Summary

Jozef and other prisoners walk to Italy, passing thousands of dead along the way, sustaining abuse from the Italians as they go. Jozef notes that he'd never felt the Italians were his enemy until then. Jozef was shot in the final battle before he was captured, and his arm is in bad shape. When they reach the prison in Italy they are separated by nationality—Jozef is placed with the Czechs and Slovaks although he speaks German to them. They are visited by a Czech-Slovak legion, a new army being formed out of the Austrian-Hungarian army, which is all but defunct. They offer to take them from prison, feed them and clothe them well, if they fight again. Jozef refuses, his background mottled enough to not feel the pull of patriotism.

The next day, he is barely able to move and is...