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I was born on Grosslingova Street [in Bratislava] in 1910 – today it’s called Medena Street. At that time, the house was pretty new; they called it a modern apartment, because there was a bathroom in it. During World War I, they put out a law that said, those heads of families who were called up for the army didn’t have to pay rent for a certain time – I don’t know how long. While my father was away, we really didn’t pay rent.
In spite of that, the woman who owned the house told my mother we had to leave the apartment. My mother said, ‘That’s fine, if we have to, we’ll leave.’ She was very sorry, she didn’t know where to go, what to do. In the meantime, my father got home, but he said we should leave, we’re not staying, we’ll find someplace else.
He met a friend who had his own house in Tobrucka Street (it was called Rojkova Street then), and there, a four-room apartment just became available. They had emigrated [the residents], and that wasn’t a very popular thing then, they left Bratislava. That night they transferred the apartment to my parents, so we lived there from 1916.
In spite of that, the woman who owned the house told my mother we had to leave the apartment. My mother said, ‘That’s fine, if we have to, we’ll leave.’ She was very sorry, she didn’t know where to go, what to do. In the meantime, my father got home, but he said we should leave, we’re not staying, we’ll find someplace else.
He met a friend who had his own house in Tobrucka Street (it was called Rojkova Street then), and there, a four-room apartment just became available. They had emigrated [the residents], and that wasn’t a very popular thing then, they left Bratislava. That night they transferred the apartment to my parents, so we lived there from 1916.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Katarina Löfflerova