„Nobody could imagine the German thoroughness. For example they forced you to lie down with your face on the floor, turned a chair upside down, tied your legs to the chair, and then hammered your feet. I can confirm it was really ‘delightful.’ Our defense was to lose consciousness deliberately. If you lose consciousness, you feel nothing. We were trained to do it. You just had to breathe quickly and then suddenly stopped to cause a shock. This was the only way how to keep silence. You could not speak in black out. Therefore they kept trying to hold us conscious; they used even electricity for this purpose. It is the question of strong heart, because the hart attack could be the consequence. Luckily I was a sportsman so my heart was in a good shape. We followed one principle: ‘never unsay what you have said.’ The moment you had slackened your resistance they tore you to shreds. Otherwise they were torturing you only until they realized you won’t brake down. Of course it was not easy to sustain and muster physical and psychological pressure.”
„Round the fortress of Terezin lie morasses. There I have experienced all sorts of shocks. Among ss-guards were non Germans as well – Croatians, Serbians etc. For example there was one ss-man nicknamed Marehead. He came from Sudetenland and he hated especially Jews. With delight he chose two Jews and let them fight for life in the morass. Small stream ran nearby the Terezin fortress, there they had to struggle. The winner, who killed the other one, actually he suffocated his opponent in the mud, was allowed to live. We had to watch the fight. From this point of view my arrival to the Terezin fortress meant one shock after another.”
„At the beginning of 1945 I had been tried in Nuremberg. This was the real touchstone for me. I was charged with preparing treason and hiding weapons. For treason ran the death sentence by hanging and for hiding weapons ran the death sentence by decapitation. I was sentenced to both. They hanged you first and then decapitated indeed. After the trial 100 days long period had started before the execution. During those days your lawyer made suit for a pardon directly at Hitler. Thank God, things didn’t go so far. An airstrike destroyed the prison, so I had to spend there only 77 days. But anyway, every morning in time of breakfast I was told how many days remained left to execution. The worst think was I was handcuffed and in a solitary confinement. The only way how not to go mad was activity of any kind. I had been creating pieces from bread. It was necessary to turn the waiting into some activity to forget what was coming next. Psychological distress was immense, but you had to believe in one thing: ‘I will not give them joy to be hanged and decapitated’. This defiance to punishment enabled you to stay in resistance mood. This was the only chance.”
„On the 3rd March 1943 I had been arrested. I see this day as if it was yesterday. My concentration camp torture started. They picked me up at a castle. I had been warned 24 hours ahead; I could have escaped, but I would endanger my family. My sister was going to get marriage. To wait 24 hours for my arrest was really hard, but I had to have enough courage to take responsibility for my actions. From Bechyne I was transported to Tabor and then to Hradec Kralove. There the Gestapo was playing game of cat and mouse with me. They told me, if I had no comrades and was acting on my own, they didn’t need a trial to punish me. They dragged me to the yard, where the firing squad stood ready: ‘are you going to tell the names or not?’ When I refused I expected a bullet, but they dragged me back and the interrogating continued.”
“My destiny was to survive. I have passed trough a life enduring experience. In concentration camps I have learned to distinguish real values from rubbish. People showed their true colors. Many, who were considered as elite in civilian life, showed as absolute wretches. When they were left without help, they have changed to walking numbers. For example when they received a letter, they stroke their head against the wall. Briefly, their psychological abilities were not up to situation, despite they looked like characters in civilian life. Everybody could see there, who is who. Many people of this kind brought others into big troubles. Just slightly stronger physical pressure caused them to submit and talk. They have said everything and this was bad.
What have helped you to keep resistance?
I had one main idea: my cause is just, I will do anything no to be crushed by Germans. Such defiance can keep you going even in inhuman living conditions. It is all about state of mind. The worst thing is to be afraid. Fear increases how you perceive danger. Everybody should understand one thing: the death is not evil. The death is evil only in our minds. The death is part of life. We are borne to die. The question is what will be left behind us. Something positive should remain. People should not remember us as mugs. We should die in peace with clear conscience, despite it is very difficult of course.”
Vladimír Lorenz was born on 20th August in 1925 in Krompachy. He died on March 7th 2010. As a Boy Scout he took part in mobilization of 1938 in fortress Hanicka. After Nazi occupation he joined resistant movement organization Blue Front and later a resistance group of Prince Alfons Paar and teacher Lang in Bechyne, where Lorenz had moved after he was expelled from high school because of refusing to hail like a Nazi. Unfortunately he was revealed in March 1943 and detained. Lorenz was severely interrogated by the Gestapo in Hradec Kralove, Pankrac and finally six months in Peckarna palace. Then he had been transported to Terezin to Small Fortress, were he was waiting for trial. Lorenz had to build roads and an underground factory in Radobil. At the beginning of 1945 in Nuremberg Lorenz was sentenced to death by hanging and decapitation for preparing treason and hiding weapons. Luckily he was saved by bombardment of the prison 23 days before execution. All his life Lorenz was interested in Orient and Japanese combatsmanship. In 1945 he met his lifelong master professor Kitayma from Japan. He had served as his assistant for 19 years. After the communist putsch in 1948 Lorenz was detained for alleged connection with Western powers and two months harshly interrogated in the ill-known “Little House”. But Lorenz sustained torturing and was released without being charged. Later he established a club of judo in Hradec Kralove. In 1965 he made a journey to Japan where he studied combat art by Japanese masters. After he returned home he worked as a professional trainer. He is a founder of aikido in Czechoslovakia.
