Božena Valterová

* 1938

  • “When they came by car, did the house search and upset everything, wardrobes and all, we said it was like you were not a human anymore. It was a disaster. I said, ‘Mum, write it all on the window pane so people can see what we are.’ But the people knew. My mum would make pastry for every wedding and feast. What a pastry maker she was! She had been to the housekeeping school in Rožnov. When there were dances they made everything in our place because we had a large kitchen and lobby, with enough space to store it. She had crates and everything she could provide to people. She said, ‘Who have I wronged now that I have to suffer so much?’ It took a toll on her; she died aged just fifty three.”

  • “I used to play amateur theatre, the piece was called ‘Muziky, muziky’, and it was such a merry comic opera. I played the character Tekla and sang this aria: ‘My poor father was wronged.’ Literally. That was in the screenplay. And I just couldn’t sing it because it always made me cry. Mr Šafránek was the school headmaster at the time, he organised the troupe, and he told me: ‘Boži, don’t think about it. Just close your eyes and sing!’ So then I learned it and sang it. When we played the Slovan venue, mum said, ‘I don’t want to hear it, I’m not coming.’ I said, ‘Mum, come and see it.’ I approached her sisters and asked them to go with her, at least one of them. Mum said: ‘Nobody is coming! Our dads are in prison. We’d be there like widows!’ I sang the aria – and what an applause! Mr Šafránek said, ‘Boži, you definitely have to sing it once more.’ I said, ‘I won’t sing it anymore...’ And I didn’t.”

  • “They drove them all to the Municipal House in Přerov on a big truck. The truck drove into the yard. We, their family members, were allowed in. The truck reversed in and they led them in one by one. We cried, called dad, and my brother, about ten years old, ran to the father. The warden kicked him off. My mum complained about it because everybody saw it. The hearing was in the morning, then there was a break, and the verdict was made in the afternoon: they are antisocial political elements, they were in collusion, and they exited the cooperative intending to damage and disrupt it. That’s what they were on trial for.”

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    Přerov, 19.09.2018

    (audio)
    duration: 02:34:50
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
Full recordings are available only for logged users.

I thought, maybe my dad will be released earlier if I join the SSM

Božena Valtrová
Božena Valtrová
photo: archiv pamětnice

Božena Valterová, née Jemelková, was born in Kozlovice in the Přerov District on 12 February 1938. She grew up with a younger sister and a brother in house no. 1, one of the biggest farms in the village. During the farming collectivisation in April 1955, her father Alois Jemelka with six other farmers in Kozlovice (as well as his father-in-law Josef Nevtípil) were arrested and sentenced to thirteen years, foreclosure of property and loss of civil rights, and prohibited to live in the community for ten years. Božena Valterová was sacked from the Přerov Grammar School right after her father’s arrest. The family lived on the verge of poverty for years. The witness married Jan Valter in 1959. They lived with his parents in Šumava for a brief period, but settled in Moravia due to difficulties finding a job. They had problems finding a steady job for years, until her husband got the position as a janitor at Přerov’s farming high school in late 1960s and Božena Valterová became the cook at the local canteen. They raised two children together.