JFK+50: Volume 7, No. 2420
GERMAN TAKEN PRISONER CHANGES TUNE AFTER MEETING PERSHINGParis, France (JFK+50) 100 years ago today, September 2, 1917, a German officer "taken prisoner in the recent French advance of Verdun" complimented the courage of French soldiers but criticized their belief that the United States would make a difference in the war's outcome.
In an interview with the Echo de la Rochelle*, the officer said...
"Why delude yourselves...you expect irresistible aid from the United States. They promise it, but they will never give it."
He went on to predict that when the world war was over, the French would lose while the U.S. would "arbitrate the peace to its own advantage."
When the officer was brought before General John J. Pershing, however, he said, with tears rolling down his cheeks...
"It is all over. We are lost."
*L'Echo Rochelais was a weekly publication in La Rochelle, France from 1829-1941, described as a 'rightest' newspaper. La Rochelle is a French seaport located on the Bay of Biscay. The city was founded during the 10th century & was the site of a German submarine base during WWII. LR was the last French city to be liberated.
SOURCES
"German, Shown Pershing, Says 'We Are Lost'", Chicago Daily Tribune, September 3, 1917.
"The Authorized Press in Vichy and German Occupied France, 1940-1944", Compiled by Donna Evleth
UBoot Bunker
La Pallice
Photo by Jens Bludau (2016)
