Father of the witness Karel Škarka (bottom left) in a photo from the book Tanks: Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade (PROCHÁZKA, Ivan; KUBEŠ, Ondřej and BROJO, Petr. Tanks: Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade, 1943-1945. 2009. ISBN 8090394590).

After training in England, Karel Škarka Sr. was assigned to the Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade (under the command of General Alois Liška). From 7 October 1944 until 9 May 1945, the brigade besieged the port of Dunkirk

During the siege of the port of Dunkirk, Karel Škarka was sent with the unit on a short leave to Paris. In the meantime, a comrade, Sergeant Martin Kopaničák, died in their accommodation at Dunkirk.

Funeral of his friend Martin Kopaničák, who fell at Dunkirk

Military parade in Prague on 30 May 1945. Ceremonial military parade of the Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade. One of the largest military parades in Prague presented soldiers who fought on the Western Front. Among them was the father of the witness Karel Škarka

After the war, Karel Škarka Sr. was deployed to the Slovak Beskydy Mountains to fight against the so-called Bandera ´s soldiers

My father made a pedal car out of a spare air tank when he came home from the front. On the photo is the witness Karel Škarka with his sister Jana

A typical trip of the Škarka family after the war. Mother Marie, dad Karel and children Jana and Karel

Karel Škarka Sr. at the airport in Karlovy Vary in 1956. Two years later, he was kicked out of the army for political reasons six months before he was eligible for retirement

Karel Škarka with his father on a trip in the late 1960s

Karel Škarka Jr. competes in ski races under number 5

Karel Škarka Jr. (above, second from right) in Dukla Kolín in 1968

Graduation photograph of Karel Škarka

Karel Škarka while being appointed as Mayor of Ústí nad Orlicí

Karel Škarka and other mayors accepted an invitation to Prague Castle during the term of office of President Václav Havel

Karel Škarka with General František Fajtl after 2000

Karel Škarka meeting with Josef Lux

Karel Škarka meets Marina Dollorelo, with whose family his father stayed during the crossing to neutral Switzerland

Marina Dollorelo shows Karel Škarka how the partisans travelled in the difficult Alpine terrain

The municipal library building in the Italian village of Premossello, which served as a school during World War II and where Karel Škarka's father stayed

Karel Škarka and his son Ondrej trying to trace the path Karel Škarka Sr. took to Switzerland

The publication of Karel Škarka's book The Czechoslovak Password. Dominik Duka standing in the middle (his father was also a member of the Allied army and persecuted by the communists after the war). On the left standing Karel Škarka with his wife Marta. On the right son Ondřej with his wife and grandchildren

Book launch of the Password: Czechoslovak in Ústí nad Orlicí

Karel Škarka during a lecture at the Institute of the Memory of Nations in Pardubice in 2026

Milada Fiedlerova at the age of five, 1958