Stefan Leśków

* 1933

  • "we came to Wrocław, (...) we arrived on the 6th of June, and there was this repatriation office. And we waited there for six days, a whole week, in the hallway. Mum and dad went to this building and took this metal bed with a net, and they made it for us; they even got us a mattress, I think. The three of us slept on that bed, and my parents slept in that hallway for a week. They had to buy something to eat and so on (...), and finally, I learned that they had found an apartment for us one day. They gave us this truck, this car. We took what luggage we had and brought it to Bartnicka Street."

  • "We were leaving for Poland after all, but we were not repatriated (...). Anyway, mum agreed, and they said (...) that we don’t need to take anything, we’ll get everything when we get there (...) because: “People, there’s no need to take anything (...) small luggage”, they said: “Take malenki chemodany”. Mum took two blankets, (...) some things since we were supposed to get everything after we arrived, that’s what they said. (...) we took small luggage (...)."

  • "(...) It was around seven o’clock already, and it was getting darker. Uncle came back (...), he came, untied the stallion and was finishing untying our mare when three of Bandera’s soldiers came out of the forest, about 60 metres away from us. Uncle saw them and said: “Stefan, quick!”. And he grabbed me by the leg, I was wearing shorts and a shirt because it was August… he put me on the back of this horse, this stallion (...) it bolted, and they shouted: “Stij!” (...) they had (...) machine guns, auftamat (...) pepeshas (...). And when I jumped on that horse and the horse bolted, but at the same time, he yelled stij in Ukrainian and shot a burst at me. I heard a whizzing sound from the right and from the left, and at that time, my horse was hit twice in his hind thigh and got terribly frightened (...). It started galloping forward. I was holding on to the mane because I had nothing, no reins, only a piece of rope, nothing else (…). Well, when the horse came home, about 7 kilometres away, I was (...) all bloody, because I was sitting closer, and the closer you get, the worse it is – it was softer at the back."

  • "(...) In [19]41 (...), it was extremely difficult to buy anything; it was difficult to find a job. In the summertime, my mother was training things, (...) she sold things on Rogatka Łyczakowska. (...) Somewhere around [19]41, these Soviet shops were called co-operatives, and you could buy things there. (...) Mum wanted to buy something so that she could have a dress and something else for my sister. She ran into NKVD officers there, who were on the lookout for people who bought things cheaper in order to resell them at a higher price (...). And they detained my mum. She was trying to explain the situation, but she didn’t know Russian, so they decided that she was guessing. (...) they arrested my mother, and the lowest penalty for speculation was six months. (...) She had served three months already, it was [19]41, and the Germans were already invading. The Russians rushed all (...) these prisoners (...) to the station and loaded as many as possible into freight cars. In any case, they packed up the women and transported them deep into Russia (...)."

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    Wroclaw, 02.08.2021

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    délka: 02:46:38
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Inconvenient Mobility
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Měli jsme průkaz repatriantů, ale žádní repatrianti jsme přeci nebyli!

Stefan Leśków, Wrocław, 2021
Stefan Leśków, Wrocław, 2021
zdroj: natáčení

Narodil se 23. května 1933 ve Lvově, tehdy na polském území, do polské rodiny Michala a Emilie Leśkówových. Vyrůstal v dělnické kolonii v části Malé Krzywczyce, kde jeho tatínek pracoval v továrně. Později se rodina přestěhovala do domku u jedné z hlavní lvovských ulic – Łyczakowské. Na ní sledoval příchod sovětských vojáků po napadení Polska SSSR v září 1939. Sovětská okupace neblaze poznamenala život rodiny. Maminka Emilia byla zatčena NKVD jako spekulantka, protože si nakoupila látku na šaty pro sebe a svoji dceru. Za to putovala na šest měsíců do vězení. Poté, co Německo napadlo Sovětský svaz, Sověti vězně odvezli na práci na Sibiř a rodina o matce nedostala zprávu až do konce války. V době německé okupace pamětník sledoval převozy Židů na práce a byl svědkem, jak do nich ostaraha při pokusu o útěk střílela. Po válce se musela rodina na základě dohody o východní hranici SSSR vystěhovat ze Lvova. Usadili se ve Wroclawi (německy Breslau), která se po válce po posunutí polských hranic na západ připadla Polsku.