Hans Lewitus

Roots as seen by Hans (sent by Eva Lewitus)

My Roots. I have very few memories of the Lewitus grandparents. They lived in the 4th district of Vienna, near to the lovely Belvedere Park and we spent the happiest moment of our lives there. Grandmother Lewitus was a very sick person, and I remember her only lying in her bed for many years. She was taken care of by her daughter Emma, married to Karl. That happened on the second floor of the house. In the first floor, the twin brother of my father Ludwig had a shop that sold alcoholic drinks. The customers were simple people and Ludwig had assimilated to their way of speaking and talked and seemed like a true Viennese. My father Wilhelm also had a true Viennese accent, in contrast to the majority of the Viennese Jews who had a strong Eastern accent that distinguished them from the non-Jews. Ludwig was married to Regina. She suffered from a brain tumor and spoke with difficulty. She lived in the back of the shop. Their son Fritz was a big boy some years older than I and admired by us because he was an excellent football player, playing in the first football league for the Jewish club Hakoach. We know that he went to Yugoslavia and that we lost sight of him. I vividly remember the day his father died. Fritz went up to the second floor in one of his visits and cried like a little child. They tried to conceal from the very sick mother the death of her son and suddenly she said: I know very well that Ludwig died. I'm going to mention other experiences like this because they touched me deeply and are part of the philosophy of my life. In this case: That old people cling to life and reject emotions that could shorten their lives. The Steinschneider family is more important for my life, or at least for my memories Ignaz and Julie had a coffee shop in front of the stock exchange."Kaffee Bürse" (Stock exchange coffeehouse) It was the meeting place of many students and above all chess players. Ignaz loved to play with these people. He was famous for his good heart... Julie had to make all the work, educate four children and work in the coffeehouse. Because of these circumstances she was or got to be a very energetic woman, maintaining a very happy spirit and singing a lot and, (and unforgettable fact) she was my chess teacher. Precisely these days that you ask me to help my grandchildren with the initiation of chess, I try in vain to remember her teachings. I only remember that she started with what in German is called "Schustermatt", (Scholar's Mate ) It is the checkmate with four moves, with the queen and the white bishop.

Her son Paul, a bachelor until he was 40 years old, stayed and lived with her until he finally married an opera singer - they stayed living with her. Like many mothers-in-law she also did not know how to live in peace with her daughter-in-law and when the old age afflictions started, she committed suicide with gas, leaving a very serene letter in which she explained the reason of her suicide. Another strong experience was sure that our beloved Meme (my mother) who also had a very strong character, would finish the same way. (Note by Mutti: She did not. She had a stroke) Of the four brothers, all had a great influence in my life. Uncle Paul was an amateur violinist and for many years we made music with him, my brother Ernst (papa) and me. When he married the singer, the musical relations went on with her. It was one of my disappointments when instead of performing with me, she chose a famous accompanist for her recital. They had only one daughter, Helen. They fled with her to Hong Kong, where they had a hard time settling down. Paul died before I could see him again. But Aunt Angelika visited us in Lima. There is no contact with Helen (Note: Erich did visit her in the USA, where she was a dog beautician or trainer. Helen never married. And then we did lose contact with her) Aunt Elsa was married to Richard Perlsee, they had two daughters, Grete and Emmy. Emmy was my favorite cousin and at the same time my first love. We spent many happy moments together. We went on excursions together, we played at home, celebrated Christmas, and we also spent many holidays together in Petrovice, my unforgettable paradise. Grete survived the war year in Paraguay, in quite difficult circumstances. They returned to Germany. Rudi, her husband died of cancer and Grete returned to her birthplace, working there for the SOS Kinderdorf Movement (SOS Children's Villages). A branch has existed for some years in Lima and the daughter of the Swiss couple in charge of it was a very good recorder pupil of mine. Emmy disappeared in one of the concentration camps with her two sons and her mother Elsa. Her husband found refuge in England. He and Grete interchanged letters for some time. The third one was my mother Irma, and the fourth my aunt Olga, my favorite aunt. We loved each other very much and it was with her that I had the closest communication. I wrote her many things that I would not have written to anybody else. I had so much confidence in her that when I married my first wife, Reserl, she burned all my letters, in fear of being too confidential and could endanger my future marriage. Olga married a rich landowner, Uncle Karl. The farm was called Petrovice and consisted of a kind of castle, a very big garden with a small forest, horses, cows, camps, and woodland. She had four children. I especially liked the second one, Jiri. The third one, Victor was very much interested in music and even composed little pieces. The fourth, Vera, is the only survivor of the family. Karl was a descendant of a purely Jewish family who, like many at this time, converted to Catholicism.

During the Nazi period, he and Victor were horribly killed by the Nazis. Jiri had committed suicide a few years before. The older, Carola, survived the war and Vera too, who is married to a non-Jewish doctor. One day they escaped communist Czechoslovakia with their 4 children and they live now in Australia. As you can imagine, Petrovice a paradise for me. Before and after polio. Before, I was with the horses and the cows, we ran in the big garden, we went into the wood s to look for bilberries and mushrooms. We bathed in a small lagoon. We started learning to play tennis, we made music, and we played a lot. Do not forget the excellent food, the homemade bread, the same for the butter. In the garden, there were all species of fruits and hazelnuts. For me, these experiences are divided into two periods, due to the polio that attacked me at the age of 15. But even in the wheelchair and afterward walking with a special splint on my legs and walking sticks, I continued enjoying myself. I see myself playing billiard in my wheelchair chair, and even playing tennis. Very soon I discovered how to swim without using my legs. But it took me many years till I found a trick to manage the pedal on the piano. As always it was the necessity that taught me. Years later the Musical Syndicate sent me to the famous health resort of Bad Ischl not only as clarinetist but also to play the piano in the small orchestra there. And I discovered the trick to use the pedal My father, Wilhelm, was a quiet and handsome man. He was an employee of the Austrian railways and worked in an office in Vienna. He played a little bit of piano, but only Viennese waltzes. In the beginning, I'm sure it was an incentive for me to hear my father play the piano. But at the age of six, when I started learning to play the piano, and of course only classical music I despised my father's music.

I remember distressing days when my father was recruited during WWI to the North, near the front. But he came back safely. The times, during and after the war, were also difficult, a horrible inflation took away all the money that the small bourgeoisie tried to accumulate. My father was pensioned and found a job in a bank. In his last years, he was vegetating and suffering from a persecution mania. He told us the same stories every day, about a policeman standing on the street corner who observed him the whole time and followed him. Of course, there was no way to convince him of his error. I did not have a good relationship with my father. I have another unforgettable experience. When he was incinerated, I came at the last moment having I travelled hastily from Linz and when I came to the hall where the cremation was going to take place, where the family and all the friends had gathered, I got hysterical and screamed: 'My father, my father', I wanted to see him for the last time. Somebody came to calm me down and told me that it was better not to see him after he had died. How wise the Jewish religion is for not allowing one to see one's dead.

Irma (my mother) was a very cheerful woman, singing all day, very active, interested in music, theatre, and books. What overshadowed our lives, was their never-ending and unfruitful discussions. Generally they were economic problems but later on, I realized that the real reason for this discord was much more profound. Irma was frigid and suffered from strong headaches. The first years of my life we lived in Doeblingerhaupstrasse. I remember very little from this time. I see a big garden in the back of the house and going out from the back door, an open field. Beneath us lived my grandparents and I remember the nights when Ernst and I stayed alone at the house making atrocious pillow wars and other nights being afraid of just staying alone. When I was more or less 6 years old we moved to Anastasius Gruengasse 25/14 where we stayed until I left home and married my first wife. We lived on the fourth floor, with a lovely view of the Wienerwald mountains. The school was very near. I have few memories of it. One is that in between classes we had to walk in orderly lines, one of the boys and one of the girls. I was in love with Rosa Horvath and one of the biggest highlights was when the powers that be, let us see each other. Another memory was that during the years of war, a boy from Galicia came and I had very anti-Semitic feeling towards him. When I was 6 years old I was sent to a piano teacher. I remember that it was very easy for me to play in front of any public. Other participants of these concerts envied my equanimity... This serenity left me with the years of my development, and up to now the fight with my nerves before a concert is a big problem. Music and handball were my great passions. Many years later my mother reminded me that my eagerness to go out to the sport's field was stronger than playing the piano, but she insisted that I should practice one hour of piano before going out to play. .
At the age of 15, I fell sick with polio, just when I enjoyed for the first time, being in a Scout camp. I was one month in the hospital without too much help. Then I was one year in a wheelchair. The incredible kindness of two of my school friends helped me to go on with my studies. They came daily and carried me down the 88 steps and took me to the school.

After getting a special device on my legs, I learned to walk with two canes and lead an independent life. I continued with the piano but was much less enthusiastic about it, because I felt my restrictions, not being able to use the pedals. I searched for another instrument. Of the instruments I heard in the concerts, I especially liked the horn and the clarinet. The horn had to be eliminated because of its weight and size so I stayed with the clarinet. At the age of 19, after having learned to play a bit with a private teacher, I presented myself to the Music Conservatory. My future great maestro looked at me from top to bottom and said: What do you want, you will never be able to play as a professional musician. THE END