This opening speech is neither an accusation nor a confession. It merely wants to be a review for a book which is about the generation destroyed in World War I. And which also speaks to us, who in one way or another reacted with works of mail art to the calling of the 5th International Mail Art Biennial, which received Remarque’s emblematic name as a reputable stamp.

If Remarque, it is the Western Front. If mail art, it is the post. If it’s the front and the post, it’s letters of soldiers, what else. From home the letters of yearning for hope and life. From the front the words of hopelessness and death. Of course only those which were deemed post-worthy by the military censorship. So if we want to write about the reality, we have to outsmart these censors with their big pencils. We can do this here and now by borrowing words for our ad hoc military postcards from an authentic source. And for this, there is no better than Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front.

The book contains around 48 thousand words in Marcell Benedek’s classic Hungarian translation. It would be best to recite all of them, but it would probably take too long. Therefore we have to choose from them, narrow down the number of words. At least for a fraction of a second take every word into our hands and like an anti-censor, highlight the ones that are very important with a light green marker.

Obviously, a selection like this can only be partial, arbitrary and more or less random. The expressions taken out from the sentences therefore cannot convey the message of the book entirely, but this is not the goal now either. But they are authentic, exact and uncensored. Like a free verse cycle dating back hundreds of years, or the readout of the day’s routine orders...

[First card from the military camp: words for military personnel] non-com comrades group leader dragoon colonel group headquarters superior front soldier front officers general gunner court-martial lieutenant aircraftman hero medical inspector corporal soldier crew infantryman sergeant major lance-corporal leadership braided rookie corporal company company commander general telegrapher officers orderly surgeon artilleryman artillery recruit sapper vice sergeant red cross personnel ranker

[Second card from the military camp: words for everyday objects]

steel helmet cannon barrels mine mortar underpants shovel boots razor shoes dixie belt wire barbed wire wire cutter uniform Order of Merit gun gas mask grenade machine gun bullet sandbag identification shirt coat footcloth ID card hand grenade overcoat flask flame thrower letter weight ammunition military uniform munitions pants belt suspenders dismissal letter side arm pipe glass gun gun powder missiles airplane bombs revolver explosive mines explosive rounds cap cheval de frise shrapnel regulation spraying bullets bayonet tanks binoculars truck waxing brush luminous chute illuminating shell flag jacket bag torch pay book

[Third card from the military camp: words for drilling and armistice]

boot waxing baracks recruited clicking heels punishment drills corps inhuman nonsensical tired armistice banks pit front theatre warfare power right-about turn lie injustice verdict patrol duty report calibre curses play cards barrack barrack grounds marching songs military latrine latrine talk ammunition depot swabbing marching march coloumn roll call guards watch tower order swarmline swarmline drills recruit depo fortification work fly batallion fall in platoon salute company drill service solidarity camp squat cleaning public latrines stand-to

[Fourth card from the military camp: words of military supply]

barley squash table bean coffee chew pot flour cigarettes cup can of pig roast tobacco rations provisions storehouse provender supply food dinner pail appetite doughnut pot tab devour delicious mulligan battery peel welt meat lunch meat tidbit drinks canteen rutabaga stew kettle bread breadcrust bread leftovers sausage army-bread cognac potato potato fritters soup can of liverwurst pork margarine canned beef meat cooked greedily brandy smell of roast portion rum cheese frying pan roast saveloy cook lardy sausage cigar plate nutritious tea stove dinner steak water red cabbage lard

[Fifth card from the military camp: words of hopeful yearning]

wish to sleep dreaming innocence comrade friend bravery honest peace safety pardon wheat field cherry tree branch chocolate healthy personality empathy forgetting live will to live dozing off memory remind cover light bath home homebound going home return home violin sound truth prayer god leave pillow garden pub book goose leg recover sanctuary reading post unharmed beer pitcher free freedom go on holiday nice in love survive yearning music piano

[Sixth card from the military camp: words describing the inarticulate charge]

rumbling of cannons cannon fire shot from a cannon stationary warfare front line inch by inch thundering enemy counterattack advancing push forward uninterceptably blows up front saw bayonets gas attack machine gun fire grenade shrapnel grenade fire we won incendiary ammunition army order fight battleground front line throwing of hand grenades air pressure shot trench to charge to attack parapet offensive running fire gunpowder smoke fusillade air battle charge volley attack direct hit bombing site fire cloud of shots fired firing line raining down barrage

[Seventh card from the military camp: the words of close combat forever burnt into the minds]

gun down our trenches stab through shoot through impacts stabbed into we will perish shoot in fall hits in pieces stabbing anger completely alone they fall to death shot will be buried wave of people tumbled fear shouting blew up torn up armed slash up impaled frontline trenches smoke gas deadly we fall back growl shout outbreak close combat shot down shoot to death tear down stab to death loaded we flee stab towards thrust at roar punch shot to pieces torn to pieces shrapnel fighting with bayonets we can attack knife stab reloading ended till the end command we retreat

[Eighth card from the military camp: words of the wounded and the infirmary]

blanket brains shots to the jaw amputated nurse patient bandage develop a fever to go crazy stabs faeces intestinal wounds ribs shot to the bone bone shrapnel exhausted blackened dizziness pain headshots blistering cries out in pain bloat front fever sick from gas pus shots to the spine plaster cast cramped up healing shots to the stomach dying people mortuary shot to the stomach diarrhoea stretcher thermometer growls dead bodies shell-shock flu injection cries of pain torment skull casket casket cover infirmary wards bandage room lint leg stump fever shot down gore to fall sick go crazy shave frozen drown die wounded naked prosthetic limbs shots to the neck crippled groans operation doctor curl up wound injury injured dressing stretcher-bearer medical station medic sergeant suffering mangled burial cemetery tetanus injection louse delousing typhus pneumonia shot to the lungs shout bunks blood sweat dysentery haemorrhage our losses inconsolable

[Ninth card from the military camp: the incomprehensible words of war]

unpredictable insane horror unimaginable disfigured unbearable we obeyed frenzied incomprehensible kills we kill murderer war death mortal fear doomed dead horrifying ruthless unnameable went crazy destruction they would kill us kill I killed terrifying unburied mass grave smell of blood puddles of blood was were you were I was we were

[Tenth card from the military camp: the fading words of home]

dusk angels mother our forefathers portrait woman silence me womenfolk wife man my son youth childhood spouses violin girl courting jam letter envelope mum to kiss we become free bride woman nurse home people at home to love our parents dance dancer world plop

These 555 words on ten imaginary cards can be found – directly or indirectly, as antecedents, consequences or parts of memories, direct messages or we are able to find them between the lines and pictures, told or untold – in the cards that participants of the biannual posted themselves from the fortifications of the artistic high ground they defend. Whether these messages arrive to their destinations depends on us as well. It depends on whether we have energy left to read. Let us take advantage of the fact that there are no bullets whizzing near our heads, and after curling up in a safe spot, let us take out the crumpled envelope from the pocket of our uniforms and try to imagine what it was like a hundred years ago to only hope: we can go home soon.

(Speech given at the opening of 5th International Spanish Flu Mail Art Biennial in the Herman Ottó Múzeum−Miskolci Galéria on 27th February 2014)