Page:Diary of a Prisoner in World War I by Josef Šrámek.pdf/23

 water, and now there is no meat. I am waiting for money from home, but it is in vain—the officers here steal everything.

I work every day. We get damson cheese instead of meals, and there are beatings every day. There is no prison here, and trials are wonderfully easy: "25 blows on the butt" [sic], is the usual sentence. Those who are beaten stay marked for several days.

The epidemic is peaking. Our crammed sties got terribly empty—more than half of the men moved beyond that white wall. Men who are full of life in the evening cannot get up in the morning.

A Greek countess visited us and brought us boxes of underwear, sugar, and tea. I got a shirt, 2 handkerchiefs, and some sugar. We press hay, and I drive oxen. Now and then I get a postcard from home, but the deliveries are bad.

I was commanded to work at the hospital as a nurse, but when I saw the mess there I ran away. Here in Skoplye just a handful of us prisoners were left out of 1200. Again several days with no meals, just some spoiled cheese and damson cheese for lunch.