Life, 1919-01-02 · page 28 of 34
Life — January 2, 1919 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1920s *Life* magazine page contains two distinct elements: **Main Cartoon:** Shows a man aboard a ship pointing out to passengers where Germans supposedly attacked a lifeboat with women and children during WWI. This references actual German submarine warfare, particularly the sinking of the Lusitania (1915) and similar incidents that killed civilians—a major cause of American outrage during the war. **Text Commentary:** The editorial argues that German war criminals should face justice trials (referencing post-war calls for prosecutions). It invokes the Biblical prophet Isaiah to suggest Germans made immoral "covenants" and must face accountability, substituting "Berlin for Jerusalem." **The Satire's Point:** The cartoon captures a bitter post-war sentiment: survivors reliving trauma while crossing the Atlantic decades later. The accompanying text wrestles with whether organized trials or revolutionary German justice would be more appropriate—reflecting real post-WWI debates about war crimes accountability. **Right Sidebar:** An unrelated domestic humor comic about an American household scene.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
28 oO? CROSSING THE ATLANTIC FIFTY YEARS AFTER THE WAR “RIGHT OVER THERE IS WHERE THO: SHELLED A LIFEBOAT FULL OF WOMEN AND CHILDRE Lille, who survived four years of Ger- mans, came back to the French chamber in November, and told stories to their brethren. One of them said: “ You cannot imagine the sufferings endured by our wretched populations. If you only knew in what a state they are row! Doctors declare that sixty per cent. of our young girls can never be mothers.” There were a lot of bad masters in Russia. ‘They were traitors and thieves; corrupt, brutal; stranglers of freedom. If the Bolsheviki have only killed the right people they may have done Russia good. But probably they haven't, and, of course, they will them- selves go, presently, the way of other scoundrels, There are a lot of Germans who should be tried, condemned and exe- cuted for horrible crimes like the de- portations from Lille. If they can be nabbed at home by Germans, that might do, and would save some trouble, though German revolutionists would be indiscriminate and would not do a nice job, But somehow there should be a vindication of justice, to prove that the German masters did not abolish law when they broke out, but merely broke it. And that there will be such vindica- at least, a good bet. A dis- cerning man once addressed remarks to “scornful men that rule this people which is in Jerusalem,” to wit: Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, And with hell are we at agreement; When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: For we have made lies our refuge And under falsehood have we hid Therefore thus saith the Lord God, He that believeth shall not- make haste. Judgment a!so will I Jay to the line ‘And righteousness to the plummet And the hail shall sweep away tl refuge of lies, And the waters shall overflow hiding place. And your covenant with death sh: he disannulled, And your agreement with hell shall not stand, When the overflowing scourge shall pass through; Then ye shall be trodden down by it Substitute Berlin for Jerusalem, ani! the prophet Isaiah’s remarks apply very well to the existing situation. If it is to clear up without an appal general vindication of wholesale jus- tice, the Germans ought to apply them- selves actively to particulars. If th try and hang enough known scoundrels such as France and England can fur- nish lists of, a more indiscriminate destruction may be averted. The retail method is the more exact, and, by far, more merciful. Son of the House (just released from service after a year of “reveil- le”): GREAT SCOT! SIX A, M., AND NOT A SOUL DOWN FOK BREAKFAST!