Jaroslava Kravčenková roz. Pernicová

“I just want to say one thing, I was on my maternity leave with Igor and I want to say that I have not done anything at all. Nothing, nothing at all. How could I be guilty of something? But the students at our pedagogical faculty organized a memorial service for Jan Palach and that’s how it all started. That’ how it all started. I stopped thinking that those were people who did it.” – “And you were then not allowed to work in education and you were searching for a job and how did it turn out?” – “My first job was in a bakery in Jugoslávská Street. I came there and I said that I was without a job, after a funeral, and that I did not have any money and I had three sons.” – “Tell me about your husband, what happened to him?” – “He shot himself. What happened... we were the same age […], and he was a wonderful man. And he was on duty [he was a policeman] in Příbor. He was motioning to a car in front of him to stop, because the car’s rear lights were not functioning. And the driver was backing up very slowly and Robert was approaching the car and another car hit him. The car crash was so horrible that it ended in suicide.” – “And you were working in the bakery at that time?” – “I came there and the manager asked me who I was and I said that I was a teacher: ‘What? And you want to work in a bakery?’ I said that I didn’t care where I would work, but that my sons needed to live. Fine, come today at two o’clock at night then, you will work in the delivery place. And it was so nice with those people, they were so kind. I came to the oven and a gentleman explained to me how to make bread rolls. And another man came there and asked me: ‘Mrs. teacher, would you be so kind and tell me what the name of the last Jewish princess was?’ I said: ‘Certainly, her name was Bereniké.’ And he exclaimed: ‘She is really a teacher!’”

“I was scared of math, math was simply terrifying for me. And this is what happened: it was very hot, forty degrees Centigrade in shade, and I took my textbooks and I went to the church of St. Catherine, because I knew that nobody would bother me there. I opened the books and suddenly I heard: ‘Well, I have never seen prayer books like this here.’ I turned around and a Catholic priest was standing there. I said: ‘It’s great that you are here, please tell me, do you understand this?’ And he said: ‘I do, you know. Come with me to the sacristy.’ And just imagine, I have passed the exams with what he explained to me. It was a curious thing. He explained it to me in such a way that I excelled. I finished the exam and I said: ‘Principal, please, do not think that I am so smart. A Catholic priest has just explained it to me. Please don’t think that I tried to cheat, I wouldn’t be even able to think of something like that.’ And he asked: ‘Why did you tell us this?’ Well, that’s how I am.”