July 25, 2015
An excerpt from Behind the Lines, chapter 14, “The Refugees”:
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| Refugees fleeing Antwerp, Oct. 1914. (Public domain) |
For days they simply walked. Bundles in hand,
cold, exhausted, frightened. Pushing carts, leading children, helping the
elderly. The Antwerp refugees had little idea of where they were going, other
than toward Holland, and no idea of what they would do when they got there.
They only knew they had to get out of the way of the inhuman creatures who,
they had heard, wanted to burn, loot, rape, and murder. This massive flight northward
had started in earnest on Wednesday, October 7, and continued unchecked through
Saturday, October 10.
Edouard Bunge got an unasked-for front-row
seat to the refugees’ flight. Just after the bombardment stopped and the
Germans entered Antwerp, they demanded that the city council choose six
prominent men for a critical task. These men would each be accompanied by two
German officers to the forts in their assigned area to make sure the forts had
surrendered. If the forts hadn’t, or refused to, the Germans would retire from
the city, and the bombardment would begin again. Bunge was one of the six who
volunteered.
On Saturday at 6 a.m. Bunge and two German
officers, Major von Stresow and Lieutenant Stockhausen, took off for their
assigned area. “Chance, or perhaps the Germans’ information, willed that the
sector which they assigned to me should be ground on which I was at home: Merxem,
Schooten, Brasschaet and Cappellen.”
As they drove out
through the city, Bunge wrote later: “Shortly before and during the bombardment
of the city an enormous wave of [refugees] made its way steadily towards the
Dutch border. Thousands and thousands of people fleeing from the city as well
as from the surrounding communes had saved themselves as best they might. . . .
The great majority
were poor people
without any resources, wanting food, blankets and shelter. There were women at
the point of childbirth, little children who were sick and old men who could
scarcely stand alone. All this pitiable crowd walked and walked some 10, some
14 hours until their strength deserted them and they stopped completely
exhausted. Some stayed in the fields, others were more fortunate, in the pine
groves.”
As the refugees trudged north through the
countryside, German soldiers were seen in the act of confirming the rumors.
“Pillage had already commenced,” Bunge stated. “The scoundrels could be seen
coming out of the houses loaded down with objects of all kinds, and others were
in the act of forcing doors, not in the least disturbed by our passage. The inhabitants
had fled and we saw no policemen in these outlying districts. A desolate
picture of war.”
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| Belgian refugees in Holland. (Public domain.) |
End of excerpt.
My
post: Once again a lot has happened since I last wrote.. A few
highlights (and lowlights):
1. My beloved sister, Claire Zimmerman, died after a nearly
five-year battle against a spinal tumor that took nearly everything from her but her
smile and her sharp wit.
Thanks to her saint-of-a- husband, Gene; two
children, Chloe and Eric; my other sisters, Tina and Leslie; and Claire’s
incredible friends, neighbors and community – all of whom helped Claire’s last
years be the best possible.
 |
| Claire Zimmerman |
2. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library (HHPL)
presentation in Iowa by myself and three other scholars (see Post #29) went off
very well on June 20. It was only five days after I spoke at Claire’s memorial
service, and my voice was starting to break up. Happily, it held together
through the speech, then it totally crapped out for the next three or four days
(much to the delight of my wife, Susan, who appreciated the little-known
silence around the house!).
3. In June, Blue Ink Reviews, which produces objective, professional reviews of independently published books,
gave Behind
the Lines a coveted Starred Review. You can read the review by clicking here.
4. I’ve taken a BIG financial step. For those who have been
following this very infrequent blog, you know that I’ve been struggling with
the financial issue – I can’t afford to pay for Book Two like I did Behind
the Lines out of my dwindling retirement funds, but I can’t afford NOT
to continue this incredible American story. So, in a desperate move, I’ve filed
for early Social Security (I’m 62 and a half). It’s not going to get me much (only a $1,000 a
month), but that will be something to stem the outgoing tide of savings until,
I hope, a white knight comes along. He or she could take the form of
translation rights, movie rights, reprint rights, or traditional rights for Book Two, etc. I know all that’s far
fetched, but I’ve decided to take that huge Leap of Faith that Soren Kiergeaard
talked about, or better still, I’m following Joseph Campbell’s advice to “follow
your bliss and doors will open up where you never thought they existed.” Keep
your fingers crossed for me, please! A year from now I might be working at Walmart. . .
Moving on, I’m honored to report that the HHPL presentation
was filmed by C-SPAN and will be seen on C-SPAN3 American History TV tomorrow,
Sunday, July 26, at 2 p.m. EDT. Because I don’t have cable TV, I’ll have to
wait and see the video once it’s put on the website. I know my three other speakers
did GREAT jobs; I’m just hoping my presentation holds up to their level of
professionalism. I think I did pretty well, but I’m nervous to see the actual
footage. I hear TV makes you look and sound at least 10 points lower down the
IQ scale! :) Let’s hope that’s not the
case – I don’t have that much wiggle room when it comes to IQ (especially as I
get older!).
Since returning from Iowa, I have waded back into the
treacherous waters of my Book Two research
in preparation for launching fully into writing. I hope I don’t drown!
Author
Appearances
Lastly, I want to mention a couple of author appearances I’ll
be making in the next few months. I am so grateful to each group for wanting to
have me participate.
August 8, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Poudre River Loves Reading Local Authors Book Fair
Fort Collins, CO, Old Town Public Library
Authors will be at tables to talk about their
books and sign copies; More info:
October 17, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Rocky Mountain Literary Festival
Mount Vernon Country Club
Golden, CO
I’ll be the last speaker of the day
End of Post
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