Anton Gajdošík

“He was a surveyor here during the land enclosure. He worked as an engineer and geodesist, however, when the partisans came to the village, he joined them. You probably don’t know the surroundings here, but towards the Mojtín there is the Hluchá Valley, Zliechov and then Pružina. There the Germans attacked them and it was only by miracle that the Jew, Ing. Ľudovít Berkovič, survived. He said he was licking dew from the trees and that’s how he saved himself. He knew this area well, it was only about four or five kilometers from Tŕstie through Riedke. He came to my father, who was drawing water for the cattle in the evening and he asked him for help. My dad let him hide in our hayloft and there he stayed.”

“Already in 1948 they offered people to enter the JRD (Joint Agricultural Cooperative) and they promised all kinds of outcoming advantages. However, all what it meant was to put down all the cows, land and work as a slave for free. You know, I am telling you how it really was. They oppressed people in many ways, who in the end, had no other choice than to join the coop. My father was imprisoned in Ružomberok for four months just because he was unable to meet assigned contingents, the compulsory delivery quotas.”