“I know that we were pulling a cannon up in Strečno. We needed... But we had to get to the paddle wheels ourselves and we had to push... (And you asked some of the locals for help?) It had been announced. (And nobody came?) Well, there may have been some help but nothing radical...”
“(Then you mentioned the contrast between the approach of the people in Vsetín to you.) It was an incredibly unbelievable surprise. It was not that they wouldn't give us anything in Vsetín. They were literally forcing it on us. You could see they weren't forced into it. They were happy because we were happy. (You spent the rest of the war in Holešov, in what way do you remember that?) We had been in Kroměříž before. When I remember that we went with our Studebakers through the lovely castle garden. It was in spring, all soaked with water... We totally ruined the park.”
“(What did the end of war celebrations look like?) Well... I can't tell the truth. (Come on, tell the truth.) We stole a heifer in Holešov. We processed it and looked forward to a square meal again. We cooked it in the square. A private businessman helped us so we gave him something as well. He processed it and then the cooks had no idea what to do with it. Such lovely meat. It was our first proper meal we had. (And where did you steal it?) There... it was a farm, a bigger farm. (How were you stealing it?) Well, we led it outside. (Well, and the owner had nothing against it?) He was not there, the cowsheds were open. (Then you roasted it in the square in Holešov?) Yes, we did. (You cooked it in some large cauldrons?) Well, yes, it depends.”
“Then we came across about four soldiers and there was a Jewish-Russian among them. I could speak Russian and Ukrainian a bit and he gave us little pieces of advice on ways to behave. He laid to our hearts not to speak about our being Jews. We thought that when there was that 'International' but he advised us fast. (Anyway, you didn't obey his well-meant pieces of advice and when you were at the enlistment...) It was because of the nationality. Before that, when there was the population census in the '30s, my father said he was a Hungarian because he was born in a Hungarian village. So I was also trying this 'International' (author's note - at the enlistment to 1 Czechoslovak Army-corps). (What did the soldier at the enlistment say to you?) He was a Jew from Mukačevo, I don't know any more where he is or what he is doing, or what his name was. He was on the draft board. He did the enlistment. (What did he say to you when you spoke about your nationality?) 'Are you an idiot or what?!' (When you mentioned your Jewish nationality?) Yes, and when I mentioned the Hungarian one: 'You are even a greater idiot.' (So you became a Slovak after that?) I became a Slovak after that.”
“(You have mentioned an interesting case when you put up a Russian officer and then he... ) Well, it was still at war... (If you could tell me the story again...) Well, his name was Albiščenko and I found accommodation for him at railwaymen's in Vrútky. They were kind of older people, I found them older at that time... about fifty. Today I don't think fifty means older. And they looked after him and when he was leaving he robbed them, he took things from them. (What did he steal then?) Well, linen, tablecloths and just what he liked. He wanted to send it home. (And what did you do then?) Well, I stole something else somewhere else and brought it to them. I can't even remember what it was. But anyway, there remained a big scar. You could easily 'make up for it' but you couldn't 'make it straight.' (And the people were angry because of that?) Yes, terribly. Because they were such 'Sovietophiles' and 'So-Dems' (Social Democrats) as all railwaymen were 'So-Dems.' Minister Bechyně was also a 'So-Dem.' Everyone would be angry then. You help someone and he stabs you in your back for it.”
Tibor Farkaš was born in a Jewish family in Velké Kapušnay, East Slovakia, on September 25, 1921. His mother tongue was Hungarian. He was raised in the family of Ludvík Farkaš, who was trading in horses for the army. After a long struggle, Ludvik succumbed to lung cancer in 1939.
The hometown of Libor Farkaš was besieged by the Hungarians in 1939. That was why he decided to complete his studies at Commercial Academy prematurely. He left for Budapest in order to get trained in a practical trade. Between 350-400 thousand Jews lived in the city and it was rather hard for him at the beginning. But he was young and liked to work. Due to the help of his relatives and Jewish organizations he could look after himself well.
His situation got worse in October 1942. With regard to his age of enlistment he had to join the Reserve Work Troop of the Hungarian Army, a parallel of our PTP (Work Technical Battalion). He bore that hard work and strict daily routine till spring 1942 when he and his seven friends vanquished a gypsy guard and they fled. Consequently they were hiding in woods until the Soviet soldiers arrival.
From fall 1944 Tibor Farkaš worked for 1 Czechoslovak Army-corps as a driver-mechanic and supplied the front lines with munition. He also often repaired brakes in his or in some other drivers’ Studebakers with front drives. He got later some special tools for it.
He went through the liberation of his native Slovakia and also went through the tough fights in Jasel operation without being seriously wounded.
However, his mother Irena and both his sisters Alžběta and Agnesz did not survive the war hardships. His brother Andrej was the only one out of all the close relatives who survived. He went through the war with his fake non-Jewish identity as an employee of the railway in Wrocław.
Tibor Farkaš decided to settle down in Bohemi after the war. He spent most of his productive years for the State Forests. In 1963-1970 he studied as a distant student at the University of Agriculture in Brno.
He met his wife Jelena Jakovlevna Opanovič already in 1944, when she served as a nurse for the same regiment.
