Radomír Vlk

* 1925

  • “Well, we laid the cable at night. We either tied it to trees or laid it on the ground and they raised it. Whenever a bomb or something hit it, it all tore and it was a tough job to mend it, especially at night. Then we were in trouble and the non-com was always to blame.”

  • “There were even bigger farmers and they all, or not all of them… they were on a list to be sent somewhere, like Stalin used to do it.“ — “And where were they to be taken?” — “Well, in Siberia, into a labour camp, somewhere to destroy them.” — “How did you learn that you dad, or your family, was to be deported?” — “No, we had just eight hectares.” — “So the bigger ones were those who had over ten?” — “Or when they had a tin roof.”

  • “They persuaded us for many years and increased the taxes [from agricultural production]. They refused to grant the authorisation for pig slaughter unless the taxes were paid and only then you were granted the authorisation and had to give in five kilos of fat from every pig. They forced people to give everything they produced.”

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    Úštěk, 13.06.2018

    (audio)
    duration: 01:54:59
    media recorded in project Stories of the 20th Century TV
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Freedom is the most precious thing

Vlk Radomír - dobovy portret.JPG (historic)
Radomír Vlk
photo: archiv pamětníka, Vlk Radomír ED 2018

Radomír Vlk was born on October 30, 1925, to Vladislav and Anna, née Albrechtová. He had two older brothers and six siblings in total. Originally a Czech family, they lived and farmed in Boratin, Volhynia. Russian and German occupations brought everyday fears of assaults and thefts. He liked to work in agriculture. Since early childhood he had an aversion to all things military. Nevertheless he joined the Czechoslovak Army, joined by his brothers Rostislav and Vladislav. After his training in Lucek, he went into service as a radio operator. He was injured during the fights at the Dukla pass and on recovery served as a guard and field vehicle technician. He demobbed on January 7, 1946, in Žatec. Together with Rostislav he was placed as a farmer in Chotiněves. Later, he was joined by his parents while Rostislav was given another farm in the village. They ran their farms until 1958 when high taxes and the pressure of communist authorities forced them to enter the farming cooperative. Radomír Vlk worked as a coachman and driver. The family welcomed the fall of the regime in 1989 as a return to free life, which is what they left Volhynia for.