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»Das ist nämlich ein trauriges Leben, wenn man keine Papiere hat«

Anton Minster | »Das ist nämlich ein trauriges Leben, wenn man keine Papiere hat« | self-evidence | swiss confederation | Feb. 27, 1942 | voi_00037

Rights held by: Anton Minster | Provided by: Federal Department of Interiour – Swiss Federal Archives (Bern/Switzerland) | Archived under: E4264 #1988-2 #6304* / P036259 / Minster, Karl / 15.05.1892 / 1934-1969

Naters, 27 February 1942

[illegible]
I would like to request that you issue me with an identification document. We’ve been in Switzerland for 14 years now and we have to stay in Switzerland, therefore I would like to have identification papers, if I want a permit or otherwise work, then I’ve got to have papers, I can’t stay with my father forever, I am 27, old enough to earn my own living, but to do so I need papers, otherwise I won’t get any work. Dear Sir, you also know that it is not my fault that I have no home, and I would willingly deposit some money every month, like the family Zozert in the Canton of Bern, if I were only to receive papers for once. I would also like to do military service, it is namely a sad life if you don’t have any papers or anything else.
I hope, dear Sir, that you understand me.
Please send me the answer poste restante to Naters Valais.
Respectfully yours,
Anton Minster, born 1915 on 15 June.
The Valais permit is the only identification I have.

Naters, den 27[.] Februar 1942

[unleserlich]
Möchte Sie bit[t]en[,] mir einen Ausweis auszustellen. Wir sind ja schon 14 Jahre in der Schweiz und wir müssen ja in der Schweiz bleiben, darum möchte ich einmal Ausweis[p]apiere, wenn ich einmal ein Patent will oder sonst Arbeit[,] muss ich doch Papiere haben, ich kann doch nicht immer beim Vater bleiben, ich bin 27 Jahre a[l]t, alt genug für mein Leben selbst zu verdienen, aber [da]für brauche ich Papiere, sonst bekom[m]e ich keine Arbeit. Sehr geehrte Herren[,] Sie wissen ja auch[,] dass es nicht meine Schuld ist[,] dass ich [h]eimatlos bin, und ich werde gerne alle Monate etwas Geld deponieren, wie die Familie Zozert im K[anton] Bern auch muss, wenn ich nur einmal Papiere bekom[m]e[.] Ich würde auch gerne Milit[ä]rdi[e]nst machen, das ist nämlich ein trauriges Leben[,] wenn man keine Papiere u[nd] nichts hat.
Ich hoffe[,] gee[h]rte Herren[,] Sie verstehen mich.
Senden Sie mir bitte die Antwort postlagernd Naters Wallis[.]
Hochachtungsvoll
Anton Minster[,] geboren 1915 am 15[.] Juni.
Das Walliser Patent ist der einzige [A]usweis, [den] ich habe.

Naters, 27. Februari 1942 berš

[bidrabardo]
Mangav te rodav tumendar te den ma jekh personalno dokumento. Amen sam 14 berša ko Švajco thaj musaj te ačhovas ko Švajco, kodoleske mangav te ovel ma personalno lil, kana varesavo dokumento trubul vaj buti, musaj si mange lila te oven ma, me našti me dadesa sakana te bešav, me sem 27 beršengo, phuro dosta vaš muro trajo korkore muro ajluko te lav, ba akaleske trubun ma dokumentora, bi lengo našti te kerav buti. Drago Raj, Tumen džanen, kaj naj miri doš so sem bithemutno, thaj mangav te dav varesave lovore sako čhon, sar kaj i familija Zozert ko kantono Bern musaj si te kerel, numa te šaj lav me dokumentora. Vi ki armija mangav te džav, kana naj tu dokumentora vaj varso aver, kodo si jekh bibaxtalo trajo.
Paćav, drago Raj, kaj haćaren ma.
Bičhalen mange, rugiv tumen, o nevipe pe postako than Naters Vallis.
Uče respektosa,
Anton Minster, bijando po 15. Juno 1915 berš.
O Vallisesko dokumento si numa jekhutno personalno lil so si ma.

Credits

Rights held by: Anton Minster | Provided by: Federal Department of Interiour – Swiss Federal Archives (Bern/Switzerland) | Archived under: E4264 #1988-2 #6304* / P036259 / Minster, Karl / 15.05.1892 / 1934-1969

Playlist

Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Anton Minster
1.05 min
voi_00097
Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Anton Minster | Spoken word | Germany | 2018 | voi_00097
EN

Contextualisation

Decades-long struggle for the right to a homeland

The letter by Anton Minster gives an indication of the beleaguered situation in which the family – which, along with the father, Carlo Minster, born in 1892, was made up of another five siblings born between 1911 and 1926 – found itself. The widower Carlo Minster was deported with his six children by the Italian authorities to Switzerland in 1929. At the beginning of April 1930, the Swiss deported the family back to Italy, where they were detained by the Italian police and incarcerated for 10 days in Domodossola, from where they were once again forced to cross the Swiss border at the snow-covered Simplon Pass in the dead of night. Finally, the Italian and Swiss authorities agreed to leave the family in Switzerland if, in return, Italy would refrain from further deportations.

Immediately, the family were forced to hand over all their documents. Since then, Carlo Minster unstintingly tried to obtain Swiss passports by making regularly submissions, at times with the help of lawyers. But not a single canton was willing to accept the ‘stateless’ persons. Earning a living – either through mending baskets and umbrellas or as musicians – proved difficult as a result. In January 1936 Carlo Minster wrote: ‘I earn my living honestly & completely above board & yet they look at me so suspiciously as soon as they demand to see my papers & I can’t present any.’

Thanks to his tenacity, Carlo Minster was able to ensure that he and his family could stay in Switzerland, thus avoiding persecution by the National Socialist regime or the Italian Fascists. A more secure status, like the one granted, subject to certain conditions, to the Zozerd family assigned to the Canton of Bern, was first obtained in 1943, when the family was sent to the Canton of Valais. There the men were to be drafted into performing forced labour until the end of the war. Carlo Minster’s grandchildren were the first members of the family to gain Swiss citizenship

Karola Fings (2017)

Playlist

Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Anton Minster
1.05 min
voi_00097
Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Anton Minster | Spoken word | Germany | 2018 | voi_00097
EN

Details

übersetzer Titel
»Kana naj tu dokumentura, kodo si jekh bibaxtalo trajo«
übersetzer Titel
»It really is a sad life if you don’t have any papers«
übersetzer Titel
‘It really is a sad life if you don’t have any papers’
Production
Feb. 27, 1942
Credits
Production Credits
Object Category
Material
Technique
Object Number
voi_00037

Archive Section

Associated Terms & People

people Carlo Minster, subjects deportion, Italy, police, police custody, Domodossola, forced labour, period 1933 - 1945