“More and more cars left from the brewery, always in the afternoon, but they were always Germans. They would just ask where the Americans were. Well, everyone said that way, but they weren’t there, the [Germans] drove - God knows where - I don’t know. I only know that later on the men said they shouldn’t have done it like that, because they took them down from the car, led them through the gateway there to the town hall, there they lined them up and herded them off, barefoot and without all the things they took from them, they herded them off in the direction of Lovosice.”
“It’s not a park any more, but there under the ramparts, when you go up above the street where people lived, that’s where we put the leaflets, because it was dark and no one saw us. But when they threw them to us, they could see us fine. Oh well. So now what? We distributed it all, and perhaps already the next day - like I said, I was Class A and Tonča was in B - the State Security officers came to the school. First they took the boys - one of them became an actor later on, he was all the way in Košice - so they took five or six boys, and the two of us reckoned: It’s okay, they didn’t see us, they didn’t nab us, it’s okay; but they knew about us all too well.”
“It was dreadfully cold outside, and first off they questioned us here, and then in the morning they took us to Most. And the boys - pardon the vernacular - got their gobs smashed, and because I guess even the steebs [an approximation of ‘estébáci’ from the Czech abbreviation for State Security, StB - transl.] were tired, us two girls and Dáša the third one, we hunched up in expectation, but it wasn’t so bad.”
Danuše Augsbergerová, née Novotná, was born on 21 August 1931 in Libochovice, but she spent her childhood years in Žatec. After the Sudetes were annexed in autumn 1938, the family left Žatec and returned to Libochovice, where they remained during the war. In May 1945 they moved back to Žatec. In June 1948 Danuše took part in the last All-Sokol Rally. While attending grammar school in Žatec she made the acquaintance of students who were making and distributing anti-Communist leaflets. In early 1949 Danuše joined in the activities of the student group Evžen, but they were soon discovered and investigated by State Security. Danuše was arrested on 25 February 1949, she spent six months in custody. Her trial took place on 19 July 1949, freeing Danuše in consideration of her low age and the half year she had spent in custody. Although the court’s verdict was relatively merciful, the witness remained under state surveillance for a long time, and she often had to change her place of abode and her employment. Danuše Augsbergerová lives in Žatec.
