Jan Kuruc

“They were drafting, it was a compulsory mobilization, for all between eighteen and forty. So my brothers Petr and Demiter went to the Czechoslovak forces and I went to the Red Army. First we were in Bardějov and then they put on wagons and took us to Rabky in Poland. Then we continued on foot up to the hills and there they trained us. There were also Poles and the unit was called 4th Ukrainian Front.”

“A lot of people died and they transferred some experienced Russian soldiers into our unit to patch it up. Life at the front wasn’t very pleasant. In the night we couldn’t sleep because we were sitting all the time. Because at the front, you always have to be cautious.”

“We launched the attack and Germans launched the fire. We lay as close to the ground as we could and the bullets were lodging everywhere around. And there I found what it is to fear about one’s life. Until then I didn’t fully realized it.”