Růžena Ďorďová

"We heard to a lot about how she fought for us, what she went through. Not only did she have problems with social services, but how did this lady even dare to come to the school and take the kids from the school? How did she take the liberty to do that? My mom then went and hired a lawyer, eventually the social worker who came to get us because there were not enough kids in the children’s home at the time, so she had to fill the holes, so the lady was fired from social services. My mom carried on. By proving this was illegal, [the worker] didn't have the authority to do it - she kept fighting. Until it got to court, and the court ruled that if we were kidnapped, they had to put us back out of that children's home immediately. Mum went against the police as well. The social worker hired two policemen who came to the school and took us away from the school. She also dealt with the school, how could the school hand over the children to a stranger without the parents' consent. The principal was partly the one who took the blame, but he stayed in his post."

"One day my sister got very sick. I came to her, and I said: 'Eva, clean your cupboard, it's messed up.' She said: 'No, Růža, I'm sick, I can't.' I said: 'But you have to, otherwise it will be bad.' She probably wanted to be more resistant to me, and she said no. She stayed lying down. Then the carer came in, she said: 'Růža, open all the cupboards, I want to see them.' So, I opened them. The sister’s one was messed up. She says: 'Whose locker is that?' - 'My sister's.' And she says: 'How come she's not getting up?' - 'Because she's sick.' She went over to her, stood by the bed and said: 'Get up!' My sister got up, looked at her and got such a slap that she twisted around in one place and then fell on the floor. So, we picked her up and put her back in bed. I felt terrible at that moment. Even though we were each different, we always stuck together. And we still do to this day. We hold together. That children’s home gave us a lot and took a lot away."

"Arriving at the orphanage was terrible. What those carers did to us, you don't forget. They threw us in the bathroom, ordered us to strip naked. It's like going into a concentration camp. So, my sister and I hid under the bathroom sinks, we huddled there. They called the whole orphanage to come and see us. One by one they went into the bathroom, and they all stood around us, looking at us like we were animals. Then they threw us some sweatpants and a T-shirt to get dressed. So, we got dressed. They cut our hair off. My sister and I looked at each other and laughed at each other. Then we went to lunch. They took my sister somewhere else, me too. To another class. Then we met at the table. It was evening, seven o’clock, and this one carer was mad at the kids. My sister and I used to burst out laughing every time we looked at each other. After dinner, the carer came in and said: 'Who can give the roll call? What the heck, nobody can speak up?' I signed up for it, I got some courage. I was like: 'It's a roll call, it's nothing.' I volunteered to try. I got everybody in line and went to the bathrooms. All of a sudden, they started listening to me. The carer came in and said: 'From today you're the leader of so-and-so group.' My eyes popped. She said: `Nobody here is capable, so at least you are.' I didn't know what that meant. But I was actually their sidekick. When the carers wanted to be alone, have a cup of coffee, have a quiet chat, they didn't want to see us at all, that's what I was there for, to supervise the others, to keep everyone quiet. That's where I was helpful."