The soldiers were carrying shovels. One had a wide green sheet and I watched as he dragged it to the back of the buildings away from where anyone lived.
I was three-years old, I think.
I wanted to know what was going on, so I followed. The soldiers dug a long ditch and erected the green sheet along the front. I asked the man what this was for, not understanding what he said in reply, as he spoke funny.
Some men came and started to pee in the ditch. I went with them around the sheet and also had a pee. Standing with the grownups I felt very proud, this was great fun! Some of the men took their pants down and had a shit. It stunk.
I watched as more men came and did the same.
I ran back to mum and very excitedly told her what had happened.
She shouted at me and said never to go there again.
“Why Mum?”
No answer.
That night, as we (I have one older brother and one sister) were waiting for mum to get the river stones hot on the small wood stove and to wrap the stones in towels to put in the bed so we would not freeze, I told them of my adventure. My sister was not interested, but my older brother said he was going to have a look tomorrow.
I had told him about the men pissing and shitting in the trench and, as he was two years older, he explained this was a latrine made by the British soldiers who were there to protect us from the Russians. My brother knows everything.
Next morning there was no school, so we went to have a look. Boy, did the hole in the ground stink! Emil said he would ask to see what was going on as there were lots of soldiers, maybe one thousand or more. He also said there was going to be a big war with lots of blood and stuff.
I was born and lived in a misplaced persons camp in a small village called Trofaiach in Austria. The war had ended. Food was scarce. The shop in the camp sold very little so mum had to get a job digging potatoes in the field to feed and clothe us. We had to go with her, watching her digging potatoes as we sat and played under the trees.
One day I saw a soldier give my mother a pair of stockings and my sister a wafer biscuit. I was green with envy, a wafer biscuit, wow! She sat on the hut steps and ate it.
The huts were long straight buildings with ten rooms, one family in each room. One big bed in the middle, one small table with a tiny black skinny stove in the corner on which our milk was heated. The soot from the chimney fell into our food many times. We were always hungry.
I cannot remember what my father looked like, or when he was in the camp. He must have been there because my mother had another baby, my younger brother, Fred. Later in life I found the divorce papers. He went to Brazil. My mother never spoke of him.
Life in camp was okay. We went to school, which I liked. Our teacher was a tall man who wore a black flat hat with a tassel and a black gown over his shoulders. He carried a long wooden stick which would come from nowhere and hit us on the back of the hand if we made any mistakes. No talking. No whispering. He was mean. I did okay.
There was talk at the camp that people were being sent to America, Canada and Australia, but only 700 people were allowed to go. The camp at this time housed around 11,000 people.
I can only assume that my mother had had enough of the camp and was looking for a way out. As I later found out, she met a man who was to become the terror of my life and would later become my stepfather. At the time my mother would have been 24 years old, with four young kids and no husband. This man was 20 years older and was a way out of the camp.
Lou Sigmund
August 2023
I was three-years old, I think.
I wanted to know what was going on, so I followed. The soldiers dug a long ditch and erected the green sheet along the front. I asked the man what this was for, not understanding what he said in reply, as he spoke funny.
Some men came and started to pee in the ditch. I went with them around the sheet and also had a pee. Standing with the grownups I felt very proud, this was great fun! Some of the men took their pants down and had a shit. It stunk.
I watched as more men came and did the same.
I ran back to mum and very excitedly told her what had happened.
She shouted at me and said never to go there again.
“Why Mum?”
No answer.
That night, as we (I have one older brother and one sister) were waiting for mum to get the river stones hot on the small wood stove and to wrap the stones in towels to put in the bed so we would not freeze, I told them of my adventure. My sister was not interested, but my older brother said he was going to have a look tomorrow.
I had told him about the men pissing and shitting in the trench and, as he was two years older, he explained this was a latrine made by the British soldiers who were there to protect us from the Russians. My brother knows everything.
Next morning there was no school, so we went to have a look. Boy, did the hole in the ground stink! Emil said he would ask to see what was going on as there were lots of soldiers, maybe one thousand or more. He also said there was going to be a big war with lots of blood and stuff.
I was born and lived in a misplaced persons camp in a small village called Trofaiach in Austria. The war had ended. Food was scarce. The shop in the camp sold very little so mum had to get a job digging potatoes in the field to feed and clothe us. We had to go with her, watching her digging potatoes as we sat and played under the trees.
One day I saw a soldier give my mother a pair of stockings and my sister a wafer biscuit. I was green with envy, a wafer biscuit, wow! She sat on the hut steps and ate it.
The huts were long straight buildings with ten rooms, one family in each room. One big bed in the middle, one small table with a tiny black skinny stove in the corner on which our milk was heated. The soot from the chimney fell into our food many times. We were always hungry.
I cannot remember what my father looked like, or when he was in the camp. He must have been there because my mother had another baby, my younger brother, Fred. Later in life I found the divorce papers. He went to Brazil. My mother never spoke of him.
Life in camp was okay. We went to school, which I liked. Our teacher was a tall man who wore a black flat hat with a tassel and a black gown over his shoulders. He carried a long wooden stick which would come from nowhere and hit us on the back of the hand if we made any mistakes. No talking. No whispering. He was mean. I did okay.
There was talk at the camp that people were being sent to America, Canada and Australia, but only 700 people were allowed to go. The camp at this time housed around 11,000 people.
I can only assume that my mother had had enough of the camp and was looking for a way out. As I later found out, she met a man who was to become the terror of my life and would later become my stepfather. At the time my mother would have been 24 years old, with four young kids and no husband. This man was 20 years older and was a way out of the camp.
Lou Sigmund
August 2023
Information/Photographs of Trofaiach– from Google search accessed 17 September 2023 ‘misplaced persons camp in Trofaiach, Austria’