 Adolf Robicek was
born in Niš, Yugoslavia near Belgrade on December
13, 1893.The family name
derives from the Pilsen region of Czechoslovakia.
Adolf’s father, Alexander, was born in Sarajevo. All
of the sons were alternately named Alexander, then Adolf,
then Alexander and so on....however, after WWII, Adolf
was out as a popular name! Adolf had one sister,
Ana Lebl (Sasha’s mother), who died in a
concentration camp.
Alexander, Adolf’s father, once went to
a nice restaurant on a trip to Vienna. He ordered
steak, which tasted so delicious that he ordered another.
When the bill arrived, he pointed out to the waiter that
the total was too low, since he had ordered a second
helping. It turned out that the place was a
horsemeat establishment and the bill was indeed
correct. The double helping came back to haunt him!
During WWI, Adolf was in the Army. His
unit was guarding a crucial railroad junction.
During an attack by the Germans, all of the members of
his unit were killed. He was injured when a heavy
object fell on his foot and crushed his toe. For
three days and nights, he crawled around and adjusted the
railroad tracks to ensure that the trains continued on
their schedules. For his heroism, he received a
medal; in the citation, the king called him
“brother.” Because of the medal, Alex and
Vera didn’t have to pay tuition for gymnasium, Adolf
had free unlimited travel privileges on all trams and
buses, the kids would have tuition-free schooling at the
college of their choice (in or out of Yugoslavia).
Vera had planned to study medicine, while Alex was
undecided, although it would have involved math.
Adolf was an artist and very creative, but
the family didn’t think that to be a good career
choice at the time (artists were frowned upon) so they
ensured that he didn’t go to art school; instead, he
went to business school. Adolf worked for the
government in Danube shipping administration in the
foreign department. The family received free travel
privileges, so Marianne and the kids went to Vienna
several times by boat, getting treated like royalty along
the way.
He was a
kind, fair, yet opinionated man with an imaginative
humor....a born leader. He didn’t feel that
children should be seen and not heard, but felt that if
one said something, it should be meaningful. Thus,
Alex and Vera grew up to be factual people. Adolf
spoke several languages, including Yugoslav, Bulgarian,
German, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Albanian and
Russian. He enjoyed reading aloud at night;
Marianne would fall asleep and 11-year-old Vera would
sneak in and listen to him reading Russian, English and
other authors.
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