The Coincidence Of The Man Who Looked Like An Egg

A short coincidence story from my cuttings.

In 1942 a new master arrived at my school. This was wartime, and as the younger generation was away fighting, it wouldn't have been easy to find teachers.

So Dr Polak arrived to teach French and German - though he spoke very little English himself. We learned that he had escaped the Nazis when they entered Austria.

Dr Polak was a short man with a body like an egg and a long white beard that stretched lower than his waist. He was always gesticulating with his thumb and first finger.

In the early spring of 1945, I was back in South Wales, guarding German PoWs while they worked in the fields. Each working party had an English speaking PoW.

One day it was raining very heavily, so my working party remained in the camp to carry out duties, and eventually retired to a Nissen hut for their midday break.

The English speaking PoW was wearing an arm badge, signifying he was Austrian.

"Do you speak German," he asked me.

"No," I replied, "but my French teacher was Austrian. Dr Polak ..."

"Polak looks like an egg?" he asked. "Long white beard. Always gesticulating with finger and thumb. He taught me in my school in Vienna."

~ Ron Pegg

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