Albín Huschka

* 1938

  • "One [man] was employed in a factory in Svitavy and when he found out that he was being expelled, he ran all the way and breathless came to the courtyard as well. They checked on him and he pulled out a card with swastika on it, so they immediately beat him, then shot him. They even shot his dog and buried him with the dog. And then Mother Superior from the monastery said to the chief policeman, his name was Hnát: 'Mr. Hnát, do you know who you killed? A father of four who was completely innocent, he was not a Nazi!'"

  • “There were still German soldiers in the forest, they were chased like hares, and they always asked, 'Wo sind die Rusen? Where are the Russians? 'We came to such a villa in the High Field and we wanted to stay there, but we were told: ,No, no, we're full, we don't take anyone in anymore. 'There were only women there. But finally, we persuaded them and they let us stay there. And suddenly the Russians came. My mother was said to be cunning, and when the Russians said: 'We'll hang around here a bit and then we'll come back and fry some mushrooms.', my mom said: 'There´ll be no frying here', she grabbed me and we ran away again." -"And where did you go?" - “To the forest and there we stayed at such a hut, a cottage and the next day we came back home to Koclířov. At that time one of the pubs was burning because Russians had set it on fire after not being given any spirits. And my father told us that the Russians took turns driving here and there and some stopped by us. The captain was drunk, and he kept saying to Dad, 'Hey, you´re German.' And it looked as if they were going to shoot him, but there was a Russian woman and she said to him, 'Go for water. And don't come back! ‘So he went for water and never came back. And in the morning the Russians were gone because they moved on."

  • "Generally, the German army was retreating and in Koclířov it happened as well. We were in such a place where the headquarters used to be. There was the headquarters again and it was quite an army, I'll tell you – cars full of people, tracked vehicles, the whole Koclířov was crowded. They were heading west, to Pilsen, they wanted to join the Americans. At that time my father was already at home. At night, they [Germans] were suddenly told that the Russians were already in Mohelnice, and they had to leave. And the commander asked, 'So, Mrs. Huschka, are you coming with us, too?' And my mom would have gone, but my father said, 'No, once I'm here, I want to die here. Once I arrived up to here. So we stayed. And then we heard that the next day, behind Polička, the whole army got trashing because they hadn´t been ready and the partisans from the forests sorted them out properly. If we had been there, we would have been among them, too. The Russians were heading to Prague and they also stopped there. And when the Russians came, my mom grabbed me and we went to Vysoké Pole [High Field]."-"And where was your Dad?"-"Dad stayed at home. And we ran away because they [the Russians] were taking hold of young and old women, they weren´t choosy."

  • "As he was in the German army and the uprising started, he threw grenades. He always managed to do so, but once it exploded in his hand. Then he woke up in a hospital occupied by the Poles. And to whom the holy Poles had read Mass he was gone the next day. So my father lay in bed the other way round. When they came at night and went after him, there were just his legs. He started screaming, the lights were turned on, but nobody was seen around. They had read him Mass, because he was to undergo a surgery the next day. Well, they brought him in for the operation, and when he was already lying on the operating table, a bomb flew in and all the doctors standing around were killed. He survived because he was lying there. Then he got up and left the hospital. On his way, he walked past a cottage from which two SS men came out and said: 'Some nasty Pole again, take him round the corner!' And my father, blood all over him, told them: 'I´ll show you a nasty Pole!' They stared at him open-mouthed because he could speak German and took him to the commander who got him out of trouble. And this way my father got home. "

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    Polička, 02.10.2020

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One day everybody was gone

Albert Huschka completed military service in Terezín
Albert Huschka completed military service in Terezín
zdroj: witness´ archive

Albín Huschka was born on April 12, 1938 in Ketzelsdorf (Koclířov) into a mixed family. His father was German and his mother was of Czech-Austrian origin. They both trained to be barbers and hairdressers, and this business could earn them good living in the large village of Ketzelsdorf before the war. Father Albín had to go to the front during the war, returning with the injuries he suffered during the Warsaw Uprising. After the war, the family did not have to be expelled because his mother was not of German origin. Grandparents on his father‘s side could also stay, as the grandmother was the only midwife in the wider area. Albín spoke German only and being German, he was not admitted to school after the war. He didn´t start the first class until he was eight years old. Ketzelsdorf became Koclířov and received new inhabitants, first Czech farmers and later also Greek refugees and re-emigrants from Volhynia. Albín trained and later worked as a car mechanic. He married Anna Tasová from Koclířov, a German woman whose family was also not expelled. They had two daughters. The Huschka´s stayed in touch with relatives in Germany and Austria and when the Czechoslovak authorities allowed them to go abroad, they used to visit them. The family also welcomed the Germans who were allowed to visit their homeland in Koclířov region many years after the expulsion. Albín Huschka left Koclířov at the age of 82, when he felt no longer fit to take care of his birth house. In December 2020, he and his wife moved to Svitavy to a senior house.