The Doctor who stopped a battle by calling Pax.

In November 1944 the Hürtgen Forest was abandoned by mercy. Dense woods, freezing rain, shattered trees and constant artillery turned the Battle of the Bulge battlefield into one of the most brutal and senseless killing grounds of World War II, a place where “no one could move without being shot”.

Against this landscape of relentless violence, one man chose to stop the battle with ethics.

A Battle That Devoured Men. The Battle of Hürtgen Forest (September 1944 – February 1945) was the longest single battle fought by the U.S. Army in World War II and among the deadliest. Thick forest neutralised American armour and air power, while German defensive positions turned every ravine into a killing zone.

Elements of the U.S. 28th Infantry Division advanced from Vossenack toward Schmidt, using a narrow supply route known as the Kall Trail. It was here, amid the dead and dying, that Dr. Stüttgen intervened.

Who Was Dr. Günther Stüttgen? Dr. Günther Stüttgen was a German military doctor serving with the Wehrmacht’s 275th Infantry Division. As a medical officer, he was bound by both military discipline and medical ethics but obedience was absolute in Nazi Germany and fraternisation could mean execution.

What makes Stüttgen remarkable is that he chose medical ethics over combat orders.

Unlike many acts of battlefield compassion that remain anecdotal, Stüttgen’s decision is documented in American after-action reports, survivor interviews, and postwar historical studies.

The Decision to Call Pax. Confronted with the number of wounded men lying helpless in the Kall ravine, Stüttgen carried a white flag towards U.S. Medics in the American lines. According to both German and American accounts, he proposed a conditional Pax:

• A local, temporary ceasefire
• Strictly for medical evacuation
• No troop movement, no tactical advantage
• Each side would treat and evacuate its own wounded
• German forces would cease fire and guarantee safety
• U.S. forces would reciprocate

This was a human agreement forged by ‘brothers in arms’ in mud and blood.

The Ceasefire at Kall Bridge. American stretcher teams moved down into the ravine without being fired upon. German medics did the same. Wounded men were carried out alive.

Dr. Stüttgen personally ensured that German troops held their fire and respected the ceasefire. There were no tricks, no ambushes, no violations. Medical neutrality held.

The truce lasted several hours, and in some sectors parts of two days. For dozens of soldiers, it was the difference between life and death.

Many survivors later testified that they would not have survived without this window of mercy.

Moments of Humanity amid the Fog of War. Dr. Stüttgen’s actions matter because:

• They are documented acts of medical neutrality.
• They demonstrate the moral compass can survive in total war.
• They saved lives of brothers in arms on both sides.
• They remind us that the courage to call Pax can shape war.

From Battlefield to Memorial. Near Mestrenger Mühle (Mestrenger Mill), a bridge over the Kall River bears a memorial titled “A Time for Healing.” Opened on November 7, 2004, it marks the site of the unofficial truce initiated by Dr. Stüttgen.

Dr. Günther Stüttgen did not end the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. He did not change the course of the war. But for a brief moment, in a ravine where death was certain, he stopped a battle by calling Pax.

His legacy is of courage rooted in conscience, the rarest form of bravery.