Helena Obertášová

* 1929

  • "People were looking forward to the robot, no one knew what it would bring. A stop was also made there. We had a stop, we didn't go to Žiar for the train after that, but there was a stop under the village and we went there. I went, but not only me, also ten girls to Preglejka in Žarnovica, we already went to our stop, we didn't have to go to Žiar for the train. It was terrifying to see what it contained. People have already started to think that it is not good. We had one cherry that bloomed, but we didn't even know what cherries were. It fell and that's it. Imagine that we brought her here like a regular tree. My husband asked a neighbor to take it to us on the wagon with the roots, with everything, and we planted it here. Imagine that there were cherries on it even that year. Beautiful cherries. There we got a table and sat under the cherry tree. Under Opatovská, here in front of the house."

  • "The children were sick, they were crooked, bent, their spines were sick. And the cows. How many times did they have to go on the wagon and bring the cow home, it didn't come out of the pasture anymore. After that, it was forbidden to behave. What was left was bought to Kremnica for the slaughterhouse. People then noticed that it was impossible to live there. In the yard, the man brought in dirt, I planted cucumbers there. We were wondering what it would do. Imagine that those cucumbers have borne fruit. There were those who collected what was born in the village. They looked into the yard and asked me what I was wearing there. I say - cucumbers. And do you have cucumbers on them? We have. And wouldn't you sell us two cucumbers? And why should I sell to you? Come on, I'll give you some cucumbers. That they need it for research. So we gave them two cucumbers and I don't know what they did with it."

  • "My mother used to bake mrváň for weddings, it was such a round cake, it was like a bun. But it looked beautiful. There was a gentleman here the other day, so he asked about this. So I told him - you know what, I'll bake the cake and call you to see how it looks. It's like a bun, but that's such a weird knitting. There is a hole in the container and it was used for weddings, where the bottle was used. And when they left the church, the cake was broken and scattered by those who came to see. He had a glass, he always poured a glass of wine from that bottle. Then we went to the cultural center and danced there until midnight. Then they went to the young son-in-law and the wedding ended."

  • Full recordings
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    Žiar nad Hronom, 18.03.2022

    (audio)
    duration: 55:51
    media recorded in project Stories of the 20th century
  • 2

    Žiar nad Hronom, 06.04.2022

    (audio)
    duration: 26:44
    media recorded in project Stories of the 20th century
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They cooked goulash, cried, sang, laughed. Then they locked the pub and it was over

Helena Obertášová, nee Šoucová, was born on September 17, 1929 in Horné Opatovce. She was a native of the village, which was erased from the map in 1969 and its cadastre was added to Žiar nad Hronom. The village suffered an ecological disaster after aluminum production was started in its immediate vicinity in the 1950s. As a young woman, Helena Obertášová served in Bratislava and Levice, later she worked in Preglejka in Žarnovica, in Factory of SNP and was also the last innkeeper in Horné Opatovce. She later worked at Jednota and for 17 years as a confectioner at the company Restaurants in Žiar nad Hronom. She is dedicated to confectionery even after retirement, baking 22 000 cakes a year. In 1953, she married Viktor Obertáš. After the decision to evict and the demise of Horné Opatovce was made, she and her husband moved to Žiar nad Hronom on Opatovská street in 1968, where they built a house. They had 3 children, one of them died at a young age. After the natives founded the civic association Horné Opatovce, she and her husband joined its activities.