Figure 1.--We believe this unidentified shepherd boy was photographed some place in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. He is well dressed for the job, including substantial leather shoes. Also notice the embroidered vest. We do not know if he was working for a farmr or working on a family farm. Nor do we know if he attended school. The blanket over his shoulder suggests that he probably did not. The photographer was a Sammuel Birn. Birn was Jewish and born in Austria. We notice a lot of beautiful photographs from Czechoslovakia during the inter-War era. We have been unable to find any biographical information or if he survived the Holocaust.

Czechoslovakia was created at the end of World War I (1918). Czechoslovakia was established as a parliamentary democracy. Much of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's industrial capacity was located in Czechoslovakia, much of it in Bohemia--the modern Czech Republic. We do not yet have full details, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire had passed child labor laws before World War I and the new Czechoslovakia thus had child labor laws before the state came into existence. As a result, you do not see a lot of Czech boys involved in industrial labor as was common in the 19th century.We do not yet have details on the laws or additions to them by the new Czech Parliament. Many children left school after primary school at about 13-14 years of age and entered the labor force to some degree. Middle-class children entered secondary schools. Following the German model, quite a few working-class boys became apprentices. This was more true of boys than girls. Working class girls were more likely to go into domstic service. We believe that many of the working class boys in inter-War Czechoslovakia were boys in rural areas. Outside of Bohemia, Czechoslovakia was a largely agrarian country. Slovakia lagged far behind the industrialized Czechs in Bohemia. Thus there was child labor in rural areas. This was a common pattern with agricultural labor often exempted from child labor laws to varying degress. After World War II, the Communist Government outlawed child labor and significantly expanded the educational system so that most children attended secondary schools and thus began working at a later age, even in rural areas. At the same time many opportunities were closed off the Czechs as a result of the nationalization of private enterprises.

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Crerated: 5:22 PM 5/15/2014
Last updated: 5:22 PM 5/15/2014