Václav Houška

„Fear was not present at all. We all somehow got used to it. Except the first day when we were to attack…“

„We needed some connection. So I was sent down that hollow to check out if anyone was there. There were three Germans there, dead already. So I took one’s watch and backpack and went back.“

„I was proposed for a promotion in the forest. When I then got to the hospital I used this new rank when asked. And the guys told me that I should not have done that, that like this I would get a unit of my own. So I would register as a private again.“

„There were Germans here. They opened fire on the village, smoke and darkness everywhere. And when you would pop out, a sniper would shoot you straight away.“

„I saw how they carried them on a dog-cart. There was a company of Germans with submachine guns on both sides. And those hostages who were yet healthy would push and pull. And the cart was full of dead!“

„We were marching during the night and in the morning when we walked singing, the Krauts would open artillery fire.“

„So I ran up there and they shouted ‚Halt, halt!‘ – and opened fire so that the earth was shaking. I got one here.“

„The Germans also killed lots of them indeed, those Banders. Because the Banders were assaulting them, mostly at night. And they did not have anything apart from their rifles. They had no army, it was just a gang.“