Jaroslav Česák

“A draft order came and in the evening I thus boarded the train. I had fed the cattle in the afternoon and in the evening I got on the train here in Hradec Králové — and on the train car there was a sign saying in rhyme: ‘All horses go to Mimoň.’ My draft order was for Mimoň. We went there, we spent the night in some pub in Liberec and early in the morning we went by train to Mimoň. They picked us up in the train station there and then the regular procedures started, they shaved our hair, and so on. And for the whole time I still thought that we were in a combat unit.”

“Suddenly they woke us up in the middle of the night because an old colonel – he was an old geezer – arrived there for an inspection and all soldiers had to stand attention. At night. I slept so soundly that I missed the roll call and only when the non-commissioned officers searched the rooms, they found me and made me get out. I had to report to the old geezer and I said: ‘Comrade colonel, I work in a shock brigade which fulfills 130% of the plan and I was so tired when I returned from my shift that I fell asleep.’ The old geezer sent me back to sleep. I could thus use it as a terrific excuse, because all the other guys who didn’t get tired so much had to go for the morning exercise.”