Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-03-08
AND HERE 1T CONTINUES

HNHE boys were jubilant "Yashka
L alive! God speed you to recovery
Yashka." I could only reply in
whisper. They took me to the first.
aid station. cleansed my wound and
dressed it. I suffered much. Then ]
was sent on to Moscow, where I lay
in the Ekaterina Hospital, ward No. 90.
was lonely in the hospital, where
] spent nearly three months. The
other patients would have had their
visitors or receive parcels from home,
but nobody visited me. nobody sent
anything to me. March, April, May
came and went in the monotony or
ward No. 20. Finally. one day in the
beginning of June | was declared mt
again to return to the fighting llne
My regiment was just then being
transferred to the Lutzk front. On
June 20 I caught mp with 1t. The
reception accorded me even surpassed
that of the previous year. was
showered with fruit and sweets. The
soldiers were in a happy mood. Ihe
Germans had just been driven back at
this sector by General Brusilov Tor
scores of versts. The country was
criss-crossed by their evacuated posi-.
tions. Here and there enemy corpses
were still unburied Our men, though
overjoyed, were worn out bV forced
marches and the long pursuit.
II was midsummer. and the heat
was prostrating. We marched on
June 81 distance Of fifteen Versts
and stopped for rest. There were
many prostrations among US. and we
felt too fatigued to go on, but the
commander prayed us to keep gong
was twenty versts to the front line,
and we made it on the same day
As we marched along we observed
on both sides of the road that crops
that had not been destroyed by the
swaying armies were ripening. The
fighting line ran near a village called
Duboya Kortchma. We found In Its
neighborhood a manor hastily left by
the Germans. The estate was fnll OF
cattle, fowl. potatoes and other food.
That night we had a feast royal.
We occupied abandoned German
trenches 1t was not the time Tor rest.
The artillery opened up early IN tne
evening and doomed ceaselessly
throughout the night. 1t could mean
nothing but an immediate attack We
were not deceived. At in the morn
ing we received word that the Ger
mans had left their positions and
started for our side. At this moment
our beloved commander. GrishaninoV,
was struck to the ground. lie was
wounded. We attended to him quickly
and had him dispatched TO the rear.
There was no time to waste. we met
the advancing Germans by repeated
yolleys, and when they approached
our positions we climbed out ana
charged them with fixed bayonets.
Suddenly a terrific explosion deaf
ened me, and | fell to the ground. A
German shell had come my way, a
shell shall never forget, as part oil
il L still carry in my body.
I felt terrific pains in my back.
had been hit by fragment at the enc
of the spinal column. My agony lasted
long enough to attract couple OF
soldiers. Then l lapsed INTO uncon
seriousness. They carried me to dress
ing station, The wound was so Sc
rious that the physician in charge die
not believe that I could survive. l was
placed in an ambulance and taken tc
Lutzk. / required electrical treat
ments. but the Lutzk hospitals were
not supplied with the necessary appa
ratus. 1t was decided to send me tt
Kiev. My condition however, was sc
grave that for three days the doctors
In Kiey the flow of wounded was
So great that I was compelled TO lie
in the street on a stretcher for a cou
ple of hours before I was taken to
hospital. I was informed after ar
X.ray examination, that fragment o.
shell was imbedded in my body ant
asked IL I wished an operation to have
Il removed. l could not imagine Twins
with a piece of shell in my flesh, ant
so requested it's removal. whether be
cause, of my condition or for som'
other reason, the surgeons finally de
cided not to operate, and told me ina
I would have to be sent either TO Pet
rograd or to Moscow for treatment
As was given the choice, l decided
on Moscow, because | had spent thu
spring months of the year in the Eka
terina Hospital there.
The wound in the spine paralyzet
me, to such an extent that ! could no
move even'a finger l lay in the Mos
COW Hospital lowering between lif'
and death for some weeks, resembling
a log more than a human body. Onl!
my mind was active and my heart fui
of pain.
Every day Vas massaged carried
on a stretcher and bathed. Then th'
physician would attend me, probinl
my wound with iodine, and treating |
with electricity, after which l wa
bathed again and my wound dressed
This daily procedure was torture
that could not be paralleled, in spit'
of the morphine injected into me
There was little peace in the ward II
which ! was kept. All the beds wer'
occupied by serious cases, and thu
groans and means must have reached
to heaven.
Four months / lay paralyzed. neve
expecting to recover. My food con
sisted of milk and kasha, fed to IN
by an attendant. Death would hav'
been a welcome visitor on many gra,
day. 1t seemed so futile, so hopeless
to continue alive in such state, bu
the doctor who was Jew, and MAJ
of sterling heart, would not give III
hope. He persisted in his daily grind
praising my stoicism and encouraging
me with kind words. His faith wa
finally rewarded.
At the end Of four months I begai
10 feel life circulating in my inanimat'
body My fingers could move! Wha
ioy that was. In few days | coulC
turn my head a bit and stretch nv
arm. II was so marve'oTs, this %rad
nal resurrection of M lifeless or" ~
TO be able TO close nv fin@e'" ate
four months of numhneSs, II wa
thrilling. To be in a position TO heno
knee that had been torpid SO long
z .sH~ets ~.7s-.~lr