Diary of Progonstvo Hrvata, 1917

150 Exercise book
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Detention of the Croats in 1917 in Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
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Newspaper Jadran (The Adriatic) from California, US Page 18
Newspaper Nova Dalmacija (The New Dalmatia) in California 20
A pleasant celebration of the Orthodox Christmas 22
Donation from abroad
The Society from Boulder frees its members 24
Oh Croats, you are still alive 25
Rottnest 23/11/1915. 26
The Russian standard bearer arrives in Liverpool 28
The hatred among the Croatian nationals 30
The hatred among Croats intensifies 36
Five people expelled from the fence 27/3/1917 37
46 people expelled on 1/4 38 and 39
People leaving the fence of their own accord 3/4 41
Refused to go to assembly on 1/4, sentenced to prison, imprisoned on 17/4 43
Notice on billboard with a list of 9 names to ban from the fence on 1/5 44
About Josip Rendulić 46
Notice that those who submitted applications should leave the fence on 3/4 or else they will leave with a broken back 42
Singing society 55
Notice of unexpected trouble on 30/5 56
An interesting story, S. and M. 70
New expulsions on 12/7 74
I, the writer, told that I am worse than those banished on 23/7 75
Investigation begins 77
Downright funny page 78
They write 'Austrian' on the hat of a Croat from Dalmatia 79
Notice to young Croats on the billboard for the first time since banished 80
Tolj from Vrgorac receives his punishment 81
Beaten but not allowed to cry 84
The concert of the Austrian Society on 16/11 1917
The social office of the Austrian Slavs
I decide to start the English school 85
Dalmatian writing
The English Commission reviews the condition of the detainees on 21/10 1917
Voluntary detainees 86
The knowledge of uneducated people 87
Detainees and bathing 88
Croats from Dalmatia conspire against each other in detention 89
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How far can the wickedness of the people go
Dear readers, in these hard times of war, it occurred to me to describe the life abroad of our Croatian and Dalmatian people, without touching any other nationality. First of all, I have to describe my own wickedness and depravity, and then I will move forward. I am a Croat from Gorski Kotar. My father was a poor man, just like the majority of poor people in our Kotar today. He was illiterate, because there was no school, he worked as a farmer, he was a healthy man, he always worked for other people and tried to earn enough to feed me and my stepmother. I don't remember my mother, since she died while I was little. When I was seven years old, I had to go to our primary school, because the government gave a strict order that children had to go to school. I can say now that this strict order by the government was very useful for peasants. I studied quite a lot at school. In our books, we had poems, just like there are today. Even now in my old age I remember how our teacher used to sing in front of us boys, God save the Emperor and our Homeland. I can say with certainty that, as a schoolboy, I knew about our King and the House of Habsburg in Vienna (there is a lot of confusion about this here in detention, as you will see here first-hand). Then I finished school, I was twelve years old. My poor father waited for this eagerly, so he could take me along to work with him. The first time he took me to Srijem in winter to log the forest for the priests. Weak as I was, I had to log day and night in snow, and this lasted until spring, when we started walking home across Slavonija, looking for work on the way.
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So it was my lot to walk from Srijem all the way home. And what did we get for that, nothing at all, we just sent some money home to feed my stepmother. From home, we immediately went to the forest to do logging in our Kotar, where mountains are high, and where they burn coal. In winter we went everywhere around Austria, until I was 20 years of age. My father was happy, he always had money, but poor me, I was weak and started suffering badly, my heart was healthy but my life was hard, I always went working with my father, I didn't know anything about money, on very rare occasions he would throw a crown to me. I was happy all the same, and listen to my father. Around that time, my stepmother dies, she had no children of her own, so father and me continued to live in our house with no female around. We had a small house and some land. But then it was my turn to get enlisted, but they did not take me because my life was so poor. That made me sad, because in those times everybody in our area was happy to become a soldier, and he was loved by the girls. But it is no longer like that. So my father and I lived without a female in the house. I told my father to allow me to marry, but he responded, there is time for that, and I was happy to obey. When autumn came, several of my villagers were preparing to look for work in Serbia. I went with them, we travelled by train to Belgrade, and then to Ćuprija, where they were building the railway track to the village of Senj, and then to Manastir near the tower of Miloš Obilić, between two high mountains, Klisura and Kačanik, and then forward to the coal mine. One shaft is always burning there. We worked there for several months, and my father came to me, and I gave him everything I earned. So we worked there for a while, and then we went through Serbia to Lapovo, and stopped at an inn for one day and one night. We did not like the people there. The innkeeper did not allow us to walk
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far away from home in the evening at sunset, he did not allow us to get out. So we boarded the train to Belgrade. Looking for work, we stopped in Valpovo, Slavonia. We worked there until spring, and then we left for home. My father had eveything we earned, but our house is still without a female there. Next to our house there was an inn, so my father was always there. He buys some food, so I cook and eat, but my father does not care much about my cooking. But I wanted to ask my father whether he would allow me to marry. When my father understood what I was talking about, he responded, you still have time. So there is nothing for me to think about, a father is a father, for him it is good to have money, and he can throw a crown to me when it pleases him. I don't even have a proper suit like other young men. My father keeps me just like a Gypsy keeps his bear. I soon heard that my father wanted to marry, he already asked a widow to marry him. What can I do, I have to ask him about his marriage, but my father got very angry when I asked me, he could have killed me had I not run away. What can I start now, there is no food left in the house. My father eats in inns. Luckily, a neighbour came to help me, she was a good woman and saw what was happening with me. She offered to pay for my travel costs. I had to leave, and my idea was to go to Oršava [Romania], because I heard that there were some of my villagers there. I paid 8 crowns to Oršava, the job was on the Serbian side in Greben, so I was working there throughout summer. My father heard about me, so he came to me, he did not get married, he started working but he does not like the job. He worked for a month and didn't want to continue any further, so he left and went to the forest. He called me to go with him. But this time I did not want to leave, and I did not give him money either. Soon afterwards, he wrote to me from Pančevo to join him there, and I made the mistake and went there. I found him there and found him in the forest, he looked sick from logging day and night. So when I saw him like that I threw to him all the money I had, and as soon as he got the money he immediately looked better. We were working there for a while,
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Then we moved to Topolovac near Temešvar, and then after a while we moved to Deta, Banat [today Romania], and my father had the idea to go home, he took all the money we earned. I stayed there working for a while, and then I left again for Greben, where I worked before. I worked there for a while, then I went home, because for a third time it was my turn to get conscripted. I came home, I gave my father some of the money I had, but I did not get conscripted. I asked my father again to allow me to marry. He dissuaded me like he did before. We started to repair the house, there was plenty of work there for me, washing and cooking and everything else, there is no woman in the house, it is all up to me. When autumn came, I went to work in Oršava, I paid 8 crowns for the train. Then I went from Oršava across the Danube to Sip on the Serbian side. There was a job there for three years, so my father joined me, and we worked throughout winter until spring, earning a nice sum. My father then left for home, he took all our earnings with him, and I stayed there working for a couple of months. I received news from home that my father got married. This saddened me, that I was so good to my father, yet he did not allow me to marry, and he himself got married the third time. What should I do, I was thinking, but there was no use, I just went on working, no longer caring about my father. When I earned some money, I got into the habit of playing cards with other men from the barrack. But with my luck, I was always losing. It occurred to me that it was better for me to forget about games and inns, so I did. I worked for several months, I saved 200 crowns, but in autumn my father came from home again. I no longer want to give him money. My father started working for a month, then he left that job and went somewhere in the forest, he invited me to come with him, or to give him money. I answered, good luck, father, I will join you soon, That is how I said goodbye to my father. Several days later, some of my friends were leaving for Istanbul and I went with them. In Kladovo (Serbia) we boarded a ship to the Black Sea in Romania, then from there by train to Kostanca, Romania. From Kostanca,
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we boarded a ship to Istanbul. From Istanbul, by ship to Albania to Porto Lago. Our Austrian Consul lived there, so we reported to him and left on foot through the mountains to the village of Karas. The first day we overnighted there, and the second day we reached the place called Anikoj. Our luggage was carried by camels. They were building the railway tracks there, but when we had a look we did not like the job. So we went separate ways there, some of us left fo Salonica in Bulgaria, and two of my comrades and I returned to Porto Lago. We asked the Consul when we could board a steamship for Istanbul, he answered today or tomorrow, but this is the last time this winter. That was before Christmas, we paid only half of the full ticket. The steamship arrived and was returning to Istanbul. When we arrived in Istanbul, it was winter time, no jobs, where should we go, we spent our money, we still had a little bit, the best would be to return to Serbia, but we had no money to pay for the steamship. We went to see our Consul, he gave us travel tickets, we paid only one quarter. So we left by steamship to Konstanca in Romania, from Konstanca by train to the Black Sea, from there by ship on the Danube to Oršava. There, we crossed the Danube to Sip where we were before. So I wandered around everywhere, monhs and years passed without me saving anything, I got into the habit of playing cards and drinking. When I turned 27, I became bored with that, and it came to my mind to go home to see how my father is coping now that he is married. I had very little money. I came home and saw poverty as before, and I no longer even thought about marriage. After a short time at home, I returned to Oršava. There were no jobs there then, so I returned to Hermeštat [Romania], where they were building the railway track to the border of Romania. I worked there all winter, and in spring I left for Kralovan in Czech, where they hadn't started working on the track, from there I went to Bukovina close to the Russian border, they were building the tracks, I spent some time there, then I started travelling on foot with a comrade of mine to Cernovitca and then to Stanislav, then
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through the mountains to Kerešmeza and forward to Siget Marmaruš, then to Satmar, then to Noćkarol. There I took a train to Oršava, I had 8 crowns that I could not touch, I was keeping them for a great need like the one here in Noćkarol. While travelling on the train, the trouble came that I wasn't even expecting, my ticket was only to Temišvar, so I could not travel forward. I had no choice but to walk as usual, 4 days to Oršava, begging for bread. I started working there for a while, then winter came, I found a comrade and we went to a forest to cut wood near Karašebeš. In spring I left for Kralovan in Czech, I worked there for a while, it was badly paid and I could not save anything. My bad luck was that several men gathered to go to Vienna, so I decided to go with them. We paid for the train to Vienna, I had some coins left over. We arrived there, there is work, they were building canal in the middle of the city. Some of my comrades went straight to Germany, only two of us remained working on the 13th ring (kotar) with some Italians. I worked for a day, then the Italians sent me away, they no longer wanted me working there. I arranged for accommodation in a house for 4 crowns per week. I slept on the fifth floor. I overnighted there two nights, and the second night early in the morning I got up and get dressed in more clothes, I have no one to say goodbye to, because if the landlord hears me I will have to pay 4 crowns, and all I had was 10 pennies and some clothes of scarce value. I bought some bread for the entire amount of money I had and started walking through the city. I reached the end of the city by midday. I was hungry, so I went to houses to ask for bread. In the evening, I find a house next to the Danube, where they are crossing the Danube. I told the man about the condition I was in. He was a good man, so he took me across. There is a lot of work there but the wages are low. I stayed overnight and slowly continued travelling in the morning. At some time in the afternoon, I arrived in the town of Prežburg (Požun). There, I saw a policeman and went to him, he asked,

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What do you want. I asked him to take me to the city chief. He was immediately happy to do it and took me to him. The chief asked me what I wanted. I answered, I would like him to send me to Croatia. He said, I can't do that until Saturday, and the day then was Monday. He put me in a prison cell, I found fifteen people already there, we got food once a day, but it was not bad and there was enough. On Saturday I boarded a train and a policeman was going with me to Pešta. I stopped there, and two hours later they sent me over to Budim to the city Chief. There I found eight comrades from Lika, they were travelling the same way as I did. They put us on a train to Zakan, and one policeman was accompanying us. There we reached the Chief at night, who put us on a train in the morning and send one man with us all the way to Koprivnica in Croatia. We arrived there around noon, they allowed us to look for work if we wanted to.
The people from Lika went to one side [site?] which they knew from before. I didn't want to go home, so I went through Croatia toward Osijek, and then to Sriem to Petrovaradin. There I crossed the Danube to Novi Sad, barefoot and with shoes across Banat to Temešvar. I didn't even count the days I wasted, always with no money, going to houses when I got hungry. From Temešvar I went straight to Oršava, it was an entirely good trip, the Danube fell low. I got a job there for one crown per meter. I worked fo five weeks, and the Danube rose so it was no longer possible to work. In those five weeks I was left with 260 crowns. That was in Sip on the Serbian side. Where should we go now, we have to cross to Oršava. I went with a group of men to an inn, but I soon left them. I knew another inn where they were playing cards. When I arrived, the gang is always ready to play cards. We started playing, but I soon lost 190 crowns, I could not lose more, so I had to leave. Winter was coming soon, no work, we had to leave. We crossed to Oršava and from there to Pešta, from there we dispersed to different places. I returned to Oršava with a comrade. We remained there a couple of days, then we again went to Pešta, then to Sriem near

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Karlovci close to the Danube. I was digging stone that is used for Banat. I started working for 2 crowns a day, I had to because I didn't have a sou left. My comrade did not want to work there, so he went on. I worked there several days, I earned 10 crowns and immediately went to play cards, and lost everything I had. Then I calmed down, penniless again but luckily, several of my companions were planning to go to Brzava (Simbirg) and I decided to go with them. They bought a ticket for me, too. We came there to dig stone for the lime pit. We worked for three months, whatever money we had we spent on alcohol and cards as soon as we received our pay. The job finished, so we dispersed to different places. With a comrade, I was planning to go to Romania. We both had 6 crowns, we started travelling a little bit by train but mostly on foot, towards Hermestat, then the village of Bojica, then to Lazaret on the border between us and Romania. On the other side of the border, they were building the railway track through Romania. But it wasn't easy to cross the border. In the Lazaret inn, there were 150 Italians who sent their travel documents to Pešta for the Romanian consul to sign, because otherwise they were not allowed into Romania. But we did not feel like signing. Six of us gathered, who wanted to cross into Romania. We agreed to go over the mountains, so we did. We climbed the mountains one whole day, and in the evening we descended to some barracks. There we found some people we knew. The whole day we were climbing the mountains, we would have crossed the same distance in five minutes if only we had been allowed to go the right way. The following day my comrade and I went on, we found a building job, but to start the job we needed to pay tax, because that is the custom in Romania. Anyone coming from a foreign country has to pay. We lived in a barrack with some Montenegrins and our Tyroleans, there were thirty of us. We were eating in the canteen, everyone buying for themselves. Our boss we were working for was Italian. He allowed to have one of us cooking for the rest, and that became my job. We received our pay every two months. When I finished cooking for two months, every man who was serving food was asking me as a cook to pay him, and I had to ask people to pay what each of them was due. I started collecting the money, some of them paid all they were owing,

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some only half, but many did not pay at all, saying that they would pay with our next pay. What could I do, a Romanian wanted money for milk, I paid immediately, I did the same for bread, but tomorrow they will attack me to pay for their work. There were also armed guards on horses, they would also come. I hardly collected half of the money, and I have up to 200 Lei (crowns) of my own money, so if I started paying fairly, all my money would not be enough to settle the account, and I would be beaten by the guards. I definitely don't want that to happen. There are two hours to the border where I entered, it was getting dark and I started walking, at God's will. Wherever I heard the clip-clop of the horses, I knew it was the guards, so I hid in the mountain until they went past, and then continued walking. When I was close to the border, I hid in some bushes and waited for the dawn. Early at dawn I slowly stated climbing the mountain, slipping through like a cat when chasing a mouse. When I climbed to the peak, it was foggy, I heard the guards talking at the bottom, I had to walk down the mountain. I slowly descended to the vale, but in front of me there was waist-high water, dividing Ungaria [Austria crossed out] and Romania. Across the water there was a path I could walk on. There was a Romanian guard walking there, and our big mountain. I had no choice, I had to go forward, I did not dare to go back. I was watching intently from behind the bush to see where the soldier would go. When he made a turn in walking, I started running as far as I could across the water and up my mountain. I quickly climbed 40 meters, then I heard a voice, moj (stop). I laughed and shouted, nu me plaše napoj (I don't want to go back). I was climbing up the mountain, and just as I turned back to see whether he was climbing after me, but he was a smart young man so he didn't. Had he followed me into the mountain, I would have turned him back, I would not have let him go onto my land, because a person is much more confident on one's own terrain than on somebody else's. So I arrived in Hermeštat, I changed some money and continued to Pešta. There I found
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a group going to Vienna, so I went with them. From Vienna we left for Rahinberg. They were building tracks there, but the pay was poor. None of us wanted to stay there. My companions left for Germany, and I went home. It was the third year that I was wandering around, I've had enough of that, I am thirty years old. I came home and found my father and stepmother there, they were living in poverty as before I left. I gave them all the money I brought with me. It was summer time, so I was doing day work, and no longer thought about getting married. I was at home for a short while, autumn came, one man came from a nearby village who was a servant to a factory supervisor. Later I heard that the factory was in Kocevlje in Croatia. This supervisor spoke German, he did not know any other language. He had several thousand crowns, so he agreed with his servant that they would go together to Western Australia and would take several workers with them. That was how it happened. That servant came to my village and gathered seven of us unmarried men. He told us that his count would pay all travel costs from Rijeka onward. It was time to travel. We arrived in Rijeka and the count's servant met us there, he took us to an inn, he paid for our food and drinks, and we saw more people there who were going to travel together with us.
The servant of the count has a wife and two children with him, a gardener from Pozega has a daughter and a son, also from Pozega. One worker is with them, the count's wife is also there, but he is not. There are sixteen of us altogether without the treacherous count, we are taking a train to Genova. We arrived in Venice, the count met us there, so we travel on together. The count seemed suspect to us because he did not meet us in Rijeka, but we were not bothered, as long as he paid for the steamship. We arrived in Genova, waited there one day and then boarded a German steamship. We stopped at ports in Naples and Port Said, Aden, Colombo and Fremantle. We disembarked there, having spent 25 days at sea. From there, we went by train to St Mary station, 20 miles away from Albany. We worked there for fourteen days, but you should see the count and his servant, you can't tell whether one is worse than the other, they would like us to work for them 14 hours
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And here they don't work more than eight hours. In the fourteen days that we worked, they gave us a check of several shillings (one shilling 60 pence). We cannot survive with these gentlemen, we didn't have any contracts, so we went to Albany to search for better luck. We arrived in the city and went to the bank to cash the checks we were given, but at the bank they crossed out our checks, they were no longer valid. Our count had sent a wire to the bank to do this. What should we do now, we do not speak English. But wherever there is misfortune there is fortune, too. We met an Italian who was going home, and I understood some Italian, so I told him about our situation. He took us to the solicitor for the poor, and told him what was happening. The solicitor received us and fed us for four days before the hearing. At the hearing, we won the case and the judge allowed us to go wherever we wanted, and if we did not intend to stay in this country, they had to transport us back. The solicitor was also telling us it was better for us to go back where we worked to earn some money, and perhaps learn some English, and then we could go wherever and whenever we wanted to go. We did exactly that, we went back and worked for six weeks, and did not want to work any longer, so we got our pay and left. We bought a ticket for Kalgoorlie. On the train, at the station of Southern Cross, we met a man from our lands, from Senj. He could speak English, so we were happy to meet him, he would make things easier for us. We came to Kalgoorlie and our new comrade immediately took us to Boulder, which is full of gold mines. Many people from Dalmatia live there, but we didn't find anyone familiar. From there, our comrade took us walking 20 miles to Paddington. There we found two Italians who came to Australia with us on the same steamship. We started working there, we worked for two months, and our man from Senj was a true fraudster, one day he was sick and did not come to work but his sickness seemed to be something else. He intended to collect the check for the entire job and then disappear
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But when he stayed home and did not come to work, that was suspicious to me, because I had similar experiences with comrades more than once. I went to work with an Italian man in the morning, and asked him to return to the boss and let him know that, if one of us turns up to collect the money, he was not to give it to him unless we were all there. The Italian listened to me and returned to tell the boss everything as I instructed him. In the evening, when we came to the place where our tents for sleeping were, we saw the man from Senj, he looks angry, he did not succeed. He told us to go with him to the boss, because he wanted to leave. We went to the boss all together, and he paid everyone what they earned. From there, we dispersed, some went with the man from Senj, and I stayed with three men to continue working there, because we liked the work. We earned 8 to 9 pounds per month and food. We worked there for several months, then we left. We went to the town of Kalgoorlie, and from there we went separate ways in search of luck. We had money, we learned several words in English, so we were more confident than we were when we arrived from home. I went to Kurrawang, there was a company there with most people logging the forest. I arrived in the forest, there was enough work, they needed more people. I started working there. I found several Tyroleans from Austria. I had not spoken Croatian for six months. After that, Croats and Dalmatians started arriving. Work in the forest was very hard, but it was possible to earn good money. But saving was out of the question, very few could do that, the English are gamblers and drinkers, whatever they earn they easily spend. But then our people and the Italians join them, gambling nonstop on Sundays, beer gets driven through the forest, wherever people are working, the beer merchants find them. So people are drunk and wasting time. More than three years in that company, I can say that I earned a nice amount of money, but all in vain because it was all spent. I sent two thousand crowns to my father, and I did not have much left, all was spent on gambling and excessive drinking, that is unfortunately the way we are. There were many people who could not save anything. Now I was leaving for home.
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I had up to 70 pounds, so I paid for the steamship, and spent up to 30 pounds on the trip. I came home and found things as bad as they were when I left. My father spent all the money I sent him, and even got into debt. What could I do, this was not what I wanted, I stayed there for three months and then returned to Australia again. During that time I also got married, I don't want to go into detail about that, because the book would be too big, I will just mention it briefly so I can finish sooner. I crossed the ocean to Australia and from Australia to home seven times. For the first time I came here in 1900, and on 20/5/1915 I was detained, and I am still in detention writing this book in 1917. I can also say that in all that time I haven't made a great progress, travel costs are high, I always had to send money home. The English people in this country live very luxuriously, there is gambling wherever you go, in Boulder in the gold mines. Many of our people live there, but very few save any many, and young people nothing at all. They adopted the English customs, working in gold mines for eight hours, so our young people, as soon as they return from work, they immediately change their clothes, everyone puts a new suit on, they are all dressed nicely, very few are without a gold chain or rings on their hands. So a group of them like that goes to the city, to the brewery where English girls serve beer. They are as crafty as foxes when they hunt chicken. One of them called for drinks for everyone, including the girls in the brewery, he takes the money out and pays before the drinks arrive on the counter. That is an English custom, and our young people take it up gladly. When the girls pour the drinks and put them on the counter, everyone takes their glass and clinks it with another and with the girls. From there they go to the next brewery, someone else pays for everyone there, just like the first one did, and that lasts until all of them had their turn. Months and years pass like that, pockets are always empty. There are many young people like that, perhaps one could find ten percent of those who save money and help their parents. Boulder is a small city, and the most widespread
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work is digging gold ore. Near Boulder is Kalgoorlie, where many of our people work. Some of them came to Boulder as young people, and there they grew old always on the same job, they never sent anything home, not even for their parents' travel costs, they left their father in debt and still today they have nothing. They learned English, that is all their gain in life. Many of them married English girls, but a majority brought girls from home, married them, made houses of wood and sheet metal, some of them bigger some smaller whatever they could afford, there they live with their families one way or another, but mostly not well. Rare are those who can save something, every married man sells alcohol in secret, our workers have meetings, they gamble for drinks and money, young people get into debt as soon as they receive their wages, they pay their debts and are left with nothing at all, he has to forget his parents because he cannot support himself either. If someone asked me whether these people ever go to church, I could easily answer, because I am sure that they know nothing of the church, and I can say truthfully knowing that I wasn't making a mistake, that among them there are those who have never attended a Mass. The words God and Our Lady are used often when they are swearing. Those more educated, who have learned some English, think they are very important, they never intend to go back to the homeland but invent all sorts of associations, meetings of all kinds of societies, in Boulder they first invented the Yugoslav Society, Jure Stela declared himself President, and they urge each other to enrol in the society, where you can read newspapers, Jadran (Adriatic) from California, Zora (Dawn) from Zealand, Sviet Hrvatski (The Croatian World) from America.

Further down I will say a few words about those engaged in forest logging. There is the Kurrawang company, where most of our people work. Six years ago there were always too many people there. When the war started, everyone arriving from the homeland first went to Kalgooglie and Boulder, but if there was no work there, they went to the Kurrawang Forest (Kalgoorlie is pronounced Kalgurli, Boulder Bolder and Kurrawang Kuravan).

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It is not easy to find work, the English are in supervisory positions everywhere. The workers from our lands, who have stayed in the same place for some time, they know the supervisor, so they have to plea and negotiate with the supervisor for all newcomers from home, so that some people get a job and some don't for six months or more. So they are wondering through the city and forest looking for work, they get into debt and waste time for nothing. Those who work in the forest of Kurrawang, their behaviour also looks poor, people got the supervisors accustomed to drink, so most always have some drink in the tent because, there being many people, everyone is afraid that they would be sent away from work. People work six days, and most work is on the seventh day, washing clothes, mending, repair tools until midday, and then gambling for money in the afternoon and all night. There are carts full of beer in several places. People with families, who do not gamble, they save money and travel home and return again, but the youngsters are always with empty pockets. I don't know whether I could find in this entire country ten percent of those who are saving money, they are not even able to pay back their father for the travel costs, so as years pass they forget their homeland. Those who come to the city from the forest immediately find people there who tell them about the Yugoslav Society, they read all sorts of newspapers. Now in the time of war when people are being detained, they tell each other, the Society will set you free, come and enrol. Those people are keen to do that, because they wasted years for nothing, they don't want to go home, as they left their homes when they were young, they have not learned anything, they have always followed evil company, they have lost the little they had and were left with an empty head wandering as headless flies wherever someone tells ghem to go. They are incapable of telling good from evil. This country is corrupt and wanton, there are three kinds of people. It was here that gambling ruined me, and I was holding to drinking too much, but still I tried to have something left over, because if I got detained what would I do with nothing, I am now 47 years old and on the food
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/16
they give me here, I am convinced that I would not be writing this book today. I can also say that, during all this time that I spent in this country, and that I had been travelling throughout Europe, I can say that I never knew or listened to conversations about state, but was trying to do my work and all my efforts went to nothing. I cannot blame anyone for that today, just my crazy head. The war came, everyone was suffering, and I can only pray that enemies don't invade our country. Further I can say that I came to the city of Kalgoorlie from the forest. That was before I went into detention. I stayed there several days. I listened to what people were talking about. I saw one reading an English newspaper, muttering, the Russian Uncle will do it. I listened to some other conversations, I knew some of those people and some I didn't. They were all from Austria, I was thinking whether to say something, but I was afraid because I was alone and they all belonged to the same group. But I got bored with listening, I could stand it no longer, so I said, listen, Austria can suffer, but it will not lose the war. They responded sternly, you'd better be quiet, what can Germany and Austria do, the Russians are enough for them, they can't do anything against the Russians, let alone all other countries that will strike them. Again I have to answer back, if the Russians, Montenegrins and Serbians get so lucky to win the war, they will have to convert to Catholicism. I offended them with that, so they responded angrily, leave religion along, don't touch it. I thought, what the devil, people who defend other people's religion and constantly criticise their own. I remembered that these people were from Jure Stela's Yugoslav Society in Boulder. I answer, how can I leave religion aside, it has been two thousand years that Jesus was born, and left the new law that we all have to follow, and he will not be born again for the Russians and others. Then they mentioned France, and I responded, how much difference between France and Austria. There was more of that, I don't want to go into detail, and one of them told me that he was going to call the police, I said call them if you wish, I am not ashamed. That is how we parted ways that day.
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/17
And also this, in the forest where I was working, I met three men at work, they were loading wood onto some waggons. I came suddenly, they were from Austria and Germany. Those were two men, one a Catholic, who was a great friend of Hris. He marched out of Rottnest Island to freedom under three enemy flags. So I caught the Catholic saying, Istanbul should fall to the Russians. The Hris. responded, well, whichever way they divide. (they noticed me, and the Hris. said to me, so how are you, Kraut). I would know how to answer, but I did not dare, so I responded nicely, thinking that I would gain more from being as slow and polite as possible. And this as well, one day on a Sunday in the shade under a tree, that Catholic was talking cheerfully with a group of comrades, well done to our men in Zealand, they are heroes if they burnt the flag on the house of the Austrian Consul. That story was published gleefully by the newspaper Zora (Dawn) from Zealand throughout Australia. It was now time to go to detention, people from this forest are not all in one place, this Kurrawang company has four sites, between one and two miles distant from one another. In the morning, the supervisor of the site where I was working, whom I have known for several years, said to me, you are leaving now, but you will soon be back, I am sure that you will be back in five to six weeks. I responded, perhaps we will come back at some point, but perhaps never. He said nothing else. Then he mentioned some names, and said these people were Serbs (I reponded, we belong to the same flag, there are no Serbs in this forest). He said, they said they were Serbs, and I responded, they can be whatever they want. I went to detention with the rest of the men, and I later heard that those who stayed spent a lot of money sending applications to the Russian Consul. I could write other things here, but I don't like to write about devils and waste paper on them.
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/18
When we came to Rottnest Island, I looked around and saw that there were people I knew from before and those I didn't, I didn't talk much with anyone. After a while, I saw that a group was preparing to go free, with three flags in front of them, and singing with soldiers in English. Those who were staying were booing after them. They were being scattered with gunshots by the soldiers. From then on I started questioning those I knew and listening, because until then I had never heard what people were up to. By the time they moved us to Liverpool, my head was full and I started observing what people were doing and how they were behaving, so I began to write down some of the main things. This is how I was passing my time. All of that can be found below.
[newspaper clipping]
Jadran (The Adriatic)
The Leading Croatian Newspaper on the Pacific Coast
San Francisco-Oakland, Cal., Thusday 13 January 1916

This is what Jadran from San Francisco wrote on the 13th of January 1916:
Boulder West Australia 23 November 1915. The Croatian Slavic Society, with president Juro Stela, vicepresident Stjepan Borić, secretary Šimun Borić, treasurer Mihovil Silić, librarian Čedomir Bušelić, People's Committee Mihovil Roščić and Nikola Marić. This society now has 126 members.
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The Yugoslav Committee was formed and collected 400 pounds, up to two thousand dollars. They sent the money to our Kosovo maiden, the brotherly Serbia and Montenegro, the Yugoslav Committee in London and the Red Cross in Australia. Our honorable Croats, Anton Kličinović and the leader of the tamburitsa band, Mr Šantić, organised a beautiful concert in favour of our brotherly Serbia and Montenegro, with select singers and English dancers, in the Kalgoorlie Town Hall, which was given to us for free on the 26th of August 1915. The concert was successful, and net profits were sent to the Serbian and Montenegrin Red Cross. The Yugoslav Society in Boulder send their greetings and thank Jadran newspaper for working tirelessly for the sacred Yugoslav cause, that is, the harmony among Croats, Serbs and Slovenes, the Society in Boulder. May the glorious Jadran live long and prosper, the Management Committee of the Slavic Society in Boulder. They wrote, we are not only Croats, but enthusiastic Yugoslavs.
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/20
Those from Dalmatia were at the forefront of betraying their country. Their members were detained in Rottnest for a short while, and then they marched out singing in English, French and Russian. There were 75 of them, all from Dalmatia, and 3 among them were Croats. After this, it was written that others were to go out to Russian freedom, so several people went, but not everyone succeeded. You will find more about them in further text. The Editor in Chief of Jadran, Frano Akačić.

Where are you now, Jadran from America,
That newspaper does not see our wounds
You boast with Croats a lot,
You glorify the Serbs and Russians,
You utterly respect the Montenegrins,
But you don't want to hear about the detained slaves
Girls living around Sydney
Were sending us whatever they could collect
They bought socks for us
And sent them to the sad detainees
They themselves did not have them
What do you praise, Jadran,
It is not a joke to call oneself a Croat today
Croats are being detained today
But Jadran doesn't care for us.

Fifty Croats are in detention,
You could have sent them some gold,
Oh Jadran, Croats are in battle,
Who will give food to their families
Croats suffer in detention
But Jadran knows nothing about that
If they were Serbs, Jadran would find out
And would collect money for them.
Oh Jadran, where are the Dalmatians
Six hundred are detained here
Dalmatia is in battle today
Every province of Austria
They are fighting the Russians the best they can
That newspaper only cries for the Serbs
Jadran lives well in America
Gathering around itself all that is blind.

The New Dalmatia in California
How sad it is to see a small child
Less than seven years old
Who saw the crown in Dalmatia
It is crying and calling its mother
Mother comes and talks to the child
Why are you crying my child
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/21

Mother, Dalmatia no longer exists
It is now there in America
They moved it there
I can see that they even moved the houses.
Don't cry, my child
Don't spill any tears,
Who can move Dalmatia
When it is defended by its heroic sons
Just like their grandfathers were defending it before
The child is still crying
It is not happy
Look mother our crown is there
Our Croatian crown is now there
In the middle of that new Dalmatia
Dear Mother, tell me the truth,
May you always be healthy
How could they move the sea
I can even see little boats
Quiet child, are you mad
What you are saying
Would be a real miracle.
Wait, Mother, it is happening now
There is a ship in Istria,
It has already moved the Dalmatian sea
And now it will move the Croatian sea, too
The little bit from Rijeka to Senj
Only stones will remain
I'll tell you, child, about the ship,
That ship belongs to Montenegro,
The Montenegrin king has it
It was given to him by his Italian son in law
He is looking for his master,
The ruler of Serbia
Oh Mother, how did they get lost
My child, they started the war with Austria
And Austria scattered them around
So they still don't know where they are
The ship is looking for them
But can't find them
They may have been swallowed by the sea
What would they do, Mother, if they were found
They would go to the New Dalmatia
One of them would be their king
And wear the Croatian crown
That was set up by Jadran
They would put it on his head
There are traitors everywhere
The New Dalmatia accepts them gladly
All traitors will go there now
To be ruled by the king of Serbia.
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/22
The pleasant celebration of the Orhodox Christmas in 1916
The editor of Jadran goes to visit Mihajlo Radkovic. Mihajlo gave a speech and collected 5 dollars by Mihajlo Radkovic, 1 dollar by his wife Jelena, his only son Milos 1 dollar. Then at 5 dollars each Nikola Miric and Vaso Sorak, 2.5 dollars Nikola Knezevic, his wife Evica 1 dollar, 2 dollars each Nikola Popovic, Frano Akacic, Djuro Marinkovic, Miho Klaiic, and Nikola Car, 1 dollar each Rade Jerkovic and Mika Rakic, total 32 dollars and 50 cents. A small group gathered to celebrate Christmas. The editor visited Bozo Djonovic, there they celebrated Christmas, we gathered a nice amount for our orphans from Serbia and Montenegro. Jadran wrote this on the 13th of January 1916. In January 1916, Fresno California, for the Serbian National Defense, our small colony sent to Serbia and Montenegro 3229 dollars and 65 cents. From the 3rd of August 1914 to the 3rd of August 1915. On the 4th of October 1915 it again sent an amount of 175 dollars and 85 cents, and on the 17th of December 1915, 901 dollar. The Slavic Unity no. 16 K.S. to P. Gibson N.M. The number of members 77.

Sending help to the poor from abroad
Thank you, oh God in heaven,
Who ordained this to happen on Earth.
And people also know how to do well
When they have gatherings like those
They gather to the poor everywhere
They know well about the poor
Serbs and Montenegrins
They always raise charity
And send them money
The Montenegrin and the Serb
Should not suffer
And everyone who can give something
Needs to help the poor
We are all equal in front of God
Everyone has to help the poor
Without looking which King they serve
If you can, give them so they don't suffer
God will be pleased with this
But give first to your own
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/23
It is your great sin with God
And your shame among people
Your father and mother stand before your eyes
But you extend your hands over them to the Serbs
Your brother is crying, he lost an arm and a leg
And your sister is crying, she can't cry more
How do you feel in your heart
When you reach over them to send to the Montenegrin
Your own detainees are everywhere
It would not be a miracle if you were sending help to them
But you don't want to hear about your own.
You dream about your homeland in America
You are taken by a desire for Russia
And a hatred for Austria
The old country where you were born
Where you left your father and mother to someone
You have never even seen a Russian
How come you like him so much
Listen if you are reasonable
I will tell you what you don't know yet
You call yourself educated
But what good is that when you don't realise
One doesn't look at someone's religion
One loves the country where they were born
Before betraying my homeland
My father, mother and inheritance
Before being called a traitor
I would rather jump into the sea
The wretched traitors never stop
Singing songs to their heroes
And I can say that Austria is indeed saintly
Many religions but noone is bothered
We pray to God the way each of us can
We only have one Emperor on earth,
That is Franz Josef, God's servant
He is together with the Catholic church
You cannot talk about others
There is no greater Emperor today than he is
God helps him
It is not easy for the Russians to reach Vienna
Austria allows all Christians who love Serbia
To sell their land and go to Serbia
Rather than always hating Austria
If you like to be in foreign lands
May you go there and live well
You can live wherever you believe is better
Without ever hating the place where you were born
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/24
The Yugoslav Society in Boulder set free their members from detention
Rottnest Island, June 1915, West Australia
They left under the English, French and Russian flags, singing cheerfully a song in English, together with English soldiers. There is another one for them.

The news came from Boulder
And quickly spread through Rottnest
The Slavic society sent a cable
Greetings all Slavs in Rottnest
All Slavs who are now there
You are free, come to us here
I started thinking
I would like to know who those Slavs were
I could see groups forming everywhere
They are happy and have no peace
One morning many of them gathered
At the guards
The Major called them there
Who would know exactly what they were doing
But I saw them gloomy when they returned
They are sad that they got entangled there
I heard them ask one old man
Why he was called to come to the Major
He did not want to answer, but just said, oh my
And quickly ran away to get his clothes
It is better to be detained forever
Than to beg the enemy for freedom
Whoever wants to be friends with the enemy
Must embrace their flag
And live under it for the rest of his life
Die in shame as a traitor
That is the destiny of all traitors
Whoever knows them curses them
They all brought their clothes to the guards
They formed a line four by four
Those in the front row held three flags
Oh comrade if you had been there to see this
Three flags are flying in front of them
Three men embracing the flags
The English flag is in the middle
And those of France and Russia are on the sides
The man carrying the English flag
Was the largest of the group
They dressed as nicely as they could
Let it be known that when they became traitors
They hated Austria
They prayed for Russia with their bodies and souls
They decorated themselves so beautifully
They would not do any better if they
Were getting married
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/25
Soldiers were the last everywhere
And all together they started singing
They were shouting hooray with the soldiers
While others cried at them
The soldiers got angry
And started chasing them away with rifles
Shots were fired
And some ended in jail
As they were marching forward
Soldiers were saluting them
They were company to the soldiers
They left their own King
And won't be faithful to their King either
They won't be good to anyone
You can never know where
A traitor's homeland is
There were seventy-five of them in all
Only three among them were Croats
Born somewhere in Primorje
Traitors, may they be cursed
I am ashamed to write about them
Traitors, woe to their mothers
They all have to be known
As traitors to the Croatian ancestors
The rest of them were Dalmatians
All of them were Catholics
I could not find out their names
Their comrades will say about them
Jadran has its leaders here
I wrote their names down
Whoever loves Dalmatia today
Should tell all their names
Many of these Devil's brothers were still left here
Who registered to go free
Then those were freed soon afterwards
But I was told that many of them were still left.
Hey Croats, you are still alive
Those who wronged you should be judged
Taken to court
So they don't bring confusion to other people
Oh Croats, my dear brothers
I have to say that, I am compelled
It is sad to watch this
What is being done abroad
To our glorious Croatian name
Those who sign themselves as Croats
But breathe a treacherous spirit
They don't want to reveal their name
Looking for luck with the Croatian name
Which they would sell cheaply
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/26
They have no regard for it
They don't mind disgracing it
If only they get money for it
Oh Zagreb, you are glorious
But you were never expecting this to happen
My letter will tell you about your former family
Greetings to you, my Croatian brothers,
Now you will find out about everything.


Rottnest, 23 November 1915. On this day, eleven hundred of us Germans and Austrians were transferred to Liverpool, New South Wales. There we found 2500 people, mainly Germans, who already had their administration in the camp. I can say that they greeted us quite nicely, they placed us into barracks, everyone had the same rights. We were gathered there from four states. The Germans did not separate anyone, they held that we are all as one, just as we indeed are now in war time. Several days later, some poor arrivals from Rottnest, and those that we found here, probably agreed to separate themselves from the Germans. I knew nothing about that. Around midday, I was walking around the camp, and I saw a group of up to 30 people who came from Rottnest, so I approached them to hear what they were talking about. One of those we found here was talking, he was a company leader (counter) of my barack no. 31. His name was Jozo Rendulic. He was telling them, we will get our own kitchen and office (notary), we will be completely separate from the Germans. The people were listening to him, and not responding. His speech was unusual to me, so I said, listen, Jozo, how can we separate ourselves from the Germans, that would not be nice, we lived together with them nicely in Rottnest, do you know what you are going to do, there are Austro Hungarian gentlemen among us (Rottnest in writing, pronounced as Rotnes, Liverpool pronounced as Liverpol).
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/27
Ask them about this and you will see what they will say. Jozo responded, look at this smart one, I would hit him in the head if he was younger. So we bickered a little and finally dispersed, but that time they did not succeed with the separation.
So all was left in peace until the 27th of June 1916. On that day, an announcement was nailed on the notice board, Croats are to move to barracks 37 and 38 at the end, close to the guards. They have everything they are entitled to, a separate kitchen. When the Croats noticed that, they were asking one another, what is it with us, what are we doing to these people, there are no more than 50 of us in this camp, we were residing in four barracks, and our company leaders (counters) were Dalmatians. Some went immediately to the prison office (Committee) to ask the camp manager, why do Croats have to be separated, and who asked for that. The manager responded, an application was submitted two months ago, here it is, this is what it says: 200 Croats, signed here, are asking for a separate kitchen, and for a wire fence between them and other prisoners. They told him, we would not dream about asking for any separation. When he understood what they were saying, he asked for the Major, to tell him what he understood and then he returned and immediately sent someone to remove the announcement. When those poor people saw that the announcement was torn off, they got ag-itated and started yelling, are we not Croats, don’t we speak Croatian? The Croats responded, we know that you are Croats just like we are, we are not separating you, but we don’t want anything special asked for in this camp in the name of Croatia. Otherwise, you do as you please, we won’t bother you, we are all the same in this fence and there is no separation among us. So they calmed down.
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The Russian standard-bearer comes to Holdsworthy fence
On the 21st of February 1917, Jozo Radalj from Vrgorac, who had left Rottnest island to freedom under the three flags, Russian, English and French. Jozo carried the Russian flag and trampled his own. There he was today, coming from Western Australia, and with Jozo there were 17 prisoners, 5 of whom were Dalmatians and the rest were German. People gathered around them like black crows to look at them. They entered through the gate to the prisoners' fence, they were being led to the prison office. When they were a bit further from the gate, the Germans following the policemen and the Dalmatians behind them, but all of a sudden there was some commotion and one of those marching at the back was hit twice badly and had to go to hospital immediately. His name was Ante Jurjevic, and the man who hit him was called Slimar. The police interfered and calmed the situation. They came to the office to sign their names. People were still gathering around them. The Germans and two of the Dalmatians signed and went to the barracks chatting and undisturbed by anyone. But two were left in the office, Marko Skender and the Russian standard-bearer Jozo Radalj, and when they gave their names, the police wanted to lead them to the barracks where they were going to sleep, but someone told the police that it would be better if they took them outside the fence, if they wanted to see them alive the following day. When the policemen heard this, they immediately led them to the Major. When the Major saw them, he talked with them a little, and then ordered that they be taken to the built prison. And when Ante Jurjevic recovered, he joined them in prison. They stayed in the built prison for several days, and then they moved them to a small fence, where Black Hand assassins reside, so all three are now with them.
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Oh friends, greetings to you
Please tell me the truth
What did this standard-bearer gain
When he embraced the Russian flag
He stood under the flag as a General
And even sang in English with others
Jozo Radalj born in Vrgorac
Went to look for the Montenegrin King
Looking for him he got lost
When he left Rottnest island
Bad fortune now brought him here
He was lucky to be alive
After leaving our sad abode in Holdsworthy
Where is your flag now, Radalj,
Tell us, Jozo, what have you gained
The English rewarded you with prison
Flags were flying in front of you
While the rest of us stayed on the island
On Rottnest, surrounded by the sea
You wanted to drink beer,
May you drink to your heart's content
We will see who will do better in the end.
Some more about them. Slimar, the one who hit Ante Jurjevic, was called in front of the Major the following day, and after talking to him for some time, the Major ordered that he be imprisoned in the built prison. Slimar stayed there for two nights, and then began to fear that they would move him to the small fence
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among Black Hand assassins. The hero was thinking what to do, and found something sharp and began to tear at his stomach. Others saw this and alerted the guard, who called the medics. They quickly came with a cart and dragged him to hospital. He tore at his stomach really hard, but still stayed alive. They were collecting signatures for him to go without punishment, but the law does not recognise prisoners' signatures. He was taken to civilian court, so Slimar got three months of jail, somewhere close to Sydney. And Ante Jurjevic returned to his place, in the small fence to live among Black Hand assassins.
Hatred among the Croats, one against the other
1917 in the detention centre called Holdsworthy
In January 1917, there was a census in the fence. Since the beginning of the war until that time people were signing as the enemy demanded. But unfortunately, this time the census brought hatred and agitation among people. That was probably what the enemy wanted. They gave papers to company leaders (counters) to list their respective companies, without telling them how to fill the papers. They themselves probably never asked for advice. I came to register with my leader of the 31st company, I held the paper in my hands and saw a title at the beginning, nationality (that was probably nationhood). I asked him what to write there and he said, I don't care, everyone should write what they want, the Major didn't give any instructions. I soon realised what to do and said to him, write Austria in the title, and Croatia as the place of birth. The Dalmatians in my company wrote the same, Austria, and place of birth Dalmatia.
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/31
This is how everyone in my company signed. I heard that in the 30th company they did not want to do it that way. I asked a man from my village in the 29th company how he signed, and he responded, he wrote Austria for the place of birth, too. I asked him why he didn't write Croatia for the place of birth, and he answered, I asked him to but he didn't want to do it, so what could I do. In the 26th, 27th and 28th they signed in different ways, some wrote the title, nationality Croatia, and place of birth Dalmatia. There were some Croats who wrote Croatia for the place of birth, and nationality Croat. I asked one Croat, did you sign the nationality as Austria, and he said, I didn't, the company leader told me to leave the nationality blank, that is nationhood, so I wrote the Croatian nationhood and Croatia as place of birth, so if the Englishman does not like it, he can correct it himself. I saw that he was right. This resulted in a great hatred one against the other, those who wrote the title as Austria, and those who wrote it as Croatia. They were shouting, all those who didn't write the title as Austria, they are Serbs. After a while, the Major called the company leaders and said that those who did not write the title as Austria should write them again, and gave them new papers and told them how they should be written. After that, the papers were signed peacefully. But these people can never have peace, so who was with whom and for hatred last year, or even before, and here in detention, so they want to take revenge on the other, and out of hatred they call each other Serbs. I saw them several times arguing like devils in hell, and then talking badly against each other. But I can also say that, since I was detained, if two men fought each other, up until now no one has ever inflicted hard injuries on the other.
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I also can't say anything so far about murder among this Croatian nationality, and I am not writing about any other nationality, because it is quite enough for me to write about the hatred of Croats against each other, which is always present among them. I will talk more about this hatred. When the weather was fine, I was walking along a fence, which has not been spaced out for a while, so it was all overgrown with grass, so it was nice to lie down there in the shade. So I used to sit there with some people I knew. There were groups of people everywhere along the fence, lying in the grass two by two or three by three, talking to those they knew better. So when I sat with a group, I was listening to what they were talking about, but I always heard them talking about Serbs, and they would even point to me, look at that group, those are Serbs, so many times I was hearing about those Serbs, but the people who called them by that name, I knew those people very well. One day I walked until I saw for myself, I sat next to them to hear what they were talking about, but I never heard them talking against their homeland. They were talking mainly about the war, all of them, because they had nothing else to do, so they are discussing everything from here to Europe. I also traced all those who were pointing at the Serbs, and I realised that all of them had adversaries among those they called Serbs. Those groups would bring with themselves a newspaper, and I could see them reading here and there. Wherever I stopped, I asked whether they had any news. Also, some of them obtained books from America, and were reading them in the grass and in the barracks to spend time, but that came to my ears, too, and some told me, look at the traitors, they are reading Serbian books. I was then lurking behind the books to see what kind of books they were. I had an opportunity, in my barrack 31, Jozo Rendulic had a book and left it if anyone wanted to read it. This Jozo Rendulic was the leader of my company.
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He soon left it because he had something to do in the cafe. I will talk about him further. So I took the book to see what it was like and what it was about, I was looking at it, but my dear brothers, these cursed slanderers who were telling me about Serbian books, of which here there was none. This book was about the past of our ancestors, the old Croats, written in English. Then I said, every book is good to shorten time with, because the more one reads, the more he can understand, the better he can distinguish between good and evil. Because if a man has clear mind, he can't be misled by reading. I myself, the writer of this book, have read all Serbian books about the Balkan war, that came to Kurrawang in Western Australia, that the Orthodox from Boka were receiving. I knew them, so they would lend them to me to read. I had known one of them for several years, and he had two copies of the same book, so he gifted one copy to me. When I studied it, I understood well what I was reading, and what was there against the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. I kept that book, intending to send it after the war to the government in Zagreb, so they could see the Serbian arrogance. But all of a sudden they gathered 200 of us Croats and Dalmatians to detain us, so I left clothes, tools, a tent and the books, because I did not care for anything. Somehow it occurred to me to take with me the Homeland Law and Babic's prayer book, and still today I am sorry about the books I left behind, because one German has more books than the entire Croatian nationality. The Germans have two bookshops, all sorts of books, and what do our Croatian people do, unfortunately I can see more and more in the barracks, they are playing the briscola and tresete card games, and others just lie in the grass and argue with each other, who knows about what.
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Just like old women sitting together at the spinning wheel. In this bickering, they quarrel, hate each other and call each other Serbs. On top of all that, my head is full of slandering, when I am walking with people in the evening, and someone starts pointing, look, those in front of us are Serbs, and those behind us, too, and this happens every evening. I started thinking, and I was certain what it was like, everyone pointing look at the Serbs, everyone of them has an adversary in the group they are pointing at, and that is why they slander that group as viciously as possible, and most of all by calling them Serbs. I know many of those who came to detention without a penny, they don't get any dinner, they are hungry and would like to have a smoke, they walk with anyone, just to get a cigarette to smoke, those people don't think much about the Serbs or the war, but only about their own belly which is hungry every day. I have never heard that someone who came here without a penny called someone a Serb, but only those who have a couple of pounds, whose belly is not empty. I saw great injustice, I saw that those who are stronger have more freedom here, are surrounded by more people, some of them have many relatives and friends, or there are many united villagers, they are free and can say whatever they want and no one will call them Serbs, because they are good to start a fight. But those individuals with fewer followers, they always have to be quiet, if they want to talk about the stronger party, they are immediately called by the other name, and even if they want to say something nice, the other party does not acknowledge that. Most of those poor people are called by the bad name. I will also mention that I keep hearing people saying everywhere, it would be best to expel the Serbs from this camp, we are scared to walk because of them, they will start a rebellion (scandal) and they also have knives. Even more, I hear, they said they would rebel, or that they want to kill a policeman, and the Englishman
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will then shoot with a machine gun and kill all and sundry. When I heard this, I asked whether there were many of them, and got the response more than two hundred. I was thinking about this cursed hatred, and tried to meet those called Serbs, I know many people on both sides. I met those that are called leaders, who were meant to be the worst. I talked with one, whom I have known for several years, and I asked him, why did you argue yesterday. He responded, you know me well for ten years and more, that I have never touched anyone who leaves me in peace, but I ran into someone worse than myself, who always harasses me, so it is easy for me to argue with him and fight him. That is how things are now in detention, you know that I came here without a penny, and you can see how they harass me ever since that census for nationality (nationhood). They don't leave me in peace, they call me Serb. They have money, they are not hungry as I am, that is why they always talk badly against poor people and call them bad names. I will have enough of that, and I already have had enough, so I am forced to argue. I have heard several people who said the same thing, and I have nothing else to say but ask, when will you ever stop, hatred among Croatian nationality, so they do not fight among themselves. It has been centuries that this hatred is among the people, and it is still here today. May God make man understand what they may gain when they throw their brother into a pit. About your hatred, which you always carry one against the other, I can only say that you have no gain from it, but only sin on your soul, and only devil rejoices at your hatred. May God alllow that the hatred among you stop, that you stop hating each other and start loving each other as brothers, because with unity you will go forward, and discord takes you nowhere. Fear the Church, which is with you, because you curse our lady with every word of yours. May God give you reason and forgive your sins. In Holdworthy detention, Australia.
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Unfortunately, the hatred among Croats grows
From the month of January 1917 to the 20th of March of the same year. On this day, men were selected to collect people's names. One of them is collecting the names in my barrack no. 31. He came to me, and I asked him why he was collecting names, and he said, to expel the enemies of Austria from this camp. I thought a little about the enemies of the Austro Hungarian monarchy, so I signed my name in order to see who they are. They collected 300 names and gave them to the Commander of the camp, a Major, but he did not approve it immediately. Rather, he was interrogating them for a whole week every day. These people of Croatian nationality resided in seven barracks, and from every barrack two or three went to take the Major's test. Among them, there were those who have not yet been in detention for four months, some of them have been here for a year, they called themselves Austrian, and they hated those who had been signing as Croatian nationality since the beginning of the war, some for two years or more, and wanted to forcefully expel them from the camp. As the writer of this book, I say, if there is a trial, there will be evidence against this cohort called Austrians, as I heard many times. When the Major interrogated them, I saw them at the main gate of the fence, they were waiting until the policeman came to collect one or two, and to take them to the Major for interrogation, regarding those people they thought of exiling from the camp, because they were signing as of Croatian nationality.

Croats and Dalmatians have two nationalities in detention
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I walked there several times, and I saw one, who wanted very much to exile people under the Serbian name. I am convinced that his heart is set on exiling everyone from this fence if he only could, and leave only his friends there. He doesn't speak English, but he is teaching those who are going to be interrogated by the Major, what to say against those people they called Serbs. He is a great friend of mine, just like a hen is to the fox. I asked him, are there many Serbs who were given to the Major. He responded, so far only sixteen of the worst ones. The Major asked us to calm down for a while, because the fence is not finished yet. Then I told him the words I knew he would like, there are many of those devils, my friend, they have to be exiled as soon as possible. He answered cheerfully, no need to worry about that, there are eight hard people who are engaged in achieving this. So, when the Major finished interrogating these people called Austrians, he approved to let them know once the fence is finished. But all that was for nothing, they had no peace, from the 20th of March to today, the 27th of March, they have been pestering the Major. The Major told them there was no space for more than five of them, and sent the police to get them. Those people were abiding by the law, they followed the policeman peacefully, without a word. Their relatives and friends brought their clothes to the main gate, to the guards, where they inspected their clothes and photographed them. They gave them a small cart, so they could put their clothes on the cart and push the cart for two hundred meters to the small fence, where Black Hand assassins resided. The police was walking with them.
(fence, the camp where we reside)
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While they were driving their clothes, among those others there were several voices wailing after them. The following day, evening of the 28th, they showed their names on the board of the theatre, which was in the middle of the camp, and those who were looking went cheerfully against them, hoo hoo. From that day onwards, the barracks were peaceful. Only those who were engaged to exile people from the fence had no peace. Every day they pestered the Major, and he was telling them to let the men in peace, because the fence was not finished yet. They did not like that, and had no peace. On the 1st of April 1917, there was a meeting to start a theatre, which I will talk more about below. At that meeting, they started shouting, let us drive out the traitors of our homeland from this fence, and the Major can put them wherever he wants. While shouting, they were scattering the people around them, like wolves when they descend on the sheep. The first troop from the 30th barrack got up, around thirty of them, unafraid of guns and knives, or of the English law. I was watching, where they were going and what they were going to do. They marched into the fence that was recently separated, where people were lying in the grass. Those who came demanded, go away from here. Five people obeyed the order, and went peacefully without a word. One asked, where should I go, but I heard someone say cheerfully, all he got was a blow to his ribs. I saw another group go to search the same fence. I quickly went to the main gate where the guards were, and saw that the first five men were chased all the way to the gate. I knew them. The policeman opened the gate and let them in, then others were chased to the gate, two by two and three by three, so I counted twelve in total.The policeman opened the gate and let them in to the military area, then I saw that two men were leading them three by three.
(In this fence, people were stronger and had greater freedom, but weaker individuals were double slaves)
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Some went to the gate of their own accord, scared because they heard that those who had signed as of Croatian nationality, and not Austrian, and those who applied to be released to freedom, that all of those had to leave. I also saw that several Czechs came to the gate on their own. But the policemen, who let the first twelve in, were no longer letting anyone in. And those who are chasing them keep saying, go, no one is listening, no one is saying a word because everyone is afraid they would be beaten. I was observing what those who were doing the chasing in the 26th barrack were doing. Several of them attacked one man and were telling him to go, but another one said, we will forgive him. So they forgave him, he had a relative in that group. So they attacked another one, and forgave him too. Then I saw that they attacked another one, but the man did not want to go straight away, so one from the group said, if anyone knew anything against this man should say it, because it is not worth exiling someone who is innocent. No one said a word, but one from the group that was chasing others said, yes, I heard him say it, chase him away. The man responded, did you ever hear me argue with you, but he was chased nevertheless. This was similar to the Jews yelling, crucify him, crucify him.
There were 46 in total who were chased or came of their own accord out of fear, 12 went to the military area, and 34 were left behind, who the police did not let in to join those 12. I could see over the fence those twelve, they were sitting next to the police building, some in shirts and some in thin t-shirts, and those at the gate were similarly dressed, occasionally one had a jacket, but most of them didn't. There were many people around them. The Major came to see that joy, and said, let the people in peace tonight, I don't have a place to take them. The Germans answered,
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We will not let them come back, and our people when they heard this, we won't let them back, we don't want to go to the roll call, we will stay here and guard them.

When there was a roll call at 5:30, everyone had to go. But those who were chasing people out didn't care about the roll call, they started shouting, we don't want to go to roll call. There were also those who were mistaken, and did not think at all, but looking at what other people were doing they thought that no one wanted to go to roll call, so they stayed, too. All Germans went to the roll call, none of them stayed behind. An announcement was nailed on the board that 200 of our Croatian nationals stayed behind, who do not fear the law. There were not that many of them, as I will say more about this below.
In the evening, the Major opened the door and let them in to join those twelve men, I don't know whether they got any dinner and where. In the morning, I saw four tents in the new fence, that they had set up overnight. 46 of them stayed there overnight, they took their clothes and brought them to the main gate to the guards, and they know best how they slept. They are not far from this main camp, from what one can see they slept very badly. Then I heard that the men who were packing and carrying their clothes found knives and all sorts of sharp objects, 25 pieces in total (impossible to believe), and that they gave it all to the Major. That same evening, I saw a thick sharpened wire, set in a piece of wood, the length of the wire and wood was one foot. I also saw a knife on the 18th of September 1916. I will talk further about the knives, there are plenty of them, and other sharp objects in this camp. I also had an opportunity to hear a young man, about 17 years old, who was selling bread through the barracks. He came to my barrack and a conversation started, I was writing and listening
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what they were talking about. The youngster was boasting, I was chasing them, curse their Serbian mothers, I would grab them by the arm and said go, so they had to go. I sent several of them there. On the same day, the 2nd of April 1917, they moved eight of them from the fence where Black Hand assassins were residing, to join those 46, so on that day they were erecting more tents. They had to go to get food from fence no. 1., where their kitchen was earlier. They were coming six by six, with a cauldron on their shoulders. They had to walk past those who had chased them out, gathered for roll call, and these started booing them and wailing, so that it was becoming unbearable. They were coming for food there several days, then a kitchen was built for them and they stopped coming. On the 3rd of April, three men went on their own to join those who were expelled, and the Major let them go. One of those three men had been among those who were doing the chasing before, and now he went to join them, that was ridiculous indeed. On that same day, those who were calling themselves Austrian, who were doing the chasing, collected several names and gave them to the Major, for an old man to be returned, but when the man heard this he did not want to go. I also heard that they wanted to return two other men, but in vain, they did not want to go back. They were the right people, but power does not see that, it does what it wants. People can say no for as long as they want. The right people hope that the court will judge. Further, those who were exiled because they wrote Croatian nationality called their fence Kroatien Camp no. 3, and those who expelled them were angry and said that this had to be reported to the Major, because why would they call themselves that. I asked one of them, tell me, what should they call themselves, and he said Serbs or Russians. That answer surprised me, they were exiled because of the name they wrote, and now they are not allowed to use it. And those who call themselves Austrian sing Croatian songs
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but they are against Croatian nationality. I am very much surprised by what I see and hear, oh God enlighten this people. In the afternoon of the 3rd of April, an announcement was nailed to the board, all those who sent applications to the society in Boulder, have to go out of this fence in two days at the most, or otherwise they will find themselves with broken backs. There may be some people who sent applications to the Slavic society in Boulder, I am not sure about that. But I know that they were sending applications to the Government, and that some wrote Croatian nationality, not Austrian. Everybody was scared to be beaten on the back and leave here in bad health. On the fourth of April, five men collected their clothes and took them to the guards at the main gate, and headed for the fence they called Camp Kroatien no. 3, but the police would not let them in. The Major came to ask them what was happening, and they told him what was written on the board. When the Major understood, he sent them back. Immediately after that, an announcement came with the Major's order that, whoever gets caught nailing anything untoward to the board, without the Major's permission, would be sentenced to six months imprisonment. If the Major had allowed people to cross over to the fence called Camp Kroatien no 3, three parts of these people of Croatian nationality would move there. Then it would be clear, who are the devils with horns, and who are those without. In the evening of that same day, the 4th of April, on the theatre notice board in the middle of the fence, they showed all those who had been exiled on the 1st of April. The Germans depicted them as ugly as they could, and the enemies put a title above them. In the sketch, the first one was Jozo Rendulic, depicted uglier than the worst murdered, with a gun at the waist, and a knife strapped to the thigh. Others were next to him one next to the other, and the title above them
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was written in Croatian, Yugoslavs travelling to Siberia. In a second drawing, several men are warming themselves around a fire, and the title above them was, Start the fire. One was painting the fence white, holding a pot of lime in one hand, and the writing above him was, I am whitewashing every day for 1 shilling. Those looking at that are laughing and wailing hoo hoo at the drawing. They were drawn like that twice, but not more. They told me that several men came from Western Australia, and that three of them went immediately to Kroatien Camp no. 3, and the Germans to the main camp no. 1. Now I will talk about those who did not come to the roll call on the 1st of April. The Germans wrote 200 on the board, but my calculation is that there was no more than 120. On the 15th of April, every company leader listed his own men, who did not report to the roll call, and they went to the Major, who ordered that they would not have cooked food for three days, and the forced fast was to start on the 17th of April. People started cursing and talking, it was impossible to describe. The Englishman is my enemy, but I have to tell the truth regardless, this order by the Major was not too harsh, because they were not imprisoned, the fence was full of cafes, meat, sausages and all sorts of fruits, as long as one had money. Our people praise the Germans as good people. I also praise them, because they are united, and don't hate each other like our Croatian nationality has done since the beginning
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of the world, one brother hates the other brother, while listening to the stranger and praising him. We are all detainees here, we should look after each other in hard times. Oh my brother, the foreigner looks after you and you are grateful how good he is. Think about what you are doing. In the evening of the last day before they finished with the punishment, they collected some money and paid some musicians, and went to two cafes, Franz Josef cafe and Rudan from Lovran, to sit and have coffee. Music is playing, all is cheerful. They are singing Croatian songs, because they don't know any other, they call themselves Austrian. The police are walking past, asking what they are celebrating, and they told him. The following day I heard in several places people saying, we did well to exile them, we will all get medals for it from our government. I respond, it all looks to the contrary, it is stupid, you don't know what you are doing. I am yet to hear about any medals being given, unless I die beforehand. After this celebration there was no news until the 1st of May, when they nailed a note on the board with a list of nine names, which said, brothers, chase them out of here, but there was no signature of the writer. I read this and said, why did he not sign his own name, so we can see what he knows about these people. Several people said, he is right, he is not mad to sign his own name. I answered, is that your opinion, do you know that it is not sheep that are being banned, but people, and an oath will be needed for each one of them. Two of them who were involved in this banning said, it is easy to give an oath about them, all of them are Serbs. Then I went to see those whose names were written on the board, I came to three of them, two youngsters and one unmarried, I asked them, what kind of rebellion are you organising among these people.
(Hatred, strength and numbers rule here, weaker individuals suffer)
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They were surprised and asked, what kind of rebellion. There are your names on the board to ban you from here. Surprised, they said, we are playing cards here to pass the time, we are not meeting anyone, we mostly walk on our own. I asked them, can you tell who might have put that on the board. They showed me an elderly man, around 50. He is suspicious to me, too, because he is pushing this banning a lot. Then I met another man whose name was on the board, and asked, what kind of show are you making here in the camp. He looked at me, surprised at what I was saying. I told him, your name is on the board to be banned. He went to see the board, but they had already torn off the piece of paper. He then went to the Major to tell him what is being done in the Camp. When the Major heard him, he told him that he was going to watch who will report first. The same man then wrote a note and nailed it onto the board, which says, If there is anyone in this Camp, who has ever heard me say anything against the Austro Hungarian Monarchy, let him stand before me and tell me in front of everyone so I can hear, then I will go out of my own accord. And he signed his own name. That note was there for several days, but no one said anything, they were all quiet. This is how they were all banned out of hatred (the devils with horns banned those without). I also want to say this, in the last couple of months, April and May 2017, the Commander and all the military personnel have completely relaxed the strictness they were using before, so the people went completely wild, they cannot all gather for the roll call, they don't fear the police or obey any orders. The first lieutenant saw this, and on the 5th of May he stopped 30 of them who were late and gave them nine days of prison, but held them there only four days. Then again people began to report to roll call as soldiers, the earlier the better.
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Now I will talk a little bit about those who were banned from this camp, and about the 25 sharp objects they found among their clothes. First, they did not carry their own clothes, others collected and carried them, and could have put there whatever they wanted. Second, if they had what is said they had, it would not be surprising, because there are many such objects in the camp. Third, in 1916, Black Hand murderers were in this camp, feared by everyone, they were stealing clothes and doing all kinds of evil deeds, as I described their behaviour in the first book about prisoners. Everyone was afraid of them and sleeping in fear, until they threw them over the fence like cattle, but many of them stayed behind, but had to be quiet because they saw what had happened to their comrades, so people were sleeping in fear for a long time. Everyone had next to him a stick, a picket, or whatever else they could find. Now I will talk about Josip Rendulic, who I have already mentioned twice in this book. We found this Rendulic here when we arrived from Rottnest Island in Western Australia in November 1915.
Jozo immediately became a counter (company leader) of my 31st company. He stayed in that position for a short while, then he left the job, and two men took him to work in the cafe, he stayed in the cafe for a short while and soon left it, he could not stand his comrades. He resided in the same 31st barrack. This Jozo Rendulic, about 27 years old, had been everywhere in America, spoke English well, and German and Italian, too. In the census, he wrote he was of Croatian nationality, subject of Austria, born in Foca, Bosnia. He was well educated, had a good head and could talk about everything. He did not do any hard work, but could get into conversation with excellent people, he easily became friends with anyone, even educated people, if he needed something.
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He was in theatre somewhere in America, he was short-tempered and could not stand anyone to disagree with him, who knew less than he did. He quickly became angry, and argued mostly in front of his 31st barrack. He liked to talk, but people never agreed with him. I saw that several times, he immediately got angry and started an argument, but I have never seen him starting a fight, and I saw that, if anyone contradicted him who knew more than he did, he gladly listened, and did not disagree. So he was walking around without anything to do for a while, but then he had an idea that he wanted to start a theatre. So he gathered a group of people, one from Zagreb, whose name was Zlatko Fiser, who was educated just like he was, and others who were all workers from Dalmatia. They went to the Major to ask for a big tent. When the Major heard them, he promised he would give it to them, but first they had to bring people's names, to see whether people were happy with that. They did as the Major demanded, went to collect signatures and brought them to him as he wanted. He promised he would do it as soon as he could. Then they went to collect some money from people, so they could buy some goods to begin with performances, because in German theatre performances are in German language, and the Croatian workers did not understand that. They collected from people 25 pounds for the theatre, erected the tent and wrote the name, Prosvjeta (Enlightenment, Education). They obtained the goods, and performed for the first time on the 13th of August 1916 free of charge. Up to three hundred people gathered, full tent. For the first time, people could pay as they wanted, and the second evening payment was 1 penny, 3, 6 and 1 shilling. There were always plenty of people, as well as up to 17 actors. Josip Rendulic was managing the theatre, and Zlatko Fisher was secretary, and was also learning how to act.
(1 penny 5 coins, 1 shilling 60 coins)
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On the 18th of August 1916, birthday of His Majesty Franz Josef I, the detainees asked from the commander of the camp to allow them to organise a parade on that day in the fence, to celebrate the birthday of their ruler, but he did not want to allow that. In the evening, they organised as best they could to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty. There was a speech by a first lieutenant who was imprisoned in Russian Siberia, and then flew like an eagle over China. He spoke in German, but finished with shouting out Zivio (Long live) in Croatian. After him, there was the Croatian Dalmatian Grgo Sajin from Vodice, who had given a speech on the birthday of His Majesty in Rottnest Island in Western Australia on the 18th of August 1915. Several days after the celebration of His Majesty's birthday, the secretary of the theatre's empty coffers, Zlatko Fiser, and some of his friends, left the theatre because the performers had arguments amongst themselves. The money they collected for tickets, I don't know how they spent it, when they themselves did not know it, all angry at the empty coffers. They needed to borrow money to buy the necessary goods, and Prosvjeta accrued a debt. Josip Rendulic did not care about Zlatko F. And others, who had left the theatre. Jozo R. managed the theatre on his own, installed new comrades there. Josip R. taught them some funny skits from novels during the day so they could perform in the evening. Jozo R. worked hard day and night, so that the theatre Prosvjeta does not get a new master, but all that suffering was in vain, the one who was as good as he was, or perhaps even better, Z.F., he left the theatre. But what can Josip R. do on his own, he would be a good helper to the actors, but his friends don't understand such business. It is not easy for a shepherd to become a professor, nor to a worker who works with an axe to become an actor. I could see that those peasants have already become more knowledgeable than students. Some of them started learning how to write. If they were literate, they would be wise people. They are the kind of people this state needs, they would know how to check the accounts.
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So Jozo R. Worked hard with his group until the 9th of September 1916. On that day, a meeting was held for the Croatian nationals. People came to the meeting in Prosvjeta theatre, and Josip R. gave a speech. Gentlemen, I have been forced to call this meeting because we are in a difficult situation, we are overcome by poverty that we cannot withstand, but I hope that you will help us and aleviate our misery, this is our fault, but we cannot help it. Our Theatre is falling into debt, tell me what we want from it. There were up to 200 people at the meeting, they started shouting, how could you fall into debt, some were yelling, all of you went to cafes to eat while there was enough money, some were saying, why did you write Prosvjeta on the Theatre. Josip Rendulic asked, what would you like us to write, I want to write what you want, and some of you should join us with some money, and we will be more careful from now on. Again there was racket and shouting. You cannot enlighten anyone with your Prosvjeta (Education), you can only guide them to ignorance. On the 18th of August, you did not allow Mr First Lieutenant to speak Croatian. And Josip R. is responding to everyone. It is impossible to describe this shouting and racket faithfully. Jozo Resetar joined the company with some money, so they performed, but all was in vain. They wrote on the theatre, Austro Hungarian Theatre, then they quickly changed this to People's Theatre, and then back to Estrajh. We listened to what people were saying, all those in the Theatre are Serbs. After a while, Josip Rendulic called Zlatko Fiser to join the theatre again, but Zlatko Fiser did not want to return. After this, Josip R. and Zlatko Fiser argued and friends of J. Rendulic gathered in front of where he lived to beat him up. It is a disgrace for an educated man to endure such mockery from all kinds of people. His detention is twice as sad.
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When Zlatko Fiser left the Theatre, he taught several people German and English speaking and writing, and also taught several Germans to sing Croatian songs. That is how he earned some money for tobacco. He was a real lover of his homeland, born in the royal city of Zagreb. But Josip R. hated him, both complained to the Major, who knew both of them, but Josip R.'s complaint was successful, so the Major expelled Zlatko Fišer on the 28th of November 1916 from this camp to Dry by (?), where wealthier people reside. He went there sad and without a penny, and that would be shameful to a peasant, let alone an educated man. Josip R. continued to toil for the Theatre until the 6th of December 1916, and on this day he called a meeting, and said, gentlemen, I called you here to tell you that we can no longer endure these difficulties, we have to pay the debt. Again racket and shouting, where does the debt come from, some were shouting, why did you expel Fiser, others are happy that he left, and Josip R. in the middle of that noise said one can't understand what you are saying, just like when figs are sold at the markets. After a while, Josip R. took some Germans to work with electricity, who were paying rent (fit) to him and Jozo Resetar, while the rest of their friends lost their jobs and from then on hated the Theatre. All was quiet until the 4th of February 1917, when God gave us a great wind, which demolished the hated Theatre. So the wind paid the debt to Jozo Resetar, the actors scattered, and the earth relaxed, because the sin of Prosvjeta no longer existed. It is possible that God exists, you can see how he can bring peace among devils. Then Jozo Resetar thought of starting a new Theatre, so he can retrieve some pounds he lost in the old Prosvjeta, he spoke English well, so he went to the Major to ask him in the name of the people, and then Jozo Resetar sent some workers to the forest to log trees for the construction of the Theatre.
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The Major gave him horses and a cart to transport the trees free of charge. So several people worked for Jozo Resetar for a month, and two Germans worked as supervisors. They asked Jozo Resetar to pay them, and he responded that the Major would pay them with a percentage from the prison shop. The Germans got angry at that and cut down four of the most beautiful trees. Then Jozo Resetar called a meeting to say how and in whose name the building was being erected. They people started shouting, who told you to do that in the name of the people, without asking the people. They elected five members to manage the building of the Theatre. So they continued working until the walls were erected, but no one was covering, so the building stood their like Arena, the ancient fairy building in Pola. The committee expelled Jozo Resetar from the Theatre, and his debt from the old Prosvjeta was not acknowledged. But enough talking about this hatred.
Now I am asking those Croats Dalmatians, who called themselves Austrians in this Camp, and hated those who called themselves Croats, as those indeed were, and banned them. Tell me, what is the offence to our Austro Hungarian Monarchy, when a Croat Dalmatian calls and writes himself as of Croatian nationality, a Hungarian as of Hungarian nationality, a Croat of Croatian nationality, a Slavonian also of Croatian nationality, etc. I think there is no sin in that. Austria is an empire, the emperor in Vienna is a king of all. In war, a Croat fights for Croatia, Dalmatian for Dalmatia, Hungarian for Hungary, Austrian for Austria, but they fight the enemy all together as brothers, for their king and homeland. The emperor's flag is flying above all of them, so that the enemy may be defeated through unity.
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I don't want to curse you further, because we are full of hatred anyway, but I will tell you, if you unfortunately don't know who you are. From 1849 onward the Austrian citizenship was all one, until in 1867, when by virtue of Article XII of the law of 1867, the state independence of Hungary was recognised, and of all kingdoms existing within it. So after 1868, all could call themselves by their own nationality. I myself, the writer of this book, can tell you that a Croat, and nothing else, but here we are not free to talk about the Kingdom of Croatia among you Croats and Dalmatians who call yourselves Austrian. Here is the law that says that I am nothing else but a Croat, but a man has to defer to power, because those with power ban people to a different fence under the Serbian name, and even beat them up. There are no judges in this world as powerful as you are, oh Croats and Dalmatians who call yourselves Austrians. But I am not powerful, I want to endure even worse than this, so I call myself whatever you wish, and I write down what you are doing. God willing, freedom will come one day. Here is the Homeland Law of the 30th of April 1880 for you to read.
I Franz Josef I, by God's will the emperor of Austria, king of Czech and apostolic king of the kingdoms of Hungary, Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, confirm the Law about the administration of homeland relations in the Kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonija, as proposed by the Croatian-Slavonian-Dalmatian Parliament.

So tell me please, whether I can call myself Croat or not, I am Croatian and nothing else, but I am not allowed to say that among you.
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I am observing this injustice and describing it, hoping that an investigating court of H.M. Emperor and King will be held, where I intend to submit this description of your hatred against your Croatian and Dalmatian brothers, such that not even some really wild people could [do the same]. Answer me, are your heart and soul in pain if you ever think of them. I know they don't, because you were the ones who judged them and always talk against them. I heard enough of that, saying that whoever was banned from this main Camp, the state will behead them. Oh merciful judges, I don't know what those in Vienna and Zagreb will do, now that you took over their job. They will have to stand down when you return home. But according to the law, you would need to come to Zagreb, and introduce yourselves to judges and prefects so that they see who you are. Zagreb will greet you cheerfully, because that is not a joke, when peasants in detention get such honour to judge without the law, something that even his majesty the King would not be able to do. God willing, we will go there, but if they release us from here, Dalmatians will scatter everywhere, so I don't know what to say. But if all of us from here go home, there will be some of you Dalmatian and Croatian judges, and some will even be for Serbia, because you are more numerous than the Croats. Oh hatred among this nation, will you ever cease, there have been many centuries that your hearts are growling at their brothers full of hatred and laying their heads in front of swords, is there any Christian spirit in you, you would not be sorry if there were. You damned bandits, small children will curse you.
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I heard a lot of this hatred and evil thinking among those who wouldn't allow even mentioning of the Kingdoms of Croatia or Hungary, they call themselves hard Austrians, their families are with them, some of them were even spies for the police, they were trying to catch our people in some [illegal?] trade, that was their job. And now the English detained them, so there was nothing else to do but to call themselves hard Austrians. It would be too much if I wrote more about this, I have to skip it as if I had never heard about it. I have a lot to talk about to anyone I come across, priests and even Pope the Holy Father, who this people have no respect for. They also do not respect the master of heaven and earth, it is impossible to describe this evil of men. I don't believe that this kind of people can respect their ruler. I would have a lot to say to professors and students about Croats who call themselves Austrian, how much love they have for their homeland Kingdom of Croatia. I don't know why they hate it so much, that they don't want to have it mentioned here in detention. My heart is breaking but it is impossible to break, I have to endure it even if it becomes worse than this. Then I will talk about the Singing society. They sing Croatian songs, they turn them anew. You will now see this misery. Oh brothers, we are the sons of the Croatian tribe, therefore we should not be ashamed of our name, there is no tribe in the world that is olde and more glorious than our tribe. Think about it, you who hate your name, and you are Croats and Dalmatians, who call yourselves Austrian. You banned from the camp those who were not ashamed of their name. There are judges, who will judge you, someone has to be guilty, because the law will not permit one slave to judge another. (Oh priests you don't fair well, socialism rules everywhere)
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I also want to ask the Singing society, Croatia is not dear to you where Croats are in detention. I would not sing Croatian songs if I wasn't calling myself Croatian. They skipped this verse, why were they ashamed of it. All those who were later called Slavs, all of them carried the Croatian name before. Where Slovenes are from Steiermark, where Carinthia and Czech, Kranj and Ljubljana etc. Why are you ashamed of them, when you skipped their song. Think now, why are you singing this new song. Brother and brother, Austrian and Croat, always brothers, Austrian and Croat. I saw a singer, and asked him, why didn't they sing, brothers Austrian and Croat, and their half-brother the Hungarian. He answered, we don't like singing about him.
More news below. Brothers do not understand each other.
In June 1917, the Major ordained to select a leader of the camp and twelve committee members to represent the detainees. So they did. They selected the leader, and he continued his speech in the middle of the camp. He speaks German, talking about how he wants to do administration, and others are clapping their hands. I asked those who were next to me, what he was saying, because I didn't understand him, and they answered, no one understands him. I was surprised, he was clapping his hands without knowing why they were doing it, he did not understand what his own brother was saying, but he banned the one he had understood, and he was so heroic that he banned those who said they were Croats. Think about this song. Dalmatia is small, but its people are proud of it, and of the Croatian three-colour flag on the Sokol cap. (It is my duty to write this down, may those who know better judge me).
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Unexpected news came on the 30th of May 1917, On that day, the enemy officer announced to the Croats living in eight barracks, the 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 8th and 38th, that they should carry their things to the main gate of the fence, where these things will be put on a cart. When people heard that, they all started packing their things as quickly as possible and carrying them to the designated place. Those Croats who had been banned, they left at daybreak and we did not know for where, and we ourselves also didn't know where we were going. Some were saying, to Western Australia where we used to be, some were saying, we are going home, they want to let us go, but no one could tell for sure. So five companies were sent off walking one after the other by midday. Soldiers were with them, and the cart with their things behind them. Three companies were left for the afternoon, the 29th, 38th and my 31st barrack. At 2:00 pm the first one to go was the 29th, and then the 38th and my 31st company went together. We were walking, with the cart with our things following. After four miles of travel, they stopped us in the middle of a forest. We saw some tents and a small wire fence, woven as usual to prevent detainees from escaping. We could see those who left before us inside the fence, they were all gathered at the gate of the fence. Outside the fence we saw the banned Croats lined up, and the things were being loaded onto the cart. We didn't know what the news was. They ordered us to march forward, so we marched away from the fence up to 100 metres, and they stopped us there. We saw the banned Croats who started walking where we came from, and the cart with the things following them behind. Then they let us go into the fence. It became dark and the horn was sounding for roll call. The companies were lined up one after the other, and they counted us as usual. Then I walked around the fence to see
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what it looked like. It was a small fence, up to 130 m in width and similar in length, erected in short time. The tents were arranged in rows, and I could see that they were still erecting more tents. A place was prepared for cooking cauldrons, but I did not know when. Outside the fence were several tents for the soldiers, and inside the fence some thick tree stumps that were left over from the trees that were dug out. They started the fire there, shouting as if they were at the markets and swearing so much that it was terrible to hear. I was sad, thinking that not even Hell could be worse than that, but what could I do, I had to endure, I cannot bury myself alive. So I carried my things to the barrack where I was going to sleep. The earth was wet, but there was no one to complain to, I had to stay there as long as my back was healthy. There were five of us in the tent, and we were given as much bread as each of us was entitled to. The horn sounded and I was told that they were giving us tea. I went there carrying a mug for the tea, but in the end I did not get it since the first to get there had collected everything and there was nothing left for those who came later. I was hungry, but that could not be helped. I was listening how those that had been banned came there first, and then went back. Those banned Croats called Serbs were the first to come to the fence and the other companies were joining them one after the other as they were arriving. Everything was peaceful, one was talking to the other, a friend with a friend. Those banned were saying that we would go to freedom, that we had been freed by some people in London. But there is no friendship among adversaries, they are looking at one another as a dog and a cat. At midday, horn was calling to receive food. The companies lined up as they should, with the banned Croats in the same row. All are standing calmly, but where there is anger, an altercation will be started. One of the banned Croats had no peace, so he shouted, you expelled me, and then the whole comedy started. The Austrians he shouted at jumped up
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at this banned man. The soldiers around the fence were ready to start shooting. The Major rushed in, and yelled, hands up, but that did not calm them down. Then the Major said, who wants to get out of here, please get out. The Austrians he was talking to answered, someone must go out, it is up to you. There is only a small number of banned Croats, so the Major sent them back. I was listening to what the others were talking about, they were boasting, I hit that one, someone else hit another, I heard one saying, oh had he not turned his head, I would have driven a stick into his neck. So it was lucky as it happened, they did not spend the night all together. I was listening to those from the 38th company, who were travelling together with the 31st company. They were saying, what would have happened to them if our company had been inside, which is the worst. Desire for vengeance will remain in them for as long as they live, because those who were banned will also think about those who judged them and banned them. When the banned Croats were exiting from the fence, several of those called Austrians left with them, they were scared because they were called Serbs and their names were put on the board, so they preferred to go out together with those who were banned, rather than staying with those who were called Austrians. Some even left their things behind. They were right to do that, it is better to have a healthy back than a broken one, and here there is noone to complain to, strength is the only judge here regardless of the law. The English are happy when we fight each other, to whose health no one knows. While the Croats and Dalmatians are fighting amongst themselves in detention, they are defending the Austro Hungarian Monarchy from its enemies. There are many here who are faithful hard Austrians, and they always push that some evil happens. I will tell how I spent the first night. I spent more time around the fire than in the tent.
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They counted us in the morning, and on the 31st of May we got some black coffee and bread each, it looked bad, and there are no things to buy here like we used to have in the old fence. It is all forest here, there is no house in sight, so we are under these tents like in a desert. We see soldiers walk past, but no civilians. At 9:00 several officers came, and among them the Major, and we received orders to carry the things to the guards at the gate, and one company carried them immediately. They started carrying the things, and as each of them left them outside, they were returning to the fence. And when these did so, it started anew. The cart was already there, and soldiers were loading the things onto the cart. Then the company, whose things were being loaded onto the cart, were lined up four by four near the gate, waiting for the order to get out. Outside the fence, at around 4 metres distance, a tent was erected, where change of the guards was taking place. Four officers were sitting in that tent, and they ordered that men from the company whose things were being loaded onto the cart, should enter that tent one by one. So they began to go to the officers one by one. The rest of us were looking from the fence, but we could not hear anything. As each of them entered the tent, they stayed with the officers some 3 minutes, some 5 minutes, and so on. When they entered the tent, they were asking them questions, but we can see that none was bending down to sign anything. The road was up to 30 metres away from the fence, there were soldiers waiting there for those who were finished with the questioning in the tent, and when they gathered 20 of them or more, the soldiers led them the same way we arrived. They took them so far that we could no longer see them. They were waiting there until the whole company was gathered. Then they were taking them to the old camp where we resided before.
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But the rest of us in the fence did not know where they were taking them or what they were asking. We started agreeing with those who were on their way out to let us know where they were taking them and what they were asking. Some would take his hat off, some would make a sign with his hand, some with his leg, depending on what they agreed. So we found out that they were asking them whether they wanted to be freed under the Serbian name, and that they were being taken to the camp where we were before. Now I will talk about how on the same, before 10 am, I was so hungry that I could not go anywhere. There were more men who were very hungry, who saw half a sack of oats that was issued for lunch the following day. There was a fire there that was burning there overnight and several cauldrons, so they did not even wait for the water to boil properly, but add the flour and mix it a couple of times but not too many, because they could not wait. So they take that to the tent, noone cares what it was like, they all shout, give me. I also brought my plate not looking at what it was like, because i was completely overcome by hunger. Two companies were interrogated and sent away before midday. Lunch was ready, horn was calling. There was no order, everyone was pushing to get to the kettle as quickly as they could, so not everyone could have some. Two more companies were sent away in the afternoon, giving us signs where they were going. Josip Rendulic from Prosvjeta Theatre, who had been among those who were banned, walked around the tent where interrogation was taking place. I cannot say why, but I could see that, since he had been banned, he became great friends with the military, and he was a friend of theirs even before. I can see from the fence that he is not guarded any more by the soldiers, he arrived in the morning without any soldiers, and he left in the evening without them. I heard those who were with me saying that Josip R. was urging the banned men
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residing in Kroatien Camp no. 3 to join the Yugoslav society in London, and that he intended to urge us to do the same, so we could also be freed. Four companies were left for the following day. Dinner is being prepared, there is some meat left, so there are more cooks than kettles, everyone would like to help so they can eat. They counted us in the evening, and with the dinner finished, again there is no order, just like there was no real order when we were coming to this fence. Food was distributed, but still some were left without. There were several fires in the fence, people were warming themselves around them, and talking about what was happening with the detainees. At 10 pm, the horn was calling for sleeping time, so some people went to sleep, while others stayed at the fire all night. So I got up around 4:00 am and went to the fire to warm myself up, and I could see that in several places they were cooking coffee. So I got some coffee, too. They got the coffee from the coffee that was distributed at lunch. Black coffee is taken for hunger and for thirst. At daybreak on Friday the 1st of June, the cooks prepared coffee for lunch. The horn sounded roll call, and they counted us so we can go and get the coffee. One after the other, the companies were queueing when the black water was distributed, and yesterday when they were distributing food, everyone was rushing to the kettle. After lunch, two companies received orders to carry things just like those the day before. At 9:00 am officers came, the same ones that were interrogating yesterday, but they did not go to the same tent where they were before, but to another one, 20 metres away from the fence, so we who stayed behind could not see them as we did yesterday. Those two companies were ordered to enter the tent one by one. Jozo Rendulic also came and was walking near the tent and waiting for something, and I can't say for what purpose he was walking until midday, while these two companies were being interrogated and sent away. Two companies were left for the afternoon, the 29th and mine, the 31st. They called the counters (company leaders) of these two companies to come outside the fence early in the morning, and
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they didn't allow them to go back. In my 31st company, we selected another man, but soon he was called outside the fence and was not allowed to go back in. I received a cooked meal, the food was as usual, and then we received the news that the officers left and would not be interrogating in the afternoon. They brought some hay, so those of us who stayed got it so we would not lie on the ground. The commander for us and the soldiers is the oldest first lieutenant, who does not look British-born, but must be from our parts, crafty as a fox. We overnighted there, and in the morning of Saturday the 2nd of June, we received the news that the officers would not come to buy us, they had some kind of holiday, so we will be left for another day. But we did not care either, they would not buy many of us when they wanted to, we are fine because there are only few of us, and we have established proper order. Immediately after lunch, this first lieutenant came to us inside the fence, and, laughing, he told us all to go to one side. Some were shouting, I don't want to, some why when we made our place here. Mr first lieutenant was just laughing, but he set his sights on one, who was saying, you Englishmen don't know what you are doing, you are already confused, why did you send us here, you are like water that flows here and there, that is how you are treating us, that a man would not treat black men like that. The officer was just smiling, and everyone was moved from one end to the other, shouting and cursing. The officer, still laughing, said that the empty tents had to be taken down and moved to one tent, so we would have more space for walking. Some were shouting, I don't want to, some I don't, but they were still doing as he said. When they arranged the tents, the first lieutenant said again, it is Sunday tomorrow, higher officers may come, we need to clean the fence so they don't find it messy. Take the rake and collect the fire. So that was done, too. And the officer said, you can see now, it is nicer to walk.
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So the whole day on Saturday, the officer again came out of the fence to talk to us. He was interrogating about everything, asking, are you all Austrian, they said we are. I would like to learn how to speak Austrian, he said. They started teaching him, they speak Croatian in front of him, because they don't know otherwise, and he is pronouncing clearly after them and laughing. I can hear him saying, I read your books. I keep quiet and listen to what they are talking about. The officer said, Italians are good, and our people answered him badly. The officer then started to praise his army and the army of their allies, but our people do not allow him to utter a word, they were saying, nothing of yours is good. The officer said, we have big cannons here, and one of our men who was nearby said, I could carry your cannon on my shoulder, and another one said, I would carry two of them on my shoulder. The officer was listening, that wasn't to his liking, and he found out everything he wanted to (it is easy to find out things with these people). The officer left the fence, and our people were saying, what kind of officer is he, who gave him that honour, he is a real joker. Then I told those people, he is a wise man, he is asking you this and that to see what you would be like if you were let free, and there are those among you, perhaps, who would prefer to stay here, and judging by what you were saying, he could not let you go free in this country. Beware him. The first lieutenant heard everything that he had never heard before to his heart's content. So Saturday went by. Sunday dawned on the 3rd of June, and we saw soldiers walking past our fence, and sisters came to look at the soldiers. Detainees liked seeing that, because they had not seen a female for as long as they were in detention. We asked the first lieutenant where those first companies went. He said, I don't know. Our people responded, they went to the old camp where we resided before. The officer said, you found out about this
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from those who were waving their hands and hats, that is why you were always looking at them. Sunday went by, we slept another night and on Monday the 4th of June we had our lunch when we were ordered for the 29th company to take their things to the gate, and my 31st company would be left for the afternoon, and lunch was being prepared for them. The 29th company brought their things and a panel of four officers came, one of whom was wearing a black coat. They gave the order that this company should take their things outside the fence, and then return to the fence again. They took the things out and returned into the fence, the cart for the things was already there. Josip Rendulic didn't come. We were talking with those whose turn it was to go to interrogation, to agree on which signals they should give. They were calling us to the man in the black coat one by one. They gave us signs that the man in the black coat was asking in Croatian, who wanted to go to Serbia. So by noon the 29th company was sent away. We have to think, because we cannot find out whether anyone stayed with the Serbian name. We can see that they were always taking them away all together along the same way we came. It is my company's turn as the last one. We finished our lunch, and then we were carrying our things, just like the first lot. We received the order that we have to enter the tent one by one for the interrogation. It was my turn, so I entered, and the one in the black coat asked me for my name. I told him. He asked me what I was, I responded, a Croat. Then he asked, would you like to be freed, I answered, everyone is happy to be free. He asked me, why are you detained, and I answered, for the King and my homeland. He asked, what is your homeland, I answered, Kingdom of Croatia. Then he answered, where is your Kingdom of Croatia, the Hungarians have grabbed it, and I responded to the gentleman in the black coat, by law, no one has yet grabbed Croatia. Hungary and Croatia are both kingdoms that live together in agreement
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under the Hungarian crown. He asked, and where is the king of those kingdoms. Then I had to say, the one in Vienna, Emperor of Austria. He did not want to ask any further questions, so he called the next man in. I joined those who had been interrogated before me. They asked me, what did the man in the black coat ask you, and I answered, he asked me my name, what I was, and nothing else. Several young Croats were telling us what he had asked them, and one said, he asked me what I was, and I said to the man in the black coat that I was a Croat, he asked me again, are you a hard Croat, I responded, a hard Croat. Then he asked me whether my father was a hard Croat, I said, he was a hard Croat and so am I. He asked me, would you fight as a Serbian soldier, I said, there was no way. I was listening to another one, he said, he asked me what I was, and I said a Croat in community with Austria, he asked, would you fight as a Serbian soldier, I answered there was no way, he asked, would you go to war for Austria, I said, gladly. Then he said, then it will be your turn next Sunday, a ship will come to pick you up. I responded, I am always ready. I heard more stories like this one from young Croats who had never been soldiers, they were not ashamed to call themselves Croatian in front of these gentlemen. And those older Croats, who had been soldiers before, they were hard Austrians, Croatia cannot be mentioned to them here in detention. I was listening to one Croat who had been a soldier, he said, who has ever heard about Croatia, then in further conversation I mentioned Zagreb and the University, and he answered, every city has a University. I said, perhaps you didn't know that Zagreb is a royal city, have a look in a book that tells the truth, he said, books will drive you mad. When I heard this, I saw that unfortunately there was no point talking to him, and responded, damn the men who are ashamed of their own name.
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When he finished interrogating the entire company, we went back where we came from, talking along the way. I am listening to the Dalmatians, they were saying, he asked me what I was and I said Austrian, then he asked me where I was born and I said in Dalmatia. Then he asked me whether I would like to be a Serbian soldier, and I said I wouldn't, so he called the next man in. Most ot them were saying the same thing. We arrived at the camp that we left from, and heard some shouting, hooray. We came to the barrack where we used t reside, but we found it empty, they had taken away everything that was left, we threw away a lot thinking that we were going to the sea. What else can I write, everyone knows what it's like in an empty barrack, those who had money were buying as if they had come to detention only yesterday, and those who didn't, were sleeping on the floor. The Major did not give us anything, he started to erect iron beds in those barracks that were on the marketplace, beds for 20 men were erected every day. I would also like to talk about those companies that came here before my 31st company. There was one camp manager there, his name was Cimerman, he was installed by the Major. When these companies came, together with the Germans, they sacked him, suspecting that he had known where everyone was going, but did not want to say. Then the Major allowed them to install a new managerr and 12 committee members, of which all those selected were Germans, and from the Austro Hungarian Monarchy only through a lot of effort an Istrian was selected to act as a representative free of charge. Then again the Major allowed that two Dalmatians act as interpreters for the Croatian language in the hospital, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, who were paid one shilling each. I would like to talk about the officers and the man in the black coat who were gathering people for Serbia. On Monday the 4th of June, when we arrived at the old camp where we had been before, after dinner, they opened the gates on the fence on three sides.
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They were so smart, they probably wanted some people to go out, but no one wanted. After a while, two policemen came to pick up a man, they took him through the gate to the guards, and then the policemen also brought his things. He said he was from Vienna. That was happening at the gate near my 31st barrack. The policemen went with him to Kroatien Camp no. 3. People were gathering there like crows, I was listening to what they were saying, what a disgrace, he is an Austrian and he went to become a Serbian soldier. The police then dispersed them and closed the gate. Then I walked to the main gate of the fence, where I saw some policeman carrying the things of a Czech man, and he was walking with them. Then I saw a Dalmatian, who was a hard Austrian, who went with a policeman to the military area, and the policemen later brought him his things. Further, one Dalmatian who was also a hard Austrian, who had been banning and even beating Croats on the 1st of April, now they bought him for Serbia and took him from the fence before my 31st company came from the marketplace. Downright funny. The same evening, I was listening to some young Croats, who had told me before what they were answering in the interview, they were telling those who came to this camp before my 31st company, and one was saying, he asked me what I was, I answered, a hard Croat, then he asked again, are you a hard Croat, I said yes, they again he asked me if my father had been a hard Croat, I said he was, then he asked, would you go as a Serbian soldier, I said no way. Other people were saying the same thing, and these hard Austrians were looking and listening how those were boasting that they said they were hard Croats, while thinking quietly and it is showing on their faces, he said he was a Croat, yet he wasn't taken to be a Serbian soldier. These men calling themselves Austrian thought that the Croats had lost their own name, that they had to be re-baptised, just as those men there were re-baptised and Croats were dispersed under the Serbian name
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Just like wolves who disperse the sheep, and they can never come together again. So the first night passed in this camp which I had left to go to the marketplace. The 5th of June dawned, and I was walking around the fence and had a look at the camp of those who had been banned, I could see that they were preparing their things and putting them on one pile. Soon the horn sounded and I went to roll call and to take some lunch. When I was finished with my lunch, I looked at their fence to see those who had been banned, and I could see that they were lined up four by four, their things were being loaded onto the cart, and they were heading where I came from the day before. I looked at their tents to see as they were leaving, some stayed behind, but I did not know who or how many. As I was walking, I came across two men, one of whom was insisting on banning others from the beginning. I started talking to them, and said, I think there are some Serbs who were left behind, and one of them answered, only two stayed behind, and he told me their name, and that they resisted, saying they could kill them, but they did not want to leave the fence. He also said that there was some racket among them all night, and some were fighting. And he added, let them, it will be even worse. (He should say whatever he knows about them, so I can hear it and write it down, and answer about it) The following day, they dismantled the tents where those who had been banned were residing, so I won't know what's happening with them until I hear something. I spoke again with an old Croat, and asked him what the man in the black coat had asked him, he responded, he asked me what I was and I said I was Austrian, they he asked me whether I was Italian or Dalmatian bur Croat, I said I was a Croat. Then he asked me whether I knew how to write, and I said I did.
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Then he showed me a book and asked me to read, and I said I could not, and asked him, is the book written in Croatian, he said yes, why didn't you see for yourself what is written there and what kind of book it was. I did not want to, so I said I didn't know how to. Then he asked me if I wanted to go as a Serbian soldier, I said I didn't. Then I came across an educated man from Istria, and we had a nice conversation. He was saying, these Istrians who say they are some kind of Croats, we are all Austrians, I am not Croatian, I speak some Croatian, some Italian, some German and some English. I know a little bit of each language, but I am not a Croat. Then I was sitting one day on a fence near the theatre, two Istrians came to me, I knew them well. One sat down without a word, and the other one continued talking about states. He started saying about those who had been banned, oh what, those damned Serbs, they would like to help Serbia. I responded, they are not Serbs, they are Croats. He said, there are no Croats here, we are all Austrians. I answered, I am not Austrian, I am a Croat, then he said, then you are the same as they are, you Croats always search for something but cannot find it, you are never satisfied. I asked him, how do you know that Croats are never satisfied, he said, I've seen it with my own eyes, you are always complaining, always causing commotion. I responded, you are also of Croatian nationality, you should not be ashamed to call yourself a Croat, you also finished Croatian schools, tell me, where are you buying books for your education, and he said, in Trieste and Ljubljana. I asked him what kind of books he was reading, and he said, I had bought a Political Primer but I could not understand anything that was written there, so I threw it away. I laughed at this, he didn't even finish primary school, but he wants to read a political primer straight away. I was walking with the same man on the 30th of June 1917 during roll call, and he started talking
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about those who had been banned. I told him, they will have to have a court process for those people, he said, why court, their heads should roll, they are all Serbs. I answered, there will be oath-taking and witnesses for them and against them. He said, what witnesses, I can be a witness for everyone.
And another interesting story, on the 1st of April, when the Austrians were banning the Croats, they wanted to ban one Croat from Zumberak, but happened not to be in the barrack. The following day I the writer was going to work, and at midday I was going to my barrack. On the way, I saw that up to 20 people gathered in front of barrack 28, where this Croat was residing. Among them, I could see the bully who was always instigating banning, and his strong man was with him, who was recently detained, who was collecting names to take to the Camp commander, saying, those who do not want to sign are all Serbs. He rolled his sleeves up when he was talking to this Croat, either you will leave of your own volition, or we will chase you out like we did those yesterday. So the Croat, Stjepan, said if that's so, I will go on my own after lunch. There was a meeting to organise a theatre, only people from Austro Hungarian monarchy were there. Stjepan was sitting on the bench not far from me. The one who had rolled his sleeves to ban him earlier asked, has that Croat left the fence, or is he perhaps still here. So Stjepan the Croat stood up and shouted, here I am. Haven't you left, and Stjepan said I will go, but could you please tell me who has ever heard me say anything against the state, please stand up and let me know. Noone said anything. Then the one with rolled sleeves who was banning him like a prosecutor asked him, will you be faithful to the state from now on.
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Stjepan answered, I was a soldier faithful to the King and the state, and now I ended up here, where I cannot help the state or even help myself. The prosecutor again, say that you will never be against it. Stjepan answered, if I were against the state I would be against myself, God forbid. Then they left him in peace that day. That really looked ridiculous. After this investigation, I came to the barrack and heard people saying, no one wanted to stand up and talk against him. In the evening, I was walking with Stipe and his friend Miko, both from Zumberak, who were telling me that they travelled around the world but never saw people like this, who boast with their strength, do whatever they want, and do not observe the law. Stjepan was telling me, did you hear how he was interrogating me, as if he were a judge, and not a detainee like myself and everybody else. If we could, we would prefer to live in hell rather than here with them. On the 3rd of April, an announcement was nailed to the board, and the one who nailed it didn't sign it. It said, whoever submitted an application to the society in Boulder, should leave the fence, or else he still go out with a broken back. Stipan and Miko saw this and got scared because they were called Serbs because they signed as of Croatian nationality, so in the morning they collected their things and, together with two young men from Croatian Littoral [Hrvatsko Primorje] and one Dalmatian, who were residing together, they took their things to the main gate of the fence. The Major came and they told him what was happening. He sent them back, he didn't want to let them join those who had been banned. After that, I heard several times people saying, they should have been banned, why did they leave them here, they are always on their own, they are really Serbs. It stayed that way until the 1st of May of the same year. In the early morning of that day, an announcement was nailed on the board, with nine names, this Stipan, those two young men, Miko Cukfirer, whose surname they didn't know and five other names (all this happened in 1917). It said,
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Brothers, ban these people from the fence, and again the note wasn't signed. People gathered there and I, the writer, asked why did not this person sign heir name, to say what he knows against these people, they said, he is not crazy to sign his name. I responded, those are people, not sheep, that you want to ban, oath-taking will be needed for them, one answered, it is easy to take an oath, they are all Serbs. Then I went to the barrack where Miko Cukfirer and those two young men from Hrvatsko Primorje were living, and Stipan wasn't in the barrack, he was in jail. I will talk more about him below. I asked those three, what is it with you, why did they write your names on the board to ban you from this camp. Cukfirer said, this is news to us. They went to look at the board, but the announcement was already taken away. They told me, let people do whatever they want, we are not touching anyone, we are always in the barrack, either reading or playing cards, we walk on our own, we don't keep company with anyone, what do these people want from us, they probably dislike us because we wrote that we were of Croatian nationality, not Austrian. We have always been Croats, so how can we now be ashamed of it, that is impossible. I went to my 31st barrack, they immediately started telling me, now you can see whether they are Serbs or not. I asked, what do you mean, they told me, their names are on the board. I asked them, do you know anything against them, they answered, if we don't, there are those who know, who have nailed their names on the board. I responded, why do those people not come out to say what they know in front of everyone, rather than nailing announcements in the dark, and then hiding. And those who come to read, keep yelling, ban the devils. That was how the first group was banned. They asked me, why do you defend them, and I said
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I feel sorry for every man who is bullied and persecuted without a cause, one has to come out and stand in front of the man, and tell openly in front of people, this is what he is, rather than cheering that the Serbs will be banned, like the first lot was.
That is why I will always say that one needs to know exactly about someone before banning him, because there will be a court after the war, and each one of those who were banned will ask for the court, people are not sheep. They hated me when I said that, but I don't mind, I am never ashamed to say what is just. Now about Miko Cukfirer. On Rottnest Island, on the 18th of August 1915 for His Majesty K. Josef I's birthday, he was directing the parade of Austro Hungarian reservists. In 1916, here in Liverpool, he wanted to celebrate His Majesty's birthday with reservists, like he did in Rottnest, but the Major did not allow it. On the 27th of January 1917, birthday of His Majesty, German Emperor Willim [?], there was a lovely parade, Germans with their reservists, and Miko Cukfirer Simenic with our Austro Hungarian reservists. Miko was commended by the German and Austro Hungarian reserve officers, and all the Englishmen. Now I will talk about Stipan, who was in jail. Stipan was sick and went to the hospital to be given medication every morning. Some of those Croats who had been banned from no. 3 were also coming to hospital, and one gave Stipan some papers into his pocket, so he would give it to his brother. A soldier noticed this and took Stipan in front of the Major, and put him to prison for 24 hours because letters had to be sent by mail, and not carried. On that paper, its was written, dear brother, send me one pound. Stipan was in jail, and the news about came to fence no. 1, they were saying, the Serb was carrying letters, he should be banned immediately and sent to Serbia. On the 1st of May at midday Stipan came back, they were looking at them like crows but did not know how to organise a chase, they tried in the morning but did not succeed.
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He carried the letter, got a prison sentence for that and spent a day and a night in prison, and they were waiting to come out so they could ban him from the fence as if he had been a traitor to the military.
I have more funny examples of these young men who resided with Stjepan and some others that are really funny, so if a court trial is held, I will have a lot to talk about, and I hope it must be held, to list all the small details, which now I don't feel like doing, and I can't do it, because I live worse than I would in the middle of hell. On the 30th of June, when we were walking to the marketplace, and when that rebellion happened with those who called themselves Austrians, and those Croats who had been banned, those who were banned were leaving the fence, and Stjepan, Miko and more of them were among them. They will say themselves why they joined those who had been banned, and now they reside in the fence where there used to be a marketplace for Serbian soldiers.
There is news again, in the morning of the 12th of July 1917, around 10 am, two men started a fight in the 27th barrack. We got the news in my 31st barrack. First, everyone was cheering, and people started saying, there will be some banning in the afternoon. I heard them saying, there are still many of those filthy Serbs, they have to be banned like those before. I heard one of them saying, now they have free way to go. The fence where we were on the marketplace for Serbia was finished, and they were banned there. Another one was saying, how come those bastards did not say anything, but they went for Serbia, one said to that, they are hoping that the war will finish soon, but they don't know the outcome. I was just listening to this without saying anything, and then I went out of the barrack to the board where announcements were nailed. I found a man there, who was reading something. He told me, what kind of people is this, as soon as two start a fight, they immediately start shouting that someone has to be banned. I responded, I heard that just now in my own barrack. In the evening, I was walking around the fence, I came across a man I knew and we were saying how two men started a fight this morning
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I, the writer, said how come they start shouting straight away that people have to be banned, and we were all at the marketplace for Serbian soldiers, and we returned. Four people stayed, they left the fence in the evening, so who would they like to ban now. He answered, I started yelling at them, who do you want to ban, they didn't go when we were being interrogated about becoming a Serbian soldier, so who could they be banning now. I noticed that people were mocking this. Again I had the news from those who had been banned, several of them went as soldiers, and I heard that the Englishman was drilling them in Liverpool, and wanted to send them to France.
There was again news that I had not been expecting on the 23rd of April this year. I was walking in the everning around the fence, because I had nothing else to do, then I had enough of walking and I went to my barrack, thinking bedtime is coming soon. I entered my compartment, where ten of us were living together. It was 8:30, and they were talking, as is a custom among our people, to continue until dawn. I heard them saying, there were three hundred of them, I asked, three hundred of what, and they answered of Serbs, when Prosvjeta theatre was in operation, another one said, there were four hundred of them. I asked, so if all of them were Serbs, and they have gone, how many would be left behind. M. [Mate?] answered, we would be the only ones left, and he didn't want to say who 'we' were. Then I asked M., so where are those three hundred, and he answered, they are there, they have been banned, and some of them went of their own accord. When he said that, I told him, there are fifty-one of those who were banned, and M. said, altogether there are 80 of them. I asked, where are two hundred and twenty more, they were at the marketplace with us, they did not want to go for Serbia. M. answered, they are here in the camp, now they are keeping quiet because they are afraid to take a gun into their hands. I asked M, would you tell me who they are.
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M. answered angrily, you are the same as they are if you are defending them. I asked M., tell me who they are, show me at least five or three of them so I know, and M. answered angrily, you are worse than they are, you were defending the first lot, so I am telling you that you are worse than they are.I responded to M., they want their heads to roll, and M. asked, who said that, I responded, it will be made known later, and what will happen to me if I am worse than they are, we will need a court trial, M. said. I have never been at the court, and I don't want to, I answered we can't go to Zagreb or Vienna, they are far away now, but we can see the Major in the morning to see what he wants to tell us. In the morning, I asked the company leader to take me to the Major, because I cannot see the Major without him. The company leader tried to dissuade me, he did not want to face the Major with those issues. He said, he will not judge on those matters, he will just laugh. I said, I know as well that he does not care much about that, but he is the judge, he detained me, he can impose order on us if he wants to. I would ask the Major whether stronger prisoners rule over the weaker ones here, or he rules over all of us, and I would tell him how unrest was in the making just like when the first lot was banned. The leader was dissuading me, and I made a great effort to obey, so I have to carry the name uglier than those whose verdict is that the state wants to sever their heads, tried by those who banned them.
Mate didn't want to reveal a single one of those 220, so I have to be the only one in this camp under this name until freedom comes, and a court is organised. Let the court then adjudicate, to see the people who are Serbs.
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Oh friends, may you be healthy, I will tell you the truth
Because God likes the truth, the just person is not led astray
Heaven and earth come together, heaven does not accept malicious gossip
The earth says, all secrets have to be known
Whether people are evil or good, only the judge can say
I am always surprised, oh God, how can a secret be known
How do secret policemen sniff out every wrongdoing
But now I witnessed it, it is all before my eyes
Whatever the court might need
Finally came to light.

VERTICAL WRITING:
Investigation begins about those three.
Listen to this, I did not expect it to happen.
In the evening of the 5th of August of that year, I was walking around the fence on my own, and one man approached me, who had never walked with me before. He started conversation about the spiritual law, and about how people were swearing, and no one respected God. I liked the way he was talking, so I was responding to him nicely. But bit by bit, he started talking about the banned Croats, how he registered five people from his barrack in the prisoners' office, and he invited two men to come with him, he said who they were, they knew how to speak well, so we wrote down more people when we went to ban them, some fourteen men from my barrack went to look for those five. We found them lying in the grass and ordered them to get up and go, get up immediately, they had to because they would otherwise be beaten. Jakov Botica wanted to beat them, but I didn't let him, it was better not to do it. Then we went to get your Stipe from the 38th barrack, he said he did not need Austria, then he stood up, banning people everywhere, did you see how the devilish Jakov Botica became a soldier now. I listened to him and answered nicely. He was from the 30th barrack
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I just needed him. Then an investigation started about these three men.
The fifth of August, Our Lady of the Snows, I did not ask him, he said everything of his own free will.

Then there is this. Not everyone would believe me that among the Croats and Dalmatians in this camp one is not allowed to call oneself a Croat, let alone mentioning Croatia, everyone is afraid, and one is not allowed to mention Hungary, the only thing one can mention is Austrian and Austria. And who proscribed it, the very Croats and Dalmatians amongst themselves, no one else. And they are singing songs, writing announcements and nailing them to the board all in Croatian, but I can see who is reading them, who is talking to whom, I can hear them speaking in our language, but I can't hear the word Croatian. I heard them saying, in our language, Austrian. So I the writer now have to be careful that, when I talk to someone in the barrack, I don't make the mistake of saying Croatian or Croatia, even when I am talking to a Croat. One has to think about it, it almost makes me cry.
Here is an example. An announcement was nailed onto the board on the 3rd of August, in three days there will be an exhibition of all sorts of things, whoever made something should bring it to the skating rink [?] ???, and no longer to the theatre, starting from the 4th of August, entry 6 and 3 pence. Signed by a young Dalmatian, around 19 years old, representative of Austrians, who had learned some German here. Another anouncement on the board on the 7th of August, only for the Austrians. Austrians, learn English, the greatest language in the world is English. Teacher is Helterhoff. Whoever wants to learn should register and sign their name to Mr Turkovic of the 29th company, 5th fence. He was from Istria.

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Next to this another announcement, Austrians, learn German, the second language in the world and a most excellent language. The German teacher is Helterhoff, register to Turkovic. How can an Austrian learn German, if German is his mother tongue. This was written for Croats and Dalmatians, but it is not allowed to say Croats, learn German.
In Liverpool detention, there are up to eight hundred people of Croatian nationality. Hungarians, Germans and Austrians call these people Croats, since that is what they are, but among this nationality there are those who renamed this Croatian nationality and called themselves Austrians, so everyone had to forget quickly about Croatia and calling themselves Croats, that stopped altogether, those who called themselves Croats were banned from the camp as Serbs, and others who were Croats in their heart had to be quiet and be very careful not to pronounce the word Croatian or Croatia. Then I saw that several men from Dalmatia wrote on their hats the word Austrian, and it is not easy to say Croatian in front of them. The announcement on the board is written in Croatian, but those who read it don't want to say it is written in Croatian, but in our Austrian language. They are ashamed of their name ad their homeland, kingdom of Croatia, that is sad.
The second story is about a Croat from Kocevlje. An old man, 60 years old, who had lived in this country close to 30 years and was taken to detention, was selling goods in the camp. He came in front of my 31st barrack, he understood and spoke German and English. He was asked whether he was German or Austrian, and the old man answered I am a Croat from Kocevlje, and those who were around him were all Croatian nationals.
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They all remained silent, no one said a word as if hit by a gun, since they don't like hearing about Croatia, and our worthy old man is not ashamed to say he is a Croat from Kocevlje. Long live our worthy old man. Long live our people from Kocevlje, who love their homeland, kingdom of Croatia.
I also have to make a note about this Croat from Dalmatia, hard Austrian, who would not say he was Croatian for any treasure in the world, but only a hard Austrian. He was from the town of Rogoznica. He was carrying branches on the 16th of August to decorate the theatre, and then disappeared during the night. I am glad to see those Croats who rename themselves as Austrian run away, I don't know how or where. I do not want to change my Croatian name and neither will I be ashamed of it for as long as I live, but here I have to keep quiet and write about what these people who call themselves Austrian are doing.
Thank God, I have seen in this detention what I had never seen before. On the 27th of August an announcement was nailed to the board, for the attention of young Croats, we have plenty of time, let it not pass in vain, gather in as high numbers as possible, we will learn about geography two hours every day, young people will need that in the army, I will teach you free of charge. A. Horn. He was a reserve lieutenant who came from Czech. Look at the Croats from Dalmatia how they are ashamed, they nailed to the board on the 31st of August, Concert of the Austrian singing society. All of this happened in 1917.
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Now look at our Croats from Dalmatia, how they like their homeland and how they write about it. On the 9th of September there was an announcement on the board, there will be a meeting of the Austrian singing society, Ivan Cvitanovic, secretary.
Three men went free during the night of the 12th of September, they say one was from Vienna and two from Dalmatia. I spoke to these two a short while before they left, they were saying that they would go if they were allowed to go free, but not in the name of something, that they would prefer to work for food only rather than being among these people.
The following day on the 13rh of September, I heard one man at the fence near the theatre shouting, three men left for Serbia last night, it would be best to ban them all from this fence now, but he did not say who he meant.Those who wanted to go to Serbia but did not go were at the market, but now they should be banned from the fence. As is the old custom, the stronger group and their friends want to ban the individuals of the weaker group.
Judges in detention Croatian Dalmatian Catholics Liverpool the 14th of September 1917

On this day, several detainees came here from Western Australia, and one among them had left Rottnest Island in 1915 to freedom under three enemy flags, English, French and Russian. His surname is Tolj and he is from Vrgorac. When they entered the fence, Tolj was given residence in the 26th barrack. I the writer went there to see him, but he was surrounded by people so I had difficulty squeezing in. I saw Tolj standing in front of the barrack, holding in his hand a plate and a pot, and one man stood next to him and talked to him. Tolj became pale as if he were already dead. That was at 2 pm.
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I the writer went from there to my barrack, then several minutes later they told me that Tolj went to get a meal from the kitchen. After several minutes, I exited the barrack and saw some commotion of the people, but I could not get closer to see what they were doing. I quickly went to the other end of the barracks, and between some barracks I first saw Tolj, and then people rising like black craws, they were chasing him to the main gate of the fence, across to the military area. Looking at Tolj being chased, one would say that he was drunk, I could see that he would like to collapse on the ground but could not, whenever he leaned to do it someone's fist prevented him, and so he always continued for more than two hundred metres of distance. The policemen opened the gate so Tolj somehow passed through to the military area, and the policemen took him cheerfully to hospital. Looking at Tolj being escorted like that, I noticed that he was rubbing his left eye and looking at his bloodied hand. After that, people dispersed around the fence and the barracks, and I the writer noticed while walking that people were gathering again. I walked faster to see, and saw that the Germans were chasing one of their own, who had arrived in this fence today with Tolj, wanting to ban him from the barrack, and as he was rushing to escape, he fell on the ground. People gathered around him, and he quickly stood up and ran to the gate healthy. The Germans did not judge him harshly, they did not want to beat him, and let them go healthy. And our Dalmatian Austrians, Catholics on top of that, they were merciless judges. After that I came to my barrack, and found a gathering there as was customary every day. I listened to them talking about Tolj. When he brought his meal from the kitchen and started eating, someone brought the letter that Tolj had
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written and sent to Rottnest when he came out to freedom, and was reading the letter while Tolj was eating. At this, Tolj cursed the Serbian king and queen, and they immediately started whipping him, one with a club and another one pushed him against the barrack, and some people with their fists. I can't even describe how they tortured him. There was a piece of flesh hanging above his left eye that they had torn off, and when they maimed him like that, they propped him up and continued chasing him as I described at the beginning. Then I heard them say that they didn't deal with him properly since he was able to walk on his feet. An older Croat said, they should have done it better, as he cursed my father and mother and yours. Dalmatians told him, but he cursed the Serbian king. Tolj suffered like Jesus when he was tortured by the Jews, this is the same example, and these were Catholics, Croats and Dalmatians who call themselves Austrians, who judge without the law. I the writer cannot judge him, it is not up to me to do that, but I think that there is no law in the world, which would prosecute a beast like that, let alone a man. Tolj got out of Rottnest, as I described, and now he came to another prison. After the war, he would have been judged by His Majesty's court, and he would have been given the punishment he deserved according to the law. Lucheni killed the Empress, and was sent to prison, rather than being tortured like that. Not even the Turks in ancient times ever acted like this.When gunmen catch a criminal, they don't kill him or torture him, but take him to His Majesty's Court to be judged according to the law. But this is what peasants do in detention, how can they know how to judge, may the honorable court decide.
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Beaten but not allowed to cry in detention
The 16th of September, 1917. Situation is bad where there is no law to judge, and this is what is happening among the English in Liverpool. They brought all sorts of people to the fence and all they do is not allow them outside the fence, without caring what it is like inside. They would like everyone inside the fence to suffocate, inside the damned fence it is the strength that rules, the stronger party can do whatever they want and the weaker one has to be quiet, they mustn't be heard whether they were right or wrong. The one who is beaten mustn't cry. Here is only one example, on this day, a man was reading in his 30th barrack at three p.m., and another one came from another barrack, weaker than the one who was reading a book. He brought a chair with him, and without saying a word, hit the man who was reading with the chair smashing his head. The bloodied man followed him, thinking that he would catch him and repay the debt. But the hero with the chair had two friends, who jumped in front of the bloodied man not allowing him to pass forward. They told him that he had to be peaceful, so the poor man could do nothing but wash his head and calm down, he had no one to complain to, the stronger party judges here like sipahis in Croatia before 1848.
The concert of the Austrian Singing Society on the 16th of November, 1917
Dalmatian singers? Croatian songs?
An announcement on the board on the 21st of November, 1917. The Social Office of Austrian Slavs sent 30 pounds as charity to the Croats in Liverpool, intended for monuments to those who perished in this fence. The announcement stayed on the board overnight, and when I looked at the board in the morning, the Slavs were torn off during the night.
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The announcement of the 17th of December, 1917. It is my intention to start a new English school, so the gentlemen who would like to attend, should report to Karl Rado. This was written by a Hungarian. A Dalmatian wrote, Verloren Geldtasche mit Inhalt von 7 schilling und Schluessel abzugeben gegen Belohnung 30 l. 6 mesa. S. Ercegović. [Lost purse with contents of 7 schillings and keys to be handed in for a reward of 30 l. 6 m]. On the 11th of January, 1918, I found two men reading this, and one of them said, why didn't he write it in our language, and I, the writer of this book wanted to say, why didn't he write in Croatian, but I resisted and did not say anything. Oh my sad homeland, why are you so hideous to them? Oh you Croatian martyr, how venomous are your children?
The English Commission reviews the condition of the detainees on 21/10 1917
On this day, some gentlemen were inspecting around the fence, they passed everywhere among the barracks, at midday they came near kitchen no. 3 just when the detainees were receiving food. The 38th company was walking past carrying their food, and the Commission passed among them looking at what a good life the detainees had here, so they put that in the newspaper. And it was a sight to observe, every man in that company was carrying a plate full of potatoes and meat, so that very few could eat the lot. The Commission left the kitchen, and other companies came to receive their food one after the other, but everyone was cursing, because they hardly got any food, just like on any other day. Having seen what the 38th company received, and what was the cause of this, friendship between the German cooks and the commander of the detainees' fence, Mr Major in Liverpool New South Wales, Australia. This is what it is like here, give everything to me, I don't care about others.
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Voluntary detainees in Liverpool, Australia
An announcement appeared on the board on the 25th of October 1917 in English and German language, whoever came to this camp voluntarily have to register, and they will be allowed to go free to work in Queensland. The job was to clear 25 square miles of land to prepare it for ploughing and sowing of wheat. The labourers will be free on this land, soldiers will not bother them, but they are not allowed to go outside that land, because outside the border there will be guards, and this will remain in place until the end of the war. After the war, everyone will be free to go wherever they want, the wage will be 8 shillings, out of which 3 shillings will be kept by the government for the labourer's food and clothes, and they will be paid the remaining 5. Registration will be carried out in the detainees' fence in a big tent near the catholic church. It lasted three days, and as I heard, 15 hundred were registered, mainly Germans, and a small number of Austrians. This is how it was done, the gentlemen were sitting in the tent and the detainees were entering one by one. They asked him whether he came of his free will or because he was forced, if the detainee says, I was forced, they immediately sent him away. Another one comes in, they ask him, did you come voluntarily to detention or were you forced, the detainee answers, I came voluntarily, and the gentlemen are happy and satisfied, and gave him a pen to sign his name, and when he signed, they told him that he was going to Queensland. As the interrogation continued, all those who had a wish to leave this fence heard about this, so they all said they had come voluntarily and signed as true volunteers. The Englishman is smart, but I the writer don't think it is his fault, since everyone knows how they came to detention. The Englishmen did not force anyone, they were urging them nicely to lie and sign their names, and we will be friends. All those registered from the Austro Hungarian Monarchy were like this. 4 men

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over 50 who had come voluntarily did not want to register as volunteers but pretended not to hear about this politics and work in Queensland. And all those who registered as volunteers, all of them had been forced to leave their jobs, so they were lying to themselves, and the Englishman was laughing that his trickery was successful. After this signature, the volunteers were cheerful, thinking that they would soon go to work and earn money. Days were passing, February 1918 came and the volunteers are still walking inside the fence. The Englishman collected their names and stopped thinking about them. This story is funny just like those collected in the book about Thousand and One Nights, or about Petrica Kerempuh.
The knowledge of uneducated people in Liverpool detention, the 11th of July, 1917
Detainees here meet to talk from dawn to dusk, like old women when spinning, they discuss everything in this world. If a writer wanted to describe the daily conversations of just fifteen to twenty men, he would be busy all the time. I will give just one example. On the above date, a gift was sent of several pairs of socks and briefs, and the detainees' panel decided to distribute them among elderly men over 50, and that is how it was done. Each old man received a pair of socks and briefs. I hear younger people talking and cursing, everything to the old, and what about the young, it is the young who are defending the state today, it would perish if it were up to the old, what use are the old, they enjoy being fed free of charge, when they were young they were not thinking how they would cope when they are old. There was more of this but I don't like to be too long, whoever reads this book will have their own reasoning, some more and some less, so they can judge for themselves how uneducated people would govern and what kind of laws they would create. Woe to the just poor with these men in Liverpool, if there were no educated people.
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Detainees and bathing, the 10th of February 1918, Sunday
Up to two miles from the detainees' camp there were some swamps (pits), which would fill with water when it was raining. On this day, up to forty detainees received permission to bathe in these swamps, followed by soldiers. When they were on their way, a soldier ordered them to walk in line four by four, and two detainees protested to the soldier, why should we walk in line, we are not soldiers but civilians, we prefer to go back rather than walk in line four by four. The soldier returned them to the camp, and when they arrived in front of the gate, they reported to the Major why they came back. After the Major had heard them, he ordered those two who first said that they preferred to come back rather than walking in line four by four to go to jail, and ordered all others to go through the gate into the camp. Among them were several German soldiers from Hong Kong, who immediately obeyed the Major's orders and went to the camp, but others did not want to, they told the Major that they would not go to the camp before he lets those two he put to jail go free, since they preferred to be jailed rather than going to the camp without those two. The Major ordered again, go to the camp, and detainees responded thay did not want to. The Major gave the same order the third time, but the detainees would not obey. The Major got angry and ordered the soldiers to stab them, at first the soldiers did not want to, but the Major gave the same order the second and the third time, the soldiers then hurled themselves among the detainees who rushed to the gate as fast as they could, but not everyone could go through the gate at once, so the last four got stabbed by the soldiers, one had to go to hospital immediately, and three were lightly wounded. Two were from the Austro Hungarian Monarchy and two were Germans.
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Croats from Dalmatia conspire against each other in detention
Here I will briefly describe the wicked deeds by the Croatian nationals. The theatre called Prosvjeta, about which I wrote briefly earlier in this book, the same Prosvjeta theatre managed in 1917 by Josip Rendulic, was blown down by the wind, and Josip R. was banned from this camp together with other Croats on the 1st of April 1917. After this, Jozo Resetar decided to build a building on the same spot where Prosvjeta used to be. J. Resetar did not ask anyone for advice on building it, so a majority of our people from Dalmatia protested, and the more educated ones called for a meeting. In this meeting, they formed a committee of 5 members, who would oversee the building. They excluded J. Resetar from this duty that he himself had started. The new committee was overseeing the construction of the building, which was finished by the 10th of August 1917, and the first performance was on the birthday of His Majesty Emperor and King Karl on the 17th of August. In this 5-member committee, Marko Spuga was considered the best educated, and all members were from Dalmatia. I the writer, as much as I followed this Spuga, I can confirm that he was a great lover of his Croatian homeland. There were only very few Hungarians and Austrians, so they did not obstruct the work of the committee, they were happy with each one of Spuga's proposals. Marko Spuga knew how to behave among people from other nationalities, so that most people from our Austro Hungarian Monarchy were happy with him, and so were the Germans. So Spuga was discussing with them how to prepare a parade as beautiful as possible to the Emperor of Croatia on the 17th of August. The birthday celebration was finished during the day in the nicest possible way. The Germans were in the parade, just like our people were in theirs. In the evening, there was a very nice performance, that both the Germans and our people from the Austro Hungarian Monarchy were happy with. But when we think that we have made everyone happy, we are easily deceived, as the proverb goes.
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A person has not been born yet who could make everyone happy, and especially these people of Croatian nationality here in detention, as I will explain below. At the beginning of the performance, an Austrian man gave a speech in his German language, and after him a Hungarian in his language, and on the part of the Croatians there was Marko Spuga, who I was very pleased with, and there was no Croat who would not congratulate him, long live this lover of his homeland, Croatia's son, Marko Spuga. The day of the 18th of August dawned and I heard some non-Croats saying, what kind of speech was given by Spuga, why did he not let another one speak, who had been preparing a speech for a month, then one of them brought a book and said, this speech would have been beautiful and pleasing to everyone, which described everything from Empress Maria Theresa onward. He was reading for half an hour, and when he had finished, he said, on this account I have to praise him, because I know what the custom is in this camp, isn't it funny to shout Hooray in English or German in a Croatian speech, and to be ashamed to shout in Croatian as Spuga did, who they are now trying to slander in front of people. Days were passing and Spuga's adversaries did not rest, they were gossiping against Spuga to ban him from the committee of that unfortunate theatre. The committee called a meeting on the 24th of August 1917, all Austro-Hungarian subjects (the Germans were not involved), to discuss setting up the theatre as a cinema. Some people gathered, Spuga continued the speech with the question, can we find some among us, with some money, to set up the cinema, or should the building be leased to those who said they would like to set up the theatre, and the proceeds of the theatre to go to the entire camp. Nothing was decided on that occasion, an uproar started,
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Those conspiring against Spuga started shouting, cursing Spuga, questioning some expenses from the parade for His Majesty's birthday, and when Spuga responded, and put a note on the board where they could check the accounts, they could no longer say those things in the open. That time thery were shouting that he had to stand down from the committee, and he thanked them for his service to the theatre, which he did free of charge, and the theatre was useless anyway, other than for an occasional exception, those who paid could watch. That time, a skirmish started among hard Austrian Dalmatians, that was a funny meeting, from which everyone was running to the door as fast as they could.
On the 27th of August, a German man called a meeting and some people gathered. He was saying that he would like to set up a cinema. He was speaking German, and a Hungarian man was speaking our language (I am not saying Croatian, because it is not customary here to say Croatian, these people are ashamed to say that, whoever says Croatian is immediately considered a Serb, so I will say in our Dalmatian or Austrian language). That time the meeting ended as usual in arguments, and the committee of the theatre leased the building to the German, I can't write where he came from, so he managed the theatre all the time. I mentioned earlier who benefits from this, whoever wants to watch has to pay, and the income, like the income of a shop, goes to some German or English gentleman, who are the masters here.
After this ridiculous meeting, no new meetings were called, because these people are not for talking about useful things, they go to meetings only out of wickedness, and they blame each other for the bad thoughts and hatred they harbour among them. They don't like seeing a more educated person among them in any role, they love the foreigner until they get bored with him, and then they repent dismissing their own but it is already too late. Those who up to now considered the Englishman to be their father and mother engage in conspiracy. Some people here have
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wives and children with them, and they are waiting for the Englishman to let them go free to Austria, I am sure they would not think that if they were not forced to, they are proud here to be lovers of the homeland and hard Austrians. But I don't trust these people. Among them is Jure from Podgora, who is their president, who has to be the first in anything, and is constantly dreaming up some wicked deeds, more engaged about Austria and against Croatia than the Illustrious Croatian Viceroy.
After this commotion about the Theatre, M. Spuga got a job as interpreter in the hospital, because people could not speak English. The rebels tried to ban him from this position, too, but they did not succeed. On the 31st of March 1918, I saw Jure from Podgora and Marko in front of the 31st barrack, they had written down the names of all sorts of people, and gave them to the Germans to print. Now they were showing them in the barracks. I walked past them on the said date, and I saw Jure holding the list in his hands and reading, and numerous people were around him listening. I heard one man complaining to Jure, why did you not write down the people from Vrgorac, you wrote some but left out others, that is not good. And Jure started, oh well, why didn't you tell me, well we'll have to correct that, also some villages are not recorded correctly. Jure's comrade Marko is standing in front of the barrack holding a piece of paper. I the writer am watching, and I notice some names of just people, who Jure is not worthy of talking against, and I ask Marko why these names, and M. answered, they are Serbs. I took leave and then heard that Jure wanted to sell those lists once the names are all correct, but I want to be careful about that transaction.
Several days later, a man got the main chef's job in the kitchen. He was from Dalmatia, but Jure and his clique banned him. Noone from the Kingdom of Croatia has any jobs here.
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A Hungarian man was the counter of the 27th barrack for a while, but they could not stand him, so they chased him away, and even beat him at the roll call. Who can describe what these people are doing, I don't like writing too much about the infernal lying camp and this kind of people. And I should also not forget this, how I lived among these Croatian nationals, and I am not mistaken to say that there were 90% of them who were against me the writer, they looked at me contemptibly as if I were some criminal, so I did not dare walk through the fence in the evening. I was thinking sadly, what did I do to anyone, and then I realized why all these evil looks, because I never agreed with someone when they were saying something that was wrong, and how could I agree when most of the time what I heard was wrong. Or when they said a word, I always hear, in our language, and I could not bear that so I always added, Croatian, and these Dalmatians were not happy to hear that. Or again I would hear how we are from Austria, and I always added, from Austria-Hungary, but then again I heard, our Austria, and to help the person speaking, I say Austria-Hungary. On several occasions, they nailed announcements on the board that were in English or German, and the person reading would say, why was this not written in our language, and then I mutter, why wasn't it written in Croatian, but the person perhaps did not know that Croatian was our official language. The person who heard me would look at me as if they wanted to kill me. I can't even describe here what kind of slavery I suffered among these people, but I was enduring like the apostles who preached about devotion to Jesus. On the 17th of August 1917, they saw three crowns in the performance to His Majesty, and after that they always had discussions guessing about these three crowns. One day they saw a letterbox with three crowns, and they asked me if I could understand
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who this third crown belonged to. I answered that I could not understand that, and one of them said, would it not be our Dalmatian crown, and I laughed saying, well then it might also be our Croatian-Slavic crown. Who can describe this excessive stupidity, some of those who come from villages are somewhat softer, but I am still careful not to engage in conversations with anyone.
Days were passing without me recording anything until the 23rd of December 1917. On this day, I had to record that several people gathered in front of my barrack and started talking about this and that. I wasn't interested in their conversation, and I had my own business to attend to, but I heard one speaking Italian, Dalmatia nostra libera [our free Dalmatia]. I keep listening, I am a Dalmatian Austrian, I am not like they are, cursed Serbs, who say they are Croatian although they are Dalmatian just like I am. I then heard a man speaking harshly, his name was Mate, does not matter now about his surname, listen so help me God, I would rather kill myself than call myself Croatian. Then I asked them nicely and politely, who is your minister, I got an answer that I rather prefer not to even write here, but I respond, you in Dalmatia have the same minister and viceroy as we do. You are Croats just like we are, perhaps you haven't seen the name in writing, Croatia Slavonia and Dalmatia, triune kingdom, so you can call yourselves whatever you like. I will not write down their response, it would be too much. I asked them, do you have any special books in Dalmatia, they said no, and I responded, from the books published in Zagreb we know about Dalmatia as we do about the whole of Croatia, and about the entire Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Then I told them that we were called Hungarian citizens, and show them my passport, and I asked them, what country are you Dalmatians citizens of, and they answered Austrian. I asked them to show me their passports, they did, but there was no information about citizenship, so I told them
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citizenship is not easy to obtain, time will come when you will also be citizens, all this is because you don't like to be called Croats, which you are, so now you look like a barrel at the top of a hill that no one knows which way it is going to topple. And the Istrian man then asked, and what about us, and I answered, the same as Dalmatians, there is little difference. Also at that time there was a Croatian military postcard that not everyone here liked, and one that showed all Austro-Hungarian languages, and some asked which one is the Dalmatian language, and I the writer responded, Dalmatians have no separate language, their language is Croatian like ours, and about this one can only think, educated people's efforts are in vain, with the heads like these ones here. Whoever is stronger, he is right here. And I like what I see here. A big man, Andrija the Dalmatian, says in a conversation, we the Austrians, and another one says, I am Svabo Svabcic [Swabo the Swabian]. This one was illiterate, and lived in my barrack. On the 19th of March 1918, his friends, and my enemies probably persuaded him, told me, out with the books that you keep closed away, let people look at them and learn. I was petrified in my heart, there is no Croatian book that they might approve of, and I have no other books than those that I write myself and even those I have to show to these outlanders. Germans and others have all sorts of books, and no one bothers them, whose slave am I then. I am ashamed to say what the Dalmatian said, and I prefer to say a slave of Croatian nationality, and that slavery is harder to me than the English one.
They started selling the Croatian names in the camp on the 1st of May 1918. The company of Jure Dejan from Podgora was selling the list in the camp on that day. I saw Jure Bozin, called Kastelanac, his hands full with lists of names of Croatian people everywhere in Australia. Like a local policeman, he was carrything these lists around the camp and selling them for 6 pence each, only to those who had ordered them, who were all hard Austrians. That is how this company earned some money from selling Croatian names.
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About Austrians from Dalmatia and their behaviour
G. .... started a fight with two of the banned men, even before this banning was made public. After this, the above mentioned G. ... took a job in the Austrian theatre. He was standing at the door and letting people in. When he closed the door, a German man poked his head through a small window so he could watch the show although he did not have money for the ticket. The above mentioned G. ... punched him in the head with his fist. The German man was angry because he could not enter, so he waited for the first half of the show to finish, because that was when the doors would open again and people get out for 15 minutes. The German wanted to take a revenge, but other Germans calmed him down, and counseled him that this might cause an uproar among others, so the said hero had to stay calm. This happened in the evening of the 28th of April, and many people told me about it.
Then there is a man in front of him one can't mention Croatia even today, he is always talking about those who were banned. On the 2nd of June I heard him shouting in the barrack, look how the Serbs wanted to kill the policeman, and then to kill everyone with a machine gun. With this man shouting so freely, if there is a court trial for some of the banned men, they would need to call G...
The banned Croats freed from detention
Stories about them started circulating on the 21st of June, that the Serbs who had registered to defend this country, Australia, were set free. The following day I heard people saying that they did not register for anything, but they received 5 pounds each for expenses and transport, to go wherever each of them wanted. So they went free. And no-one knows about the torture they suffered since they had been banned, only they themselves know. (this page is from 1918)
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On the 23rd of June, 1918, M... ć started bragging, he had friends throughout this country. He was defending Austria too much, but it seemed to me only outwardly, he was an enemy of the banned Croats. He continued, last night they were playing cards in my 38th barrack, and one man he mentioned by the name punched another in the head, so a commotion started but they had to stop because it was late, otherwise knives would have started flashing. Another man asked him, do they really have knives, and he said, oh don't even ask, there is a lot of that, that spirit is still alive (by spirit, he meant that there were many men like those who had been banned and called Serbs). I hope to write soon about the devotion to Austria by the one who was telling the story and those who were involved in banning.