Gisela Schertling – armaments factory

During semester break, I was at home. I worked in a nearby munitions factory for 8 weeks.

The work was very strange to me. At first, it was very hard. But I tried my hardest to reach our quotas as quickly as possible.

I was then very disappointed, because during the afternoons, we had very little to do. I thought they would wring the last little bit out of us and one could pour all his energy into the work.

I was always glad when I had the morning shift, because then there was enough work and one could try to meet the quotas of others. I was satisfied once I had done so. I got along well with the workers, supervisors, and master craftsmen. They gave me a good evaluation, which pleased me.

I was happy and liberated to be able to put my energy into that which was a focal point and shook up our nation, after we had had it so good as female university students. When everyone stood at his machine and everyone was working at top efficiency, for me it was a satisfying, directly happy feeling to take my place here. I was especially happy to be employed in heavy armaments work, which required one’s full energy from the very beginning.

I was at home the next 8 weeks and helped my mother. I felt very close to my family. My sister had done work at an armaments factory while she was in school. I thought my father’s work as director of a local school was especially good. He had done that for years.

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Source: Gisela Schertling’s C.V.