Olga Vetešníková

“That’s not worth talking about.” – “Actually, it’s important to say this.” – “Well, there was a flat left after the Jews in our house. You see, a Jewish dentist built the house in 1938, but he fled from the Protectorate in good time and left the house behind, and there were two Jewish apartments in it. They were vacant. One of them was assigned to a Nazi officer, Major Prokš, but he was gone almost all the time; my mum’s friend used to clean the place. The other flat was assigned to the Hammels, a German couple. Their home in Germany had been bombed and their son had been killed. They were elderly people. The gentleman couldn’t walk and the lady did her best. She only walked out to do shopping, she would say hello, but the man never left the apartment. He used to sit by the window and watch us play in the backyard, and we just almost never knew they were there throughout the war. Major Prokš never showed up again. Then, on the 8th of May or so, people next door kicked the old man out of the apartment. They were known to have done some bad things. The guy did a lot of profiteering and he had a cover at the Oberlandrat. I saw them drag the old gentleman out into the street, with the old lady shaking next to him because he could barely walk. He wore a hat, and they slammed it onto his head and another guy kicked his behind. I was only a child, but it hurt me inside – it was really heinous. You know, that was people who were guilty of a lot doing that! That was just one instance I saw.”