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My native village of Pusovce [Presov region] was predominantly Catholic. There were about 34 houses, of which I think four families were Protestant, those were the Anderkos, and the rest were Catholics. The house where I was born was earthen, made from unfired bricks. We had this modest house. It had only one larger room, where my mother had the bar; there the floor was made of dirt. Then there was a little room, that’s where the store was. I remember that I also occasionally sold cigarettes, or sugar. I helped out when I came home during vacation. Well, and one room, that was already big luxury, because it had a wooden floor. And we also had a kitchenette. We raised chickens until my mother remarried. Besides this we had a pigeon coop. I loved pigeons.
Then, when my mother was already remarried, we had a farm. Viktor was a very good farmer. He was a cattle merchant, but when he made enough money he left the business, because he liked farming. So he bought a neglected piece of land, where nothing would grow. He meliorated it [melioration: a combination of measures that permanently improve soil for various uses – Editor’s note] by draining it. To this day it’s the most fertile land in Pusovce! It’s land left by Viktor. So that was the first field that he bought and made fertile. Then he bought more and more, until he finally had 14 hectares. For those times that was really a lot. Because most farmers had five, six hectares. He grew everything, potatoes, wheat, barley and oats. He also raised horses. As a good farmer, the residents of Pusovce trusted him to the degree that he even had a breeding bull. The villagers used to come to our place to fertilize their cows. He was such an expert that he bred cattle.
Then he sold that house where I was born. He bought a brick house with a beautiful garden. We of course had a helper for the household, when my mother couldn’t manage it all herself, and we also had a coachman. Back then they called him a coachman, but he was a servant. And the furniture in that house was better too. I was nice and modern. However, from the age of 3 or 4 I was with my grandpa in Chmelov, because I was attending religion school there. I had to live with him there, because it would have been impossible for me to commute between Chmelov and Pusovce. Back then there weren’t buses yet.
Then, when my mother was already remarried, we had a farm. Viktor was a very good farmer. He was a cattle merchant, but when he made enough money he left the business, because he liked farming. So he bought a neglected piece of land, where nothing would grow. He meliorated it [melioration: a combination of measures that permanently improve soil for various uses – Editor’s note] by draining it. To this day it’s the most fertile land in Pusovce! It’s land left by Viktor. So that was the first field that he bought and made fertile. Then he bought more and more, until he finally had 14 hectares. For those times that was really a lot. Because most farmers had five, six hectares. He grew everything, potatoes, wheat, barley and oats. He also raised horses. As a good farmer, the residents of Pusovce trusted him to the degree that he even had a breeding bull. The villagers used to come to our place to fertilize their cows. He was such an expert that he bred cattle.
Then he sold that house where I was born. He bought a brick house with a beautiful garden. We of course had a helper for the household, when my mother couldn’t manage it all herself, and we also had a coachman. Back then they called him a coachman, but he was a servant. And the furniture in that house was better too. I was nice and modern. However, from the age of 3 or 4 I was with my grandpa in Chmelov, because I was attending religion school there. I had to live with him there, because it would have been impossible for me to commute between Chmelov and Pusovce. Back then there weren’t buses yet.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Jozef W.