It must be admitted that military necessity knows no law, and it
must also be admitted that human life has a valuation to be expressed
in terms far higher than any building however beautiful. In an
inspired article written by Major General von Ditfurth, in the
"Hamburger Nachrichten," this latter point is clearly brought out.
He wrote:
"It is of no consequence if all the monuments ever created, all
the pictures ever painted, and all the buildings ever created by
the great architects of the world were destroyed, if by their
destruction we promote Germany's victory over her enemies.... The
commonest, ugliest stone placed to mark the burial place of a German
grenadier is a more glorious and perfect monument than all the
cathedrals in Europe put together.
"Let neutral peoples and our enemies cease their empty chatter,
which is no better than the twittering of birds. Let them cease
their talk about the cathedral at Rheims and about all the churches
and castles of France which have shared its fate. These things do
not interest us."
Opinions have naturally differed concerning Von Ditfurth's appraisal
of the comparative values of Rheims Cathedral and the tombstone of
a German grenadier, but even the champions of military necessity
were glad to learn later that the cathedral still stood, though much
damaged. If Rheims were far away from the line of march, and if the
Germans had deliberately gone thither for the purpose of destroying
it--as some prejudiced accounts seem to state--then there would not
be room for two opinions.
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