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Olimpia Torlonia

Born Lausanne, 30 Dec 1943

7 facts1 source

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 30 Dec 1943

    Born in Lausanne

  2. 1967–1985

    6 children are born

Family

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Parents

Partner

Children · 6

During her lifetime

She has lived through 9 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Lausanne.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1940s · Olimpia is born in Lausanne

In the news1939–1948

1939 Wahlen Plan increases food self-sufficiency

To prepare for the Second World War, the government introduced the Wahlen Plan in 1939 to increase food self-sufficiency by doubling arable land for crops like potatoes. Rationing of staple foods was implemented and remained in place until 1948.

Getting around

Expansion of affordable rail and bus travel

During the interwar period, Swiss railways and postbuses expanded their ticket offers, including reduced prices for families and ski trips, to attract more travelers.

In Europe1941–1945

The Holocaust

Nazi Germany and its collaborators murdered six million Jews, and Roma, disabled people and others, in camps and mass shootings.

Daily life

Kitchens served as bathrooms for families

Families heated water for bathing in the kitchen using stoves or kettles, and weekly baths were often taken in a large galvanized tub placed on the kitchen floor.

What people wore

Women wearing trousers in the 1940s

In the 1940s, a woman in Wädenswil was nicknamed the Manewiib for being the only person seen in public wearing gray trousers instead of a skirt.

Music

Popularity of the Schwyzerörgeli accordion

The Schwyzerörgeli, a type of accordion, was a dominant instrument for Ländler music, which became popular in cities as a form of social dance music.

At the table

No rationing for vegetables and fruit

Switzerland was the only country in Western Europe during the war that did not have to ration potatoes, vegetables, or apples.