Slovenian friends during the war (circa 1940/ 1941). Left to right: Bep Deželak, Peep Pučnik, Stan Deželak.

Peep Pučnik was born in Austrian Leoben, but both his parents were Slovenians from Tepanje. His father Franc Pučnik left Tepanje for Leoben in 1922 to work in the mines. In 1929, he was recruited to work in the mines of Limburg. Prior to the war, Franc Pučnik was chairman of the St Barbara Society at Brunssum. He was one of the committe members to choose the German side during the war. His son, Peep, was forced as an Austrian-born citizen to fight on the Eastern front. The Pučnik family were friends with the Deželak family who also lived at Langeberg. Jožef Deželak and Franc Pučnik fell out during the war as a result of their conflicting sympathies but were reconciled after the war ended.