Josef Lešinger

“There was a business academy right next to my school and the boys from the academy used to distribute some leaflets. It was pretty usual to engage in this kind of activity at that time. There followed a number of trials. It was similar to what happened in Litomyšl. My former school mates had their trials in the Smetana house. It was a public trial. Most of them got terms. Those who hadn't reached maturity yet got to Zámrsk, those who were 18 or above were sent to jail.”

“I saw with my own eyes what they did to a guy who picked up a bone to chew on it a bit. There was no meat left on it anyway, it was all gone, but maybe there was still some flavor to it. They grabbed him and put him on the pillory. It was a very hot day in the summer and he had to be on direct sunlight all day long with a plate saying what he had done. Eventually, he fainted. I have no idea whether he then suffered life-long health problems because of his punishment. They also put a lot of people in the so-called 'correction'. That was simply a pit with a concrete floor where they left their victims for several days with no food.”

Interviewer: “When you didn't keep up with the required norms, you were handed out minimal food rations, right?” Interviewee: “When they let you work underground for two shifts, you had to work till ten o'clock in the evening. Then you had to wait till the inmates formed the rows, they filed and searched us. So we would get back to the camp at let's say midnight. The only thing that was left in the camp by then was black coffee. It was more like dirt or black water than proper coffee. So you could have this coffee but there was nothing left to eat.”