World War I.

Iron Cross

Rudi Bratuž brought to Canada in 1968 the cherished iron cross he had received in 1916 (at the age of 18) for having served in WWI in the Austro-Hungarian Army. Emperor Franz Joseph died in November of that year, and it is the name of his successor, his grandnephew, Emperor & King Karl I that appears on the cross. I remember Father referring to him as ‘Carleto,’ little Carl, in the familiar tone of a nickname, in the local dialect.

In the paper “On Some Varieties of Human Oppression” which I presented in Halifax, N. S., in March 2012 at the conference Back to the Future: Possibilities Since Pier 21, I discussed the meaning of the inscription on Father’s cross:

C
VITAM ET SANGUINEM
MDCCCCXVI

GRATI
PRINCEPS ET PATRIA
CAROLUS
IMP ET REX