Connections Section - Social Studies

~Evidently, there was quite a bit of interest in what happened to the driver of the car that was carrying the Archduke and his wife Sophie during the assassination.   His name was Leopold Lojka.  He saw Gavrilo Princip coming towards the car with a pistol in his hand.  He attempted to hit the gas,a nd his foot skidded off the pedal and the car slowed down.  The rest is history.  He shot the Archduke in the neck, Sophie in the chest, and ran off.  Leopold was not harmed.  After the Archduke was pronounced dead, Leopold was sent back to tell the Emperor, that his heir was dead.  He was then sent to tell Archduke Franz Ferdinand's children they they were orphans.  From there, he was sent to tell the Emperor of the German Empire of the Archduke's death.  He retired shortly after this and ran an inn (hotel) in the part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which is now the Czech Republic.