Our Mom, Anna Angela Hollos, comes from a small German town named
Hofdorf near Mengkofen in Bavaria. She was the youngest of thirteen
children. Her father, Josef Atzberger, served in the German army in
World War I. Several of her brothers served in the German army in
World War II. Two of them never made it home. In grade school she
remembers having to say Heil Hitler
for a short time before the
whole Nazi nightmare was over.
After completing her primary education, she went to work on a farm in rural Bavaria. Deciding that farm life was not for her, she left the farm and moved to the big city of Regensburg. There she got a job in a hospital working with nuns. Through a relative, she was offered a job in Munich working in a soda pop factory.
In Munich she met our father, Istvan Hollos, a native Hungarian
then serving in the U.S. Army. They were married in Munich, and Mom
soon found herself on a boat headed to the United States. She knew
very little about the country and could not speak the language. Some
of the few words that she did know were yes and no, which she
pronounced yes and now. When asked by the waiter on the boat if she
wanted something to eat, she replied Now
, and was promptly
served.
She has an eye for beauty and always kept a clean and beautifully decorated home. Her skills in making a home attractive, both inside and out, are unsurpassed. She's a fantastic cook and knows all the delicious Bavarian recipes.
Though she never had the opportunity to go to college, she supported us in our pursuit of a college education.
She made it her life's work to raise three children ( Stefan, Richard, and David Hollos). At 80, she is now devoted to helping raise 2 grandchildren.
Here are some videos of her speaking Bavarian, her native language.
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