I was really no hero
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Eduard Zirnzák was born in 1928 in a small village in Carpathian Ruthenia. His father came from Czechoslovakia and his mother was from Hungary. He remembers the peaceful coexistence of many nationalities who lived in Carpathian Ruthenia before the world wars. The situation grew worse when the region was occupied by Hungary at the beginning of WWII. Eduard joined the Czechoslovak army corps after the liberation of Carpathian Ruthenia in 1944. During the draft he lied about his age, and he thus became a member of the reorganized tank brigade when he was only sixteen years old. He went through arduous training and he experienced dangerous crossing of Poland as the army advanced towards Czechoslovakia. In spring 1945 they reached the Silesia region, where they took part in the liberation of Ostrava. After the end of the war, Eduard received the war cross For Valour and he was allowed to return home. However, he was not content with life in the communist-controlled Carpathian Ruthenia and he thus decided to go back to Czechoslovakia. His uncle in Prague helped him to find a job in the army. After a short period of service in Prague-Ruzyně, where he became a corporal, he was transferred to Žatec, where he served as the deputy to the company commander. The entire Žatec garrison was dissolved after 1948 when preparation for an anti-communist revolt was discovered. Eduard moved to Lázně Kynžvart, where he and his unit worked on the construction of a tank shooting range. In 1950 he had a disagreement with his superior, and the Party committee decided to dismiss him from the army. Eduard married and had three children. As a civilian, he found employment as a driver. At first he worked as a truck driver and then a personal driver in the company Texlen and later in the company Plynostav in Pardubice. Eduard Zirznák passed away on July, the 20th, 2017