Edith von Krell, 1917

As the war went on, [the government] ordered two large munitions factories to be built right next to our town too. But very soon there was a shortage of male workers there. And so at the end of April 1917, all the town's women and girls were asked to come and work in these factories. ...When we heard that no one from the educated classes had yet volunteered,  and that hundreds of workers were urgently required, our decision was made. Together with two friends, my sister and I volunteered for duty immediately. 

We began with an eight-hour shift from 3 in the afternoon to until 11 in the evening. ... Initially we were all put in the sewing room where day after day we had to sew thousands of little bags which were then filled with barrel powder for the cartridges in another department. ...

We sewed without interruption a short coffee break and a half-hour supper break. . . . Our backs often hurt from this unaccustomed sitting. Our heads often ached terribly in the bad air, which you could almost have cut with a knife. ... After a few weeks, at our own request, we were moved on to the "heavy work," where we had to put the howitzer shells together with the cases containing the powder and equip them with fuses. . 

We were not allowed to air the rooms, even during our meal breaks. Doors and windows had to be kept shut because of the danger of explosions. But we prided ourselves on never slacking, on always keeping up with the professional workers. ...

Even today we still like to think back to the time when we were able to serve the Fatherland, working with our hands at one with the people.