Ondrej Sobola (7 August 1880 – officially 31 December 1918) was an

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

soldier. His death, in an unknown place during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, inspired the

Tree of Peace The Iroquois Tree of Peace finds its roots in a man named Dekanawida, the peace-giver. The legends surrounding his place amongst the Iroquois (the Haudenosaunee) is based in his role in creating the Five Nations Confederacy, which consisted of ...

project.

Biography

Sobola was born on 7 August 1880 in Lalinok into a farmer family. His family had lived in the area since 1512. He was conscripted into the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1901.Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces of Czech Republic, Military Central Archives, Fund: ''Tribal – Qualification sheets of soldiers born until 1910'' (Czech: Kmenové – kvalifikační listy vojáků narozených do roku 1910). The Tribal list No. 109 of 1901. Sobola and his older brother Štefan travelled to the United States around 1906, residing in

Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania Clifton Heights is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, located on Darby Creek west of downtown Philadelphia. As of the 2010 census the population was 6,652. History The population of the borough was 1,820 in 1890, 3,155 ...

. Sobola returned to Lalinok in 1907, living there for three years, and again traveled to the United States on 30 November 1910. Sobola had returned to Lalinok by 1914. After the outbreak of the

, he enlisted in the 15th Military Infantry Regiment. He was listed as

missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...

on the Eastern Front in 1915. Sobola was one of those commemorated by his home village in a memorial to First World War dead on 11 November 2018. His portrait made by sculptor Michal Janiga is also incorporated on a Memorial. His name is on a Memorial pillar in the Emperor's park of

Kaiservilla The Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl, Upper Austria, was the summer residence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sisi.Parsons 2000, pp. 271–72. The mansion is currently the residence of their great-grandson Archduke Ma ...

Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden' ...

Tree of Peace

The

is an international project that originated in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. The project, created in 2018 on the centenary of the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, was initiated by

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

Marek Sobola Marek Sobola (born 3 July 1981) is an authorised landscape architect, professional gardener and heraldic artist from Slovakia. Biography Sobola was born in Žilina, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) into a family from Lalinok and Divina. He spe ...

, Ondrej's great-grandson. The grave of Sobola has not been found after many years of historical searching in Military archives across Europe. His great-grandfather's death inspired Sobola to memorialize the soldiers who died in the First World War in unknown places without their names or identities. The main goal of the project was to promote a message of peace by planting "Trees of Peace" on every continent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobola, Ondrej 1880 births 1910s missing person cases 1918 deaths Austro-Hungarian military personnel killed in World War I Missing in action of World War I

Biography

Tree of Peace

See also

References