Book Description

"As usual, the medic, Wiatr, hid himself, the doctor had a panic attack and I decided do go by myself to the next trench in spite of the hellish artillery and canon fire. In the trench was Corporal Gorgel, who helped the officer. The scene on the front line was terrible. Blood, pieces of flesh, heads, arms, legs and intestines all around -an awful sight." Almost 100 years have passed since the end of World War I, also known as "the Great War". At the time, it was the largest war to date. Over 16.5 million people were killed in the war; more than 6 million among them were civilians. During the Great War, a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army fought at the frontline trenches and wrote daily in his diary, documenting his experiences there. This man, Teofil Reiss, was an Austro-Hungarian patriot, a professional soldier, a charming ladies' man, and a proud Jew. His practical perspective, trustworthy innocence and open heartedness, merge the details of this diary into a fascinating human document - a rare testimony of a frontline soldier and a picture of an honest man in a senseless war (though, not senseless to him).Almost 100 years after the war, his grandson Tuvia (who was named after him) made the decision to translate and publish his handwritten German diary, adding photos and letters, as well as an epilogue that tells the remarkable story of Teofil Reiss's life during the Nazis' rise to power, and until his death in 1942.