Camaraderie and solidarity at Opel in Bochum. Bochum’s Opel workers with a transnational background share their recollections.

Former Opel workers with German-Polish backgrounds remember.

 

Lothar Degner came from Upper Silesia to Bochum with his family in 1965 at the age of two. He was born in Bytom near Gliwice. At the time, two of his father’s brothers were already living in Bochum and his parents had wanted to return to Germany for a long time. As Upper Silesians with German heritage, they had not felt completely integrated in Poland. Their decision to move to Bochum was also prompted by the better than expected economic conditions in Germany. Lothar Degner’s uncle worked at Opel. He often told his nephew how financially lucrative work in the car plant was; a fact which he emphasised by showing him his wage slips. At first though, Lothar Degner did not want to work at Opel in Bochum, despite the clear financial advantages over his job at the time. He could not imagine ever being able to do “such moronic work as working on an assembly line”. After a while, however, his family were able to talk him round and he started work as an assembly worker on the assembly line at Opel in Bochum. He later moved to another department and was also on the works council.

Andreas Gilner and Eduard Popanda moved to Bochum with their families in 1971. Andreas Gilner was 11 years old at the time. He was born in Gliwice. His grandmother was already living in the Ruhr area so they moved to Bochum to reunite their family. His father had worked at Opel since 1971 and he also brought Andreas Gilner to Opel in Bochum. He worked as a skilled production worker at the plant from 1984 until it closed in 2014.

Eduard Popanda was born in Oppeln and came to Germany when he was five. He also had relatives who were already living in Bochum. The fact that his father had been accepted at Opel was another reason for the family to migrate. So the transnational family background also led Eduard Popanda to Opel in Bochum. As well as his father, his uncle and his cousin also worked at Opel. Before he was employed by Opel, he worked as an assembly worker and earnt more doing that than he did later on at Opel. At first, Eduard Popanda could not imagine working on the assembly line at Opel either. But family circumstances, including the birth of his child, meant that he did ultimately decide to take a job with Opel in Bochum. In 1988, he started in Plant I as a skilled production worker in the press shop. After Plant I was closed, he switched to what was previously Plant III, and in 2021 he is still working there as a picker. This has meant a big adjustment for him as his work has changed significantly:

“The things I used to produce, I’m now packing.”

Johannes Nowak moved to Bochum with his family in 1978 and was 17 years old at the time. He was born near Gliwice. Most of his close relatives were already living in Bochum and the surrounding area so here too the move to Bochum was also borne from a desire to reunite family. One year later, he started as a machine operator at Opel in Bochum and stayed there until the closure of Plant II in 2013. From his family too, both his father and uncle had also worked at Opel. For Johannes Nowak, being employed by Opel was also a matter of social security. His expectation at the time was:

“Working at Opel was a job to retirement. Working for a big group was worth a lot. And nobody ever expected Opel to close in Bochum.”