Marta Kadlecová

“My dad had a sister in Bratroňov near Nasavrky. We would spend our summer vacation there, helping her at the fields, receiving good milk and food. We would go to Bratroňov on bikes via Ležáky. At the end of the school year, Ležáky were burned down, that was horrible. When we got our grade sheets, our parents warned us not to ride through Ležáky. But me and my brother were curious and took the way through the village. I will never forget it. Smoke was still coming from some of the cottages and the road was guarded by SS-guards. We feared they could also hurt us. We rode fast through the village and nothing happened to us.”

“When we were in Proseč at my grandma’s, the mobilization was announced on the radio. There were plenty of uncles and aunts there; the aunts had cried and my mom said we needed to hurry home. I remember that when the guys were enlisted they were singing. The aunts and my mom were crying because they were saying goodbye to them, not knowing when would they return.“