Jana Fiedlerová

* 1940

  • “They were both arrested. Dad had a flu and although he was ill, he was transported to Náchod to the detention prison, and uncle Karel was arrested straight in his workplace. Then there were five court trials, at first in Náchod, and they were sentenced. Uncle got six years, and dad seven years and each of them was sentenced to paying a penalty of ten thousand crowns, and to the loss of some things – paintings, stamps, books.”

  • “[As for] the penalties of ten thousand crowns, perhaps I could say that I have remained alone with my mom. Uncle Karel had two daughters. And at the time, when retirement allowances were two hundred or one hundred and eighty crowns, ten thousand crowns was an insanely huge amount of money. But since they were told that if they paid those ten thousand crows, they would be released, then obviously the whole large family and all relatives were helping us and we were eventually able to pay the ten thousand crowns. And to pay it for Karel as well. Sisters, grandmas and grandpas, and everybody was giving the money. But it did not help anyway and they did not release them, so it was all for nothing.”

  • “[Father talked about it:] In Valdice I stayed in the former Carthusian library and there were seventy of us in two– or three-tiered bunk beds. I got the bed on the bottom, close to washrooms and toilets, but it was the worst bed as for cold temperature. There was a window right by the bed which was kept open all the time for ventilation of this large space, which didn’t help anyway. During the cold autumn in 1958 it was so cold at nights that I thought that I would not be able to endure it for one winter, let alone six. Unlike the others, I had one extra blanket, and sometimes I slept in a winter coat, which had been left behind by the German army after their combat with the USSR, and I had a hat on my head, and still I was not able to get warm and my teeth were chattering due to the cold.”

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    Broumov, 24.01.2018

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    duration: 01:04:45
    media recorded in project The Stories of Our Neigbours
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I got up to help my father. But the warden threatened me that he would cancel the visit

Jana  Fiedlerová
Jana Fiedlerová
photo: Pamět národa - Archiv

Jana Fiedlerová was born on August 21, 1940 in Červený Kostelec. Based on his experiences from abroad, her grandfather established a family business Václav Gaberle - textile studio. Jana’s father Jaroslav and uncle Karel later began working there as well. When private businesses were being nationalized after the communist coup d’état in 1948, the studio was taken over by the company Textilní Tvorba Praha. Jana’s father and uncle were arrested in 1958 and sentenced to six years of imprisonment. Uncle Karel died in 1988, while Jana’s father lived to see the rehabilitation and return of all his property.