We drove into mud, suddenly heard a crash and a co-driver was sprang out
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Josef Hřebík was born in Volyň Olšanka near Žitomir in 1923, where his grandparents moved from Nový Bydžov in 1970s. During his teenage his native village got into the territory ruled by the Soviet Union. After finishing school the witness began working in a factory Progres. At the beginning of 1944 the area of Volyň was liberated and the inhabiting Czechs massively joined Svoboda´s army. Amongst them was also Josef Hřebík, who joined the 1st Czechoslovak Army Troop of Ludvík Svoboda. During war he served as a skipper and a driver. He participated in Carpathian-Dukla operation and liberation fights in Slovakia including the operation in Liptovský Mikuláš. In autumn 1945 he returned to his native village in Volyň, but after 1947 he heard an offer of the Czechoslovak authorities and re-emigrated and settled down in Jindřichův Hradec. He made his living as a car mechanic in a company Fidler and later worked at sawmill. In 2009, when the recording was made, lived with his wife in Jindřichův Hradec.