Rudolf Baumruk

"At that time Prague was still being bombed by the German army, so we saw what it looks like when the bomb falls out of the plane. And as I say, only there you learned to appreciate life, what it means. No matter where you hide, behind a corner or wherever you go to survive. At that time, when we were there, the Prague people thought that maybe we were somebody from the Hitler Youth or something [like that]. It was only after we explained to them how we had been dragged onto that train that they took care of us and accomodated all of us in a pub. After we settled down and ate, they asked us to go and tear up the pavement and make - as they were making then - the roadblocks so that the tanks couldn't enter the streets. They also used us to pump petrol and fuel. [It was] poured into bottles [that] were meant to be thrown at the tanks, but I never saw anything like that happening. We were staying in that pub, and when there was an air raid, they would squeeze us all into the basement, where the radio had already been on. And there the propaganda was already clearly visible, what it was, because on 6 May they said: 'The Americans are behind Pilsen in Rokycany and they are letting Prague bleed!' There you could already see how these people were beginning to divide [according to] their opinion about this or that. Then... When they needed us for a job, they just sent us. But I didn't meet that group anymore, that certain part, only another group, which we didn't leave Prague with until 14 May, because the Prague-Pilsen railway to Budějovice was supposedly cut, so we took a detour. And in Budějovice I would have nearly lost my life when the Russians were there. Suddenly a little Russian guy appeared opposite me saying: 'Give me your watch!' And if a Czech hadn't shouted at him to leave me alone, I probably wouldn't have survived."

"[There were] about fifty of us [in Smilov] and the SA-Mann was in charge of us. And there was one among us who was known for his Scout life, and when it was 4 May, he said, 'No, we'll break down the door here, I´ll distribute food and we´ll walk to Šternberk.' We took the train from Šternberk to Olomouc and by then the situation was getting uncertain. What was going to happen there or not. Our SA-Mann, who was guarding us, was also hanging around there in Olomouc. And one of them said, 'That was their leader, we'll detain him right now.' I don't know what made them to put us on the military train as hostages. But the railwaymen in Olomouc [told us]: 'It's the last train going to Prague. Don't worry. We will make sure that you are freed.' In Kolín, where we arrived, that was the only place the train was standing. There we could already see that things were stirring. And after some time we continued to Prague. The information was that in Prague it was arranged in such a way that the train would just arrive there without being attacked. We arrived in Prague then, in Libeň, and when the train was liberated, we were accommodated. The soldiers, the Germans, were glad to get rid of it, only they had some trouble with the low rank officers."