Teodora Helena Kubínová

“Those raids were dreadful. Once, I was in church and I saw they are bombing somewhere, so I flew… I wanted to put my head under the altar, just in case it would collapse… But it was not possible, there was no place to put it. So, I flew quickly looking for a shelter. But we had a shelter here in the cellar, across the courtyard. There we had a picture, we still have it there. And Mother Superior and those who were in the buildings they had shelters here under the kindergarten and there, further under the schools, near the church. It was terrible, it always mooed when they were throwing it. Here, as I told you, the house was swept away, one quarter was down.” – “The opposite house?” – “No, it was when you go this way, there was a crossroad. This house, a huge one, was in the corner, it was high, there were some offices. That one fell down. Then in the train station, but I do not know, I did not see the train station.” – “When the bombs fell down to the Lannovka, you had to feel the blow in the cellar…” – “Oh yes, oh yes, everything trembled. So, we also thought that it is going to collapse, you know? It was not easy.”

"So the Germans came here, and because those born after the year twenty-fourth had to go to the Reich, then the mother superior sent us to Hradec Králové, where we went to the hospital. There we had a kind of a nursing school. Well, we were there for about four years, until 1945, then we moved away and got back here. But again, it was announced that the monasteries would all be emptied out, that those would be taken by the communists. Well they did everything they could giving us everywhere in order not have to go back to the Reich. So then we went up to Trutnov, where we had been for a long time and worked in the factories in Varnsdorf, then Poříčí. And there were a lot of nuns there, we were learning to operate the machines."

"That's right, I had a brother, who became a priest, he was a Salesian. And he really suffered enough, because he was in the mines, where he worked. He was then at St. Cross, the church was in charge in Prague. And I had another brother, unfortunately the worked in the factory, manufactory watches there, but he was a little bit of a communist, you know. Well, the sisters were already married. The three were married and the three of us here we were in the monastery, you know. So one was in Prague, she was a fashion designer making hats, and the two were also already married. They already had kids."

"And a car stopped and someone asked: ´Excuse me, is there Zdislava Benesova here?´ We said yes. ´Well we got to take her with us.´ I was the oldest there, nine of us there were sisters like the young ones in the factory, so I said: ´No, no, you will take her until you tell us why.´ - ´That´s none of your business, we are supposed to take her away, get it right now.' They said it really strictly. So the sister-in-law said: ´Okay, but I'll go with her.´ Then they both got in that car and drove to, well, you see how you say... Well, how to say when it's ... to court! People, you see how stupid I am. To court they went! It was noon and then there was an evening, and still nothing. So I was with one of my sisters, and she kept weeping terribly, you know, poor little kid, so we got together and we went to court, so we went up, they let us in. The lady was sitting on the bench. And we said: 'Why are you sitting here? Where is Zdislava?´ - ´Well, I do not know, it´s been a while, and they did not say anything to me and keep walking around me. ´So I went after them and they said: ´Yeah, she´s been already taken away. And where did you take her?´ - ´Well, you ask later, we can not tell anything.“