Radomír Faltýnek

“An exchange of opinions. And then I say: ‘If he goes around trying to talk people to join the co-op, who should be in jail, then don’t be surprised that we’re against the idea.’ - ‘And who do you mean by that?’ he asked. I said I meant Church officer Pavlíček and policeman Potyka. He jumped up and went livid. ‘How dare you speak of those people like that?!’ I said: ‘Because I know how it is. Pavlíček was in charge of the warehouse the Germans left in Litovel, and when it was being dissolved, the amount of bakshish was such that no one could count it. And in April 1945, the other one in the neighbouring village, that was in Úžinek, he confiscated a pig slaughtered on the black market and actually threatened with the Gestapo. He took the pig away and brought the empty tubs in May, and that was that. I say that over here, a person like that stays bad.’ My cousin sat to the side of me, and I saw him clasp his hands together. And the man said we’d come to an agreement with the national district committee, and we parted ways. When we came out of the office, my cousin said they’ certainly lock me up. Why? Because those are his friends. I mean those people are actually the Krčmanites who attempted to assassinate Masaryk, Zenkl. The ones who sent the parcels.”

“One man from a neighbouring village was a member of the Financial Guard during the (First) Republic. And because he had had some dealings with the officials, he came bashing on our door in the night, saying he needed to be gone straight away, that the Gestapo is after him. And he knew that Father was organising something, that he could get him out (of the country). So Father harnessed the horses in the night, he didn’t dare go by train, those were already being checked. And he drove him in the cart to Olomouc so they wouldn’t catch him. In the meantime, Uncle came by and said not to send any more such clientele, or we’d all end up in Dachau in the blink of an eye. He had gotten himself so drunk in that uniform in Ostrava that he couldn’t even keep himself standing. So the train was leaving and there were Germans standing on one side and they had to throw him in to get him on the train."

“In the morning, people woke up and found the whole village closed down, surrounded by soldiers. People who took the first train to Prostějov to work were sent back. They had to get out and go back. Children weren’t allowed to go to school, they had to turn back. And around eight o’clock, three empty buses and trucks with tarpaulins with SS men on board drove into the village. They surrounded the house where Masný and his companion were hiding. They called on them to give themselves up. One of them tried to loosen a tile from the roof, but it was covered in snow, so they shot once at it. They broke in, well, and Masný had done himself in, and the other one was found by a dog. He was hiding under an overturned tub. So they found him there.”