| The Birth |
| I was born 3rd of December 1946 in Wein Hospital in the American sector of Vienna, Austria or Osterreich as we Austrians say. My mother was an Austrian. My birth certificate is blank for "Father". My father, John Malecek, as a US army man, would have been in big trouble for being with the enemy. |
| The Baptism |
| I was baptized in the hospital on the 5th of December which is Saint Nikolas day, so my middle name was Nikolaus. First name Johann and surname Lieb (my mother's). Since my father was then stationed in Germany Nikolaus De Vita, who was from Philadelphia, stood in for him. |
| The Manger |
| I don't believe this one myself, just reporting it as told to me. My mother said that I was the swaddling Jesus in the Nativity scene in the hospital because I was a happy smiling baby. |
| The Grandfather |
| He didn't like Americans, so was unhappy with the situation. But being a prisoner of war didn't have much say in the matter. I don't have a photo of him,
But there was one of him hanging in our Richfield place. I was always amazed because he looked just like my father. |
| The Grandmother |
Her place, 21 Holetschokgasse, was in the Russian sector. We moved in with her. Her sister lived upstairs with daughter Monica. The story is that Monica was my mother's half sister. |
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| The Red Cross |
As you can imagine there was a scarcity of every thing in those days. My father would make trips to visit us. One time he drove a truck filled with Red Cross packages (meant for German/Austrian prisoners), bluffed his way past the Russian guards and was able to offload the stuff at my grandmother's place. The head prisoner realized there was a shortage and made a formal complaint. It was investigated and my father was sent off to Germany the next day. He couldn't even say goodbye. |
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| The Departure |
| It took some doing getting permission for us to leave Austria and go to America. Apparently, Grandpa Malecek was against it, being two more mouths to feed. But Grandma Malecek won out and got the money organized to pay for our flights. We came on a Pan American Clipper leaving from US base Tulln, Austria. We arrived in New York City on 15th June 1947. |
Passport |
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