Jiří Sommer

“I told them: ‘Guys, I’ll go and have a look at what’s going on there’. So I walked up and saw a couple of armed MPs standing there. I had a rifle and I held the gun barrel and dragged it on the floor. There were two of us – me and a friend. We walked slowly up to them, they noticed us but apparently they didn’t feel threatened by us. We stood there for a while and suddenly there was an airplane landing on the runway. It was a military Dakota but this one was very nicely decorated. The plane rolled along the runway and stopped short in front of us. All the MPs went to the airplane to open the door. Two officers stepped out of the plane. The first one was wearing a military cap. We had seen that man before because his picture was in all the newspapers long before the end of the war. It was General Eisenhower. The Americans called him Ike. He was the Commander in Chief of the Allied armies in the West. I thought this couldn’t be true – was it really him? But it had to be him – I clearly recognized him. The second man was apparently some aide of his, a liaison officer or something of the sort. He was carrying a suitcase with all the documents. They came up to the group of the MPs and talked a bit with them. Then, a huge green car covered with emblems arrived at the airport and they got inside and left. I asked one of the soldiers - General Eisenhower? ’Yes, it’s General Ike’. We knew that he was called this way. All the Americans stayed there so we looked after the planes. But we were watching out for things to happen. It took about two hours for the car to come back. They stepped outside, the car left and they went to the soldiers and chatted with them, just as if they were ordinary people. In the same way as we’re talking right now. But now, it’s me who’s talking most of the time. Back then, it was different, it was a conversation amongst a bunch of people, sort of a circle. Me and my friend stood there quite innocently, nobody had noticed us. It could have lasted twenty minutes. Then, the aide looked at his watch and said something to Eisenhower. He took a look at his watch as well and nodded. And you could tell that they were about to say goodbye and leave. Before they departed to the airplane, Eisenhower went around the circle and shook everybody’s hand. It could have been some 10 - 15 soldiers plus some two or three MPs and he shook the hands of all of them, including us. He shook my hand as well.”