Marie Slezáková

"In my whole life I didn´t see a partisan till then. I was thrilled to see one. I played a dummy as good as I could. At the end they put me into solitary cell in Hradiste town. I was there for six months. I was coming out for the hearing. The hearings were taken at Kunovska place back then. One of the policemen started. There were about ten of them. I know them all. Visenka, Holub, rotter. They all stood around me in a circle like butchers. When I needed to go to the bathroom, the door had to stay open. I was saying:, You ´re so rotten that you can´t even close the door. Where do you think I can ran to, or what can I possibly do here, if all I have is a hankie in my hand?´They were really nasty. They left me alone for three days and after that they took me out for another hearing. Anyway they knew everything and I kept denying everything. After six months in the solitary cell the prison was crowded with people so they wanted to put me into regular cell. The court trial took its place on July 18th - July 22nd 1951 in Uherske Hradiste town. I was being arogant, rude, I didn´t want to confess. I kept saying I didn´t do nothing. They found me guilty of the anti regime activity. They wouldn´t give us written judgement, they only read the sentence. They gave me what I have already spent in prison. After some three months I got a letter from Prague, saying that my statement was untrue and that a new court trial will be held on January 2nd 1952 in Prague."

"There was a mass at the Christmas. A lady chaser came and said:, Who´s interested get reeady for the confession.´We all wanted to go, but she chose me :, Slezakova, you ought to go confess.´ The confession booth was prepared at the chapel so it realy looked like it´s in the church. I´ve steped inside, I said a prayer and asked the God forgiveness and said that I didn´t do anything and that´s all I can say. And the preacher said:, Well you must have done something, if they put you in prison. What was it?´ I replied:, Nothing. These are my sins and I regret them deeply, please God have mercy with my dirty soul, amen.´ And I ran off. I got in our room and said:, Don´t any of you dare to go there, there is a StB agent in there.´ He didn´t care about my sins. If he would have been a real preacher, even a prioner one, he wouldn´t have told me that. I was the only woman at the confession. Everybody attended the mass afterwards but nobody served the communion anymore. So I don´t know why they did the confessions. All the men with the metal balls around their feet came too. And as they walked around us they made an awful noise we almost got sick from that. Terrible experiences."

"Mr. Antonin Danek arrived to Božice village. When I arrived there, only my brother in law Smetana was at home. The lights went out all of a sudden. Tonda Danek was there at that time already. I told him that Mr. Macek doesn´t know where the partisans are and he replied : ,Marie, I know it all now, but you can´t go back home you have pack your things and go with me abroad.´ In about two hours someone knocked on the window and Smetana was gone. It was only me, my sister and Tonda Danek left in the house. My sister was in bed and didn´t have any idea what was going on there. It was dark and someone knocked on the window. I opened the window and said that my sister (midwife) is not at home, that they have to call for someone else to assist at the labour. It was quiet for a while. They must have free Franta Mana from the prison or he was with them, because he told me:,Marie!´And I said:, Franta, where is Tonda?´And that´s how I made myself convicted right there in front of the StB (former state secret police) agents. Tonda told me to step away from the window. When we both looked outside, we saw about ten military vehicles full of soldiers, mashine guns and the StB agents all over. We didn´t have time to discussed anything. Tonda knew that it was bad so he just ran into the door, pulled the trigger and I only heard ,bang bang.´They called out for somebody to come for help. I didn´t understand so I closed the door and watched what was happening there. Tonda wounded one of the agents, but when he saw there ain´t no escape he shot himself. I don´t know wheather they left him there or they draged him away somewhere. They jumped over the fence at the backyard and were banging on the door and finally they kicked the door out for I didn´t open. I told them I was afraid of the noise. I was nearly 19 at that time. They got into the house. They left my sister alone. Basically they knew everything. He grabed me and smashed me against the wall so hard that I broke my spine. But that I have found out only in 1975."

" Before the hearing Mr. Grebenicek came to me. He took me in the room where the collaborators were staying, but they were at the work so the cell was empty. So he took me there and was talking to me the whole day. And I told him:, You really are clever guy. Do you have a cigaret?´Inside I was trembling. He went for lunch then, so he took me back in our cell. The girls asked me:, Maria, so what happened?´ And I said:, Oh boy, my legs are shaking.´ But I smoked many of his cigaretes. He said:, This really cost me dear.´ I didn´t want to sign the charge even from the procurator. I didn´t sign anything to him either. I thought it was over, but then after lunch the lady chaser came again to get me and I was much more scared by then. If I haven´t said anything until now and he is still not happy with that...I didn´t feel good. He kept repeating , that I must know something. And I held my line, I told him I like him and that he is very smart."