Ralph Droste Interview, History 150 Spring 2016, Conducted by Abbey Hagan, Move from Germany to U.S., March 11, 2016.
a. This interview was conducted in person. I did not have to edit it much, but my grandfather explained some of his answers in a confusing way. So, I rewrote some of the ideas he explained in my own words so it was easier to understand. I went over my grandfather’s house to do the interview. He lives with his wife, who was at work at the time, so we had the whole house to ourselves. Background noise was not an issue. I recorded the interview on my phone which came out very clear. The only interruption was in the beginning of our interview when my grandpa’s wife called him. So, for about a minute, he talked to her then our interview continued.
b. My grandfather was born on February 24, 1937. He was born in Hirschberg in the Baden-Wurttemberg State in southwestern Germany. My grandpa had three other siblings, two were older and one younger. My grandpa was 12 years old when him and his family moved to New York City. He went to school in the Bronx and had to learn English quickly, which was difficult because he only spoke German. On May 2, 1955 he became a naturalized citizen at the U.S. Southern District Court in NYC. My grandpa went to college for a year but stopped, without telling his parents, and found a job at the Otis Elevator Company. He married my grandmother, Herda, in 1959. My grandpa eventually went back to school and graduated with a BEE in Electrical Engineering in 1964, the same year my mother was born. He ended up retiring in 2008 and now is living in my hometown, Avon, Connecticut.
c. Since my interview was based around immigration and the World Wars, it helped doing further research on these topics. My grandfather arrived in the United States in 1949 and it makes sense that it was the best thing that happened to him. Before the move, Germany was in a state of economic depression and widespread unemployment. Although my grandfather was never directly affected by Hitler’s power and was never in a concentration camp, living in an area close by was still very scary and unsafe. Immigration was common. The main reason people wanted to leave Germany was to find opportunity elsewhere. Moving to the U.S. would increase the chance of getting an education and job, to live a better lifestyle.
d. Me: Grandpa, what made your parents/family decide to move to the United States?
Grandpa: I think it was basically for more opportunities…and after the second world war, Europe was in such bad shape, everything was basically destroyed. So, they (his parents) wanted to move back to the United States. After the first time in the 1920s, they came and they were young, they had not married yet, they got married in New York City and unfortunately what happened was the Great Depression that started in the late 1920s. So, a lot of people were unemployed…I think my father…he was working though. He worked as a machinest and the Empire State building was being built at that time…he was doing machine work, exactly what? I’m not sure. And your grandmother, great grandmother, she worked as a domestic. [pause] They did have work, but in 1933, they decided to go back (to the U.S.) because the older siblings that I had, Margaret and George, they were being looked after by my mother’s grandparents there.
Me: And Ingrid (one of my grandfather’s sisters) is younger than you, right?
Grandpa: Yes. So, they went back. [pause] Actually, my mother, your great grandmother, she had a lot of medical issues, mostly women problems, women issues, you know? So she went back and forth after they got married in 1926, went back and forth many times because medical care was a right for every German citizen. And, there was no medical insurance in the United States at the time. So, I think what happened in 1933, [questions himself] did they go back to pick up Margaret and George to bring them back to the United States? Which I thought they did, or were they planning in 1933 to go back permanently because maybe the job prospects were not very good in the United States because of the Great Depression? Probably both. Obviously since they couldn’t come back because of the war, during that time I was born and my youngest sister. My father was never in the military because of the work that he did. He was needed in the war effort in the factories. So, he was never apart of the military at that time. But it basically was not a very good place to be during the second World War, and I think my father mostly, he was the adventurous type. He always did things and moved around. He decided, this is no place to be and they decided to come back to America.
Me: So, what would you say your hardest adjustment was once you were living in New York City?
Grandpa: The beginning? Well, it was a new country, we didn’t speak the language [pause] that was the hardest adjustment. I think it was probably harder for my parents…my father, you know, had to look for work again. He was in his 40’s at this point so it might have been more difficult for him. As for starting school [pause] the people at the school we went to, Public School 14, they didn’t speak any German and we didn’t speak any English. And we sort of adapted. Young people, they pick up the language pretty quickly so we picked up enough…and this is 1949 when we came. We picked up enough during our summer recess so they were able to put us in a regular class. But, it was a struggle.
Me: So, what would you say were some similarities and differences between Germany and the U.S.? I bet there were more differences [both laugh]
Grandpa: Well, it is an advanced society, both of them, they’re not third world countries, they’re basically the same. The education level in both countries is about the same. Neither countries are backwards countries. So, they were pretty much the same, but the cultures were different.
Me: So, how did World War II affect you and your family in this process?
Grandpa: Where we were living, we were very fortunate, we didn’t live in the city (in Germany). So, we didn’t see any military action in the place that we lived at, but a lot of our cousins who lived in cities, like in Monheim, they came during the war and lived with us because it was remote, not a city. The only thing that affected us directly was at the very end of the second World War when the ally forces sort of took over. We were in a part of Germany where the Americans were in charge of. The U.S. had an area of influence, Great Britain had an area of influence, France had an area of influence, and the Russians did in the Eastern part of the country. So, finally at the end of the war, when we saw some fire power being directed at us, and as soon as the town officials put up a white flag on the church tower, that was when they stopped. They came in and it worked out quite well. My father, who knew some English, he worked as a translator for the American military. Right away, he made arrangements for my older sister to come back to the United States. The plan was that she was going to start working. She planned to work as a nanny, save money, and save enough money so we could all follow. That is exactly what happened.
Me: Wow that’s awesome to hear. So, what were your living conditions like in both countries?
Grandpa: I was so young and I was perfectly alright! [both laugh] I have no bad memories. And living conditions here (U.S.) they were very nice too. When Margaret, my older sister, came she lived with the people where she was a Nanny. On the weekends we would have some relatives, my aunt, who was born in the United States, she had married a brother of my father’s mother, and we lived with them when we came. During that brief time, when my father and brother George came, they came in 1948, they lived with a family in Edgewater Park in the Bronx. They were very happy where they were. And when we all came, we all moved in with our aunt. We lived on [takes a few seconds to remember] Dean Avenue, the nice area of the Bronx.
Me: So, what opportunities did you have in the United States that you didn’t have in Germany?
Grandpa: Well, I was too young to know what opportunities I might have had. But the opportunity I probably had was being able to go to college, which I might have not done if I stayed in Germany.
Me: So, would you say that your move to NYC was a positive change?
Grandpa: Definitely. It was a positive change.
Me: Why do you think that?
Grandpa: Because we were very content, immediate family was here (U.S.), we had all my siblings…they were all here. Everything that we needed was close by. So, we never had any bad experiences.
Me: So, do you believe that your move to the states brought you and your family closer?
Grandpa: [pause]…well I hope so! [both laugh] I think we were a close family. When we came, my parents, in 1953, bought a very small place in Kingston, New York. That was going to be their retirement place. I was still in high school when we had the place and my youngest sister and I spent our summers in Kingston, New York. I never had the feeling that I was missing anything, I didn’t have things other people had. We had a close family and basically, we were all content.
Me: Here is my last question for you: since you were so young when you moved (even younger while living in Germany) did you feel as if you were too young to understand what was happening and why?
Grandpa: Yes. I was 12 when we came, but I thought it was a pretty smooth move. I never regretted it, I was not mad at my parents because we moved away from where my grandparents lived, and where I went to school…I didn’t miss anything. It was positive and a blessing.