Settling Down at Home, January 1941 – Spring 1944
Family life – Ethel’s home
In parallel with life at Stockport School, life at number 2 St Martin’s Road also saw changes and developments. The Czechoslovak Brigade having moved to Leamington Spa in October 1940, and apparently settled in there for the duration, Hugo decided to move his family to Leamington in late 1941/early 1942. This left the house to us in its entirety, with Leni still living with us and having the attic. By this time she had a war-work job, working in the factory at Reynolds Chain in Manchester – something she, or her parents, would never have envisaged as a career for her. However, her rent was welcome and little by little Ethel built on this.
Having made friends with other refugees living in Manchester, such as Gina and Ferenz Frankl, Mrs Hauser and Mrs Rosenbaum, she found that these friends, and friends of theirs, would enjoy a few days ‘out in the country’ in Marple. As a result she built up quite a clientele of holidaymakers, effectively turning No. 2 into a holiday boarding house for friends looking for relaxation and good cooking away from the rush and hassle of the big city. Ethel had always been a good cook, so having one or two her visitors was no great problem, so long as they brought their ration books along.
The Frankls were living somewhere in Manchester and were quite frequent visitors – a few days every couple of months or so. By this time we had also acquired a wireless set, probably through Mr Potts and Ferenz and Gina would love to listen to any concerts that were broadcast – provided the accumulators did not let us down. Not having electricity laid on in the house, I had to regularly trudge up to the hardware shop opposite The Navigation to have the accumulator recharged. As far as I can remember, one charge on a good accumulator would be good for four or five days.
The wireless was, of course, a very important necessity in those days. The BBC Home Service provided the news as well as documentaries, radio plays and general entertainment, like Monday Night at Eight, and Workers’ Playtime, which was broadcast at lunchtime from the canteens of factories ‘somewhere in England’. The Home Service also brought us the Sunday evening concert from the Palm Court, with Albert Sandler and his orchestra, or at other times, ballroom dancing with Victor Silvester. Then there was the Forces’ Programme, which brought us popular music programmes like Forces Favourites, dance music with bands like Geraldo, Ted Heath and all the famous bands and singers / crooners / groups and comedians. A programme not to be missed was Tommy Handley’s ITMA, which stood for It’s That Man Again, and was probably one of the earliest to make catch phrases popular. Finally, also on Sunday evenings, before the 9 o’clock News, the national anthems of all the allied countries were played and, naturally, we had to listen to all these and, in particular, Kde Domov Můj? – the Czechoslovak anthem (Where is my Home?).
Settled In, Spring 1944 – Autumn 1946
This was the year when I reached 16, which was important because that allowed me to join the school’s Air Training Corps (ATC) Squadron. This was not uncommon at schools during the war years and Stockport School proudly boasted of Squadron 616. Mr Emmett, who taught woodwork, was the Commanding Officer, and it was him I had to approach with my request to join.
I prepared myself for the School Certificate examinations in July, which were to result in four Passes (30%+), in English Language, English Literature, Chemistry and Art, three Credits (45%+), in History, Mathematics and Physics and a Distinction (66%+) in German!! The German result was a pure bonus, for without having any lessons in the subject, I read the set books and sailed through the written examination instinctively without any effort whatsoever. In fact, to make sure that I had not missed anything, I went through the paper twice and still did the unthinkable of coming out of the room in less than the allocated time.
Heinz’s manuscript ends here. He had plans to take the story on to his naturalisation as a British citizen, gaining security clearance to work in the aircraft industry, beginning his career in aviation and there making lifelong friends. He was to speak about receiving news during the war of the deaths of one or two relatives. But the fates of most of his family did not become clear until much later, after the fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989. The draft of his memoirs ends with the following postscript, itself incomplete.
Postscript
Hopefully I have set down all that was important to me in my formative years as recalled in retrospect. As my thoughts went back, however, I found that equally important to my mind became the desire, indeed an urgent need, to record not just my own experiences leading up to my happy life in Britain, but also to record and acknowledge the existence of all those close to me as a child, most of whom perished violently without even a small personal memento to remind others of their past existence. These foregoing pages of mine have, therefore, also become that memorial to my grandmothers, my aunties and uncles, cousins and friends with whom I grew up and who have no one to pass memories of them on to their descendants. It is consequently important that my children and grandchildren have a knowledge of my family and friends so that these may occasionally live on in their minds at least, and anyone else who may in due course read what I have been able to remember and put down here.
Had I possessed any religious beliefs and convictions it would have been sufficient for me to accept that they are now in a better place where their past will not be forgotten. However, I do not have any such beliefs. I must conclude that it is not possible for any god to have permitted the evils and injustices that continue to take place in this world daily, and that gods had to be invented just because people can feel so small and helpless in the world. There is, however, nothing that can alter that situation and when we die we live on in the minds of those that loved us and indeed, with those with whom we came in contact during our life.
Perhaps, because this is my story, I can also allow myself a few reflections at this point, particularly about my mother and father and their lives.
Vogel Vault 