Jarmila Jägerová

“In Albeř, Czechs and Germans lived next to each other, they worked in a factory which connected Albeř to Nová Bystřice.”

“We loaded their things onto a hay-wagon and took them over the border to Austria.”

“Afterwards, there were mostly only Czechs living in the border regions, and they treated the Germans cruelly. We, the Czech nation, know to be evil. They were shooting them like rabbits. They shot him, and he hasn’t even done or said anything to them, they shot him and buried him in the forest. There was so much hatred after the war.” Interviewer: “Were you ashamed of them?” – “I was ashamed of the Czechs, sure I was! When I was growing up there as a child, the Czechs and Germans were living next to each other, they were working in one factory, which connected Albeř to Nová Bystřice, and then it ended so badly. Our people were shooting people like rabbits. I didn’t witness these postwar excesses.” Interviewer: “And how did you learn about them?” – “Because I saw a man who was buried in the forest, his arm was protruding from the ground, he was from he neighbouring village, from Hůrka.”

“I was a blonde, and the German soldiers were taking pictures with me on a motorcycle, and they were calling me unsere kleine Böhmin – our little Czech. They didn’t hurt me. There was a bakery shop in Albeř, run by a German. I was going there everyday with a basket for fresh bread. We had a pub, and German soldiers were sleeping there in the hall, and we were bringing this food for them. I was a little girl and I was bringing them food; my foster parents were taking care of them, they had to.”

“The family knew that I spoke German, and therefore they asked for me. At that time, even here, in the interior, the Germans had the last say.”