Unemployment was increasing, especially in Germany where unemployment was very high. The statistic in 1931 was 15,000,000 unemployed out of a population of 80,000,000. The N.S.D.A.P. (National Socialist German Workers Party), the so called Hitler followers, became stronger, which was very noticeable to us in Czechoslovakia. In Czechoslovakia, the nationalistic Germans (Nazi's) wanted their leader Henlein to be the rooster in the basket. In 1932, they came into power... or better said, they took power with a 40% minority. Murder and manslaughter broke out in Germany. There were many Germans in Sudetenland who screamed out and said "We want to go home to our Reich", even though we had nothing whatsoever in common with Germany. In Germany, the military machinery started moving into high gear, and with this, unemployment disappeared. The people did not visually see the game that was really being played. The Saarland and the Ruhr Gebiet (industrial areas) were occupied by Germany and taken away from France. Hindenburg, who was the Chancellor of Germany (Weimar Republic) at that time, had to resign. Hitler took over power, and the little Hitlers in America donated large amounts
of money and were very supportive. The parliament building in Berlin, Germany, was set on fire, and the
the communists were blamed. All this led to a stronger out-cry from some of the Germans in
Czechoslovakia. Many of these criers fled to Germany. The Farmer's Party and the Business Party
became part of the Henlein Party. However we, the Social Democrats, stayed faithful to our Republic
of Czechoslovakia. Today I can still vividly recall when on May 1 (Labour Day), the farmers and
business people marched into the city of Böhmisch Kamnitz. In previous years, they all ignored
the May 1 Labour Day celebration, which was initiated by the Social Democrats, and kept on working
in their fields. All of a sudden, because the Nazis were in power and wanted to celebrate it,
everyone was for Labour Day. The workers marched that morning and the Henleins did their march in
the afternoon, and their thoughts were consumed by "going home to the Reich". All our warnings
were blown away in the wind, mostly due to the Czech government. As long as President Masserig
was in power, everything was thought to be all right. Integrating the Sudeten Germans into the
Czech Republic did not proceed quickly, and not until later when President Benesch came into power. Many of the German people lost their positions and were replaced by Czech people because they could not speak the Czech language. Our country was supposed to
have 3 official languages (Czech, Slovak and also German). During the establishment of the
Republic, it was envisioned that the country would become something like Switzerland, however
Minister Benesch hindered this. According to his plans, he already wanted to get rid of the
Germans in Sudetenland in 1918, but did not get the support he needed from the other Czech
leaders. The big powers were also against it. So it just stayed as Czechoslovakia with two
official languages, Czech and Slovak. I had a good life then with my family and managed very well,
especially after I became the foreman, or the leader of the paper machines. However the political
situation peaked even more. To protect the Social Democratic Party, all their meetings were held
under cover. The Henlein Party became stronger and much louder.
On February 19, 1936 my son Wernfried (Frank) was born. Every once in a while we still had
meetings with the Nature Friends. We had garden parties and went on field trips to the mountains.
Once a month after work, we went to the Herdsteinbaude (a pub or restaurant), and made a nice
evening of it. In 1937, Austria was invaded by the Hitler hoarders (supporters). For us in
Czechoslovakia, the situation peaked even more. We heard on the radios that the Sudeten Germans
were catching dogs off the streets to eat them. But this was all just propaganda. The propaganda
and the screaming of some of the German people about going home to the Reich became more frequent.
We received warnings, were laughed at, and were given the image of not telling the truth.
England sent a man to check up on us in Sudetenland. His name was Romaine. He was invited by
Gehring in Germany to go hunting with him, and thus he saw very little of Sudetenland. He only
saw what they wanted him to see. Thus the fate (help) from England was gone. In 1938, the
mobilization of the military began, and a lot of the Henlein followers went to Germany
to join the "Freikorps", or freedom fighters. The situation became serious,
and a conference was called in Munich with the leaders from England, France, Italy, and Germany.
This meeting was attended by Chamberlain, Daladier, Mussolini and Hitler. To keep the peace
between countries we (the Sudeten Germans) were sold to Hitler, and the invasion of Sudetenland
by the Germans was won. Although we were prepared to fight we had to accept this. Shortly
before the takeover, the owner (Herr Fuchs) of the paper factory, where I worked,
personally gave us his good-bye
wishes.
My brother went as an emigrant to Prague, and from there he went to Poland and to England,
and then afterwards to Canada, which we realized after the fact. Now the
screamers (protesters) were in our country. I still remember very well, listening to the
radio as we got the news about the agreement of the invasion, and heard about how all
the countries, which wanted to help us before, disappeared one after the other. The town
government was handed over to the opposition Henlein Party, and with tears in our eyes
and with a very heavy heart we said goodbye to our Republic. The evening before we still
had a future. We knew that hard times lay ahead of us. We had to get rid of our hatred
and meanness. Some women and men became like hyenas and could not shout loud enough.
They wanted to see the streets plastered with our heads. The little Henleins
behaved like hyenas. The greetings were no longer Good Morning or Good Day,
but only Heil Hitler. We automatically became German citizens. I had rented a
room in the house beside us, for the Republican military, where we planned a
bit of our future together. However that became my own hanging. In the evening before
the invasion, the troups pulled their herds through the village and wanted to kill
any of the people that opposed them. The screaming was unbearable. My house was
smeared with red paint to indicate that a person of the opposition lived there.
We had no choice but to go into a crawlspace because we had foreseen what was coming,
and were correct with the prophesizing done before. At work, everything
was in turmoil. It was very degrading for me because that was where they hit first.
Many people carried two shoulders (were two faced), and just turned their jacket
to the other side because they had 2 party books in their pocket, one for the
Social Democratic Party and in the other the Henlein Nazi Party.
Actually, the people who were doing this were the ones I least expected it from.
Already on the first day of the takeover of Sudetenland by Germany, all the houses
were searched for weapons, and this continued on throughout the night. Nothing was
found in our house, but every day the Gestapo and Free Corporals found some
reason to look for me.
One day I met the wife of a friend of mine, and asked her if her husband was already
back from the Czech army. She was worried about him, so I said to her "It won't get that
bad, he will come home in one piece", and also said, "who knows what all will bloom
because we will not go against having good times". Within half an hour thereafter,
two Gestapos and two Free Corporals arrived at our house and had me taken into custody
because I had insulted the Nazi Party.
I was taken to the Town Command, where I was meanly beaten and insulted. I was then
required to report to them every hour for one week, and when that was over, the Gestapo
the Corporals checked on me daily. I had no privacy. At work it was the same thing.
I was also not permitted to be seen speaking with anyone, and I dared not speak to anyone.
Even if it was my best friend, I could not trust him. The people were on such a victory roll,
that nothing seemed to be heard or seen about what was happening around them. Everything that
was displayed by the Reich was for the war, and for the war preparation. All that was owned,
was let loose in the air and on the ground. Hitler drove through the area of Sudetenland and
the cheer was massive. They came with Bavarian public kitchens and fed stew to the poor and
hungry people. Many people invited German soldiers into their homes for a meal, and every
roast available was set on the table for them to eat.
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