I was born April 1, 1904 in the town of
Füllerdörfel which is in the municipality of Nieder Preschkau, Northern Bohemia Austria. My Father was a Machinist and Heater (a person who keeps coal in the ovens at the paper factory). My Mother did the household and we also had a small farm and when I was 11 years old I cut the hay for our farm. In 1910 I started in the school in Nieder Preschkau, which was 1 km from our house. In the summer we went barefoot to school and wore shoes only in the winter. Often it happened in October that we went to school in the early morning and on our return there was snow and had to go home in the snow without shoes.
My Father had to work for 5:00 am till 9:00pm, so we saw very little of him. In the house that my parents owned a few of the rooms were rented out. The rooms on the first floor were rented to uncle Eduart who was a shoemaker. On the second floor lived uncle Franz who worked in the Consum (grocery store). He fell in the First World War in the beginning of 1915 in Russia. I still remember very well when the First World War broke out and still see today in my mind the mobilization of all the men, pulling there suitcases. The day before I was with my Father and brother to another town, my Father wanted to buy a cow. As we went back home all the street intersections were blocked with wagons from the police. Everyone was obligated to go because the Kaiser (King) had given the calling. The murder of the Austrian Prince Rudolf in Sarajevo Yugoslavia had occurred. There was also rumour that the Russians had invaded Galizien. Many of the men that were drafted, said and hoped that it would only be a few months and soon be home again. The war took 4 years. Many gave their lives in the war for the Kaiser who ruled at that time. His name was Kaiser Franz Josef. Two uncles of mine never did come back from the war. Another uncle was in Russian prison. He came back one year after the end of the war. My Father died during the war in 1916 of tuberculosis.
I had 2 brothers a 1 sister. My brothers were 10 and 5 years old and my sister was 2 years old when my father died. There were 4 children in the family. I was one year older that my brother. We had to do the farm work. Later my mother sold the farm equipment, cows and some land. She then went to work in the same paper factory where my father worked as a machinist. My Mother worked 12 hours per day. We children learned independence quickly. From 1916 -1920 it was a very bad time for us, we had little to eat because everything was rationed. Often what we were supposed to get with our ration card was never available in the store.
There was little time for homework from school and since there was no teacher available the schools were closed. In 1918 I had quit school in order to help my Mother financially. So I was hired to work at the press at the Bohemian Kamnitzer Paper Factory. I wasn’t even 14 years old and already worked 12 hours, 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 the banks had it taken away. We were able to keep the ownership of our land and houses. The German schools remained, and Czech schools were developed when 20% or more people lived in the town. It was supposed to be a peace treaty and a democracy introduced according to the Swiss System. The Czech Nationalist Party wanted to prevent this. There were a lot of social laws introduced for the good of the working people. For example the 8 hour working day, no working on Sundays, health care, union’s, etc. Also concerning wages there was a lot accomplished. Instead of 1 Krone per day the wage was changed to 1 Krone per hour. The living standard got better in 1920-1921. We could buy groceries and were no longer rationed. Technical schools were introduced. Anyone who was in an apprenticeship was required to go to the school twice a week. I also went there and through this got a better education. Though night shift for women and the youth under 16 years of age still occurred. In 1919 there were soup kitchens set up, which were the previous war kitchens. We were given soup when we worked nights. 1920 this was stopped because the living standard had bettered. This was a new era for me. Unions were developed and I became a member. 1922 I joined the social democratic party. At work I was promoted from third to the second helper at the paper machines and also got a higher wage. Though glass workers (cutters) earned better, they earned 1.000 Krone per week. We still stayed at an hourly wage from 1.20 Krone, and so this showed to be a big difference in the wages. I then became a machine helper at a fine paper machine.
In the year 1923 I became a member of the Friends of Nature Organization. Every Sunday we went hiking or skiing in the winter. 1924 there was a depression in Germany. The devaluation of the German Mark occurred, and we were then able to go to Dresden and stay for 3 days for 10 Krone. For us 19 year old teenagers this was something special. Dresden was a beautiful old city with a lot of sight seeing. At that time it got to the point that for 1 Krone we could get 1 million German Marks an 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 2 restaurants were. One was on the German side and one was on the Czech side, the borders went over the middle of the mountain. We went there quite often and were able to eat and drink at very reasonable prices. In 1926 the German mark became a normal value again. A new value was determined on the German mark. I was the treasurer for the town group of the Nature friends and secretary for the S.P.D. Social Democratic Party, and a member at large for the paper union. The membership was then 1200 at the union. Our wage climbed 2 Krones per hour. I liked to do sports and was the first with a friend of mine that bought ski equipment. I attended many ski courses and later became a ski school instructor. In the summer we went swimming, mountain climbing and hiking, sports was my joy in life. 1928 there was a lot of unemployment in Czechoslovakia, it lasted for many years. The Social Democrats were a part of the government. The leader of the Social Democratic party was a Czech; he did a lot for the unemployed. I was very lucky I had work. A Republican defence group was developed where I was a member; it was developed to protect Czechoslovakia. The Czech people want to change the S.P.D. Social Democratic Party in Sudentland so it would belong to the Republic. From the National Democratic German Party (Nazi party) was the so called Henlein Party developed, because that was the leader's name.
1928 I met my wife and that same year my grandmother died. 1929 I bought the house from my Mother and immediately had the name of my wife included the ownership document. 1930 we renovated and rebuilt the house with bricks, there were 4 suites. October 8, 1930, we married. My brother had a grocery store in our house that we took over when we got 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. April 27, 1931 my daughter was born. At this time I was promoted to a management position (master) in the factory where I worked. I got a monthly salary. In the beginning I had 1200 Krone per month. We were able to live from this very well. In 2 years it increased to 1600 Krone. We had a premium of 400 Krone per month also a sieve premium and a dry felt premium per year of 1200 Krone for accommodation, and another 1000 Krone for our lighting power, 8000 kg coal and 2 loads of fire wood per year. These were very good benefits. There were 3 others with these benefits in I was one of the younger ones. There were a lot who were jealous of me at work but I was able to put my foot down and control the situation. With my knowledge I was able to operate all of the machines.
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