The men are relieved of front-line duty and have a momentary pause from the fighting. Himmelstoss, whom the men all hate, has changed his ways somewhat after having experienced the horrors of the front. Paul then recalls a memory of seeing movie posters romanticizing war. When the men pull apart the posters so that only the beautiful woman remains, they speak hypothetically about what they could do to impress her. All of their talk is unrealistic, but they indulge themselves, nonetheless. The memory proceeds to a description of a chance meeting with French girls. Paul experiences a tender affection for one of the girls which brings out in him what might be called melancholy.

Paul is given a leave of absence of 17 days, and upon his return, he will fall in with a different company and that will require training. Even though Paul will be away from the front for 6 full weeks, he begins to worry about what will happen while he is gone, and he is gloomy rather than happy about being away from his company at the front. Upon returning to his home village, Paul notices that things there seem to be the way they have always been.