Olga Vaňková

"Wherever I went to see him, they were so polite to me, and to him too. He enlisted in Dubnica nad Váhom in 52, and I went there to see him. I went to see him for Christmas, on Christmas Eve at 11:30 pm and I stayed there until the New Year's Day. I stayed in this dormitory for civilian workers. Jirka had arranged it with them and all the workers had gone home for the holidays, so the dorm was empty. The housekeeper or whoever the lady and her husband were put me up for the week. They would bring me buns and stuff for breakfast, and they were wonderful."

"On 21 August, I got up and turned on the radio, and I heard what they were saying. I was going to Sedlčany on business that day, so I got up pretty early, about six o'clock. I quickly opened the balcony door to get some fresh air before I went. We lived upstairs. I heard the news on the radio. This relative of ours was walking by. I'm not telling you her name, it's not important and nobody in that family is alive anymore. She was a huge communist comrade. She was my husband's relative. I called out to her, 'Auntie, did you hear it? Do you know what happened?' She said, 'I know, and it was the right thing to do! What do you think would happen here otherwise?' I got upset... and I said, 'You silly bitch.'"