Edita Vacek

* 1935

  • "I got a very good foundation in this school. Really! rational thinking, emotional good thinking and the kind of thinking that a good person is a good person. And it doesn't matter if he is black or white. Those teachers were the school of Comenius and Masaryk, they didn't beat that from them. And even the inspector, who was of Czech origin, didn't want to force it out of them. It was a great school and I thank for the healthy foundation that school gave me. I will never forget it."

  • "Dead people lay by the road. Believe it, old people. It was hot - June, July and then they were expelled in such a cruel way, I can never forget it. And I ask who has a conscience, who is as old as me and has seen this, and can now either a Russian or a Ukrainian drive each other out? Why does history repeat itself? Haven't we learned? Have we talked about this a little? Probably yes!"

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    Košice, 10.08.2022

    (audio)
    duration: 01:21:55
    media recorded in project Stories of the 20th century
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From the first republic to independent Slovakia

Edita Vacek was born on November 11, 1935 in Znojmo. In 1939, after the annexation of Austria to the German Third Reich, the city also belonged to the German Third Reich. Edita started studying at a Czech school, which was canceled after a few months and she had to attend a German school. In 1945, after the arrival of the liberating army, it was canceled and she finished her studies again at a Czech school after the war. In 1948, she began studying at the higher vocational school of social and health care. Her dream was to work in healthcare as a social nurse. In 1954, she got married and moved with her husband to Svátý kríž nad Hronom, where she worked as a nurse. Her first child was born there. Witness husband worked on the construction of an aluminum plant. In 1960, he was sent to Košice, where he worked on the completion of iron works. Edita worked in Košice as a nurse in the dialysis department, later she worked in the personnel department, taking care of the education of middle and lower medical personnel. During her life, she also got to Libya, where she worked as a head nurse in the internal department. She still lives with her husband in Košice.