Agáta Kolínková

“It was a regional town and once a week on Wednesday a local teacher, a priest, a doctor, someone from the court of justice, all the big cheeses, well the more important people in the regional town. And politics was spoken of there. And because it was already at the time of Henlein and Hitler followers, and there was a spy, who heard everything, so he denounced them. So Henlein´s people arrested him, as he talked against them. Then he returned back to Horšovský Týn. Well he did. And there were Hitler´s people. And then… I can say it. In May it was all good and in October the communists came and took him again. Off he went to Domažlice for three weeks and they were stealing our pictures, cutlery, whatever they fancied. Then they let him go and he had an anti-fascist card. They only gave him back the X-ray, as they took everything from his office, but he demanded the X-ray back, and so he got it, but his dentist´s chair was thrown out the window and lied in the courtyard for two years.”

“The farmer was a village major too. And a big Nazi fan. And that was why he got the labour forces all that simply. And finally hanged himself in 1945… I took care of 13 cows, to milk them, clean, give them food and fresh clover in the morning. We used to get up 10 minutes to 4 A.M., at six we went to the field. In the evening we came home and had to muck out the cattle, hens, pigs, cows and all. At half past nine we went back to sleep. Each and every day, for three years running. Only once a week I could go home and have a bath. But I was very young back then and didn’t even mind it.”