Josef Kubný

* 1946

  • "When I got up in the morning, I rode my motorcycle to work. And I said to myself, 'Damn it, what do the Russians want here? They should have been gone by now.' And they ambushed us. Of course, the place was terrible. There was no work that day. My brother almost got fired. He came to work and raised his hand. And then one of the guys there complained that it was a Heil Hitler salute! But the head of transport, one Jura Poremský, said: 'That was no Heil Hitler! He kept greeting me like that. Everyday.' He was a big communist, but he practically saved my brother, because otherwise he would have been fired."

  • "After what happened when we didn't put the horses in, we burned out. Dad said somebody must have done it. Of course. Because it was burning from the back. They said it was from the chimney. But it was from the back. Someone came in from the garden and set it on fire. We burnt down and my parents wanted permission for a new building. But they said, "No, no. You don't get planning permission. After you sign it.' Mum signed it, of course, but Dad didn't. So they got the permit. When we burned down, Mom and Dad were living in the "špýchar". That's the granary. That's where they had a bed. There and done. And my brother and I slept with my aunt."

  • "Then they came for the horses. There were six or ten of them, and they came with a gendarme. I went with my father through the cottage to the stable. I went in there with him. He took a pitchfork and stood in the doorway and stood. One of the men, a secretary from Opava, or wherever they were from, ordered, 'Comrade, give me the horse!' Dad stood in the doorway, I stood behind him, and I can hear it like today, when Dad said, 'No! I won't give you the horse! You took everything from me, but I won't give you the horse!'"

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    Ostrava, 21.05.2024

    (audio)
    duration: 01:44:09
  • 2

    Ostrava, 23.05.2024

    (audio)
    duration: 01:18:34
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When they tried to take our horses, the thieves came with a gendarme

Josef Kubný / mid 60s
Josef Kubný / mid 60s
photo: Josef Kubný's archive

Josef Kubný was born on 28th August 1946 in Kobeřice in the Hlučín region. His father František had to enlist in the Wehrmacht during the war and served in Finland. The family farmed twelve hectares of land, raised cattle and breeding horses. Like his brother Hubert, six years older, he learned to farm from childhood. Under his father’s supervision, he rode in a wagon with horses. He witnessed the collectivisation of agriculture in the Hlučín region. The family gradually lost their fields and cattle. In the spring of 1957, he was there when his father defended his horses with a pitchfork in his hands. A few weeks after this event, Josef’s family house burned down. The authorities refused to allow the Kubny family to build a new building, so mother joined the cooperative. The father did not. Josef was not allowed to train as a bricklayer, he had to work in the cooperative. His brother was not allowed to be a butcher. In 1967, Josef Kubný managed to leave the cooperative. He then worked as a driver for Investment and Industrial Construction until his retirement. At the time of filming (2024) he lived in Kobeřice.