True realistic pictures of the horrors of war can do more for the prevention of another conflict than a thousand peace organizations. Otto Dix had this in mind when he produced his "Der Krieg" or War Etchings, now on view in the Germanic Museum until February 4.

These etchings are as accurate a representation of the ghastly havoc of war as one could wish to see, for they are almost photographic in their realism and have a brutal treatment which spares nothing, no matter how grim or repulsive. His "Wounded Man in Retreat" shows the head of a soldier, a great wound in his forehead from which the blood drips about his eyes, with an intensity of fright and pain in his expression which could not well be duplicated. The bulging, staring eyes, the dirty, straggly beard and disheveled hair, the open, gaping mouth, all give force and a distressing realism to the picture.

"Dance of Death"

Dix's use of grey white against black backgrounds often gives a frightening effect to his portrayals. This is especially true in "The Dance of Death," a sketch which shows men in grotesque poses caught by wire entanglements. Here this use of white brings out the details of bleached skulls and bones with all the contortions of agony.

Not only is the dreadful destruction of men depicted, but also that of land. "The Deserted Post" and "The Ruins of Langemark" portray with great care the ruined shells of buildings, the bomb-pitted fields and shattered trees, and the general desolation of the countryside.

In one picture Dix put a touch of humor. Five men stand with an amazing indifference and nonchalance before a savage looking officer who has evidently done his best to call them to attention. They are of all sizes and shapes, and their ragged uniforms either hang off them limply or are far too small. But even this humor has a grim side, for the faces of the soldiers plainly show evidence of their privations and sufferings.

That all the etchings have such force and realism may be attributed to the fact that Otto Dix actually saw such scenes while serving as a German soldier in the World War and that he had the courage to reproduce exactly everything stored in his memory when he started work on them in 1932.