Death on the Kemmelberg
Adolf Sempf (born 23 March 1896, died 2 July 1949) experienced the battle of the Kemmelberg as a German soldier. In 1920 he wrote a gripping book about it, "DER TOD AM KEMMEL". Marieke Demeester translated this book into Dutch: "DE DOOD OP DE KEMMELBERG". The original book was still printed in Gothic type. Jan Hardeman reset it in modern type. He also took care of the layout of the book: bilingual, German on the left and Dutch on the right, with the paragraphs level with each other, so that the reader can always follow the Dutch translation alongside the German. Gerd Schützbach and Martine Pottier provided the French translation: "LA MORT AU MONT-KEMMEL". The book therefore also exists in a bilingual German–French edition.
The Dutch Press Museum (Nederlands Persmuseum) in Amsterdam supplied two drawings by Albert Hahn (born Groningen 17 March 1877, died Amsterdam 3 August 1918), an artist of driving conviction: "The Sower" (6 April 1918) and "Ecce Homo" (13 April 1918).
"Mors certa" - darum das Amen deiner armen Seele, Kamerad!
Nachdenklich brach meine Hand eine sprühendrote Geranienblüte und legte sie auf die abgegriffenen Tasten des Spinetts...
Dann habe ich Töne weinen hören.
In English (translated from the Dutch):
"Mors certa" – and so this "Amen" for your poor soul, comrade!
Lost in thought, my hand plucked a bright red geranium flower and laid it on the worn keys of the spinet…
And I heard sounds weeping.
The bilingual book (German–Dutch) "Der Tod am Kemmel – De Dood op de Kemmelberg" and the German–French edition "Der Tod am Kemmel – La Mort au Mont-Kemmel" can be ordered from Malegijs vzw. Send an e-mail with your name and postal address to malegijsboeken@gmail.com.