It Was Our World War Too

Prologue

Some stories never end, but every story has a beginning. This story is no exception. However, it is often difficult to know just when or where a story began.

This one is about the Second World War. If there was a second world war, then there must have been one before that. We know there was, because it is well documented. We know there were more wars before that one, and many more before all of them, some of which were not even recorded. The Bible makes reference to wars and rumors of wars. Let us not go back that far in time: God vs. the Devil, Adam vs. Eve, Cain vs. Abel. No, I am not going that far back, so keep reading.

During 1994 I began writing my memoirs, Anita began writing hers, and our son Scott, our family historian, compiled a history of both of our families. I have condensed them and will only include the highlights.

However, I am going to use a few paragraphs to tell about the history of our little part of the world: Edwardsville, Illinois, where Anita and I were both born and lived most of our lives.

The French government claimed the land as part of the Province of Louisiana. After some negotiations they ceded it to the British. We became a part of Quebec.

After the Revolutionary War, we were part of the Northwest Territory, then Indiana Territory, and finally Illinois Territory. Its present configuration was established in 1818, when we became the 21st state in the Union.

Edwardsville’s corporate existence dates from 1819, when a Board of Trustees was created to manage its affairs.

On October 23, 1872, the town was incorporated. By the end of the 1920s, Edwardsville had grown in size to about 8,000 residents.

Anita and I were among that number.

Anita’s mother and father purchased a building lot in Prickett Addition and built the house where Anita was born. The area was well established and located near several major highways, including U.S. Route 66. Two coal mines were within walking distance.

Several years after Anita was born, her dad was unable to work any longer due to his health. They lost their new home and moved to a rental property on Orchard Street. They relied on federal assistance.

Author Helen Santmyer wrote about the wonders of the 1800s and the 1900s in her book And Ladies of the Club. She commented, “The steam boat, the railroads, interurban and urban electric cars and now the automobile, the telegraph, telephone, and electric lights. The catalog seems endless.”

She continues, “The prophecies made by news representatives were fanatical beyond belief. Marconi had proved that sound could be sent and received without wires. Edison had shown images could be projected that moved and men stayed in the air in gliders. It was not beyond possibility that in another fifty years man would actually be flying.”

The crash of the stock market in 1929 may have been the beginning of hard times for many people in the United States. However, for the Kolesa, Zivic, and Rogers families, hard times had been here for many years.