Věra Zárubová

“The times in 1944, before and after, were cruel for those who had no support out in the country and suffered from a lack of food. We had contacts in the country, and so my parents used to go get flour, mainly. Mum would visit her brother in Moravský Krumlov. But that was already part of the Sudetes back then, and so instead of Moravský Krumlov we’d go to Ivančice and then make the nigh three-hour walk to Dobřínsko. My parents carried really heavy backpacks those three hours, and then we walked back to Ivančice. They often had inspections in the train and at the train station, but we always managed to get the supplies through without arrest or pursuit. My parents didn’t just procure food for our family, it was for friends and relations as well.”

“There was Františka Kreuzmannová and Elna Ganzová in my class, and when the border region was annexed, that is, when the Jews came under attack and were persecuted, suddenly one day they just didn’t come to school and no one told us why. In short, it was as if they had never been part of our class. That was the [school] year of 1938-1939. When we chanced upon our classmates in the street, Františka spoke to me only one single time ever - she said: ‘You’re not allowed to associate with me at all, you don’t know me, and we won’t greet each other, we don’t know each other.’ From then on, if we happened to meet, they would cross over to the other side of the street and circumvent us. We met them several more times, but we never spoke another word together any more; they wore the yellow star.”