I knew no one would give me anything for free. I couldn’t count on anyone to help me...
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In 1944, the family joined the resistance and supported the partisan groups Jermak and Jan Kozina, as well as members of the paratrooper unit Dr. Mir. Tyrš. On February 8, 1945, the witness’s father was arrested. The next day, his wife and their ten-year-old son Miloš were also taken in for interrogation. The older brother, Jaroslav, went into hiding with relatives until the end of the war. The father and Miloš were likely executed without trial in the courtyard of Kounice’s dormitories. It is possible that the same fate befell the witness’s mother. After the war, Blanka Zmeková was cared for by her uncle Josef Prudil, and later by other relatives. Jaroslav remained with the family of their second uncle, František. In 1946, the Prudil family was awarded the Czechoslovak War Cross 1939. In 1958, the witness married Kurt Zmek, whom she met while working at Tylex Letovice. She spent her entire career there as a factory worker. Together, they raised a son, Miloš, and a daughter, Blanka. In 2023, at the time of the interview, the witness was living in Brno.
