My Diary in Serbia: April 1, 1915-Nov. 1, 1915Stanley, Monica M.
History
My Diary in Serbia: April 1, 1915-Nov. 1, 1915
Stanley, Monica M.
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
Two of the sisters arrived last night from the dispensary. They have
had several cases of small-pox; out of six cases in the village, two
died. The peasants are the most funny people. Three days before the
death of one of the smallpox patients everything was got ready for the
burial. The coffin was made by friends on the premises. The girl was
told, when our nurse went to feed her, not to take any more food.
Before the girl was actually dead she was put in her very best clothes
to be buried in; she was also laid out before the breath was out of
her body. The coffin was left open until just before putting into the
grave. There were no priests in the village, and the girl was buried
by her friends.
Sunday, _September 19, 1915._
We had service at 5.30 a.m. The priests in Serbia are not allowed to
go into the church until they are married. In war time no priests are
allowed to marry, so they are not able to go into the church. The
priest at Natalintse went to have dinner at our dispensary. He took
with him all the things that he thought they would not have, cheese
and wine. They were having goose for dinner. He took this course, and
then he kept stretching across the table, took a fork without asking,
and kept helping himself; he had five helpings of goose. Pudding he
refused, but our interpreter was sitting next to him, so he took a
fork and took a taste of his pudding without asking. Five little boys
keep the church in order and they ring the bell. The priests and
people think nothing of spitting on the floor of the church. I thought
this habit was bad enough in the streets in England, but I find that
it is worse abroad. This morning a Red Cross ambulance corps, pulled
by bullock-wagons, passed this camp; they were the first to go to
Malanovatz to join the first field ambulance, the Bevis unit. This
afternoon I went up to see another Serbian camp, and took photographs.
Monday, _September 20, 1915._
We are having lovely weather, but the nights are terribly cold, and
there is a thick frost in the morning. The days are very hot. It seems
that when the Austrians last year got into Belgrade they were there
for thirteen days. When the Serbs drove them out, they found a
freshly-made cemetery full of wooden crosses. The Serbs thought that
it was strange within such a short time, and the graves were a curious
shape. The Serbs turned up the soil and found about 80,000 pieces of
ammunition.
Tuesday, _September 21, 1915._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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