The students in Bocholt all interviewed their grandparents, or, if they sadly no longer had any, "borrowed" grandparents to interview from fellow students. Here are the results of the interviews with the grandfathers.
The age range of the grandfathers is as large as that of the grandmothers, spanning from 1924 to 1954 (30 years). Again, this means that some were growing up during WW2, some (those born in 1924) might even have had to fight, whereas others were born almost 10 years after the war had ended. This difference will have had a large impact on their youth.
Education:
If not, why not?
- Had to work as soon as possible to support his mother.
- There was only one school near by my house.
- Their was no other school in their village and they had no money
- had to
- there weren’t any others(he lived in a small village)
- Had to follow dad’s path
- No other school opportunities
- He was the first child of the family to study at university an they expected him to study religion to become a priest, which he first did for the families will but then decided to study medicine. Then he changed his mind and wanted to become a teacher so he changed his studies again.
- He wanted to Go to university But he only had a “Realschulabschluss” :)
Similar to the grandmothers, over a third of grandfathers could not attend the school of their choice, for similar reasons; money and available options. However, there is another reason that was not present with the grandmothers; it was expected that the sons followed the trade of their fathers.
Over half (57%) finished their education between the ages of 15 and 19, which contrasts with the grandmothers, and almost a quarter (23%) had a university education, which contrasts with the grandmothers, of whom 9% had a university education.
One grandfather apparently had no education at all, and nonetheless succeeded in leaving school between the ages of 11 and 14, so there are some inconsistencies in the data.
When considering this data, it should be remembered that some grandfathers were growing up in a time of war, when the possibilities and opportunities would have been greatly restricted.
Out of school activities
Sport
Which sports did you do?
- Handball, cycling, orieneering, skiing, iceskating, swimming,
- Football
- Bicycle racing
- light athletics
- judo, billiard
- Badminton
- Volleyball, skiing, ice skating
- riding bike, playing soccer
- equitation
- riding, football
If you did not do any sport, why not?
- Me and may siblings had to work.
- because I helped at the farm
- helping dad milk the cows
- no possibilites
- Had to help in household
- No time, other responsibilities
- no time
- He had to help on his family‘s farm
As with the grandmothers, sport seems to have been a luxury, which could be done if one had the time.
Other activities outside school...
The largest group of young men (28.6%) had no other after school activities.The remainder fall into many different activities, which could also be seen with the grandmothers. Helping out at home seems to have taken a lot of time.
Helping in the household
- helping parents with agricultural work
- Looking after siblings, looking after the pet and repairing things.
- I had to cook.
- looking after his brother and also cooking with mother. He also helped out in the garden.
- Working on the Field
- helping in the agriculture
- pick harvest, help in the garden
- Everything (taking away ashes, cleaning, doing the dishes etc…)
- Looking after animals and siblings (sometimes cooking)
- Helping to deliver goods from his parents toystore
- All of the above because they had a big farm
- Looking after animals
- Shopping, gardening
- Vleaning, Kohlen hochholen Ofen
- taking care of the animals and fields
In comparison with the grandmothers, 10% less had to help out about the house.
Social life
Far more grandfathers had a driving licence by the time they were 25 (86%) than the grandmothers (57%).
Over 90% of the young men (grandfathers, 90.5%) were allowed out on their own at the weekends and with their girlfriends.
Professional qualifications
Trained as:
- Worked as carpenter
- when my grandfather was sixteen, he went to the company his dad worked at and was offered vocational training as a mason.
- farmer
- Milling mashine operator
- Mechanic
- machinist
- mechanical engineering; police (advantage: did not have to go to the Bundeswehr + earned more money (400DM)); doctor nursing education; anesthesia and surgical specialist care
- Roofer
- track builder
- geodesist
- "Dreher" - lathe operator
- carpenter training
Most of the grandfathers (57%) qualified in a specialist field, either by doing an apprenticeship or at university. The minority of the grandmothers were able to do this.
Supporting the family with earnings before leaving home:
If so, in which way?
- Had to spend most of his income and help his mother.
- We had to earn money to feed the family
- farming
- Wages for accommodation, food and for the family in general because his father was in the war
- I walked through the village and asked if I could help/get work. (Sometimes instead of money the payment was an apple or bread.)
- Working and money
- Working in the forest, summer jobs, shipyard
- Financial and helping on the farm
The minority of the grandfathers (38%) had to support their family from their earnings before they left home. 57% of the grandmothers had to contribute some of their earnings to the household.
It would be interesting to investigate this further. Is it because the young men did apprenticeships, which were poorly, if at all, paid? There are many possible reasons which spring to mind to account for these differences.
Leaving home
Men were generally older than the women when they got married (61% 23-30; 57% 18-22). But in both groups, all were married before they were 30.
None of the grandfathers got divorced.
The grandfathers had a wide range of work after their children were born. None stayed at home to look after the children and adopt the role of home maker.