Františka Hocková

* 1945

National minorities, Forced labour during the WW2
5. 1. - 21. 8. 1968 - The Prague Spring, 21. 8. 1968 - Invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops, 16. 1. 1969 – Jan Palach´s self-immolation , 17. 4. 1969 – A. Dubček’s resignation, start of the “normalisation” period, 8. 5. 1945 - End of WWII
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    The feeling of inferiority of a children’s home child

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    “I fought long with a feeling of inferiority that I wasn’t like the others. I went to school in rags that someone else had worn before me. I never had anything new. Never. I didn’t have any money at all in the children’s home in Kralupy. Who’d give me any? When I was fourteen I got three crowns from a pensioner after one performance. I wanted to go to the hairdresser’s because my hair was otherwise just cut by the care workers. I was happy to see how my new hairstyle suited me, but the haircut cost four crowns - and I only had three. The hairdresser forgave me the one crown in the end, and I was happy that the problem was solved.”

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    21 August 1968

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    duration: 01:36
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    “In August 1968 the political storm clouds began to gather. I was employed at a construction firm, Insta, in Prague-Strašnice at the time. One night I heard news that we were being occupied, I went to work early next morning, and there were Russian tanks coming in the opposite direction. That was one of the worst moments of my life. It wasn’t just me, there were lots of us there, we raised our fists and cried. What they did was vile. And there was nothing else for me to do but to write to the committee of the CPC that I was renouncing my membership because I did not agree with the entrance of Warsaw Pact forces.”

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    Praha - Vršovice, 14.12.2015

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I was born in a labour camp

Františka Hocková
Františka Hocková

Františka Hocková was born on 30 January 1945 in Lübeck, where her parents were assigned to forced labour; her mother was a Pole and her father a Czech. She spent the second half of 1945 with her mother at a sanatorium in Sweden. Her complicated family circumstances meant that she spent most of her childhood in children’s homes. She completed a secondary school for nurses but then worked in other fields. During the Prague Spring she briefly joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPC).

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Photos (14)
  • Pupils with Their Teacher Preparing the Project
    Pupils with Their Teacher Preparing the Project
  • Františka Hocková
    Františka Hocková
  • Pupils and Their Teacher Preparing the Project
    Pupils and Their Teacher Preparing the Project
  • Pupils and Their Teacher Preparing the Project
    Pupils and Their Teacher Preparing the Project
  • Pupils and Their Teacher Preparing the Project
    Pupils and Their Teacher Preparing the Project
  • Pupils Meeting Františka Hocková
    Pupils Meeting Františka Hocková
  • Pupils Meeting Františka Hocková
    Pupils Meeting Františka Hocková
  • Pupils Preparing a Presentation
    Pupils Preparing a Presentation
  • Pupils and Their Teacher Preparing the Project
    Pupils and Their Teacher Preparing the Project
  • Preparation of a Presentation
    Preparation of a Presentation
  • A Photo of the Boat That Transported Františka Hocková and Her Mother to Sweden (1945)
    A Photo of the Boat That Transported Františka Hocková and Her Mother to Sweden (1945)
  • Františka Hocková and Her Siblings
    Františka Hocková and Her Siblings
  • Františka Hocková's Mother
    Františka Hocková's Mother
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Links (1)

Švédská odyssea

  • date:
    16.05.2016
  • medium type:
    Internet
  • medium name:
    Příběhy našich sousedů