Although his ancestors had been living in the same region of the modern-day Czech Republic for hundreds of years, Ladislav Rataj became a much more traveled person. He left his home in South Bohemia to become a traveling salesman, merchant and businessman based in Prague.

Ladislav was born 24 May 1873 in the town of Deštná in South Bohemia, part of the Austria-Hungary Empire at the time. He was baptized 25 May 1873 in St. Otto Catholic Church in Deštná. His parents were František Rataj and Františka Zadražil. František was a teacher in the boy’s school in town, following in the footsteps of his father who was also a teacher in the town of Stranná. Lad was the seventh of eleven children born to the couple. He had seven brothers and three sisters. Of those brothers, three died as infants and one as a child.

Lad undoubtedly got his education in his father’s school in town, as did his male siblings. When he reached adulthood, he may have found no occupation in town to his liking. His older brother, Jindřich, had moved with his family to Pelhřimov, a larger city east of Deštná around 1893 where he had a teaching job. So Lad also left Deštná to try his luck where there was other family. This was the first of several moves. He left Pelhřimov in September 1896 to go to Prague for a time where he was listed as a stockroom worker and lived at house 143 of the Nové Mésto section of the city.

He left Prague to live in Litoměřice, north of the city, at house 11 Mostecká ulice where he began his career as a “traveling merchant.” From the various Czech and German descriptions of his occupation it is inferred he ended up having an import/export business in Prague. He obviously spent time in and out of Prague during the years 1896 to 1898 because this was where he met his wife-to-be, Terezie Zandtova. Her family were fruit and vegetable merchants in Prague.

Lad and Terezie were married 30 May 1898 at St. James Catholic Church in Prague. In December of that year they moved into house 1792 in Nové Mésto, and Lad was listed as a traveling merchant. In 1899 they moved into house 234 Staré Mésto, address 7 Jilská. This building had been turned over by the Dominican Friars for use as shops and apartments and was very close to the old city center – an excellent location for a merchant family. Lad and Terezie would raise their children, run their business and live at this location until their deaths.

Lad and Terezie’s first child was Jarmila Antonie Ludmila, born 13 June 1900, who sadly only lived about a year. She had been baptized on 24 June 1900 at St. Giles Catholic Church, which was just around the corner from their home. Jarmila was buried in the Zandt family plot at Olšanské Cemetery. Fortunately the same year they were blessed with a daughter, Milada Marie, born 4 June 1901, and baptized at St. Giles on 15 June 1901.

The family must have done traveling out of the country for their business because Vlad Ratay used to say that he was actually born on a train between France, Germany and Bohemia. No records of such have been found at this time. Vladimir Ferdinand was born 23 January 1904. He was baptized 21 February 1904 at St. Giles Catholic Church. This baptismal record does not indicate any unusual birth circumstances and gives the name of a midwife in Prague. However, the family obviously did do business in other countries since Vlad always said when his parents wanted to keep something secret from the children they spoke in German. When Vlad became very knowledgable in German as well, they switched to French! This was the beginning of Vlad’s fluency in five languages: Czech, German, French, English and later Italian.

Vlad indicated that his family was never very stalwart Catholic. Being merchants it was important to be Catholic and attend church in the area. Customers and clients expected this. So they attended the neighborhood church and had their children baptized there, but at home there was not much emphasis put on the religion.

Vlad took advantage of the merchant background and international flavor of the family. He attended the Czechoslovak Commercial Academy in Prague from 1918 to 1921. After World War I he met J. Huntley Dupré who would be a decided influence in Vlad’s decision to immigrate to America in 1922. He became a U.S. citizen in 1929. Vlad would correspond with his parents frequently, but would not see them again before they died.

Milada, however, stayed in Prague with her parents and remained unmarried until the early 1930s. Terezie died on 4 November 1937 at age 59 and was buried on 6 November 1937 in the same family plot as Jarmila had been interred at Olšanské Cemetery. Lad was heartbroken losing his wife and only lasted two more years without her. He died 6 November 1939. According to burial laws he could not be put in the same plot as Terezie; not enough years had passed. So Milada had him buried in her family plot at Olšanské Cemetery with her first husband, František Baar who had died in 1935. Vlad often said he was glad that they never had to see their country under Nazi control in World War II.
©2016 Nancy Ratay

Deštná #37 - birth - ?
left Deštná 4 Sept 1896
Litomerice #11 - at marriage 1898? traveling merchant
Prague
1897 II-143 census says 12 Oct 1897
1898 II-1792
1899 II-1791? was this noted correctly? - census says 29 Dec 1898
1899 Vinohrady-191 census from 17 May 1899 to
1899-1939 I-234 census 18 Sept 1899