To treasure the family makes the greatest sense; the family means all and it cannot be replaced
Magda Stančíková was born on January 1, 1922 in Nemšová and spent her childhood in Nová Baňa, in family of an attorney. In 1940 she got married to Dr. Vojtech Stančík, who was 9 years older. He was a lawyer coming from a religious Jewish family from Liptovský Mikuláš. Because of worries about their future they resorted to an idea of leaving Slovakia and taking refuge in Budapest. There they were hiding for three years and lived only from what other people secretly gave them. They came back to Slovakia after the war, however, from a large family only three members returned. Since they had no place to stay in Nová Baňa, they temporarily stayed at their friends. In the end they were able to move to Bratislava, where her husband got a good lawyer position at the Board of Commissioners. The changes occurred in 1950s. Magda’s husband, a devoted communist holding a higher position, was during the purges in 1950 accused and sentenced for economic sabotage. He was imprisoned in Bratislava and during the long three years Mrs. Stančíková was unable to visit him. Magda lost her job, was evicted from the flat, and in the meantime, she had to take care of her terminally ill father. After the Stalin’s death, the three-year imprisonment of her husband was finally over and he was later rehabilitated. Despite the fact the he was freed from charges, they were considered as “cadre unpersons”. When he was released from the prison, he was struck by two infarcts as an outgrowth of the war afflictions. The second infarct had fatal consequences and due to weakened health, Magda’s husband in the age of 65 died. For Mrs. Stančíková, the years spent by the side of her husband were the most beautiful of all and probably thanks to such difficult life moments they’d gone through together, they greatly treasured their family life.