English Translation

106 We actually felt tremendously comfortable, at least we boys, who had left no worries and responsibilities for others at home. The battalion squad was in a small town, about an hour away, and we were quite undisturbed. The people in the city wore red fez, which white in our villages; they were mortal enemies and only our presence prevented the usual feuds and fiddles. It was said that our stay here will also take a few weeks honull and we just wanted to go to set up completely domestically: a kitchen and sugar bakery should be put into operation. In the middle of the exciting preparations, the order burst that the holidays were granted and the candidates should report to the battalion command the next morning ready for travel. The first in the short list who the sharp corporal. The holidays looked like a call from a distant, almost forgotten world. The called ones ran around with red heads and the little ringel, who was also there, suddenly ran with impatience a few tears into the grey beard stubble. His boy was already a soldier and maybe he could still see him before he also went into the field. Until then he had talked about how about a self-evident necessity, and now everything went too slowly to him and was afraid he could come too late; even the blond Nitsch very angry at him. Those who stayed behind stood still: so there was something else besides service and war. They began to count together in the field service months and to calculate the possibility of when they would get there themselves. Letters were written, which were to be taken away by the holidaymakers, orders were given, greetings were ordered and souvenirs were sought out. The jokes that were made in the process fell out of it and were forced out.