Stefan Katona

"Mother had the goal she couldn't accomplish to follow her sister. They were eighteen when they were taken to the camp. After the war, they had 21 and 22. They [parents] would then also like to go to Israel. However, various difficulties and misunderstandings prevented it. My father, as a landlord, had trouble leaving his property, not thinking about the fact it would nevertheless be expropriated soon. It's hard to judge every step. Everyone had a serious reason for his behaviour- he left, he didn't go, he stayed. In comparison with those who left, staying was a really unfortunate decision. Father stayed and was deprived of even more property. It was not enough that he was robbed, he also lost his physical freedom. The 8-year sentence seemed like a lifetime."

"That moment my mother returned from Český Krumlov, where she heard the sentence. I don't know how much I remember, as I was eight years old, but it made me cry. When bitterness is concerned, another scene is connected to this. After the sentence, we had to go to Slovakia. My father had not yet been moved from Ceske Budejovice to Jachymov. We knew the sentence, but they were still looking for a place for him, he was still basically in pre-trial detention. We were granted a farewell visit, it was in Budejovice prison, I remember that as an eight-year-old. They lead our father through the corridor where there were bars, bars, bars, and in one place there was a window with a mesh. There we were allowed to say goodbye to our father. They gave us ten minutes. There I saw my parents crying for the first time. I will never t. Mom crying. What could have been there? They could not even touch. That remained with me."

"And now comes the moment that God will put a hand or a foot in it. As a boy I am sent to the headmaster to bring something there, I don't remember that anymore. I had to wait for a while in the hall: 'Wait a bit.' I look and see a questionnaire for entrance examinations to a secondary technical school in Zvolen. I had the courage to take it without asking. I would even ask. I had a little doubt whether they wouldn't say I had stolen something from there. But the paper seemed public to me. At the age of 15, 16, I filled it in, sent it and received an invitation for the entrance examinations to a secondary technical school in Zvolen. Even those who tried hard to pass the exams had sometimes to wait for a year or two. There were many more candidates than places. I had to do this all alone, I had no one to ask. Then I received an invitation for the entrance exams, and I went there. Full classroom, they distribute papers. I got the answer that I was accepted. One of those nicer moments in my life. "