19 september 1915

It has been 6 month since I've heard from my husband, John. I had no idea about the war
until a gossip within my colleagues on how the war had begun. Also, the newspapers had
talked about how awful Serbia and their allies (Triple Entente) are but my mother taught me
that news during war was biased. Therefore, I denied all the newspapers and to keep my
thoughts as neutral as possible. The recent letter i received from my husband says:

“ Dear love,

It had been a tough one since the first fire was announced. God will be one
who decides who's going out alive. By the time this letter reaches you, I could not
guarantee that I'm still breathing. The conditions here are indescribable, the rain
drained into our path and now the water flows to my knees level. Luckily, there's a
duckboard which is like a board walking keeping us away from mud and water but
somehow the water still reaches us. Majority of my friends had suffered from a
condition called trench foot. I could not remember its cause but if I'm not wrong it's
due to the fungus on our wet feet, you know I don't do science. Those people with the
condition will be under doctor’s care, their feet look like rotten cells with blue
pigments where the only solution for them was to cut it off. Moreover, there's this new
weapon called a rapid fire gun , it kills waves of soldiers at no man's land in just a
blink of an eye. Just so you know, no man’s land is where we soldiers need to cross
and fight inorder to reach the opposite trenches. Also, I've heard the guy next to me
talked about poison gas that we Germans will break the war rules and use it as our
new tactic. In addition, I've also heard that there's another front on the eastern side
which is way more serious than mine.
I expect this to end at the time for christmas. Stay healthy and I love you my
dear, I always do.

From John ”

2 January 1916

The year has changed so does the country. Christmas had passed by with no signs from my
husband. Many women started to play a role in society and are employed. However, I’m a
farmer but since the war started, the government hasn't allowed any food for the citizens and
all home grown food will go first to the germans soldiers. In the home front, people are given
coupons to trade with the remaining food from the trenches. Shortages of food for instance,
bread, butter, potato caused many locals to lose weight and develop poor health conditions.
Before the war I weighed 56 and now down to 50. Moreover, Through all the streets and
walls, propagandas are shown with many signs and messages portrayed to the locals. It
contains both encouragement purposes and some biased information especially about the
british which could also be seen in the daily newspaper. Also, many of my friends got hired
to do various jobs which are hazardous. One of my friends, Joe, got her new job as a
munition worker three month ago but eventually stopped due to TNT poisoning. We once
had a tea talk which is like once in the blue moon for her to have a break during her work
period. Joe told me that it's very noisy, tiring and also accidents happen to all the workers
she knows.Sometimes they didn’t get any break throughout the day.

3 february 1917

I couldn’t wait any longer, this is too much.

In the past two weeks, I got to know Lucus Kavinskey, the new neighbour who just moved in.
Somehow he did not join the war because his father is a sergeant major of the army. I don't
know whether it's true but my aunt said so. He came and visited me very often which made
me fall in love with him. Sorry John, but i need to choose the best for myself. Also, I've
received many new information on how the war had started. Lucus told me about how Serbia
sent their men to kill Archduke Ferdinand during his trip to Bosnian with his wife. However,
the first shot was missed and due to the miscommunication towards the driver, they then
took the same path out to the hospital to visit the officer who got shot. Lastly, the second
shot on the same path killed both Archduke Ferdinand and his wife. Austrian-hungary then
declared war on Serbia due to what they had done and our nation are allies with A-H that’s
why we’re involved. This does not seem to be a serious war at first, but with the alliance
system where countries with strong bonds come to protect and support each other in need.
The war then became a deadly one.

4 November 1917

It's been 9 month since me and Lucus dated each other. Last week he proposed to me and i
can’t wait for our wedding to come. However, due to many issues, we then decided to move
in together and postponed our wedding to the time after war. Also, during his conversation
with his dad, i’ve heard about the practice policy of unrestricted submarines where our nation
will sink all the ships around Britain due to the rumor of the USA selling weapons through
ships. Suddenly, I could not but to think about John, I hope he’s doing fine.

1 April 1918

This year is a very pleasant year, the war has ended. Me and Lucus are expecting a baby,
I'm very excited to see my little one. By the way, during the start of the year there's a new
strain of virus which caused spanish flu. The flu did not originate from spanish , but due to
the war which keeps people busy, Spanish were the first one to announce the outbreak
because they were not a part of the war. Lucus told me that people with this virus will die
within an hour or so. The skin will turn blue and their lungs will be filled with fluid which
causes them to suffocate and eventually die. Moreover, there are many things for us to deal
with this year. The triple entente which involved the UK, France, Russia and many more,
won the war in the western front. They all pass on the treaty of Versailles which there's many
points that seem harsh on Germany. For instance, to pay all the cost for the war, accept all
the blame, give up our colonies and so on. Even Though the stalemate was met, where both
sides couldn't go any further but to end the war with no winner. Germany still got all the
blames.
I also decided to visit Lucus at the hospital, he had been suffering from shell shock. The
condition happens when there's a physical injury to the nerves and also being exposed to
the heavy bombardments. People who suffer from this would normally face anxiety,
paralysis, muscle contraction, blindness and even deafness. Luckily, John did not suffer as
much and only have nightmares and depression. Sadly, people with shell shock will be
charged with cowardice and when they return home some are treated badly. There should
be more sympathy for the heroes of our country, they’ve tried their best. I visited John very
often because of the guilt that I felt towards him but now I couldn't.

20 April 1930*

Rose Kavinsky, the owner of the diary, got sick from the 1918 spanish flu and the condition
had worsened every single day.The doctor had asked her for c-section to save the baby,
with no hesitation, she agreed. However, two days after the labour, she died from
pneumonia which is a complication she had during her treatment.

And hii, I'm John Kavinsky, the son of the diary’s owner….