Jiří Kovtan

“One day I found a nugget of gold, that was about two hundred grams. I received a kilo of bread for it, ten grams of vodka, and a ponchik, a kind of pasta. And I didn’t have to work for two days.”

“In front of Bila Cerekev there is a village called Rudá. It was already autumn, 1943. It was cloudy and very foggy, and we were about to attack that village. As we look arounded, we noticed that there were German soldiers among us. So we started stabbing them with bayonets and shooting them, they were shouting, and then we marched on.”

“When our unit was being formed in Buzuluk, an order came from Moscow that we were to remain alive, and be transported to Magadan. But there were about ten of us – those of us who had not been sentenced for illegal border crossing, but for being more educated, for having graduated from schools. It was this group that was left there. The Soviets were very much afraid of this group. I was charged with Article 103, and sentenced to five years. Others were sentenced according to Article 80, and they got three years. I had to remain there.”

“At that time I was already a corporal. Svoboda pointed at me, and I replied: ´But General, I’m wounded, too.´ He was about to leave, but I told him: ´Give me a car and a driver, I will carry stuff to Dukla and bringing back the wounded.´”