03:12

Ruth Deutschmann

Benjamin Epp

Aldrans

2008-06-16

Sylvia Manning - Baumgartner

Nicole D´Incecco

1921

I was born in Aldrans, on a festive day, New Year’s Eve 1914. That’s an unusual day. I had four brothers. Of the four brothers, two perished in the second war and one became a priest. My youngest brother, the one who got an education, had already graduated from the high school of commerce. But he also had to go to war. He died too. My parents? My mother died when she was 52. She suffered a lot - from epileptic seizures. I went through a lot with her. If you’ve never seen that - it is terrible to watch. She had a lot of those fits. I went to primary school. I was a little rebel at school. A girl rascal! My back was turned to the teacher more often than to the class. That’s what I was like. I have to tell the truth. Back then the first three marks we got were for: behaviour, religion and diligence. And it was very important, that the first three marks be A's. Is it alright if I use dialect expressions? Twice I had a B in behaviour, although I’m a girl! There you have it, that is the kind of girl I was! I can still remember ? I must have been about six or seven years old? Once they took a big wooden log, about a metre long, wrapped a rope around it and attached it to me. "There you go, have a run around, take a little discovery trip!" they said. In dialect they used to say: "Agnes is out on the Lantsch all year long." The word lantschen means wanting to be constantly on the go. I was simply interested in everything. I went everywhere to check things out. I was just a really lively child.