Memoirs of the World War I 1914 - 1918 by Josef Sramek from Usti nad Labem

Memories of
World War I
l9l4 - l9l8
by Josef Sramek from
Usti nad Labem (CZ)

In the Austrian army (1914)		In Italian captivity(1916)		Original text in Czech		facsimile of original diary
In Serbian captivity (1915)		In French captivity		Original text in Czech		facsimile of original diary

Notes:

Josef Sramek

born on October 26.1892
died on February 3.1984

At the age of 22 he was drafted to fight in the first World War

at an age when most of us indulge in entertainment and possibly in deepest understanding of history and society
at an age when a brief peaceful military service is considered a harm
at an age when any reduction of undeserved life style is considered injustice

Soon after he experienced hunger, cold, death...

people who upon encounter with death turned into animals. Some of them into predators, some into cattle to be slaughtered
situation when sheer chance made the decision between life and death
illness which meant death in absence of any help
escape to captivity as the sole rational solution discrediting all the ideology one had believed
hundreds of days when the probability of his living to see anything better was near zero

During his worst times he kept writing his diary. Miraculously he had saved the diary even when the prisoners in quarantine were stripped naked and left with nothing but their memories. Thanks to this we can take part in his experience today.

We also have our problems - not necessarily small ones. This diary however can help us realize that situations may exist which are much worse than ours. It may even teach us to take joy in what we have.

As a prisoner of war he went through Serbia, Albania, Italy and France to return home as member of the "French Legions" after the war.

He married Ludmila Anna Novakova.
They had 2 children:
Josef Sramek and Jarmila Svobodova who both live in Prague, CZ.

This website is maintained by his grandson.

Both are shown on this photograph taken in 1962.

Webmaster's note:
The following text contains parts which can be understood as dishonoring of a race or a nation or a religion. It is my duty to note that these statements retained in order to preserve the historical authenticity of the text
- do not express the opinion of any living person
- do not pertain to any living person or group
- do not pertain to contemporary events

(C) Copyright Josef Sramek and heirs.
This work is currently published on the Internet only.
A publisher is sought for existing translations to English, German and the original Czech versions.

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