Page:Diary of a Prisoner in World War I by Josef Šrámek.pdf/74

 We have noticed one interesting thing—there are really many who have ranks. People who were privates in Serbia are corporals and sergeants today, and former corporals are feldwebels now. We call them "Albanian ranks."

We can recognize sergeants—they have June ribbons on their caps, but you can also tell them by their large bellies. They get extra mangiare  and 20 cts. daily. Those who can speak a bit of Italian have golden times here.

In our Sinai there is one Serb narednik  who beat several prisoners to death on the way through Albania. He never gets out of the tent, or else he'd get beaten.

They vaccinate us against cholera now that four quarters of us are behind the cemetery wall. It is getting hotter during the day.

The Italians keep on building one house after another. We carry bricks, stones, and planks. Some get mail from home, mostly those who are Jewish. We had a visit today: three pretty ladies. All the camp was upside down—it has been almost 5 months since we saw a woman (except for hooded Turkish women and ugly Albanians).