I was born April 1, 1904 in the village of Füllerdörfel located in
the municipality of Nieder Preschkau in Northern Bohemia, Austria. My
father worked in a paper factory and was a Machinist and Heater (a person who
stokes up the ovens with coal). My mother was the housekeeper and looked after
the farm. When I was 11 years old, I had to cut the hay for our farm. In 1910, I
started school in Nieder Preschkau, which was 1 km from our house. In the
summer, we walked barefooted to school and wore shoes only in the winter. In October, it often
happened that we walked to school barefoot early in the morning,
and went home barefoot in snow in the afternoon.
My Father had to work from 5:00 a.m. till
9:00 p.m., for sixteen hours every day
of the week. We saw very little of him. In my parents house, several rooms were
rented out. The rooms on the first floor were rented to my uncle Eduart who was
a shoemaker. My uncle Franz, who worked in the Consum
(grocery store), lived on the second floor. He was killed during the First World War in Russia,
in the beginning of 1915. I remember very well when the First World War broke
out and the mobilization of the war took place, and seeing all the men being
drafted and waiting in line with their suitcases beside them. On the day just
prior to the call-up, I went with my father and brother to another town where my
father wanted to buy a cow. On the way back the next day, all of the street
intersections had been blocked by the police with their wagons. Everyone was
obligated to join up because the Kaiser (King) had given the calling. Prince
Rudolf of Austria
had been murdered in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia,
and there was also a rumor that the Russians had invaded Galizien. Many of the
men who were drafted, expected to be gone away for only a few months and soon
to be home again. The war however, lasted for more than 4 years. Many gave their
lives in the war for the Kaiser of the Austrian Empire, who ruled at that time.
His name was Kaiser Franz Josef. Two uncles of mine never came back from
the war. Another uncle was in a Russian prison and came back home one year
after the war had ended. My Father died during the war in 1916, of tuberculosis.
There were four children in my family. I had two brothers and one sister. I was
the oldest and was one year older than my brother Alfred. When my father died, I
was 11 years old, my brothers Alfred and Max were 10 and 5 years old,
and my sister Adele was 2 years old. We all then had to do some farm work.
Later on, my mother sold the farm equipment, the cows and some land. She
then went to work in the same paper factory where my father had worked as a
machinist. My Mother worked 12 hours every day. We children learned to be
independent very quickly. From 1916 to 1920, we had a tough time. We had little
to eat because everything was rationed. Often what we were allowed to get using
our ration cards was not available in the stores.
There was little time for homework from school and for a while during the war
there were no teachers available and the schools were closed. In 1918, I had to
quit school in order to help my mother financially. So I was hired to work at
the paper press at the Bohemian Kamnitz Paper Factory. I was not even 14 years
old then and already had to work 12 hours a day, day or night and there were no
Sundays off. In 1918, the war ended and the Monarchy collapsed. Czechoslovakia
was established and we automatically became Czech citizens. Anyone who had
money in a bank had it taken away. We were able to keep the ownership of our
land and buildings. The German schools remained, and Czech schools were
established provided that 20% or more of the population in the town were of Czech origin. It
was supposed to be a peace treaty, and a democracy was introduced in Czechoslovakia
based on the Swiss System. The Czech Nationalist Party unsuccessfully tried to
prevent this from happening. There were a lot of social laws introduced for the
good of the working people, for example, an 8 hour working day, no working on
Sundays, health care, unions, etc. There was also a lot accomplished concerning
wages. Instead of 1 Krone per day, the wage was increased to 1 Krone per hour.
The living standard improved considerably during 1920 and 1921. We could buy
groceries and were no longer rationed. Technical schools were introduced.
Anyone who was in apprenticeship was required to go to school twice a week.
I also went there and through this got a better education. The night shift for
women and the youth under 16 years of age however, still remained. In 1919,
the paper factory soup kitchens were set up. These kitchens had been left over
from the war. We were given soup when we worked at nights. However, in 1920 this
was stopped because the living standard had improved. This was the beginning of
a new era for me. Labour unions were formed and I became a member. In 1922, I
joined the Social Democratic Party. At work I was promoted from third to
second helper at the paper machines and also received a higher wage. However,
the workers in glass factories earned much more; glass cutters earned 1,000
Krone in a week. We in the paper factory, remained at an hourly wage of about
1.20 Krone. There was a large disparity in the wages between the work places.
Later I became a Machine Helper at the fine-paper machine.
In the year 1923 I became a member of the Friends of Nature Organization. Every
Sunday in the winter we went hiking or skiing. In 1924, there was a depression
in Germany. The
German Mark was devalued, and we were able to go to Dresden
in Germany and
stay there for 3 days for only 10 Krone. For us 19 year old teenagers, that was
something special. Dresden was a
beautiful old city with a lot of sights to see. At that time, we could get 1
million German Marks in exchange for 1 Krone, and later on we even got 1
billion German Marks for 1 Krone. We could buy 3 bottles of wine for 1 Krone.
We went quite often to Mount Jeschken,
where there were two restaurants. One restaurent was on the German side, and the
other on the Czech side. We visited there quite often and were able to eat and
drink at very reasonable prices. In 1926, the German mark stabilized and reached
a normal value again. At that time I was the treasurer for the Nature Friends
group in our town, and became secretary for the Social Democratic Party
(S.P.D), and also became a member of the paper worker's union. The union
membership was then about 1,200. Our wages increased by 2 Krones per hour. I
liked to play sports, and with a friend of mine, were
the first in our town who bought ski equipment. I attended many ski courses and
later became a skiing instructor. In the summer we went swimming, mountain
climbing and hiking. Sports was my joy in life. In
1928 there was high unemployment in Czechoslovakia
and it lasted for many years. The Social Democrats were then part of the
government of Czechoslovakia.
The leader of the Social Democratic party was a Czech, and he did a lot for the
unemployed people. I was very lucky that I had work. A Republican defence group
was formed of which I was a member. It was formed to protect Czechoslovakia.
Some of the Czech people wanted to change the S.P.D.(Social
Democratic Party) so it would become a part of the Republican, or National
Democratic Party party. From the National Democratic German Party (Nazi party)
the so called "Henlein Party" was later formed. Henlein was the name of
leader of the party.
In 1928, I met my wife Liesbeth. That same year my grandmother died. In 1929, I
bought the house from my mother and immediately had the name of my wife
included on the ownership document. In 1930, we renovated and rebuilt the house
with bricks. There were 4 suites in the house. On October 8, 1930, we got married.
My brother had a grocery
store in our house which we took over when we married. In 1929, I bought 1
acre of land from my neighbor. We then had 8 acres of land in total with many
fruit trees. On April 27, 1931,
my daughter Erika was born. That year I was promoted to a management position
(master) in the paper factory where I worked, and I received a monthly salary.
In the beginning I earned 1,200 Krone per month. We were able to live from this
very well. In two years it increased to 1,600 Krone. We received a premium of
400 Krone per month as well as a 'sieve' and a 'dry felt' premium of 1,200 Krone
per year, and also a 1,000 Krone allowance for accommodation and electricity,
plus 8,000 kilograms of coal and 2 loads of fire wood per year. These were very
good benefits. There were three others with the same benefits and I was the
youngest one. There were a lot of people at work who were jealous of me but I
was able to put my foot down and control the situation. With my knowledge and
experience I was able to operate all of the machines at the paper factory
without their help.
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