Hana Hejlová

"He cleaned himself up, ate, sat back on his bike, and his neighbor said to him, 'Mr. Kadlec, you are like a groom! ´Well, Mrs. Richter, we are going to vote for a new committee at the meeting, the war is over, we are looking forward to it.' He was full of euphoria. He rushed off to the restaurant — it was called Nové Klapy, beyond the tracks in Lovosice near the signal box. There, he and his father signed their names along with about 25 other participants of the meeting — Josef Kadlec, the father, and František Kadlec, my father. The meeting began, opened by Mr. Kaftan, a builder, who was to be elected the new post-revolution chairman of the national committee. Suddenly, Mr. Veselý burst into the room and shouted: 'Russian tanks are coming by the church! Come on, men, let's go welcome them!' So the men grabbed a Czech flag. The group — more than 20 participants of the meeting — headed out; some crossed the railway tracks, others stayed behind. By the church, the tanks were arriving. At the same time, on the tracks heading toward Most, an armored German train packed with heavily armed German soldiers was moving. The Germans saw the tanks near the church, themselves on the tracks, and a group of Czechs holding a flag. Some of the Czechs hid on the left side near the church, where there was a signal box — some took cover inside it. A shootout broke out, and eight Czechs were killed on the spot."

"My father's name was František Kadlec, he was born in Prague. My mother's name was Jana Stareyová, spelled with a ypsilon - Stareyová - she was born in Radostice near Lovosice. They both worked at the Lauschmann company in Lovosice near the church. Today it is called Kovoma. The shop still exists. The owner was Mr. Lauschmann, and because my dad had a mother from Tyrol, Katharine Zeinerl, and a Czech father, he knew both Czech and German. My mother was similarly situated, she had a German dad and a Czech mom from Průhonice. Dad was born in Malé Žernoseky, where their mother had a mill. She was the widow of her husband who was killed in the First World War. Mr. Lauschmann respected them as workers, because mom was a Czech-German correspondent and dad was a businessman and spoke both languages."