Grosz Fit for Active Service

Fit for Active Service is a drawing by the 20th century German artist George Grosz. It was created between the years 1916 and 1917. It is considered a seminal part of the post-World War I movement. It depicts a dead skeleton being judged as physically fit for conscription. All of the German doctors around him have looks of indifference or smiles on their faces. There are also smokestacks in the background windows. This is symbolic of the social disillusion of rapid industrialization and urbanization.

Grosz himself initially avoided conscription, but was deemed fit in 1917. He was discharged after attempting suicide.

Grosz on his war experience:

Of course, there was a kind of mass enthusiasm at the start. But this intoxication soon evaporated, leaving a huge vacuum... And then after a few years when everything bogged down, when we were defeated, when everything went to pieces, all that remained at least for me and most of my friends, were disgust and horror.