Our commander used to say: We are the workers of war
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Josef Polívka was born on April 10, 1921, in Strašice, district of Rokycany. His parents were workers. He became a lathe operator. He worked in the Skoda works in Pilsen and a in a branch of the same company in the Slovak town of Dubnice nad Váhom. He left Dubnice with the help of an illegal organization and made it to Palestine via Hungary and Yugoslavia. He fought at Tobruk and Dunkirk (according to his own words, he was rather a “worker of war” then a soldier - he was with the service units). After his return to the country, he left the army. For the remainder of his life as a civilian, he faced petty acts of bullying from his environment. He feels disappointed by the developments after 1989.