Thoughts on war: German soldier Joachim Dahms on World War II and his desire for peace (Published on 10/11/2025)
In 2014, Joachim Dahms, born 02/01/1923, in Berlin, who served as a German soldier in Normandy in the summer of 1944 against the Allied invasion forces, published his war memoirs in the book “Du oder ich – Der etwas andere Erlebnis- und Schicksalsbericht eines deutschen Fallschirmjägers während der alliierten Invasion 1944 in der Normandie” [“You or Me – The Somewhat Different Experience and Fate Report of a German Paratrooper during the Allied Invasion of Normandy in 1944”]. In it, he describes in often unsparing terms the fighting and mutual killing that took place there, but also individual human encounters with the enemy.
Equally readable and topical are his remarks at the end of his book on the question “What is war?” and his wish that what happened should serve as a deterrent for the future and prevent new wars.
He writes (source: Dahms, Du oder ich – Der etwas andere Erlebnis- und Schicksalsbericht eines deutschen Fallschirmjägers während der alliierten Invasion 1944 in der Normandie (2014), p. 376 f. [translation from German language]):
“When children ask one day, »What is war?«, there can only be one answer: War is the most abominable idea ever conceived by the human mind – war is where people slaughter each other, en masse or individually, in a fight for survival without pity or mercy. They do not know each other and they do not hate each other. They do not know who the other person is whose life they are now taking. War takes place where its initiators are nowhere to be found, where grenades rule over life and death, steel monsters that destroy everything in their path; they destroy people, houses, trees, the fresh green of blossoming nature, hopes and cultures, leaving deep craters in Mother Earth. Grenades are the enemy of all life!
When I drive through beautiful Normandy today as a visitor on vacation during the summer, I am filled with humility at the self-healing powers of this strong nature. I linger as long as I like before the achievements of the people in this country and the creative power of a world that is constantly renewing itself, and I let no one disturb my contemplation.
But perhaps one thing can be gleaned from my account of my experiences: looking back on what has been, we should appreciate what has become all the more, because it cannot be taken for granted. If I have also succeeded in deterring people from war and violence, then I know that I have not lived in vain, and that is a wonderful feeling. Being able to live in peace and friendship with other peoples, and in such a beautiful country as Germany at that – that was not always the case, and we should be grateful for it.”
(Head picture: German military cemetery Vossenack, June 2021)
If you wish to support my work, you can do so here. Many thanks!