Erich Plachtzik

“On Wednesday evening, there was heavy artillery fire. But the shells didn’t fall on the road or on the square, they fell on the meadow. So everybody was already packing his things and left on that night. They were ready to leave, the peasants with their horses. We left as well and went to Kobeřice to stay with our grandparents. On Thursday afternoon, there followed aerial bombardment. They were dropping phosphorus and everything caught fire. Everything was dug up. Especially the upper part of the village. The lower part was alright. The Russians then came at night but by then, there was nobody there anymore. Grandmother stayed in the basement with three more old women. It was terrible when the bombs were falling. They got shaken by it but they survived. When the Russians came, the civilian population had to leave. They were clearing the ground. So these three women had to go again to Ratiboř and when the lines of battle had passed through, they could come back.”

“They were increasing the quotas each year. Then they even wanted to swap our field and they did in the end. The locals who had known us before protected us. They wouldn’t allow them to harm us, because they knew that we were decent people. My mom was frequently summoned to the district, where she had to talk with that representative. But he wouldn’t have his way. She always managed to persuade him of her right in a very polite and decent way – she never got angry. She was very good at persuading people in the Catholic spirit of her opinions. She had very good manners and she was also very pretty. So nobody would harm us in the village.”