A Soldier and a Peasant
Houses are set on fire while soldiers plunder. A barefooted peasant doffs his hat for a soldier. The peasant is powerless, with no other choice than to bow to the soldier, as the inscription below explains. The civilian population, and certainly peasants, are the greatest victims of the war: they lose their homes, land, and cattle, and sometimes their life. This is called boerenverdriet, literally ‘peasants’ sorrow.’