Alena Pavlová

“I grabbed Boženka’s hand and we did not run into the basement, but into the house instead. When we reached our house, bombs began falling – to me as an eight-year-old, they looked like flaming arrows. My mom exclaimed: ‘God be with us and all the evil go away! Children, let’s go inside.’ We remained within the door posts, which were quite robust, and there was a huge crater in the front part of the house where the bomb dropped, and the other bomb was in the rear side by the brook. The house thus exploded while we were with mom under those door posts.”

“I married in 1956 and the currency reform took place in 1953. It was another great disaster for my parents, because dad told me: ‘Alenka, if you don’t have to, do not marry. That’s because your dowry is in a blocked deposit. And we will never get it back. That would be a very poor wedding – if you don’t have to marry, do not marry.’ And my husband, who was a very independent-minded man, said: ‘Mr. Zápeca, we don’t have to marry, we really don’t have to. But my parents are already quite old, and I am their youngest son. And my old parents would like me to marry. I would thus fulfill their wish. And if Alenka agrees, do not object against it and we will take care of the wedding ourselves.’ My dad was just staring at him in amazement!”