Jitka Havránková

* 1935

  • "Throughout the war, my father sold flour for five crowns to the locals in Pečky and around. That was the official price at the time. You don't want to see what it always looked like around Christmas, holidays, church feasts... The store master was really unhappy. He begged the women to be sensible and only come one at a time. Ten or twelve people would turn up a a time even though he tried not to be seen. Fortunately, it didn't blow up during the war."

  • "We didn't get any pocket money. We were not supposed to have anything to do with money. But we always got a hundred for our report cards. We had these metal bags from the savings bank, and my father always ostentatiously led us with these bags across Pečky to the bank in the main square. He didn't realize how much he was irritating the Pečky communists. Not all people, but apparently there was a large communist base here, which mobilized immediately in 1945."

  • "Were there any people who showed you sympathy and wanted to help you?" - "Not many. A lot of people signed it in a hurry to have peace. Not many gave it a second thought. And certainly no one had the courage to really stand up for us. They signed it, but it was up to us to whatever we could. We had to defend ourselves. Maybe it was because we were still small. Maybe they didn't want to explain it to us in detail. I don't know. We certainly weren't ready for it at all. Until then, it was idyllic at home. As long as we obeyed and tried to behave the way our parents wanted us to, we had paradise." - "Why did your parents send you to get those signatures? Why didn't dad or mum go to those people themselves?" - "They weren't allowed out of the house! They were under house arrest! They weren't even allowed to invite a lawyer."

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    Pečky, 29.11.2025

    (audio)
    duration: 02:25:33
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
  • 2

    Pečky, 29.11.2025

    (audio)
    duration: 01:55:59
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
  • 3

    Pečky, 30.11.2025

    (audio)
    duration: 02:33:04
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
  • 4

    Pečky, 13.12.2025

    (audio)
    duration: 01:06:03
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
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She begged the neighbors not remember her. Some let the dogs loose on her

Jitka Havránková, mid-1950s
Jitka Havránková, mid-1950s
photo: Jitka Havránková's archive

Jitka Havránková was born in Pečky near Kolín on 21 July 1935 into the family of František Havránek and Marie Havránková. In 1919, her father bought automated roller mills, some of the most advanced in Czechoslovakia at the time. She spent her early childhood in the idyllic surroundings of the mill, a garden and orchard. During the war, the miller helped people by secretly selling flour even though he risked imprisonment and death. Still, he was accused of collaboration in May 1945 and the mill was in national administration for months. The Havráneks got their property back, but the communists finally nationalized the mill in 1948. Jitka was not allowed to study at first, but eventually completed a chemistry high school. In the early 1960s, she lost her job at a research institute and temporarily worked menial jobs. The family regained their property in the 1990s. In 2025, Jitka Havránková lived in her family home within the former mill site in Pečky.