Jarmila Vincourková

* 1921

  • "There were a total of ten of us. Every time there was a birthday, we invited the whole group. It so happened that when I opened the windows, it was in Vodní Street and they were selling typewriters and repairing them opposite, so I saw there when there was a party with us, and there someone was crouching in a corner. Who could it be? Is he waiting for someone or is he hiding from something? Then, after many years, our friend, who was not a communist and yet managed to get to America as a foreign official, it was a long time ago, but the communists were no longer ruling here. He had to be checked when he went abroad and said, 'Do you know what they asked? How come you make such meetings with friends that the whole street is awake? And they questioned hard, the man who stood there was sent to stand and wait to see what would happen. And they asked, when you went to a party, no one carried any bottles? - And you don't know that? That it can be hidden in the sleeve. ' So he saved us. "

  • "We came to open the store one morning, it was after seven o'clock. Inventory people and an inspector stood there, saying, 'We're going to take an inventory of you.' So we did an inventory and they left and said, 'Then we'll lock it with a key, because Mrs. Dvorska was fired.' She had a year until retirement, she didn't get a penny until she was 70. "And you go find something."

  • "I remember one thing, and it made me sweat. There was an ice cream queue and there were German soldiers, four or five. First, they took every ten such strudels on a plate. When they ate it, only then they went for candy and ice cream. But there was such a terrible queue for that ice cream, and I squeezed. If I made a thousand crowns, I had to squeeze it a thousand times. Now they queued up for ice cream, I served, one, two, three and now they were talking and talking. The kid, when he told me what he wanted, I didn't understand him. And do you know what I did? I shouted, 'Ruhe!' So I thought, 'My God, you're stupid.' Ruhe means calm and they became silent. They could be reasoned with and weren’t theatening... And I was already pregnant with Michal. "

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    Domov pro seniory Soběsuky u Plumlova, 20.07.2021

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    duration: 01:54:47
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
  • 2

    Domov pro seniory Soběsuky u Plumlova, 18.08.2021

    (audio)
    duration: 30:08
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
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Keep a clear head, don’t get upset and smile at everyone

Jarmila Vincourková, circa 1945
Jarmila Vincourková, circa 1945
photo: Archiv pamětnice

Jarmila Vincourková was born on August 5, 1921 in Kokory near Přerov as the first child of Vilma and Jakub Dvorský. The father returned from World War I and the mother grew up with her siblings as an orphan. Jarmila spent part of her childhood with her parents in Břeclav with her uncle, who had a pastry shop. Within nine months, the family lost two children, brother Josef drowned at the age of seven, and the youngest sister Marie died of a serious illness caused by a tick. In 1930, they rented a confectionery in Prostějov, which soon became famous far and wide. In 1937, she and her mother attended the funeral of President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. She graduated from high school in 1939, and because the universities were closed, she studied English and German at the Institute of Modern Languages for two years in Prague. In 1943 she married Alois Vincourek and in 1944 their son Michal was born. During the war, the confectionery prospered and the whole family worked in it. In 1947, his father, confectioner Jakub Dvorský, died suddenly, and from 1948 the confectionary was managed by North Moravian Mills and Bakeries. In 1958, all the companies had to merge under the state enterprise Pramen and no one in the family could work there anymore. Jarmila Vincourková got a job in a large store and later worked as a dairy canteen manager. After 1989, the family learned that they were under the scrutiny of the StB, but no record was found in the ABS archive. In 1991, she tried to restore the confectionery at least as a store, but after three years it finally closed down. In 2021, Jarmila Vincourková has lived to be 100 years in excellent condition.