In the summer of 1912, the Hamburg reform educator and pacifist Wilhelm Lamszus published his novel "The Human Slaughterhouse," which offers a realistic and compelling glimpse into the industrialized future of warfare. He vividly illustrates the massive killing machinery of World War I with its enormous destructive capacities and depicts trench warfare with its rigid front lines and minefields. The book, opposed by nationalists and militarists, caused a scandal. Lamszus faced persecution for tearing the mask off the war god worshipped by many and exposing him as a murderer of humanity. The sequel, already ready for print in 1914, was published in 1919 under the title "The Asylum," with a foreword by Carl von Ossietzky. Since then, Lamszus' visions of war have reached over eighty editions worldwide. Captivatingly written.