Pater Josef Freml

“It was worse when the Germans were retreating. They assembled the whole village and they claimed that somebody had deliberately spilled nails on the road, and that if nobody admitted to it, they would set five houses on fire. Obviously, nobody admitted to anything, because it was not true. As soon as they were done, they immediately set five houses on fire; they had already picked them beforehand. People were just allowed to take out cattle and take some small things, but they were watching over them. It happened right in Šumice.”

“It was in the house of some old lady who used to have a workroom there with her husband some time ago. I was ordained in that former workroom. I came in and there were already two other candidates. We only shook hand but we didn’t introduce ourselves by name so that we would not compromise each other. A couple of hours later the ordination rite began. What was required was only the book of rites, oil, and chalice. Bishop Trochta was living away from Prague, but he would for instance go to see a doctor in Prague and during these trips he would always stop by these people, and thus he knew this family. So it had been agreed to take place in their house. I don’t know their name. I only had to introduce myself using a certain password, which she knew, and then she opened the door for me.”

“I got to work in the stencil workshop, where I spent about two years. The work there was good and there was not so much factory noise. It was a separate workshop. Then there was voting whether Russians should start with atomic explosions. Obviously, I did not raise my hand and some women informed upon me. They immediately reported me to the party committee that I was a provocateur and what not, and I was immediately sent back to the factory.”