I didn’t hate the Germans
Jindřich Novotný was born on June 22, 1940 in Velké Poříčí near Hronov. His father worked in a textile factory in Malé Poříčí and during World War II he was forcibly deployed in the then German Empire. Jindřich recalls the liberation by the Soviet army in 1945 and the fighting at the border in nearby Bělovs near Náchod on May 9, 1945. Before that, he also saw with his own eyes the impoverished prisoners, who were probably led by soldiers from a concentration camp in today’s Polish territory. In 1945, he moved with his parents to Broumov to a house after the displaced Germans, where he entered a boys’ primary school and subsequently at the so-called eleven-grade school. He graduated from a higher pedagogical school in Prague, approving history, civics and geography. He started teaching in Police nad Metují, then moved to Broumov. In 1959 he enlisted in the war in Janovice nad Úhlavou and served on the western border, experiencing increased combat readiness during the Cuban and Berlin crises. He also recalls the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968, when cargo planes with military equipment flew over the Broumov area and Polish soldiers marched towards Náchod. Until his retirement, he taught at the primary school in Broumov, where he still lives. Together with his wife raised three sons. In 1996, he had a heart attack on the street and was saved by a casual passer-by. He is a widower and actively participates in writing the Chronicle of Broumov.