Cecilie Kornerová

* 1933

Witnesses of local events connected to WWII, Svědci lokálních událostí z éry komunismu
29. 9. 1938 - The Munich Diktat, The liberation of the city of Ostrava, 25. 2. 1948 - Communist coup d‘état in ČSR
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    When I saw my dad beaten up, I started screaming

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    duration: 01:37
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    "The builder Hluchník had a garage and there was a shed next to it. That's where they [the Guards] locked up the Germans. That's where they beat them. Among others, they beat my father there. Then they sent him to fill in the trenches because after the war, there were trenches and holes everywhere. Horrible. Then, one day, they let my father go. We have just finished lunch. Mom gave us lunch, we ate, and the police men brought Dad from the forest where he had to work. But first, they beat them up. Dad came in, sat down, and my sister, the landlady, said, 'Look what they did to Dad!' He was all blue, his back was beaten up. And then they took him away again. Before that, I told him, 'Dad, we've already eaten. I'll bring you some food.' He said he mustn't eat. I started crying and screaming. And that's how it was after the war."

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    At the end of the war, ugly times began in the Hlučín region

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    "By the end of the war, they were tormenting people here. It was a disaster. Such an ugly time! I remember it, I remember it well, and I don't like to talk about it because it still hurts and affects me today. I had a friend the same age as me - her name was Hluchníková. She had a sister two years younger than me. He [her father] Hluchník built houses, and they tormented and tortured him, and for so long... Do you know the Hanke camp? That's where they put him, and that's where they killed him. It was horrible. They were Germans, but from Hlučín, people like us. They didn't do anything to anyone, they weren't killing anyone. But the Czechs tormented them, and they died there. One had to kill the other. I know it all."

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    We spoke both Czech and German in Ludgeřovice

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    duration: 01:36
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    "When we were annexed, my dad joined the Germans, and my mom, of course, went with him. So we were more German than Czech, but we never argued. Czech or German, we were all the same. We lived together, and it was fine, it was peaceful. Nobody can say that we were angry with each other. At first, we were Czechs, then Hitler came, and we were, of course, all Germans. And you couldn't choose. Before, we were Czechs, and now we were Germans. But it was good for us little ones because we knew Czech and German - and not only us but everybody in our neighbourhood. We were like one family. It was good. But under the Czechs, we were not allowed to speak German, and under the Germans, we were not allowed to speak Czech. But we were at peace. We spoke both Czech and German at home."

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    Ostrava-Heřmanice, 08.03.2023

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    duration: 01:02:45
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    Ostrava-Heřmanice, 15.03.2023

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    duration: 49:29
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After the liberation, unpleasant times began for us Germans from the Hlučín region

Cecilie Kornerová / 2023
Cecilie Kornerová / 2023
photo: Memory of Nations
photo: Memory of Nations
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Cecilie Kornerová née Wiatzková was born on 10 August 1933 in Ludgeřovice, Hlučín region. She was one of six children. Her parents had a small farm. Her father was partially disabled due to a severe accident in a mine. After the annexation of Hlučín to Germany in 1938, she became a Reich-German citizen. Her father changed his surname to Wittmar, which the whole family adopted. Her older brother and other relatives had to enlist in the German army. Her father served in the gendarmerie during the German occupation. After the liberation by the Red Army in April 1945, her father was detained by members of the Revolutionary Guard and repeatedly beaten. She knew the family of the builder Albert Hluchník, who was one of more than 200 victims of the violent guards of the Hanke internment camp in Ostrava. After marrying Emil Korner, she moved to Petřkovice. She learned to sew from her older sisters and became a sought-after seamstress. Although the communists banned even small trades after 1948, she managed to get permission to sew at home. In 2023, she lived in a charity home for the elderly in Ostrava-Heřmanice.

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  • Cecilie Kornerová / 2023
    Cecilie Kornerová / 2023
    photo: Memory of Nations
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  • Cecilie Kornerová / 2023
    Cecilie Kornerová / 2023
    photo: Memory of Nations
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