Gutkowski, Gene, 1992 March 26, Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
Recorded interview and transcript available online.: Eugenia “Gene” (Amrhein) Gutkowski was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 12, 1927. She was the middle child of eleven children, six girls and five boys. Her parents were both in Wisconsin, both the children of German immigrants. She attended Milwaukee grade and high schools, but left Mesmer High School at the age of sixteen after one of her brothers left for military service in order to help out the family financially. Her first job was as a cashier and switchboard operator at William Steinmeyer's grocery store, Milwaukee's first large supermarket. After that she worked at the Sealtest Dairy from 1949 until 1953 when she married Alfred Gutkowski. She then worked as a cashier at the Boston Store during the 1953-54 holiday season prior to the birth of her first child. Mrs. Gutkowski is the mother of three children, born between 1954 and 1960. She is a lifelong member of the Catholic church and resides in Milwaukee with her husband.
Mrs. Gutkowski began the interview by describing her reactions to the announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbor. She recounts changes in school, including the shortage of available boys as they all went into the military. She describes the experience of a cousin who was in Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack but escaped injury because he was attending mass at the time. She explains her brother's enlistment in the Navy despite his fear of the water. She describes the ethnic composition of her neighborhood and surrounding area and the interactions among various ethnic groups, including her dating experiences during the war period. She mentions her reaction to Carl Zeidler leaving for military service and his subsequent disappearance. Mrs. Gutkowski describes the difficulties of seeing the young boys from her school enter the military and the types of activities available to young school-aged women.
Mrs. Gutkowski recounts how, after leaving high school, she helped to support the family, as well as ways in which the large family managed economically. She mentions the family's mealtime discussions of the war, particularly difficult because some relatives were still living in Germany. She discusses her first job as a cashier in Steinmeyer's supermarket in Milwaukee and the “famous” clientele. She discusses the role of the church in providing social activities, as well as other war-time pastimes in Milwaukee.
Mrs. Gutkowski recounts the support systems available to the family during the war, including neighbors and the family doctor. She describes the changes in the men as they returned from the military at the end of the war, as well as the differences between World War II and more recent conflicts such as Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East. She talks about her reactions to the atomic bomb and the effects of war on those around her.
