We were disarming mines, and I looked round to see why my mate wasn’t covering me. He was dead, a fragment had hit his head
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Květoslav Pavlík was born on 24 June 1922 in a smallholder’s family in Dubicko. His father had served in the Austro-Hungarian navy during World War I. Later, his father took up the job of postal clerk, as their small field did not produce enough to sustain them. During World War II his father used his job to further his anti-Nazi resistance activities. Květoslav Pavlík also joined the resistance, together with his friends from the factory, the former Baťa Works. They took weapons and ammunition from Hungarian soldiers, and they then passed these on to partisans through a switch, the publican at the Holy Water Inn. But he was arrested in the spring of 1945, and so Květoslav and his friend Jaroslav Doležel had to go into hiding. They made themselves a bunker, where their close acquaintances secretly brought them food. They remained in touch with the partisans and took part in the liberation of Hostišová. Together with the advancing Romanian soldiers they deflected the attempted German counter-offensive. After the fighting subsided, Květoslav helped disarm munition - during this activity he witnessed the accidental death of his friend, Jaroslav Prokop of Mysločovice. After the war he worked first in Zlín, later in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm. He married in 1952 and has two sons.
