Blažena Ratajová

"I vaguely remember running for cover as the war was ending, though not into a shelter but outdoors. Towards the end when there wasn't even time for air raid alarms, grandpa would lock us in the cellar. After the war, he would say, 'What were we doing? If the house had collapsed, the children would get buried there.' That was me; then there was a family with three or four children and such a large man; I was scared of him. I lived in another room with my mother because my father died when I was two and a half years old. There was also a family living in the attic; they had two little boys. They always stuffed us kids into the cellar; each family had a potato crate and we sat in there hiding. My grandfather said after the war, 'How stupid were we? The kids could get buried in there.'"

"There used to be an arched steel bridge here. I recall we were walking in town when we went to greet them [US Army troops]. The first tank was coming in, and the bridge started shaking. I remember that. I had a bouquet; some lilac and a tulip. I was so scared I was screaming out loud. I was scared, of course. Then we went to the square, but it was so crowded we couldn't get in. We were looking out of the window in the house where my uncle's butcher shop was."