"As far as the village was concerned, in the very beginning of September many Jews came from the surroundings of Bánovce, Topoľčiany and the whole area to our village, where they were looking for shelter to have some place to take refuge, some hot tea and so on. So in this way, these Jewish citizens took refuge in every house in the village to live there. Well, everyone got an order that they had to secure their own bunker as soon as possible if the Germans came, to be able hide somewhere. This also happened about 1.5 kilometers from our village. It was called "Pod lazom", where there were 10-15 bunkers, I don't know exactly, but something like that. They were well disguised. In the evening, these Jews warmed a little water or drank warm tea. They went for water about 100-120 meters, which flowed from the hill Rokoš to our village to Uhrovské Podhradie. "
0:09:05 - 0:11:14 Jewish families came to Uhrovské Podhradie, later they went to the mountains to bunkers
"When the Jews were with us, they slept in the closet above the barn, so in the meantime the partisans brought 20 bags of flour there. They folded it there, but they turned the bags so that it was not visible that "partisan" was written on them. They turned the "partisan" side so that it was not visible when they entered the closet. The inscription was not visible, only the bags were visible. The raid came when the Germans were doing the raid when the partisans were pushed. For God's sake, and suddenly they discovered it where partisan was written. But immediately and order was given that the whole yard - called the "Turk's yard" - would be burned down. There were 5 families in this yard. But when we found out, there was my mother - at that time they were captured and transported to Bánovce nad Bebravou for interrogation and so on. All the men were in Bánovce. There was no one at the time this happened, there was not a single man. Everyone was in Bánovce. "
0:29:54 - 0:31:38 The Germans discovered bags of flour with the inscription PARTISAN
It was not until the Germans pushed the partisans into the mountains that they occupied our village and raided our mountains. When they found out about them. Well, of course, all those who were still alive by then. Many of them died already, whether out of fear or uncomfortable life, or from the winter. And so it happened that these Jews were then captured, brought to the village, about 600 meters from the village up to Rokoš. They concentrated them there. They had to dig such a groove about 130-150 centimeters in depth. They had to stand on the dug-out soil. And whether it was a German or a guard, he cut everyone from behind, I mean he shot them with a machine gun. That's when I was - there were such pretty girls, my grade. I even cried there then, I remember that to this day. "
00:11:31 - 0:13:07 - A memory of the execution of Jewish families
Viliam Turek was born on March 25, 1936 in Uhrovské Podhradí to Štefan and Mária Turek. He has a sister, Margita, who is two years younger. His father worked in the woods, his mother was a housewife taking care of a small farm. He attended school in Uhrovské Podhradie, where they had to greet each other: “On guard!” At the end of the summer of 1944, foreign people began to appear in the village, whom the locals hid in their houses. The Turek family housed a Jewish family, a total of about 120 Jews hid in the village. At the same time, partisans also appeared in the village. The Jews lived in a closet above the barn, the partisans in houses or in stables. In the vicinity of Uhrovec and Bánovce nad Bebravou, a strong partisan movement began to form, II. Jan Žižka’s partisan brigade, which had up to 1,600 members. A large field kitchen was set up in the adjoining courtyard, and the school served as a field hospital for wounded partisans and resistance fighters. In October and November, Uhrovské Podhradie experienced several raids. A car of Jozef Tiso was parked in their yard, which was stolen from him by partisans. Viliam witnessed the shooting of a local partisan. He also remembers the mass execution of Jewish families who previously hid also in their home. After the suppression of the SNP, the village and its surroundings were being attacked by German troops, several villages were burned, 1,000 people were taken for interrogation, to concentration camps, and some ended up in mass graves. During one raid, the Nazis discovered sacks of flour with the inscription “partisan” in a chamber near the Turkovci and wanted to burn the whole yard. Uhrovské Podhradie was liberated on April 1, 1945 by the Romanian army. Viliam graduated after the war and left the house for basic military service in Karlovy Vary. Later he worked in road transport for three brothers Bežo, who were taken to the mines in Jáchymov. He returned to Slovakia and worked at Nitratex as a manager. He got married, had one daughter and a grandson with his wife. Viliam Turek died on March 8, 2023.
