Jaromír Krejčíř

“It took about two days before it stopped flying over us. And it was in the afternoon and there was a bang and the place shook with us. My dad went to lift the trapdoor of the basement, but there was a hole above the door which led to the attic, and roof tiles from the roof had fallen through that hole on the trapdoor. Although dad was strong, he was not able to lift it. And so we were sitting there and we heard footsteps after a while. Our neighbours were on the roof and they threw away some of the roof tiles in order to be able to reach us. They were able to come. They started putting down the fire and all the neighbours from the right and left side came there. They were pumping water until the fire was put down.”

“Whenever it got quiet for a while, we would run. But what I remembered for a long time afterward was the sight of about four houses which were on fire. They were setting them on fire, because the Russians were arriving there from the direction of Ořechovičky and so Germans were setting the houses on fire, because it was difficult for them to fight inside a house which was still standing. As we were running, the glass was cracking under our feet. I could hear the sound for a long time afterward. There was fire. The houses were being put on fire from the inside.”