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Robert Zellinger de Balkany

Iclod, 4 Aug 1931 – Geneva, 19 Sep 2015

6 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 4 Aug 1931

    Born in Iclod

  2. 19 Sep 2015

    Dies in Geneva, aged 84

Family

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Partner

During his lifetime

He lived through 9 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Iclod.

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

The 1930s · Robert is born in Iclod

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.

What people wore

Men's field work clothing

Men working in fields in the Bărăgan region wore handmade wool aprons (pistelcă) over their linen drawers (izmene) instead of traditional trousers.

Daily life

Rudimentary home lighting and window coverings

Villagers often lacked glass for windows, using paper instead, and lighted their homes with rudimentary lamps made of a bowl filled with pork fat and a floating rag. Lighting was dim and produced significant smoke.

In the news1929–1936

1929 crisis leads to mass unemployment

The 1929 global economic crisis caused unemployment to soar from 8,000 people to 93,000 by 1936. Many industries, especially textiles, never recovered, forcing the government to finally devalue the Swiss franc by 30% in 1936.

Music

Wedding roles in Transylvania

During weddings in Transylvania, peasants sang ritual songs themselves, while Roma professional musicians played for the dancing.

In Europe1936–1939

The Spanish Civil War

Franco’s rebels fought the Republic for three years; Guernica was bombed, and Franco ruled Spain until 1975.

Getting around

Dining habits on interwar Romanian trains

On long train journeys, passengers could either dine in first-class cars or buy food like bread, cheese, and hard-boiled eggs from women selling them from wicker baskets during brief 10 to 15-minute station stops. Third-class passengers often arrived covered in sooty grime from the steam locomotives, a reality they accepted as a natural cost of travel.