Ludvík Šablatura

"There was an Austrian warden in the house next to us and he had some connection with Mirošov. But he was reliable and so they sent us some messages which he delivered. He guarded our house and I took the messages from him and gave them to general Braun. General Braun got into contact with Mirošov and he wanted them to help us – we needed food and medicines. He wanted to protect people from hunger. Well, it was a unique enterprise – they got together and collected some food. They contacted general Braun who spoke to the camp commander. The commander agreed to some help and then they started giving us food – first some bread and then some hot meals. They felt the end was near. So after that people did not die in the camp."

"So I arrived at the station in Kunčice and then I went home. I had to walk quite far. Then there was our field and I saw our house – and suddenly I heard, ´Hande hoch!´ So I put my hands up and saw that there was a trench in which there were soldiers with machine guns. I showed them that I wanted to go to our house. So one soldier went there and there was old Mařalík. When he saw me, he said, ´Ludvík, Ludvík, you have returned home, haven't you?´ And I said, ´Well, it is Sunday , so I just want to be home for a while.´ When the soldier saw that he was talking to me, he went back and let me go. Then I understood it all – the Germans had their military staff in our house. We had two rooms downstairs and they just took them for themselves. When they saw I was greeting my parents, they let me be. I immediately took this (the secret materials for general Braun) and hid it in the loft where there was some hay. Fortunately, they didn't see through me. Of course, the soldiers came to our house – the patrols stayed there. But the officers were terribly brutal to the soldiers – they kicked them badly."

"Then I went to study at secondary school in Hranice na Moravě where I graduated. There was the headmaster, Mr. Auda. Engineer Auda. When I graduated, just after February 1948, he told me, ´You are going to study at university, aren't you?´ I replied, ´I dare not.´ I did not have enough money and I was not in contact with my father, so I told him, ´I don't dare do it.´ But he said, ´There have been others, why not you?´ So when he said that, I didn't hesitate and sent my application form to a university in Brno."

"First they told me what my alias was. So I told myself – that's the end – now I cannot oppose them. And they interrogated me,´How often did you go to general Braun? Who was that?´ ´Well, he was a friend of mine, so we saw each other.´I never answered directly and then they always whipped me. They had rubber whips and every time they didn't like the answer, they hit me. It was terribly painful. But the worst was this – there were two tables. They tied my hands in front of my knees. They put the handcuffs this way and then they put a bar between the hands and knees. And the bar was between the two tables so you hung between them. And they started beating. The most paiful place was at the back, in the crotch. Even the hanging itself was terribly painful – it was not possible to bear that. They had a bucket of water and they poured some water over me and asked another question. But it was not too long, as I usually lost consciousness – I just fainted. And I came round in the underground cell. Then in the afternoon they took me back to that prison and the next day back again. It was a terrible suffering. My wrists were extremely sore and so it was almost unbearable each time they put on the handcuffs."