 From 1913 he studied law in Vienna, but only completed two semesters before being forced to enlist in the army in 1914 due to World War I.In 1916, he was captured in Tarnopol and spent his time in two prisoner camps in Siberia, where he contracted Typhoid fever.His experience with fellow prisoners suffering from typhoid was a main inspiration for some of his earlier works, such as "Barák Smrti".