CULT
OF RECONCILIATION COMMEMORATING THE 100 YEARS OF ARMISTICE AND THE COMPLETION
OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR (1914/1918) -
Gate opening between the British
and German cemeteries-November 11, 2018.
EDUARDO
C.GERDING
Ode of Remembrance by Laurence Binyon
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow
old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Foreword
Between July 28, 1914 and
November 11, 1918, Europe experienced "The Great War", which faced
millions of soldiers from 32 nations of the 5 continents. It lasted 4 years, 3
months and 11 days. 2
Niall O`Dowd founder of the IrishCentral did not hesitate to say: The First World War
was an abomination, started over a dispute between the Kaiser in Germany, the
Tsar in Russia, and England’s king. A dispute among cousins led to the
bloodiest conflagration the world had ever seen at that point 7
Note:
Niall is the Founder of IrishCentral as well as of Irish America Magazine and the Irish Voice Newspaper. He is also responsible for publishing IrishCentral.com community newspaper and
The Irish Emigrant newspaper, in
Boston.He founded the Wall Street 50 awards, the Top 100 Irish Americans, the
Business 100 and more recently the Top 50 Women in Business and the Irish Legal
100 awards. Niall was awarded an honorary doctorate by University College
Dublin for his work on the Irish peace process, which was a subject of a book,
"Daring Diplomacy" and a PBS Special, "An Irish Voice."
The total number of military and
civilian casualties in the First World War was around 40 million. There were 20
million KIA and 21 million WIA. The total number of deaths includes 9.7 million
military personnel and approximately 10 million civilians. The Allies lost 5.7
million soldiers and the Central Powers lost about 4 million. 9
4852 Argentine volunteers
participated in the ranks of the British Army 5. 6000 participated in the ranks
of the French and 32,400 in the Italian troops in the conflict. 1
As a doctor I can not fail to mention the
outstanding participation of the Argentine surgeon Dr. Pedro Chutro in the
Military Hospital Buffon as well as the Military Hospital in Paris (150 beds )
in the XVI district located in Jules Claretie 14 street (a building belonging
to the Anchorena family) . 1
Several battles are synonymous
with the conflict: the first and the second of Marne (1914 and 1918),
Tannemberg (1914), Gallipoli (1915), Verdun (1916), Somme (1916) and Ypres
(1918). 2
The war ended on November 11, 1918, and the
so-called Peace Treaty of Versailles (France) was signed in a wagon on June 28th,
1919 at 5 AM in Compiègne (France) .Six hours later the war ended . 2, 3,4
Other concomitant tragic events
The Easter Rising
It is estimated that
50,000 Irish died in the front but for various reasons this day arouses
controversial feelings in Ireland even today 7, 10. The Easter Rising (Easter Rebellion or Irish Rising, in
Irish: Éirí Amach na Cásca) was a rebellion that took place in Ireland against
the authority of the United Kingdom, that exploded on Monday of Easter of April
of 1916.
The Russian Revolution
The term Russian
Revolution (Русская революция, Ruskaya revolycitsiya) groups all the events
that led to the overthrow of the tsarist regime to the prepared restoration of
another, Leninist between February and October 1917, which led to the creation
of the Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of Russia .
Pandemic of Spanish Influenza of 1918
The flu epidemic of
1918 (also known as the Spanish flu) was a pandemic that, unlike other
epidemics of flu that affect mainly children and the elderly, many of its
victims were young and healthy adults, and animals, including dogs and cats. It
is considered the most devastating pandemic in human history, since in just one
year it killed between 40 and 100 million people.
In the United States the disease was first observed in Fort Riley (Kansas) on March 4, 1918, although already in the fall of 1917 there had been a first wave herald in at least fourteen military camps.
The Poppy
The scarlet poppy (popaver rhoeas) grows throughout western Europe. After the
Napoleonic wars the devastated fields saw poppies grow next to
thesoldiers´bodies. This was observed at the end of 1914 in the fields of
northern France and Flanders. The importance of this flower was highlighted by
the Canadian surgeon John McCrae in his poem In Flanders Fields.This flower represents the immeasurable
sacrifice of soldiers. It was adopted by the Royal British Legion. The white poppy on the other hand was
introduced for the first time by the Women's
Co-operative Guild in 1933 as a symbol of peace and the end of wars. 4
The bleuet
Since 1935 the French
government has formalized the sale of cornflowers (centaurea cyanus) on the occasion of Remembrance Day. The
cornflower flower continued to grow in the fields where the artillery was daily
fired .. They were the only things with color in the trenches. Because of its
resemblance it was used as well as the nickname of the French soldiers of «Class
1915» who were the first to wear the new blue horizon uniform.
On September 15,
1920, Louis Fontenaille, president of Mutilés
de France proposed that the cornflower be the eternal symbol of those who
died for France.
The Irish song Long way to Tipperary
It is a song so well
known that the German soldiers translated it and sang it on the front.
Apparently Jack Judge (an English fishmonger) was the co-author with Harry
Williams of a previous song called It's a
Long way to Connemara that deals with a young Irishman who misses his
girlfriend from that town. Judge, whose grandmother was from Connemara, changed
Connemara for Tipperary and sold her rights to Bert Feldman. The first
public mention of the song was when the journalist George Curnock reported that
a battalion of Connacht Rangers landed in France singing it. 8
The two minutes of silence
At 11 am on the
eleventh day of the eleventh month of each day two minutes of silence are
observed in cemeteries and other public dependencies of Great Britain as a
tribute for all those who lost their lives fighting for the country. In a
letter published in the London Evening
News on May 8, 1919, an Australian journalist Edward George Honey proposed
a space of silence for the fallen in WW1. This attracted the attention of King
George V and on November 7, 1919 he issued a proclamation calling for two
minutes of silence. 3
Volkstrauertag
Germany does not commemorate Remembrance Day, although it has
another national date to remember the civilian and military dead who died in
conflicts. The Volkstrauertag (Day of
peoples´mourning ) is commemorated two Sundays before the first day of Advent.
This day is observed since 1952. On that day the national anthem is sung as
well as the song "Ich hatt 'einen
Kameraden (I had a comrade).6
Schedule
(Photos taken by the author)
Military Band Tambor
de Tacuari Regiment Nº 1 of Patricios
Director:
Major Diego González Cejas
St
George´s Chamber Choir: Imagine-WJ
Lennon
Director: Laura
D`Arcangelo/James Thomas(Keyboard)
Welcome
by Rev. Gregory James Venables
Archbishop Primate of the Anglican
Church in South America
Anthem
O God, our help in ages past (I.Watts, W.Croft)
Prayer
Father
Ruben Suhr
German-speaking catholic community Saint Boniface
Prayer
Archbishop Primate Rev. Gregory
James Venables
Our Father (each in it´s own language)
Blessing
Rev. Douglas Robertson St Andrew Presbyterian Church
The Legion´s Remembrance
ceremony
Placement of
wreaths
Legionary Ronny Scott (Fleet Air Arm)
Ode of Remembrance
Epitaph of Kohima
Legionary Charles Yatman-US
Army-Korea
Reading of the French casualties
names
French Military attache Lt.Col
Pierre-Yves Derangère
2 Minutes
Silence
Reveille
Military Band Tambór de Tacuari Regiment Nº1 Patricios
Placement of
wreaths
American, British, French, German
Ambassadors
American, British and French Legionaries
Opening of the Gate
British Ambassador
Mark Kent and German Ambassador Jürgen Christian Mertens
Choir
Danny Boy (Frederick E. Weatherly)
Institute Deutsche Schulle Ballester Choir
Director: Gustavo Héctor Pérez
Welcome
Lt. Col. Christian Conrad
Totengedenken
German Ambassador Jürgen Christian Mertens
Letters from the front line
(American, British, French and
German)
Speech
German Ambassador Jürgen Christian Mertens
Minister Karin Krug
German Evangelical Congregation
Placement of wreaths
American, British,
French and German Ambassadors and Military attaches
Eternal source of Light Divine (G.F. Händel)
Karin Thorbauer
(Soprano)-Javier Lovato(Trumpet)-Cristina Deanna (Pipe organ)
Closing words
Lt.Col. Christian Conrad
On the 100th anniversary of the
armistice of the First World War we broke down the wall that separated us,
erecting this ceremonial portal as a symbol of our fraternal union .
November 11st, 1918-2018
British Ambassador Mark Kent (Photograph taken by the author)
French Ambassador Pierre Henri
Guignard and German Ambassador Jürgen Christian Michael Mertens (Clarín-https://www.clarin.com/mundo/embajadores-francia-alemania-argentina-conmemoraron-fin-primera-guerra_0_f_tSVhXvf.html#cxrecs_s
Opening of the gate
Institute Deutsche Schulle Ballester choir
Military Band Tambor de Tacuari Regiment Nº1 Patricios
Bibliography
1-Avignolo, María
Laura-Primera Guerra Mundial: Pedro Chutro, el cirujano de guerra argentino que
salvó decenas de vidas en Francia. Clarín,
Noviembre 11 de 2018.
2-Balza, Martín VGM-A
100 años del final de la Gran Guerra: los actores y las batallas de una
tragedia que costó millones de vidas.Infobae-11
de noviembre de 2018.
3-BBC-1918-2008-Ninety
years of Remembrance-Silence- http://www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance/how/silence.shtml
4-BBC-1918-2008-Ninety years of
Remembrance-Why the Poppy?
5-Gerding, Eduardo-Current
Lessons of WW1.The Nottingham-Malvinas
Group.
6-Laud,Georgina-Remembrance Day
2018-Does Germany have Remembrance Day?
Express-Nov 11, 2018
