And that helped us to keep the boat afloat. And upstairs in the house was seven rooms we rented out to eight lovely, beautiful looking prostitutes. Robert: So we rented out one half of the factory to Russian Orthodox Jews for the synagogue and the left side to communist families for low cost living quarters. By 1933, more than a third of Germans were out of work. Healthy candies, malt, eucalyptus, menthol, anisette.Īmory: Business was good, until the Great Depression.Īmory: Let alone food.
But I wouldn't say that my family enjoyed it very much, what I was doing.īen: His parents, meanwhile, were running a business. I was a bad kid, you know? I was mischievous and curious, which is beneficial. That's how clear it was.Īmory: Robert grew up an only child. That was something, you know, it is like it happened yesterday. And they couldn’t make out who was in bed with me. And my mother came up quick with a solution and said jump into bed with Robert. He was a leader in the Communist Party and he ran into our house for refuge. Robert: And he was hiding from the SS because the SS were hunting him.
I could feel his heartbeat and I recognized quick who he was. Robert: I woke up and someone climbed into bed with me and held me tight and heavy breathing. Robert’s parents supported the communists, and put themselves - and Robert - in danger to help them. The Nazi Party was cracking down on communism. Robert: I have a clear memory when I was three and a half about a shocking experience.Īmory: The experience Robert remembers from when he was three and a half is part of the larger story of what was happening in Germany in the early 1930s. So if you could crank it up a little bit and talk slow.īen: At 92, Robert might be hard of hearing, but his memory is incredibly sharp. Robert: Okay, one more thing I'm waiting for my hearing aid. And Robert agreed to tell us everything with a small caveat before we got started. Sometimes, it’s hard to even tell what’s right.Īmory: Robert’s war story is a reminder that things can be much more complicated at the individual level. People in wartime don’t make the expected choices over and over. Today’s episode…īen: The story we’re about to tell you, Robert’s story, is a reminder of something that is often left out of the fictional or dramatized accounts of war that we hear over and over. And you're listening to Endless Thread.īen: The show featuring stories found in that vast ecosystem of communities called Reddit.Īmory: We're coming to you from WBUR, Boston's NPR station. Robert: You want to hear the whole story?Īmory: I'm Amory Sivertson. Unless you want to hear the - the whole story?īen: I think we want to hear the whole story. Robert: I don't want to tell the whole thing. Because his story involves growing up in the Hitler Youth, being forced to join the German Army, and keeping a secret to stay alive. And she encouraged him to do an AMA, an “Ask Me Anything,” about his life.Īmory: Robert’s AMA post took off.
He barely uses the internet.īen: But his granddaughter is on Reddit. It was all "Heil Hitler."Īmory: We learned part of Robert’s story on Reddit. Anywhere, in the street, "Heil Hitler," you raise your hand, "Heil Hitler," from morning to night, "Heil Hitler." There was no more good morning and afternoon and good evening. And also say, "Heil Hitler," when you go into the store and greet people. Robert: We put the swastika flag out on holidays to blend in with the rest of the people. But it’s the earlier years of Robert’s life - in Germany - that we wanted to know about.īen: What kinds of things did your family need to do to survive? I was born July 10th, 1927 in Germany in the Ruhr Valley.īen: Robert lives in British Columbia, outside of Vancouver.Īmory: Robert’s come a long way, literally and figuratively, to get to the "sticks" of British Columbia. Now that he’s finally telling his life story, he seems ready for his life story to end.
But the man whose story we are bringing you today has spent most of his life not ready to die.Īmory Sivertson: He’s come close many times. I feel relaxed.īen: This might seem like a strange question to start with. If it comes tonight or tomorrow or sooner or later, it doesn't really matter. music, sound effects, tone) are harder to translate to text.īen Brock Johnson: You're 92. The transcript has been edited from our original script for clarity. This content was originally created for audio.