A10 Wrong rumour

Narrator: Franziska Löffler Reporter: Mathias Kainz

This story happened shortly before the end of the Second World War, when the Russians occupied our country.

They also came to my village Triglas and to Klein Gerharts. Before they came, people always said that the children of every village would be taken to Russia.

Fear and horror was in our village when a man told us that the Russians were going to come to us. Many mothers woke up their kids during the afternoon nap and hid them from the Russians. Often the children hid themselves.

I was one of these children.

Frightened we waited for the arrival of the soldiers. But no soldier and no vehicle could be heard. Therefore I decided to go by bike to the next village to see whether the Russians were there or not.

When I was on the hill between Triglas and the neighbouring village Klein Gerharts, I could see the neighbouring village. Everything was peaceful and there were no Russian soldiers to be seen. And also later no ones could be seen.

When people gossipped about that, I got angry, because it showed me how bad it was to spread rumours, especially in a time when fear and horror are everywhere.