Central Europe’s sulky conscripts
A DRUNKEN ensign recently shot and killed a conscript at a Polish naval barracks in Swinoujscie, a Baltic port. The miscreant said he had wanted only to scare the conscript under his command; he had not realised the safety catch was off. Intention or accident, this death has hardened yet more young Polish men—and, perhaps more formidably, their mothers—against compulsory military service.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Central Europe’s sulky conscripts”
From the August 12th 2000 edition
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