Page:Diary of a Prisoner in World War I by Josef Šrámek.pdf/22

 than half of the men are lying here too. Epidemic. And the town is not better off! Hospitals are overfilled, there are no doctors, and the prisoners—who have never even treated a sick person—are the nurses. They are masterful in robbing the sick!

I feel better, so I can walk again. I was commanded out to work today. I was to drag flour sacks, but I was barely able to walk. I asked for an examination. They lined us up in the yard. Dogič came around with his stick, and the examination began: "What's the matter with you?" "My head hurts." "Your cunt..." And the stick danced on his back. The rest of us did not wait, and the examination was over.

The first postcard from home. Karel wrote: "Daddy is glad that you are out of danger." If only he knew what dangers are here. Hundreds of prisoners die daily in the worst dirt. There are so many lice I cannot stand it anymore. I haven't washed my shirt for a month. In hospitals, people die helpless; here we have no doctors, no medicine, no beds, no food.

More news about peace. The shortage is getting worse. There is no bread; when there is, sometimes it is purple and sometimes it is yellow. We've had no meals for 6 days now—first there was no wood, then there was no