Irena Ondruchová

* 1928

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I experience the best time of my life in Sudetenland

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photo: archiv Ireny Ondruchové

Irena Ondruchová, née Šimečková, was born on 18th November, 1928 in Výškovice. Back then it was a small village at the Southern suburb of Ostrava. She remembers occupation of Ostravy by the Nazis and witnessed bombing, during which hundreds of people died. She also remembers fights of Ostrava and arrival of the Red Army. During the Soviet attacking Ostrava her family lost almost all its property and used the chance to relocate in an old German village of Hamberk (today Kohout) near Javorník in Silesia. The father got to run the pub and Irena Ondruchová witnessed the displacement of original inhabitants and following changes in the Sudeten region. In 1954 she returned to Ostrava, the village of Hamberk gradually fell into disrepair until it disappeared.