Jarmila Pösslová

“Germans were retreating in a hurry. I remember one event. When the frontline came to our village – trough our village passed three armies: Poles, Russians and Hungarians – they were arriving down a nearby hill. When the frontline had been passing across our village, we were all hiding in a shelter because of heavy shelling and gunfire. Suddenly my mother told me: ‘Go to visit grandparents to find out, if they are ok.’ ‘I am so afraid’, I answered. It was a dark night with heavy raining, sleet, you know. ‘Go or else…!’ I could not grasp how my mother could send me there. Just imagine, I had to pass about 50 meters in the midst of the battle. Germans were retreating and the three armies followed them. I had never seen such a mass: everyone was in a hurry; it was dark, gunfire, and shouting in four languages around. I will never forget this night. Then the frontline moved on. In the morning we were free. But it was not all over yet. Some Germans remained around. My mother sent me out again: ‘Jarka, you have to go to a loft, there is hay for our cow. It is hungry already, so you have to go.’ I went. I climbed up a ladder and opened the door of the loft in the barn gable. At the very moment a bullet hit the gable next to me. I slide down the ladder as quickly as possible and the cow remained hungry. The village was surrounded by hills and groves where some Germans were still hiding. Later they stopped the shooting and even begged for help in return for weapons. Some even wanted locals to testify they had helped them during the war. But Germans were cruel actually.”

“German communities were in Vyškov area. Before Hitler came, everything was fine. Czechs and Germans were living in peace. After Hitler occupied our country Germans became arrogant. They started to expel Czechs who had to move away. I remember one family living in a villa in Ruprechtov. They had a store in the villa and all six members were forced to move into a one room flat. They had to work at a farm and German occupied their property. Times were rude.”

“I have one strong impression. Partisans had to run away from our village several times, but I remember especially one event. One of them in age of 40 or 50, I didn’t know where he had come from, has a piece of linen, which he picked up from the castle. In those days everything had its value. I was not surprised he had seized it. After we lead them across the hill, showed them were to go on the other side, and where were the railroad and the main road, he unfastened the linen saying: ‘Girls, take this. If I will survive the war, I will return here.’ But he never returned.”

“I remember how wealthy farmers treated children, how they blackmailed people in days of the First Republic. I was a child then and I cried a lot when I saw ten small children living in one room, without sufficient meals, ill with rheumatism. Later I have realized that communism was not the miracle people were awaiting. I found that communism is a dictatorship of proletariat. (How did you realize that?) I don’t know. Maybe it was something in my soul, some social feeling… I decided not to become a member of the communist party!”