Buch in die Hand gedrückt: Kim Leine, Ewigkeitsfjord.
Und hier meine allererste Buchbesprechung (in gekürzter Form):
In einem Satz kann man sagen das Kim Leine im Ewigkeitsfjord davon erzählt, wie Menschen verschiedener kultureller Herkunft einander lieben, missverstehen und manchmal sogar töten.
Die Kritik hat das Buch sehr freundlich aufgenommen und Kim Leine mit Peter Hoeg oder Haldor Laxsness verglichen und ich habe „alle“ Kritiken und Rezensionen gelesen….und habe darüber beinahe das Buch vergessen.
Das was mir jetzt noch geblieben ist von meinen eigenen Worten und Gedanken: Ich fand es spannend, ideal für verregnete Herbstwochenenden, zum auf der Couch bleiben und lesen und die Welt vergessen. Allerdings ist es keines von den Büchern die ich unbedingt besitzen muß um sie nochmals zu lesen. So das ist jetzt meine ganz kleine Kritik, nächstesmal lese ich nichts anderes als das Buch das ich euch vorstelle….VERSPROCHEN!

Nach der Sendung ist vor der Sendung! Und so bin ich bereits bei der Vorbereitung zur nächsten Hunderunde am 10. September. In dieser Sendung geht es darum, was sich geändert hat in den letzten 20 Jahren. Hundeerziehung  – einst und jetzt. Wenn Sie mir zu diesem Thema etwas erzählen möchten, mir Ihre Sicht der Veränderungen schildern möchten, dann bitte ich um Kontaktaufnahme per Email.

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In Stimmen aus den Schütengräben #7 we deal again with aerial warfare (see episode #3). The first „guest“ is Manfred von Richthofen, the legendary Red Baron. In 1917 (a few months before his death) he published an Autobiography, from which we selected a passage describing an aerial dogfight between him and an English Pilot – his 32th victory. Richthofen was a very well known figure during WWI: Germans regarded him as a hero, French and English hated him with a passion. With 80 confirmed victories, the Red Baron is the highest ranked flying ace of the whole conflict, and his deeds inspired many books, documentaries and even movies (the latest one, „Der rote Baron“, was released in 2008). His nickname comes from the colour of his planes, painted in a bright-red colour. The title of the Autobiography – „Der rote Kampfflieger“ – has the same origin.

Manfred von Richthofen (Wikipedia)

Manfred von Richthofen is a controversial figure: regarded by many (non only in the German speaking countries) as an extraordinary man, celebrated in movies and literature. But also a young soldier who deeply enjoyed war and showed neither mercy nor compassion for the fallen enemies. His Autobiography is available at: https://archive.org/details/DerRoteKampfflieger

The second „guest“ of the episode is sergeant Leonard J. Ounsworth (see episodes #1 and #3).  In an original interview he relates of a very peculiar episode he witnessed while serving in France. He remembers that once a french plane was diving on the corner of a corn field for no apparent reason. Then, all of a sudden, a detachement of Indian cavalry (according to Ounsworth, the 9th Royal Deccan Horse) surrounded German machineguns and captured at least 34 prisoners and their weapons. The french plane was unarmed and only served as a distraction to cover the movements of the cavalry until the very last moment. The full interview is available at: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/document/9404?REC=1

The last account is by French soldier Maurice Leclerc (see episode #5), who wrote about the tragic epilogue of a dogfight in a letter dated 22/09/1916. Leclecrc witnessed the crash of a french plane and the death of the crew. The observer jumped from the plane but the parachute (see episode #3) didn’t work. The pilot tried to land the burning plane, but the impact with the ground caused the gas tank to explode. The letter can be downloaded at: http://europeana1914-1918.eu/de/contributions/9841

Maurice Leclerc’s letter (Europeana)

-Credits-

Editing: Laura Leitner, Matteo Coletta

Voices in this episode: David Leberbauer as Manfred von Richthofen, L.J. Ounsworth as himself, Matteo Coletta as Maurice Leclerc.

Jingle:

Music: Gregoire Lourme, „Fire arrows and shields“
Concept: Matteo Coletta
Voices: Hannes Hochwasser, Matteo Coletta, Roman Reischl, L.J. Ounsworth, Norbert K. Hund.