Jan Mikšík
* 1935 †︎ 2020
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“She was returning home from the doctor to Končiny, when by coincidence, the Germans were already taking care of everything. When she went, a gendarmerie Ovčalovský met her with police and the SS officers. And the SS man who went with the cop to the place asked if it was someone from the Londas. And he said no, not Londas. Then she didn't return home - she lived in a bunker behind Hošťálková. The guerrillas had a solid bunker there, and Anna lived through the rest of the occupation (there). It's just a village behind Hošťálková.”
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“Even when I wanted to go to an industrial school, I was trained in Mohelnice, to an industrial school in Frenstat, so I wasn't allowed there as an organizer of evangelical youth. They said clearly that they needed not only people who were proficient but also politically conscious.”
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“It happened that guerrillas also met at Rusava at the gamekeeper's lodge. And one of them was Slávek Londa. When the Germans found out where they might be, so they cracked down and it happened that the whole group of guerrillas were surrounded in the house. Slavek saw that they would have shot them anyway, so since then he had a hand grenade, he unlocked it and went in a different direction than the whole group of guerrillas and saved them. But he threw the grenade under himself and was instantly torn to bits... ”
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Full recordings
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Vsetín, 16.12.2019
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It seemed that the Czechs, as a nation, would get germanised or exterminated
Jan Mikšík was born on 8 February 1935 in Racibórz, Vsetín region. Like most of the inhabitants of the village, the parents of Joseph and Francis, née Londova, professed the Evangelical faith. They farmed on one of the largest farms in Racibórz. The mother’s birth house in the part Končiny above the villages of Hošťálková and Kateřinice was burnt down during World War II. The Gestapo arrested three members of the family for having guerrillas in. John’s uncle, Tomáš Londa, was executed and his aunt Emílie died as a result of the injury. Uncle Jaroslav Londa joined the partisans and died during the German invasion of the gamekeeper’s lodge in Rusava. Uncle Anthony Londa was imprisoned in the concentration camp Buchenwald and survived the war. Jan trained as an electrical engineer and spent most of his life at MEZ Vsetín. At the time of the collectivization of agriculture, Jan’s parents joined the single agricultural cooperative (JZD). During his employment, Jan increased his qualifications by studying at an evening technical school, but his involvement in the congregation of young evangelicals caused problems. Here he met his future wife Alice Evjáková. Since 1990, he has worked in municipal politics for two terms.
