Basilica in Albert, 1914
Item
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Title
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Basilica in Albert, 1914
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Description
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This is a card with an insert woven in silk and framed as a postcard. The scene is the basilica in Albert (1914) with the virgin holding the Christ child at the top of the steeple. The soldiers said that when it finally fell the war would end. Of course, taking shots at the statue was an interesting pastime for the fighting men. Other accounts said that it was purposefully pulled over so that it did not give the Germans a target with which to calibrate their big guns. Paul Fussell gives a full account of the “Golden Virgin” in The Great War and Modern Memory (131-35).
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Identifier
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greatwar_emory:b3mrf
