"And he told me directly, 'I don't like Hitler.' So he just said it in my ear. But he was in the army and he was... I know his wife was Austrian and he was a Reich German, but he was a major in the police and he had to behave accordingly. When we walked around town with him, they always greeted him, 'Heil Hitler.' Yes, he raised his hand, but he never said anything, I never heard him say, 'Heil Hitler.' He raised his hand, he greeted them. That was towards the end of the war. How he behaved before that, I don't know. Then they moved away before the front came. That's what I found out. I wasn't with them anymore."
"The death march, I was still single and we lived in Kateřinky on Vrchní Street. And a little before that I saw them coming out of the concentration camp. I saw the Germans leading them to execution. That was terrible. I was just a child, I was young. I'll never forget that. I just had bread, and I was eating it, and now I'm telling you... As they were walking, they were begging like that, and we were standing like spectators on the pavements, and the soldiers were following them. And as he was begging, I threw him my slice of bread. Suddenly the soldiers rushed up, asking who threw it. And they hid me. There was a shop on the corner of the street, and it had a yard, so they pushed me into the yard, they covered my mouth, so I wouldn't scream, so the soldiers wouldn't know. And people said they didn't know anything, that they didn't throw anything, because otherwise they might have killed me too. Then they shot the prisoner right there. I won't forget that."
"I lived through the front in Hlubočec, we were right in the cellar, the Russians occupied us afterwards. But I have to say that the Russians were there... They came, they hid me, because I was already 14 years old. And one Russian came there and he pulled one lady out and I don't know what, I was hidden. But then the other one came, he was an officer, and people complained to him that he was harassing them, like the ladies. And the officer really took hiom out and shot him. His own soldier. He wasn't Russian, he was Georgian. For not behaving as he should. The Russian really made sure it was all right, I remember that. And then he saw, he thought they were hiding Germans, and they pulled me out. So he said, 'No, come on.' And on the contrary, he gave me a piece of chocolate. That's how the soldier behaved towards me. And then, when the front passed, we went back to Opava."
Květoslava Čechová was born on 1 December 1929 in Slavkov to Františka and Richard Onderka. After her parents divorced, she grew up in Opava in the large family of her mother and stepfather Bohuslav Koukol. She had to prolong her schooling due to illness, and at the age of 14 she dropped out because of the war. She started working as a maid for the German Puschner family and later was commended to the family of the German police commander Mauler, who once confided in her that he disagreed with Hitler. In 1945 she survived the crossing of the front with her mother and younger brother in Hlubočec, hidden from the Soviets in a cellar under sacks. After the war, she worked in Galena and Juta, then married Jaromír Čech and returned to her native Slavkov. She devoted herself to raising children and from 1963 worked as a school caretaker in the local primary school. At the time of recording in 2025, she was living in Slavkov.
Living in lodgings at the Jewish man Jůza in Kateřinky. Květoslava Čechová on the left, Bohumil Koukol on the top and her mother Františka Koukolová on the right, 1939
Living in lodgings at the Jewish man Jůza in Kateřinky. Květoslava Čechová on the left, Bohumil Koukol on the top and her mother Františka Koukolová on the right, 1939
Kolářská Street in Opava after 1945. On the left grandfather Vaněček from Hlubočec, on the right aunt with children, in the middle in dark dress Květoslava Čechová
Kolářská Street in Opava after 1945. On the left grandfather Vaněček from Hlubočec, on the right aunt with children, in the middle in dark dress Květoslava Čechová
At a celebration (probably a wedding judging by the flower) in the cultural house in Slavkov. On the left the deputy headmaster of the school, teacher Galgonek, next to him Květoslava Čechová, probably 1970s
At a celebration (probably a wedding judging by the flower) in the cultural house in Slavkov. On the left the deputy headmaster of the school, teacher Galgonek, next to him Květoslava Čechová, probably 1970s
In front of the entrance to the school building in Slavkov. From left with a bouquet Ludmila Dittrichová, Marie Čechová, x, Mrs. Tesařová, Helena Klementová (maiden name Kleinová),1973
In front of the entrance to the school building in Slavkov. From left with a bouquet Ludmila Dittrichová, Marie Čechová, x, Mrs. Tesařová, Helena Klementová (maiden name Kleinová),1973
