Miroslav Bouček

„Stalo se to na plácku kousek od našeho domu. Udělal to trestanec, který se vrátil z koncentráku. Nebyl to žádný politický vězeň, ale sprostý zloděj z Břevnova, který si na té ženě vylil vlastní nashromážděnou zlost. Jeho povaha byla násilnická a tak jí prostě upálil. Nejhorší na tom bylo, že kolem stáli lidé, kteří se dívali a nezasáhli.“

„Pod námi bylo Vincentínum, ve kterém sídlily jeptišky. Byly to fanatické Němky. Jedna z nich měla na střeše kulomet a ovládala celý prostor kolem Bělohorské ulice. K větším škodám nedošlo pouze díky Vlasovci, který jí odstřelil.“

“Waking up was even worse because I arrived at a tram stop. We had a factory next to Julius Fucik Park in Holesovice. At the tram stop, there were crowds of people but no trams. ‚What’s going on?‘ – ‚Well, the Russians are invading.‘ – ‚What? Russians? What are they doing here?‘ Nothing was going on here. No counterrevolution, that was nonsense. When they came and saw it here, they were perplexed, because they thought there would-be insurgents and instead people talked to them peacefully. (…) We went on foot and arrived at Letenska plan, where we saw everything lined up – tanks, howitzers, and everything. My wife was still asleep, as Hanka was just born in April of ’68. (…) my parents didn’t know anything either. When I came to work, I picked up the phone and called my grandfather, that the Russians invaded, so they ran to wake up my wife to tell her what the situation was. (…) Mum grabbed the stroller with Hanka and went to the first shop she could find because she knew groceries were about to become a scarcity. She bought groceries for herself and for the parents.”

“We ended up there at the start of 1945, had to go dig the so-called Moravian rampart. Coincidentally, as we were leaving Prague, the train passed the CKD factory, which was bombarded just the day before, so we ended up seeing the damage. That was the second navigation error of the Americans. We arrived in Moravia; we were building the rampart. We were digging so-called Panzergrabens – trenches that were 6 meters long, 6 meters wide and 6 meters deep. Of course, it was more or less a joke, since the Soviets with T-34s would drive over easily. Also, coincidentally, our famous commanders of the labour camp were so stupid as to leave a wooden bridge there. Of course, they knew the war front was coming, so they had no time to destroy it and the Russians drove over easily.”

“Coincidentally, a Red Guard lieutenant was staying with us. We weren’t doing too bad, since he loved my mother so much. ‘Babushka, babushka!’ Babushka baked some rolls and he was happy. Thanks to this we had salami, and their coffee– it was no good, but he would bring all sorts of things.”