I worked for the Baron
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Hedvika Brixová, née Wagnerová, was born on the 12th of February 1928 in Tomíkovice (Domsdorf in German) in the Jeseník area. Her parents, like the vast majority of the village and the surrounding area, were of German nationality. She spent most of her life in the nearby village of Kobylá nad Vidnavkou (formerly known as Kobylá, or Jungferndorf in German). This meant that she witnessed armed units attacking the local Czech state employees in September 1938 and also saw the Soviet, French, and English captives working at the local farm estate during the Second World War. Her oldest brother Edwin fell while fighting for the Wehrmacht, her other brother Alfred also fought in the war, stayed in Germany, and never came back home. After the war she witnessed the expulsion of native Germans from their homes, which included her employer and owner of the local chateau and farm - Baron Ferdinand II von Skal. Unlike most of the local Germans, she and her family managed to stay in the village. She was able to observe the post-war development, during which the ethnic composition of the village changed completely.
