If our dad could see the fields that are there now, he would cry
Download image
Helena Geršlová, born Lysáčková, was born on the 21st of September 1945 in Uhlinsko under Holý Vrch above Saint Sidonia on the very border between the Moravian and Slovakian White Carpathians. She grew up in a world of Wallachian mountain farmers (pasekáři) that has since ceased to exist, on a farm with no electricity. As part of the collectivization efforts, the family lost their land (five hectares of land and six hectares of pasture) and in 1959 they moved to Saint Sidonia. Because the witness came from a farming family, she did not receive the necessary recommendations to study at a secondary school – just like her sister Marie, she was only allowed to do an apprenticeship. For most of her life she worked for the Valaška company that made Wallachian slippers and children’s shoes in Valašské Klobouky. A small part of the land below Holý vrch is still farmed by the witness’s siblings, but the former farmers’ cottages have become a place to spend holidays. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia Sidonia was divided, which complicated the lives of its inhabitants and lasted for several years. In 2019, the memories of Helena Geršlova and her brother František Lysáček were published thanks to the association Saint Sidonia under the title Life under Holý vrch. In 2022, the witness lived in Brumov-Bylnice.
