ABSTRACT
The whole town gathered in the burning sun, in front of the white pillars of the town hall. The mayor stepped to the front onto the high steps, and started to read out the mobilisation declaration. Such a deadly silence hung around the packed-together crowd that one could hear the birds chirping in the gardens behind the houses. When it was announced that fifteen military intakes of conscripts would be called up, a breath of dismay, like a sudden wind surge, spread through the crowd. One woman fell unconscious. Other women started to cry silently, and buzzing and stumbling the crowd parted into the small streets, where their dull footsteps echoed from the walls of the houses, which absorbed an unrest never known before.
