Jan Janda

* 1922  †︎ 2012

Forced labour during the WW2, Hidden people
15. 3. 1939 - The Nazi occupation of ČSR, 23. 3. 1945 Bombing of České Budějovice, 8. 5. 1945 - End of WWII
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    Factory masters gave bread to concentration camp prisoners

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    duration: 00:26
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    "But I saw when Austrian masters had in their pockets some rolls and could go into the factory that they handed out the bread. It could be seen that they tried to help as much as they could, even those from concentration camps. Austrians shown themselves enough good compared to the Germans. "

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    Who did not start, the court and the labor camp were waiting for him

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    duration: 00:49
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    "First [the worker] had to go to the court and they had to find out why he didn't go to work and how much he missed. Mostly the conviction was to 'Arbeitslager'. It wasn't a concentration camp. It was three Sundays, but it was worse than a concentration camp. Here some Janouch from Kameňák, Kocián from Budějovice, they went through it, they came bone and skin, beaten, bruised, just as the Ukrainians did, they were like beasts, the Ukrainians were worse than the Germans, what did with those people

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    Escape from forced labor

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    duration: 00:34
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    "In 1945, I escaped already in February. The gendarmes from Velešín were looking for me, they were instructed. But there were so many people at home by then, that they didn't look for me much, it was just such a relief. I went outside at night so that no one could see me. I could still see the raid on [České] Budějovice. At the end of March, I watched the raid on Budějovice from home. "

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    České Budějovice, 04.11.2011

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    duration: 01:54:43
    media recorded in project Soutěž Příběhy 20. století
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One air-raid after another, yet we had to work

Jan Janda as a young man
Jan Janda as a young man
photo: soutěž
photo: soutěž
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Jan Janda was born in 1922 in southern Bohemia. In the years 1942-1945, he was fully deployed in Linz, Austria, where he worked as a construction worker. He participated in the construction of anti-aircraft shelters under factories in which military equipment was manufactured. He also experienced several devastating raids. He worked and met a number of forced labourers from all over Europe, prisoners of war from France and Italy, and prisoners from the nearby Mauthausen concentration camp. In February 1945, he decided to flee back to Bohemia and hid until the end of the war. He became an eyewitness to the bombing of České Budějovice. At the time of filming the interview (2011), the witness lived in České Budějovice.

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Photos (7)
  • Jan Janda on the wedding photography
    Jan Janda on the wedding photography
    photo: soutěž
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  • Jan Janda as a young man
    Jan Janda as a young man
    photo: soutěž
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  • With his wife, celebrating the 90th birthday, 2012
    With his wife, celebrating the 90th birthday, 2012
    photo: soutěž
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  • Memorial plaque at the church in the Kleinmünchen district, 2011
    Memorial plaque at the church in the Kleinmünchen district, 2011
    photo: soutěž
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  • Current view of Voestalpine, 2011
    Current view of Voestalpine, 2011
    photo: soutěž
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  • Church in the Kleinmunchen district, contemporary photography
    Church in the Kleinmunchen district, contemporary photography
    photo: soutěž
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  • Jan Janda
    Jan Janda
    photo: soutěž
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