Rudolf Pípaš.
Born 1908, died 1969 in Bratislava (killed by a truck on the street of Bratislava-Rendez). Note: the surname has several variants according to the souces: Pipas, Pipás, etc. I am not sure which one is correct. The one above is taken from (death certificate??).
Grave in Bratislava-Rača (desecrated & destroyed in around 2016).
Wife Mária nee Cingeľová, children Mireille (my wife) and Margaret (also known as Petra); second child, a boy, died in infancy.
Grave in Bratislava-Rača (desecrated & destroyed in around 2016).
Wife Mária nee Cingeľová, children Mireille (my wife) and Margaret (also known as Petra); second child, a boy, died in infancy.
On the picture above is Rudolf with his wife Maria.
Rudolf Pipaš - Maria Cingelova wedding, Belgium, 1939
Medium built, slim, darkish complexion, with leathery skin from working outdoors most of his working life.
Before the second world war he worked in Belgian mines around Peronnes-lez-Binche, where he met and married his wife Maria nee Cingeľová Their second child, a boy, was born and died in the same town; their first child, Mireille, was also born in the same town. Their third child, Margaret, was born in Buchloe, Germany, where Rudolf worked for a few months at the local railway station.Returned to Slovakia sometime around 1944, lived initially in the area he was born (Radošina, Obsolovce). Apart from his native Slovakian language he spoke both French and German.
He once said to his daughter Mireille (many years before Mireille heard of my Australian dreams) that "once you leave this country, my daughter, make sure that you never return". At the time M. had no idea why he said that but guessed that he rued his return from Belgium. It needs to be added that their return from Belgium to Czechoslovakia was based on the assumption that Cz. will after the end of WW2 become the same civilised and prosperous country as it was before. Instead, the country turned to "socialism", a political system not unlike slavery, or rather serfdom, of old...
On coming to Bratislava, he worked as a railwayman along the line from Rača to Trnavske myto (a street crossing in Bratislava); for a few years he was a stationmaster at a small but busy stop at Rjazanská ulica. Continued living in a railway house about 200 metres from where I lived in Račianska ulica 794 even after his wife and two daughters moved some 7 km away to a flat in (about) 1961.
On coming to Bratislava, he worked as a railwayman along the line from Rača to Trnavske myto (a street crossing in Bratislava); for a few years he was a stationmaster at a small but busy stop at Rjazanská ulica. Continued living in a railway house about 200 metres from where I lived in Račianska ulica 794 even after his wife and two daughters moved some 7 km away to a flat in (about) 1961.
According to Mireille he had three brothers, one of whom changed his surname to Podhorsky. Mireille does not remember much of them, except that they lived in the Obsolovce region of Slovakia.
Added Nov. 2017
We have been contacted by Vladimir Podhorsky, the son of Rudolf's brother Gustav. He is about 76 years old & lives with his wife Eugenia in Nitra, Slovakia. Vladimir is interested in restoring Rudolf's grave in Bratislava, which has been demolished by my sister Hanka a few years previously; the grave is still recorded under her name.
After negotiations the ownership of the grave has been transferred to Mireille in 2019. As of 2021 the fate of the grave is uncertain, negotiations between Mireille & Rudolf are ongoing.
Final word regarding the grave: Mireille decided to return her ownership of the grave back to the cemetery administration, as of 24. 6. 2021. Contact with Vladimir (rather mild-mannered man) & Eugenia P. (a shrew) suspended indefinitely on Eugenia's urging.
