What does it mean to be Slovenian?

By Dr Stefan Bogdan Barenboim Salej

I arrived in Brazil at the age of 16. I had to continue studying, but first I have to learn Portuguese, a language that I had no knowledge about. I came from Yugoslavia, at that time a socialist country. So, I was sent to a small village to learn Portuguese and to attend elementary school since my grades from Gimnazija Celje were not recognized. The local priest was Father Janez Habjan, very active in engineering, always resolving all technical problems of the villagers and bringing a lot of progress to the village. Later, I went to a bigger city and start studying in high school. It was Mrs Sofija Razbornik Patleich who arranged the admission to the school for me. And so I started working since my father’s earnings were not enough to sustain the family. My first job was at the Canteen of big German’s steelworks and my boss was Mr Norbert Fonda. I learned Portuguese, I attended the high school in the mornings and worked at the Canteen the rest of the day. And I learned a lot about how to handle business. It was dangerous coming from Yugoslavia where the time of many social disturbances was present.

Mr Fonda gave me a one year allowance and I started to search for another job. In the meantime, I fetched mortadella at my father’s job (my father was working in the Sausage factory as Foreman) and sold it in the streets. I also traded with grapefruit brought by another Slovenian, Mr Janez Ložar, who got it on his visits to the farms on weekends. The only problem selling the grapefruit was the fact that Brazilians don’t like it, not even nowadays. Trying to find a job with a help of Mr Ložar, I finally was hired as a salesman and worked for commission at one of the sales companies owned by a Polish engineer who, during the 2nd World War, built the trains for transporting the Jews to the camps. I was in charge of selling the measuring instruments, it was something that no Brazilian wanted to sell because it was a really hard job to do. Another grapefruit.

To make a long story short, the hand given by my countrymen and their families (unforgettable food they have given me when I was really hungry and penniless) is something that no one can ever forget. All the next steps are the consequence of the first one, so I learned the values of Slovenians. The bitterness which was present in our lives, especially for my younger sister and me, has disappeared with the kindness of our countrymen and their help. So, the obligation to help the countrymen, even later on in my carrier, was born out of the example I have experienced. This was, by the way, much more present in my parents and my sister Ana’s life. Open your door, open your heart.