Trieben

Katherina highlights a generational curse that resurfaced with my own mother — but she broke it prior to 1913. You see, her father isn’t listed on her birth certificate back in Trieben, Austria, which means she was likely born illegitimately. However, her mother’s birth certificate appears exactly the same! Thekla’s mother Therese had no known spouse documented at that time. Due to regulations in those days, her mother Thekla’s illegitimacy could have been the reason for no father being listed on her first born’s birth certificate as well. Unfortunately, I am unable to determine the validity of this information, so we only work on assumptions here.

Now, Katherina went on to marry Anton, and they left Austria together for New York City in 1913. The family stories claim that they both worked in a castle in Vienna prior to emigrating, but I cannot confirm this information with documents. Our family stories also claim that Anton and Katherina opened a delicatessen at some point, which would obviously provide for their family. Another fun fact about Katherina is that my grandfather’s last name is a disambiguation of her maiden name — but we’ll discuss that more tomorrow.

So, how does this all tie back into a generation curse? You see, I am the product of a teenage pregnancy, born with no father listed on my birth certificate due to some issues regarding paternity in the early 1980s. One would think this fluke only resurfaced for one additional generation, but I, too, have become a statistic; however, my situation was markedly different in that I had already chosen a partner in my husband. Our oldest had no issues on his birth certificate because we assured the legitimacy one month prior to our son’s arrival. Fortunately, the curse ends with him again, pending our youngest reaching his 20s without falling into the same situation.

Of course, the word “curse” sounds rather harsh, doesn’t it? An important distinction must be made explicitly clear here: the curse is the struggling and stigma that comes with teen pregnancies and illegitimacy. Our society has changed so little that individuals who choose to continue a pregnancy at a young age face difficulties stepping out of the shadows cast by “poor decisions.” Therese, Thekla, and Katherina were both valid women who deserved more respect; my mother, myself, and my son all deserve more respect as we each have our own reasons for existing. The stigma should not follow us throughout our lives due to archaic beliefs — nor should the choices and sacrifices made be judged anymore harshly than those of our peers who did not walk this path.