Page:The Bohemian Review, vol2, 1918.djvu/230

 leaders about the manner of uniting Slovakia with the Czech lands. This delegation consisted of Dr. Ivan Derer, Josef Hanzalik and Feodor Houdek. They reached Prague on October 31st and were received by their Czech brothers with immense enthusiasm.

The new Czechoslovak government contains among its members two Slovaks: General Štefanik, minister of war, and Dr. Vavro, ŠrobarVavro Šrobár [sic], minister of public health. Dr. Šrobar was one of the most zealous workers in Slovakia for the Czechoslovak republic and spent most of the current year in jail in the city of Czegled as a political prisoner of the Magyar government.

Just now Count Karolyi seems to be supreme in Budapest, but all those familiar wtihwith [sic] conditions in Hungary feel sure that the day of the Counts is over. The ruling oligarchy, and Count Karolyi with it, will not give up voluntarily their rule over Slovakia and with it their privileges and extensive landed estates situated in the Slovak part of Hungary. But the Magyar democracy which very soon is sure to gain control of Budapest, will not make difficulties against the liberation of Slovakia. In any case the Czechs have already sent an army across the Hungarian frontier which is occupying the Slovak part of the new Czechoslovak republic. The union of Czechs and Slovaks, which the Magyars had separated a thousand years ago, is now a reality.

I was drafted in Liberec on July 11th, 1915. On the 21st of July I presented myself at Kutná Hora for service with the 21st Regiment of Infantry. We were put at once under guard of Magyar soldiers who were to take us to training quarters in Hungary. Even before we left Bohemia we had a sample of the kind treatment of the Austrian Government for the Czech soldiers; we were not allowed to sing our Czech songs. We did not want to stand for that and insisted on singing what we pleased; then the third day when I got up in the morning I saw that we were surrounded by soldiers with arms and when I wanted to get out of the room I was stopped. I found out that the night before our boys were singing “The Sixth of July” (a song celebrating the martyrdom of John Hus). A Magyar cadet wanted to stop it, but they paid no attention to him; then a patrol came to arrest them, but the boys threw them out of the barracks. There was a long investigation and finally one sergeant was found guilty of insubordination and sentenced to death. Although his wife and three children begged for his life, it did not do any good, and when we got to Hungary a few days later, we heard an order read to us that this poor fellow was shot.

In Hungary we were to be trained for the front. I did not get much of it, for inside of a month I got a furlough to go home for the harvest. I was home fourteen days and I had to bring with me from Hungary things to eat, because at home we had nothing except a little corn flour, while in Hungary they had everything. When I got home mother cried over me, because I came inrags. My pants were all patches, the blouse was full of bloody spots, for we drew uniforms of men who were killed. The cap sat on my ears and my shoes were like a pair of sleighs—just to hitch up a horse and pull along.

My poor mother had a tough time of it. My older brother was already back from the front for the second time with a wound in the hand, now I was gone and two younger brothers were waiting for a call from our “gracious” emperor any day. Later on, in 1917, I heard that my two younger brothers who were fourteen when I saw them last were already serving in the Austrian army, and so was my father who was fifty-five years old when he was drafted. So there were seven of us in the army from one family.

My father was a great Czech patriot, and when I was going back to Hungary after my furlough he said to me as I was leaving: “Frank, you know what to do.” And I said: “Don’t worry father, in a month’s time I will be writing you from Russia.”

And it turned out to be the truth. After I got back to the regiment, I heard that my chum was attached to a marching company, just because he had been home to his mother’s funeral. I made up my mind right away to go with him instead of waiting until it was my turn to go a month later. So I left in a week. But I forgot to tell you about our oath to old Franz Joseph. They took us recruits to a large court, and there a German officer, who could talk a little Bohemian made a speech, to us. He said: “We smashed Belgium and Serbia, in two weeks we will be in Kiev.” That was at the time of the great Russian retreat from the Carpathians; and then he added that our good ally would be in Paris in a few days and in six months the war would be over. So after that beautiful speech we had to repeat the oath read to us. Well,