GEORGE AND PATRICIA SLAMA foot note 29 George Slama, living in eastern Czechoslovakia, was not conscripted into the German army because he had been trained as a fruit-growing expert, and this was more valuable to the Nazis than him being a soldier. They asked him to ensure that there was an adequate supply of fruit mainly for the German army and for the elite of German society.

After the war, he trained for a couple of years in the techniques of fruit growing, mainly apples, and was an expert in the area of bridge grafting , a type of grafting repair to the exterior of fruit trees. George was also an official with a Czechoslovakian fruit growing association. It was in this capacity that he was given the excellent opportunity in 1947 to visit Switzerland for a year to learn the higher quality French techniques of grafting. It was during this period of study in Switzerland, …show more content…
It was in this area that he spent eighteen months with a student friend that he had met in Switzerland . Mostly he had a good time, meeting people, enjoying the “ vacation atmosphere” of southern France and doing a little fruit growing work when …show more content…
He first met her , who is ten years younger, while living in France in the early fifties. Actually he befriended his future wife's brother and only causally knew her. Once he moved to Canada he kept in touch with the family. Eventually Patricia moved to Canada and called upon him to show her around. He got to know her and they fell in love. They were married in Toronto in 1956. George feels that the story about how he eventually met his wife is ironic given that the desire to find a partner was a major occupation of his during the first few years he was in