I fought for Czechoslovakia, as you could no longer live in Volhynia
Bedřich Kyselka was born on February 2nd 1923 in Kupychiv in Volhynia, in the area that had been a part of the inter-war Second Polish Republic. His father had been a tailor, his mother was a housewife. They were living on a farm with a large orchard in its surroundings. In 1944, he had volunteered for the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps. As he had to join the military police, he was overseeing a penal unit of deserters and convicts with whom he had to participate on the most dangerous missions. After six months, he managed to arrange his transfer to a transportation unit and was transporting ammunition. He took part in many fights, including the Battle of the Dukla Pass. He was gravely wounded on the territory of Poland and spent two months in hospital. He left the army in 1946 and settled down in Tlestky near Rakovník where he had been given a farm confiscated from the Germans who were expelled from the country. He had been farming for some time with his parents who were repatriated from Volhynia. After the 1948 coup, he refused to join the agricultural coop (JZD) and moved to Karlovy Vary. He had been working as a bus driver for the next forty years.