 He was raised in Gottschee, a German linguistic enclave in Slovenia, as the son of a German-speaking teacher and a Galizian aristocracy originated mother, whom he later described as a “nationality aware Pole”.In 1919 the family moved to Salzburg, where, after the flight from Gottschee, which was now part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, his father found work in teacher education in Salzburg.After finishing school in 1925 Petsche studied in Vienna.