 In 1945 , when Moser was 21 years old and still carrying out active military service , he was captured in Czechoslovakia by Soviet soldiers and made a prisoner of war . He was imprisoned in a labour camp in Crimea , in the Ukraine . While a prisoner , he was involved in repairing the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas , Sevastopol . His time at the camp was not easy ; working in construction , he had to work to his physical limits , and was involved in a serious crash that killed several other prisoners . Moser was released in 1948 , and chose to return to his studies at the University of Innsbruck . His first publication came in 1949 ; " Über das <unk> von Formen der Gattung Morchella auf <unk> " [ " Mass @-@ fruiting of forms of the genus Morchella on forest @-@ ﬁre areas " ] was published in the journal Sydowia . In 1950 , under the supervision of Arthur Pisek , Moser completed his doctoral thesis , " Zur <unk> der <unk> <unk> , mit <unk> <unk> von <unk> " [ " Water relations in higher fungi with special emphasis on forest @-@ ﬁre areas " ] . During his time at university , he became a member of both the Société <unk> de France and the British Mycological Society . Having become friends with prominent German mycologists during the War , he was keen to re @-@ establish academic relationships throughout Europe in the years following the conflict . 
