They started to send out the stock, then they chased us out of the house and gathered at one place. And then started to burn the houses. When our barn burnt, it had eternit-roof – and in the heat, it made sound like shooting. And the Germans: "Partisans! The munition fires!" And they wanted to throw us to the flames. So my mum and the neighbour begged them not to do it, that it is just the eternit. They believed them and let us be. And when they burnt the houses, they took us as hostages and we went over the hills, over Trubiska chateau they took us.
When the first ones came, Sasha, Nicolai, Alex, the russian partisans, they begged to be let in, to warm up. Oh, they stinked like hell. And mummy, agreed immediately, warmed the water and they had a bath. And mum also laundered their clothes and put it on the cockle to dry. And ironed it. They had body lice, so mum ironed the clothes hardly on the armpit to crush them. They were lousy and hungry. But they were kind, they didn´t force us to také them in. But we did, when we saw how poor they were. And then came more and more, until we had house full of them.
When they were burning our houses, we heard music from Valašské Klobouky. That day, the wind was blowing from Valašské Klobouky, so we heard it. We were burnt and we heard how they welcomed the Russians.
They tortured our guys: "So you do no tell us what we want? You will remember!" So they took them to Valasske Klobouky and investigated again. And when my brother was there, he had to turn face to the wall, trousers down and they beated him with chain. But they didn´t disclose anything. And so they let them go. And when he came home, mum was appalled how the flesh was hanging on his buttocks. He couldn´t sit for two weeks, how beaten he was.
They didn´t get any information from us, we were closed the day and night in Valasská Polanka, so they brought us some potato goulash and the verdict: "Tomorow at half past nine, you all will be exemplary hanged alongside the main road." Tomorow, that meant on 3rd May. The mothers started: "Why, we didn´t do anything." But no: "You didn´t tell us where were the partisans, you will be exemplary hanged alongside the main road." Who would sleep? My mum was crying: "Oh daughters – what about me, but you poor ones..."Then, in the morning around nine, we heard women´s voice speaking german. Mum said: "That will be sure some German woman to erase us." Then, at quarter past nine, the door opened and there was woman standing there, speaking czech: „Do not worry, nothing will happen to you." And mum said: "What about our guys?" (They were closed in the other room) The say: "Take care of yourself, they had something with the weapons." So we knew, that this was bad.
Those, who were collected in the pub and already investigated.... They had young Oškerový from Všemina, who had contacts with partisans. Somebody had to report this. So they caught him, took him to Prlov and he had to show who he knew, where he was... And as he pointed at Ondraskovi, they took them sidelong and then popped them in the fire. They told him, that if he did cooperate, they would let him go and if he did not, they would hang his parents and brothers. So he got frightened and showed them, were the partisans stayed. They took everybody to the local pub, left the kids home and then burnt them. There were twenty three people burnt. One of them, girl, who married to the village lately, she had small baby, just eight months or so. They burnt her too and threw the baby to it´s grandmas arms. So only the grandma and the baby survived. Otherwise everybody from this house was burnt – the young bride, the brothers, the parents...everybody.
They had to dig graves for themselves, beaten from the Germans, tortured. At the end of it, they had to dig the graves, each one for himself. And by the grave, they shot him, he fell to the hole and the other ones had to cover him up. And when it came to the fourth, it was a girl, twenty two years old, there was nobody to cover her up. So she just stayed as she was.
When the Germans burnt us, we heard music from Valašské Klobouky
Božena Kršáková, roz. Vařáková
photo: autor současné fotografie: Petra Pospěchová (sběrač)
photo: autor současné fotografie: Petra Pospěchová (sběrač)
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Božena Kršáková nee Vařáková was born on 13.2.1936 in Pozděchov, to be specific - above Pozděchov, on meadows called Vařákové paseky. First eight years of Boženas life, the family led restful life, although the war started meanwhile. In october 1944, the first partisans came to Vařákovy paseky and the life of the family dramatically changed. The Germans from nearby military posts made regular domiciliary searches of their house, eight during nine months. Children didn´t go to school during this period. The partisans were not glad to see anyone going down to the village, they were afraid of disclosure. At the end of april 1945, small Božena witnessed the burning of houses in nearby Prlov, where she and her sister came to visit their uncle. On the 2nd of May 1945, the Germans came to burn out Vařákovy paseky. It was revenge for death of one of their soldier, who was killed by partisans in the morning of that day. Althoug the Red Army was those days already in some villages nearby, the houses on Vařákovy paseky were burnt down and the families were taken to Valašská Polanka, where four of them were executed. One of the executed was brother of Božena Kršáková, 20 year old Karel. When the war ended, the family stayed in Prlov. The local agricultural cooperate persuaded them to join, but they refused. Božena finished the elementary school, then worked in ammunition works in Vsetin, then in Distillery Jelínek in Vizovice. Now she´s retired and lives in Prlov, in the house her family built after war.
