Max Matern's Biography According To East German History Texts
Max Matern's father worked at the brickyard owned by Quitzdorf's great landowner family, and his mother worked in their fields. His parents' scanty livelihood was hardly enough to feed and clothe Max and his three siblings. So, the children had to help muck the estate's stables out after school.
In 1916, Max Matern began an apprenticeship as a moulder in the Haller Works in Torgelow. The owner and the master treated the boys as cheap labour. Max Matern defied the goading and bullying and demanded fixed working times and wages for all apprentices. In talks with older colleagues, he showed an interest in political topics.
Willi Pahl, one of his friends, remembers that time:
- "We discussed the events in Russia in the circle of boys and wounded soldiers who had been sent home. Although we did not yet realize the October Revolution's historic consequences, we were reaching the opinion that one would have to go a similar way for there to be peace in our country."
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