(How many Germans lived with them?) "Yeah, a lot, because they also had a kitchen, those field kitchens that were and they cooked in the yard. But then, my mother called them inside so they could go bake and do something else. She helped them because my mom was a good cook. They were not afraid, because then gradually became.. one could say almost friends. Well, it took me two weeks to know how many they had been with us. And then the Russians came. And the Russians did the same. They brought the field kitchen to the yard and cooked there. I remember how they called me, I was such a young girl, a girl, to come stick pirogi together with them."
0:17:53 - 0:18:50 - In the yard near Vaškovce there was first a German field kitchen, then a Russian
"It was (a synagogue) like now on a bend next to "Feroplech", but it was built there, on that bend, yes. But not even there, but what I know ... The last who stayed here were the Frangel family, yes Frangel ... I guess they were the last. And then there was Levy, who had a shop, at the place where they currently sell fruits and vegetables. (What did they sell there in the past?) Everything, everything, we went there as children to buy a stationery for school. They sold everything at Levy's. The owner limped slightly. (What happened to them?) I don't know, I guess they (Germans) took them or had to leave. Everyone remained silent about it, so to speak. I don't know anything about that. "
0:22:50 - 0:24:23 - A memory of Jewish families
"It simply came to our notice then. There were a lot of us, but two pairs of horses were tied up in the yard. And they went (German soldiers) to the hut to take hay. They came there, picked up hay, and when the second one went, he stabbed the gunfire with a fork. Ammunition. Machine gun. They came to my father - you're hiding a partisan, partisan, partisan! Well, it all stayed. They were no longer so personal, they were afraid of my parents. Well, Mom, quickly understood the situation and went to the apartment buildings nearby.
There used to live one German man, who was an engineer and ran the farm. She went to him and told him all this and begged him to come with her to us and say that we are neutral, that we know nothing about the machine gun or anything. He went, and they believed him. But who was it, who put it there? A man named Ochodnicky used to live with us, what was with the partisans. And he hid the weapon there. And it was a big one! It took three days to deal with it, Germans were so afraid of it. But our mother begged them and said that we are such decent people that we knew nothing about it. My father went to the former tenant and asked him about it, he had for children. He admitted he hid it there in the past, because he was a partisan."
0:14:23 - 0:17:50 - In the barn of the Vaškov family, German soldiers found a weapon and ammunition
Helena Aková, born Vašková, was born on February 24, 1932 in Rozvadze. Parents Anna and Štefan Vašek lived in America for some time, from where they brought money and bought a large farm in Rozvadze. The family of a gendarme from České Budějovice lived in their house, but after the disintegration of Czechoslovakia they had to leave Slovakia. During the Second World War, German soldiers lived in their house and built a field kitchen in their yard. Once during a raid in the barn, they discovered a hidden weapon with ammunition. It was hidden there by their former subtenant, who once belonged to the partisans. After a three-day investigation, the incident settled down. Later, their house was occupied by Russian soldiers and they also set up a field kitchen in their yard. Helena‘s mom helped them cook and Helena glued their pirogi. After the war, she finished school, married, and gave birth to four children. Her husband Pavel Ako became the chairman of the farmer‘s union cooperative after collectivization. Helena first worked in the cooperative, later in Zlatokov in Trenčín. She has never been politically involved. Her family quietly endured the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia, as did the regime change in November 1989. At the time of documentation, a retired widow living in Rozvadze, part of Trenčianske Stankovce. Helena Aková died on October 25, 2023.
