Zdena Furmanová

"In 1939 when the Soviet army came to our country, the mobilization was here and they simply brought him into army. And he got captured. The prisoners were watched by Ukraine soldiers in this cage. And our uncle, his father kept going there and tried to figure out how he could get to him. He didn’t manage to see him, but he always brought something to him. And as the time flew he became a friend with one of the Ukrainian. He always brought some goodies for him too and they made a deal that in case of someone’s death they would pretend that it was his son who died and they would let him go. The day has come when our uncle went to free his son, our cousin. He came there with the wooden hay-wagon pulled by two horses. He loaded with tons of hay. That night someone died there. They said that the person who died was Jaroslav Bocek. Our uncle put his son on the wagon, covered him well with the hay and brought him safely home. Now the German officers were searching our house often, right, so when they came he always laid in bed covered up with the pile of covers. And later on... He got a friend working at the city hall who arranged permission for him to go outside at least sometimes. And then he and the other cousin joined the army again. Then the bomb hit the... this cousin’s leg was completely crushed, they had to cut the leg off later and the other one got killed. That’s how unfortunate his life was."

"So the Germans started loosing their positions on the west. They began to return back. What are your memories of this period of time? When did the front start to approach again?" "I remember, we had this big kitchen, the Germans came one day and brought a lot of hay to the kitchen floor. I think there about, I don’t really recall how many of them were there. Anyway, they took all their clothes off, they all had lice. Now they were killing the lice there, right. It was an awful sight." "And they were Germans?" "Yes, Germans." "Were they runaway or just backing off..." "Yes. They had their feet covered in cloths, because it was freezing. In fact that was the reason why they were loosing, right? Maybe if it wasn’t so freezing outside, everything would have been different." "I imagine they must have smelled bad too...?" "Oh, yeah you’re right. So many unwashed men in one kitchen. They wore a scarf wrapped around their heads, full of lice. So many lice. Terrible. They ordered us to cook the chicken for them. So mom made them chickens. And then they were eating it with their hands, the same hand that were killing the lice just a moment ago." "That’s just unbelievable." "Yes, but when they came in 1939 that was completely different story. They got out of the car, took out a table and some chairs. They all were washed well and smelled so well. They ate all kinds of fancy food, specialties. And how did they end up now." "In 1941 they were all cleaned up, shaved and in three years..." "It was awful." "And how long did they stay with you?" "I’m not sure, maybe not even a week or so." "And were they treating you good?" "Commonly, yes. These were behaving all right because they were already miserable themselves, you know."

"You have mentioned that Mirohost village is located near Dubno town, on which I suppose bombs were dropping during the year of 1941. Have you seen any planes, or..." "Yes I have. Mirohost was under bombing attack too, just where the train track was and the train station." "So what was it like from your point of view?" "Well you know, being a child I was scared of course, but I didn’t really pay much attention to it. I remember that we spent a day or two in the woods, but then we returned and there was no bombing anymore. Concerning the Germans, when they started, it was really something. I remember, we used to have this big backyard at home and one day they came to this backyard. They came by car. They took out the table and some chairs. They put out lots of food, they ate and drank and when they were done they got back in the car and off they went. But then, later on... Some German officer came on a motorbike with a side-car. He let escape our pigs, he shot one, put the dead pig into the side-car and left. Or sometimes they came and were chasing our chickens in the backyard. The chickens were running and the officers were after them. And that’s how it was with the Germans...But I don’t think they killed anyone there in Mirohost. We all were afraid of them of course, but they didn’t kill anyone, I think. But there was this work thing. I’m not sure how old I was, but even I have been called to their employment office in Dubno town. So I went there. There was a doctor who performed a complete examination, and then they gave me the card with the transport number on it. I have put it somewhere, I don’t know. But there was the name, number of transport, the departure date, everything. But then the Germans had to back up, so the transport was cancelled." "All this could happen in 1943, when you were fifteen years." Yes, I guess so."

"Now, we already spoke about the Jews in general, but how were they doing during the German occupation? Did the Germans build some ghetto for them?" "Yes, the ghetto was in Dubno village. And all the Jews were in there. They were not allowed to come out. One day when I went to the employment office I saw the big truck loaded with Jews taking them out of the ghetto. It was open truck, you could see them what were they doing, and you just can’t forget that in a lifetime. They were pulling their hair. Some of them were crying. It was awful. The Germans were driving them on this field between Mirohost and Dubno villages, there was this train track. And near this track there was a huge mass grave. That’s where they...The Ukrainians were shooting them and they were falling down to this grave. I was just passing by on the road nearby and although it was a little far I could smell the blood. It was just, I still see it. I still see the Jews what they were doing on the trucks. That was just terrible." "And did you hear the shooting while you were passing by? Were they just shooting them?" "Yes."