Chapter 3 examines the connections with the front through the support to local soldiers and the arrival of war victims, highlighting the dialectics of the war’s absence and presence in a city at the rear. The city functioned as a dynamic space, not in any way sealed off from the realities of war. Local solidarity played a major role in wartime mobilization, as evidenced by the gifts sent to absent soldiers. The commemoration of war dead without bodies and the requisition of church bells marked the changes in mourning rituals. The cityscape underwent visible transformations due to the arrival of both wounded soldiers and refugees from the East fleeing the Russian advance. Both groups brought home the destruction and suffering created by the war Austria–Hungary was fighting. Initial support from the authorities and the population soon gave way to fears of epidemics and growing hostility in the case of the refugees.