Sylva Bernardová

* 1941

  • “I remember the first free election very well because I, unfortunately, became the chairperson of the electoral commission. Nowadays, we are also on the commission, but I prefer to be just a member. I know that it took place in a fire station, and we were afraid that something could go wrong so we stayed there until the following day. I know that it was quite hectic and exciting because when the polls closed, the Bartončík case broke out. And it made me angry. I said to myself that it was a nasty thing to do. I can still remember its protagonists.”

  • “My dad was listening to a radio and a person who was stammering, stuttering, and taking breaks was speaking on it. Our dad, who was used to coherent speech, called the radio and as it was polite, he introduced himself with his whole name. And he told the editor to get that drunk off the microphone because one could not listen to it. Mr. editor told him to calm down and that it was Prime Minister Klement Gottwald speaking. We then discussed what would happen. In the beginning, dad was not scared but then we were afraid that the editor would denounce him, and someone would come but nothing happened. The editor was probably a very decent person. Because they would have found everyone by their name.”

  • “I was playing with a typical wooden toy kitchen of that time. It had a table, a washing table, small chairs… I can still see it. The sirens suddenly sounded, my mum took me and told me we had to go to the boiler room. And I screamed that I wanted to clean the little furniture because the door stayed open. Mum said no, took me into her arms and we ran to the boiler room. There were more people there and a pile of coal. You could hear horrible bangs and the metal door was shaking and rattling in a way that terrified me. I know for sure that I was crying, and that people comforted me, and they laid down an old coat on the coal and they let me fall asleep there. I might have slept through it, but I do not know anymore.”

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    Jihlava, 09.04.2022

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The metal door was shaking during the bombing. It terrified me

Sylva Bernardová in 2022
Sylva Bernardová in 2022
photo: Post Bellum

Sylva Bernardová was born on 27 February 1941 in Brno where she lived with her parents and siblings until she was eight years old. In Brno, she witnessed the bombing of Královopolská engineering works which she still vividly remembers. After 1948, the family moved to Jihlava to a house where Sylva and her husband still live. When she graduated from an eleven-year school, she started to attend an evening school and she worked as an administrative worker, among others at the Czech Radio, where she also lived through the August occupation. She signed the petition of Augustin Navrátil during normalization. She welcomed 1989 with enthusiasm, but disappointment came after the Bartončík case. In 2022, the witness devoted herself to her family and was also active in the Hnutí Pro život (Pro-Life movement). She lived in Jihlava.