Objekt des Monats
Jedes Objekt in der Sammlung des Deutschen Auswandererhauses erzählt eine ganz persönliche Auswanderungs- oder Einwanderungsgeschichte. In dieser Rubrik stellen wir Ihnen jeden Monat ein anderes Objekt vor – eine Fotografie, ein Dokument oder ein persönliches Erinnerungsstück.
May 2021
Official certificate from the year 1968
© Collection Deutsches Auswandererhaus
Historical Context
May 1st is not only Labor Day but also the day of the fish sandwich – a combination that could not fit Bremerhaven better. From the 1950s onwards, industry in West Germany grows, along with the demand for more and more workers. Until 1973, the Federal Republic actively recruits workers from Spain, Greece, Morocco, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Portugal, and Tunisia. In 1973, just before the recruitment stop, 2.5 million people are employed in social security-relevant jobs, who do not possess a German passport. In Bremerhaven, it is especially the fish processing industry that relies on the so-called guest workers.
Short biography of Alojzija Wilmes
At the end of the 1960s, 24-year-old Alojzija Pušnik (now: Wilmes) from Dravograd in Yugoslavia (now: Slovenia) learns from a notice at the local employment office that the Nordsee company in Bremerhaven is looking for female workers for a period of one year. The young woman has had a difficult life so far. Her parents are divorced, which affects their relationship with their children. On impulse, she applies for the position and is hired. Her father advises her to remember where she comes from while in Germany.
Significance of the object
This object is a confirmation from the Dravograd employment office that the saleswoman Alojzija Pušnik signed a one-year employment contract from August 1968 to August 1969 with Nordsee in Bremerhaven.
On August 8, 1968, Alojzija arrives at the Bremerhaven train station. There, she and her future colleagues are greeted by the Yugoslav consul and representatives from the Nordsee company and taken to a dormitory. In the following days, they are shown the city and provided with work clothing: coats, caps, rubber boots, aprons, and gloves. Additionally, they receive a badge with their personal number. Alojzija’s number is 6191. From now on, she is called by this number. Other employees also wear numbers, while the German masters have name tags and are addressed by their names.
For Alojzija, this is an imposition that she refuses to tolerate. Her mother had been a prisoner in a German concentration camp during World War II, where Alojzija was also born. When she is addressed by her number, she does not respond – and she persuades her Yugoslav colleagues to do the same. When Nordsee sends for an interpreter, she states:
“People in the concentration camp had a number, my mother had a number on her forearm. I said: I have a name. I am not a number here. Then I will go home again.”
With her resistance, the young woman is successful: She and her colleagues receive name tags. It will not be the only time that Alojzija Pušnik fights against discriminatory treatment.
In fact, Alojzija Pušnik, now Alojzija Wilmes, does not only stay in Germany until August 1969, as the official certificate originally stipulated. She continues to live in Germany to this day and now resides in Spaden.
Do you also …
… to tell a migration story of your family and wish to submit it along with the related objects and documents to the Deutsches Auswandererhaus for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau at the phone number 0471 / 90 22 0 – 0 or by email at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de
Archive: Previous Objects of the Month
Show all objectsDo You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de