A child of the country road

Life was not kind to Ursula Waser. The girl was born in 1952 in Rüti (ZH) as an illegitimate child. The fact that her mother is Yenish doesn’t make it any easier. It soon becomes clear that the little one should not grow up with her family “for her own good” and not stay with her mother.

So it happened that only six months after her birth, little Ursula Kollegger (maiden name) was taken away by the police and placed in a children’s home. It is the beginning of a seemingly endless, torturous journey through a total of 20 houses. There are also four short stays in foster families. Only in 1971, after 26 placements in a total of eight cantons, was Ursula Waser allowed to take the first small steps towards independence.

But was it really life that wasn’t kind to Ursula Waser and some 600 other Yeniche children? Or was it rather three articles in the Civil Code (ZGB) from 1912 and a children’s charity? the ZGB-Articles 283 to 285 regulated official intervention in family law. For example, you can read:

The foundation per anniversary called by name in 1926 “Children of the Country Road” set up a charity that separated Traveler children from their families and placed them in orphanages or foster homes. They must be raised to be ‘useful members’ of society. From the point of view of the state and the foundation, this was not possible in the Yeni environment. Ergo, parental authority could be revoked through civil law.

Led by Alfred Siegfried, founder of the aid organization and member of the pro juventusCentral secretariat, this was strictly monitored. The former high school teacher explained this in a 1943 lecture in Zurich: “Anyone who wants to successfully combat fuzziness should try to break the association of people traveling.” Blasting meant the resolute removal of the children, because the Basle resident saw no chance to ‘improve’ the adults.

That Siegfried, who was convicted in 1924 for indecent behavior with a student, per anniversary from 1927 the «Schoolchildren Department» directed is grotesque. However, his work, especially against the Yeniche families, would not have been possible without widespread public support. Authorities, Pro Juventute, clubs and patrons stood behind him, making Alfred Siegfried’s work possible. He continued to do this even after his retirement. Like the publication of his book “Children of the Country Road”.

For Ursula Waser, Siegfried’s will to split the Yenish families means: no sign of the mother’s life, no contact with the family. She is unaware that a visit and contact ban prohibits relatives from being close to the girl. For the fact that her search for the mother has painful consequences. “For a while she tried to sneak up on us and we said it was in her blood because we had to be pretty strict to stop it.”writes the children’s home La Margna from Celerina (GR) in September 1955 to Alfred Siegfried.

At some point, Ursula Waser comes to terms with her fate: “I thought everyone dumped me.” The management of the home also noted the dismissal of the child. However, the interpretation is quite different, as a short report to Siegfried in 1957 shows: “She needs a firm hand sometimes, but in general she doesn’t cause me more parenting problems than other kids her age.”

Source: Blick