“It happened sometime in autumn 1938. We had a German tutor, Mr Mikolášek, and my elder brother knew he was hiding an NSDAP badge under his lapel. My brother jumped at him, joked with him and overturned his lapel. We came to the table and started with a prayer of thanks, as we used to. Suddenly everybody was gazing at Mr Mikolášek who had a Nazi badge shining on his breast. He started to be nervous, stammered. In a week, he fled.”
“It was by accident that I had problems with my teeth and the dentist told me that resection would be necessary. And I suggested: “What if we postponed till July 1?” I was to return to the camp then. I would prefer resection to return to the labour camp. He readily agreed and the operation was postponed. Eventually I got into the Hospital of St Anna in Brno, in the department run by docent Leopold. This was an incredibly nice and decent man who immediately prescribed some medicaments for me. But as soon as we were alone, he said: „Flush it down the toilet. Do not take these!”
“Then I worked in the Construction Works of the Food Industry. It was a kind of workshop at Balabenka.I wasn’t suitable, so they had to destroy me. This was very nice. The HR man told me, ‘You see, comrade, I cannot make a fool of myself.’ I almost laughed but I held myself and replied, ‘Well, I see. That is not really possible.’ He didn’t get what I meant. So they fired me.”
Hugo Mensdorff-Pouilly was born on October 24, 1929, in Boskovice na Moravě. He comes from an old aristocratic family with origins in France. He spent his childhood together with seven more siblings in Boskovice and around. Until the fifth grade of the primary school he was in Brno where he went to study at a grammar school that he did not finish as he was not allowed to take the school-leaving exam. The family tried to emigrate but they were arrested and imprisoned. He was sent to the forced labour camp in Nováky, Slovakia, where he spent two months. He spent his military service with Auxiliary Technical Battalion. During the socialist regime he held various jobs: a driver, a clerk, car washer and tyre technician in bus transport and many other. After the Velvet Revolution he joined the Foreign Ministry, held the post of the Consul in Paris and the the embassy of the Knights of Malta. He lived in Prague and in Boskovice, where he liked to serve as the guide in a castle returned to his family during restitutions. Hugo Mensdorff-Pouilly died on November 21st, 2023.
Pupils of Bohumil Hrabal Primary School during the recording of an audio report on the story of Hugo Mensdorff-Pouilly as part of the Stories of Our Neighbours project
Pupils of Bohumil Hrabal Primary School during the recording of an audio report on the story of Hugo Mensdorff-Pouilly as part of the Stories of Our Neighbours project
