The Viennese school girl
Lotte Evans (rylcae@minyos.its.rmit.EDU.AU)
Mon, 31 Mar 1997 21:42:48 +1000
Forwarded message:
>From MHANGARTNER@turkey-v.k12.ia.us Wed Mar 26 21:16:15 1997
I would like to have the story of the Viennese Schoolgirl (Lotte Evans) for
a project I am doing in class. I was wondering if you could inform me on
what kind of discrimination took place and special memories of the war
time. Also, if you can tell me about your family. Thank You.
Dear Kelly, you asked how life was for me in Vienna, Austria during WWII.
You also ask about my family so I guess I will start with telling you a
bit about them.
I am the fourth child in a family of six children. My oldest brother had
to join the army straightaway as he was eighteen years old. My two older
sisters were working, I had just started school and I also have a sister
two years younger and the next in line, my brother had only just been
born.
From the beginning my school life was not very happy as I was rather
picked on by some of my teachers. That was because my great
grand parents on my fathers side had been Austrian Jews which, under the
Nazi regime made me and my brothers and sisters quarter Jews, or to use
the correct term, Mischling zweiten Grades.
To top it all of, my maiden name was Diamant (Diamond) which was easily
recognised as a Jewish surname.
This Jewish ancestry made a tremenduous difference for our life during the
Nazi years. As I have mentioned my brother had to join the German Army
but my mother never got the financial assistance other mothers of soldiers
received. Neither did she receive the medal (Mutter Kreuz) nor the money
which went to the parents of large families. Sure she didn't miss the
medal but the money would have been great as we were rather poor people.
Persecution came in many ways. For example all children in Austria
received all their school books and writing material free. Whereas my
parents had to pay for them.
Children at school were not allowed to be hit. Yet I remember one time
where one of my teachers hit me over the head with a book which my mother
had paid for, because I had ripped a page accidentally.
I was a pretty smart kid, I could read the newspaper before I started
school, but I could never get good grades. Consequently at the end of the
four years of primary school at age ten I could not go to high school
until the war was over.
Now all of this was rather grim, especially as some of the teachers were
strong in their belief in the Nazi propaganda. However I was never picked
on nor bullied by my class mates.
There was also the ever present danger that a Nazi sympathizer could
report us because my father who was well respected by most of the
families who lived in our apartment building was rather outspoken at
times. Criticism of the Nazi Regime was not permitted and for a family
TAINTED with Jewish blood it could have led to a concentration camp.
Luckily we did not get any less food rations. Neither where our clothing
coupons affected. I can't recall how much we received at the beginning,
but I do recall that food was short in the latter part of the war.
So you see Kelly although I have never spent a day with something to eat,
I certainly know what it means to be hungry for long periods of time.
Bombing also started in earnest during the last two years. before that we
had a lot of air alarms most nights but bomb attacks didn't get really
frightening and dangerous where I lived til the day time bombing started.
I remember those times rather well. When at school we all kept a lookout
for the school janitor who always listened to the radio which would carry
constant reports on enemy planes heading for the Austrian borders. If we
saw him in the yard we knew what was coming and raced off to make it home
before the air raid siren started.
I went to six different schools during the war. A couple of them had
been commandeered for soldier accomodation and the rest were bombed out.
A lot of damage was also done in my neighbourhood. Whenever there was an
air raid we sat in the cellar listening to the bombs fall. I am happy to
say our apartment building was never hit, but quite a few houses in our
street where wiped out.
When a raid was over people would help to dig in the rubble for survivors.
Children would carry messages as there where very few private phones and
if the distance wasn't to far as there was always the danger of another
air raid.
In the last few weeks before the end of the war there was no school as
there were to many air raids and in the last two weeks we practically
lived in the cellar and we could hear the canon fire of the Russian Army.
I remember the sound to this day and we referred to it as the Stalin
Organ.
The war ended and with it any discriminations against my family and we
slowly managed to get our lives in order.
There was very little food and we had to queue for hours for the little we
received.
But with the Marshall Plan things improved and food although still
rationed for years to come started to come to my war ravaged city.
My little brother when he saw for the first time full cream milk refused
to drink it as he had never seen milk that white.
My family survived the war unscathed. My oldest brother came back to us
with his head shaven as he had been a prisoner of the Russians and I
remember staring at him as I had not seen him for a couple of years.
I was twelve years old at that time and within three month I was back at
school starting happily high school at form three, the correct place for
my age.
Well Kelly, I hope this answers your questions, if not please feel free to
ask.
Lotte Evans
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
rylcae@minyos.its.rmit.edu.au