Anton Kink

Anton Kink was a passenger on the RMS Titanic.

Early life[]

Anton Kink was born on March 7th, 1883 in Mahrensdorf, Styria, Austria. He was the first child of Vinzenz Kink-Hofer. A brother, Vincenz Kink, was born in 1885, on July the 25th. A sister was conceived on the first of January 1889, named Maria Kink. Sadly, their father Vinzenz died shortly after that.

Anton Kink moved to Switzerland in 1906. There, he married the German-born Luise Heilmann on 5 May 1908, shortly after their daughter Luise Gretchen was born, on April 8, 1908. Anton was a shopkeeper and the family lived in Zürich.

In May 1911 his mother, her name is unknown, passed away. Upon this tragic loss, his siblings Maria and Vincenz came over to live with the family. At some point, they agreed that it was a good idea to emigrate to America.

Titanic[]

All five boarded Titanic together in 1912, bound for Milwaukee. Anton was 29 years old at the time. They were Third Class passengers. Anton and Vincenz shared cabin #58 on F-Deck near the bow with Albert Wirz, Josef Arnold, Leo Zimmermann and Wenzel Linhart. The women were in the aft part.

On the night of April 14, Titanic had struck an iceberg, and he was woken up by the sound of the impact. Immediately, he and his brother ran upstairs to the Forward Well Deck. They saw the iceberg and decided to return to their cabin to get dressed, pack and put on their life preservers. As they did, water started to pour in.

Anton woke his wife, daughter and the women she shared her cabin with: Aloisia Haas, Josefine Arnold and his own sister Maria Kink. He searched and found lifebelts for them too and managed to get himself and his family to the Boat Deck. In the throng of people, Anton lost his brother and sister in the In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal he said:

"A sailor took my child and handed her into one of them. My wife was also helped in by the sailors. I was touched upon the shoulder and asked to step back, whereupon my wife and child cried at the top of their voices at my being left behind. I ducked down, broke through those standing about and jumped into the boat as it was lowered."

That was lifeboat 2, one of the first boats to arrive at Carpathia. Anton survived the disaster but lost everything he owned with the exception of some cheap Swiss cigarettes. Sadly his brother and sister did not make it off the ship and died in the sinking. Once they arrived in New York, the family spent a few days in hospital and his uncle Alois Hofer sent money from Milwaukee so they could afford a train journey to join him.

Later life[]

He was later compensated for the loss of his relatives.

He found work in a factory and then leased a farm once he had enough money. He divorced his wife in 1919 and then returned to native Austria. In 1920 he married Josefa Stranzel and they had a son Fritz, born on 27th of June, 1921. They ran a food shop until they decided to emigrate to Brazil in 1924. This venture proved unsuccesful and they returned to Graz in Austria in 1939.

Anton died on April 8th, 1959, reaching the age of 75. His wife and child would live on for at least another 25 years.