Josef Zdražil

“The war front in the territory of Yugoslavia was passing from… and it was continuously going back and forth and there were various armies that passed through – Germans, Italians, Russians; there were partisans, too. And during this war we were evacuated three times, which means that – if you can imagine that – that you are sitting at home or doing something and they come to tell you that you need to leave your house within fifteen minutes. And you don’t know at all whether you will come back or what would eventually happen. And it happened to us three times, but as I said, I was one year old at that time, so I don’t remember it, I only know it because others have told me about it. We were with partisans in the forest and the problem was that there was no food, and at one time we only had beans to eat for quite a long time, otherwise there was nothing else, and it was really not a kind of food suitable for small children. I had serious health problems because of it, and I returned from death’s door, as you say. My life was at risk.”

“I thus joined the Pioneer organization and I remember it quite precisely, because I didn’t endure in there for too long. We had one meeting, and we went somewhere, we spent some time outside and we were looking at Semily. Our leader was certain Poláček, and as we were sitting there, he remarked: ‘It’s nice here, isn’t it?’ We, children, nodded our heads that it was indeed nice there. Of course we liked the place. And suddenly he told me: ‘But you have come from that bloody dog Tito.’ Tito was the head of the former Yugoslavia. I said: ‘Well, I was born in Yugoslavia, that’s true.’ And he said: ‘Since you come from that bloody dog Tito, you cannot wear the Pioneer scarf, I will take it away from you.’ And he grabbed my scarf, and I returned home crying.”