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Then There's Only One Choice

By Wolfgang Borchert

Translated from the German by
William T. Hathaway

Wolfgang Borchert was a young German writer who was drafted into World War II and then imprisoned for resistance activities. The imprisonment destroyed him physically, and he lived only two years after the war. During that time he wrote antiwar literature that is widely read in Germany but little known in the USA. This incantantory warning is as pertinent today as when it was written. It’s the last piece before his death in November 1947 at the age of 27.


"Dann gibt es nur eins!"


You. Man at the machine in the factory. When they tell you tomorrow to stop making pots and pans and instead make helmets and machine guns, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Woman in the store, woman in the office. When they tell you tomorrow to fill grenades and mount telescopic sights on sniper rifles, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Factory owner. When they tell you tomorrow to make gun powder instead of baby powder, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Researcher in the laboratory. When they tell you tomorrow to invent new ways to kill people, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!You. Songwriter in your studio. When they tell you tomorrow not to sing love songs but hate songs, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Doctor in the clinic. When they tell you tomorrow to declare soldiers fit for combat, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Minister in the pulpit. When they tell you tomorrow to bless murder and sanctify war, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Captain of the freighter. When they tell you tomorrow to ship cannons and tanks instead of wheat, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Pilot of the plane. When they tell you tomorrow to drop bombs on cities, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Tailor in your shop. When they tell you tomorrow to make uniforms, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Judge in robes. When they tell you tomorrow to serve on a court-martial, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Railroad worker. When they tell you tomorrow to give the signal to send the troop and munition trains, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Man in the country, man in the city. When they try to recruit you into the military, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Mother in Normandy, mother in the Ukraine, you, mother in San Francisco and London, you, on the Yellow River and the Mississippi River, you, mother in Naples and Hamburg and Cairo and Oslo -- mothers of all continents, mothers of the world, when they tell you tomorrow to raise children to be nurses for field hospitals and soldiers for new battles, then there's only one choice:

Say NO! Mothers, say NO!

Because if you don't say NO, if YOU don't say no, mothers, then:

then:

In the noisy steamy dusty port cities the great ships will groan into silence and float like cadavers of drowned mammoths, slapping sluggishly against the lonely docks while algae, seaweed and mussels grow on the once roaring gleaming hulls that now lie decomposing in a watery cemetery stinking of squishy decayed fish.

the streetcars will become dull senseless glass-eyed beetles lying crudely dented and peeling next to skeletons of tangled wires and rusted tracks, behind dilapidated sheds with holes in the roofs, in desolate, cratered streets --

a mud-gray, porridge-thick, leaden stillness will roll over everything, devouring, growing spreading over schools and colleges and theaters, over sport fields and playgrounds, gruesome and greedy, unstoppable --

the juicy sun-ripened grapes will rot on their broken arbors, the green rice will wither on the parched earth, the potatoes will freeze in the abandoned fields, and the cows will raise their death-stiffened legs like upside-down milking stools towards heaven --

in the research centers new medicines discovered by great doctors will turn to fungus and mold --

in the kitchens, dining rooms and cellars, in the cold-storage lockers and warehouses, the last sacks of flour, the last jars of strawberries, pumpkins and cherry juice will spoil -- the bread under the overturned tables and smashed plates will turn green, and the rancid butter will reek, the grain will lie limp as a fallen army in the fields next to rusting plows, and the smokestacks of the pounding factories will fall and smash and crumble to be covered with eternal grass --

then the last person, with lacerated bowels and polluted lungs, answerless and alone under a poisonous glaring sun and wobbling sky, will stagger back and forth between gaping mass graves and massive concrete idols of the deserted cities, the last person, scrawny, cursing, accusing, insane -- and his terrible cry: WHY? will die unheard, fading across the plains, whispering through the shattered ruins, brushing against the rubble of churches and bunkers, sinking into pools of blood, the last answerless animal cry of the last human animal --

all this will happen, tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, maybe tonight, maybe tonight, if -- if --

if you don't say NO.


"Dann gibt es nur eins!" by Wolfgang Borchert copyright 1949 by Rowohlt Verlag GmbH, Reinbek bei Hamburg

Translation copyright 2022 by William T. Hathaway
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
I have not read your post, but only the introduction. Sometimes preparation for defense and war is necessary.It becomes a duty (dharma).
As you know India has two nice neighbors - Pakistan and China. After all, if Allies had not done that, the world would have been ruled by Hitler and his successors.
 
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F1fan

Veteran Member
Idealism is often seen as true, but it seldom reflects the flaws of human nationalism, and how the majority of a people are eager to follow a leader that seems strong.
 

TransmutingSoul

Veteran Member
Premium Member
By Wolfgang Borchert

Translated from the German by
William T. Hathaway

Wolfgang Borchert was a young German writer who was drafted into World War II and then imprisoned for resistance activities. The imprisonment destroyed him physically, and he lived only two years after the war. During that time he wrote antiwar literature that is widely read in Germany but little known in the USA. This incantantory warning is as pertinent today as when it was written. It’s the last piece before his death in November 1947 at the age of 27.


"Dann gibt es nur eins!"


You. Man at the machine in the factory. When they tell you tomorrow to stop making pots and pans and instead make helmets and machine guns, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Woman in the store, woman in the office. When they tell you tomorrow to fill grenades and mount telescopic sights on sniper rifles, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Factory owner. When they tell you tomorrow to make gun powder instead of baby powder, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Researcher in the laboratory. When they tell you tomorrow to invent new ways to kill people, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!You. Songwriter in your studio. When they tell you tomorrow not to sing love songs but hate songs, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Doctor in the clinic. When they tell you tomorrow to declare soldiers fit for combat, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Minister in the pulpit. When they tell you tomorrow to bless murder and sanctify war, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Captain of the freighter. When they tell you tomorrow to ship cannons and tanks instead of wheat, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Pilot of the plane. When they tell you tomorrow to drop bombs on cities, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Tailor in your shop. When they tell you tomorrow to make uniforms, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Judge in robes. When they tell you tomorrow to serve on a court-martial, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Railroad worker. When they tell you tomorrow to give the signal to send the troop and munition trains, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Man in the country, man in the city. When they try to recruit you into the military, then there's only one choice:

Say NO!

You. Mother in Normandy, mother in the Ukraine, you, mother in San Francisco and London, you, on the Yellow River and the Mississippi River, you, mother in Naples and Hamburg and Cairo and Oslo -- mothers of all continents, mothers of the world, when they tell you tomorrow to raise children to be nurses for field hospitals and soldiers for new battles, then there's only one choice:

Say NO! Mothers, say NO!

Because if you don't say NO, if YOU don't say no, mothers, then:

then:

In the noisy steamy dusty port cities the great ships will groan into silence and float like cadavers of drowned mammoths, slapping sluggishly against the lonely docks while algae, seaweed and mussels grow on the once roaring gleaming hulls that now lie decomposing in a watery cemetery stinking of squishy decayed fish.

the streetcars will become dull senseless glass-eyed beetles lying crudely dented and peeling next to skeletons of tangled wires and rusted tracks, behind dilapidated sheds with holes in the roofs, in desolate, cratered streets --

a mud-gray, porridge-thick, leaden stillness will roll over everything, devouring, growing spreading over schools and colleges and theaters, over sport fields and playgrounds, gruesome and greedy, unstoppable --

the juicy sun-ripened grapes will rot on their broken arbors, the green rice will wither on the parched earth, the potatoes will freeze in the abandoned fields, and the cows will raise their death-stiffened legs like upside-down milking stools towards heaven --

in the research centers new medicines discovered by great doctors will turn to fungus and mold --

in the kitchens, dining rooms and cellars, in the cold-storage lockers and warehouses, the last sacks of flour, the last jars of strawberries, pumpkins and cherry juice will spoil -- the bread under the overturned tables and smashed plates will turn green, and the rancid butter will reek, the grain will lie limp as a fallen army in the fields next to rusting plows, and the smokestacks of the pounding factories will fall and smash and crumble to be covered with eternal grass --

then the last person, with lacerated bowels and polluted lungs, answerless and alone under a poisonous glaring sun and wobbling sky, will stagger back and forth between gaping mass graves and massive concrete idols of the deserted cities, the last person, scrawny, cursing, accusing, insane -- and his terrible cry: WHY? will die unheard, fading across the plains, whispering through the shattered ruins, brushing against the rubble of churches and bunkers, sinking into pools of blood, the last answerless animal cry of the last human animal --

all this will happen, tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, maybe tonight, maybe tonight, if -- if --

if you don't say NO.


"Dann gibt es nur eins!" by Wolfgang Borchert copyright 1949 by Rowohlt Verlag GmbH, Reinbek bei Hamburg

Translation copyright 2022 by William T. Hathaway

That's great, regards Tony.
 
Thanks for the tip, River Sea. I just read excerpts from Bharat Jhujhunwala’s work in the internet and find it fascinating. It seems to support the research this article of mine is based on: Vedic Peace. More and more of the suppositions Western civilization has been based on are starting to crumble. Thank goodness!
Thank you, PureX, for sharing Steve Earle’s eloquent, class-conscious rage with us. We need more of it now.
 

River Sea

Active Member
@William T. Hathaway

I wanted to ask you questions about Germans, or if any Germans here please help me understand more ok.


If my writing doesn't make sense please help me write 'til you understand. Please ask me questions so I can redo my writing, 'till you understand.

I've been around Germans who came from Oldenburg and many of them lived in America. Later I met a southern German who agreed with me and actually claim the southern Germans call the northern Germans "They"

I notice northern Germans are less animated. They don't express emotions. They do this style of talk of a narrative., example: as if they speak the other person having a conversation with themselves.

I'm seeing if I can write how they talk, I won't do that well at this, but example if a German tells me about their memory scene: about... 'Don't go in this area.'

Instead of saying, I remember being told not to go in this area., the Northern German would explain, sharing all the peoples as if each person is speaking but it's only one person speaking all this. All the narrative of each person. Yet only themselves is speaking,, as if to picture the scene with words yet hear each person speaking yet it's only themselves speaking., so one can imagine the person saying this while the person is actually there.

as if speaking the full dialogue of the situation from all angles from all people, but it's all in the voice, no animation., no hand movements, just all voice.

If I'm failing at articulating this, let me try again.

The other thing I notice is the person who tells a scene, is being focus on. As if that person is the center of the attention.

Anyways, what that meant when the southern German said "they" in reference the Northern Germans, it was meant to explain the suppression that the northern Germans were towards each other, this isn't anything when the Northern German shares, because remember when the Northern German shares they share that they're the center of attention while sharing the narrative of each person., so the northern German would build themselves up as center of attention from as sharing the other narratives that adds to cause themselves to be center of attention, yet the Northern German will suppress Germans around them, yet treat strangers with great welcome., so the southern German support each other and can show emotions, and so as the southern Germans look at the suppressive that the Northern Germans do to each other the southern Germans calls the northern Germans "they"

I was around the "they" and when the southern German knew, it confirm me about what I witness from northern Germans who brought it with them to America.,

The Northern Germans aren't allow to show emotions, also I notice not allow to take naps either, or it's frown upon.

Please let me know if I'm wrong, and it's just the small amount of Germans I known, and it's not at all like that., or am I correct?

Please with your wisdom share, and I hope you're still here.

I hope you come back and teach me about the Germans. I hope I didn't miss my chance here, due to my silence lacking of responding quickly.
 
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