By the third day after I gave birth, I had to work in the field
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Marie Balátová, née Pražáková, was born on 10 October 1947 in the Czech village of Rovensko in the Romanian Banat. She grew up in a remote place in a traditional farming family and from an early age her parents involved her in farm work. She completed four grades in the local Czech school and then worked in her parents’ farm. Her mother died soon after, and as her older sister was serving for a Romanian family, most of the duties fell to her. After her mother’s death, her father found a surrogate mother for his children, but they hardly found a kind relationship. Around the age of 15, a tragic accident occurred during field work when her brother and sister were struck by lightning; despite severe injuries, both siblings survived but suffered permanent damage. She married in the 1960s and continued to work with her husband in agriculture. In 2000, she and her husband came to the Czech Republic for a short visit to visit their family, but eventually decided to stay and set up permanent residence here. At the time of filming (April 2024), the witness lived in Skalná in the Cheb region.
