Rudolf Zwiener

* 1937

  • "Emil was the oldest. He was in the army as a paratrooper and was shot down between Germany and Belgium. He has a monument in Belgium in a big cemetery. There are, I think, 17 hectares of memorials. One like the other."

  • "On 15 May 1948 we were moved to Smržice near Prostějov. There was a big farmer who had about 18 hectares of fields, about 18 cows, four horses. He had a family of Germans and Hungarians there. The Hungarians didn't want to work, so they pulled out a knife and said, 'You German, you will work!' They got scared, so one night they ran away, they only had thirty-five kilos. The work was left to the Hungarians and they ran away. The farmer had no workers, so he got on a train and went to Jeseník to the labour office, saying that he wanted two families of Germans or one big family. There were a lot of us, so he chose us. In the afternoon a policeman came and said, 'In forty-eight hours, whatever we prepare will be taken away and we will move.' The neighbors helped us to knock the boxes and I was 11 years old at the time."

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    Jeseník, 10.04.2024

    (audio)
    duration: 02:00:12
    media recorded in project Stories of the region - Central Moravia
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Czechs got into a fight while stealing their property

Rudolf Zwiener in 2024
Rudolf Zwiener in 2024
photo: Post Bellum

Rudolf Zwiener was born on 28 July 1937 in Domašov (Thomasdorf in German) to parents of German nationality, Wilibald and Maria Zwiener. Three of his brothers enlisted in the Wehrmacht during World War II. The eldest, Emil, was killed in Belgium and Josef had an immobile leg after a wound. After the war, the family was not included in the removal of Germans, but in May 1948 they still had to leave their home in Domašov within twenty-four hours. The family of eleven was chosen for agricultural work by a farmer from Smržice in the Prostějov region. After finishing primary school in Smržice, Rudolf joined the state farm, where he took care of pigs and milked cows. He then worked in a breeding station, and graduated from night school as a plumber. In 1963, he married Anelies Franke, who was from Lipová-Lázně and was also of German descent. They settled in this village not too far from Domašov and their children Petr, Rudolf and Andrea were born there. Most of the other members of Rudolf Zwiener’s family remained in Smržice. They had nowhere to return to because their house in Domašov was occupied. After arriving in Lipová-lázná, Rudolf Zwiener joined the municipal services in Jeseník as a plumber, where he worked until the fall of the communist regime. He then took the opportunity to become a private owner. At the time of filming in 2024, he was still living in Lipová-lázně.