Jiří Löwy

"There was a stronger community of German Jews in Pilsen than Czech Jews. They lived together. There was no conflict between them. Here in Pilsen, there was no conflict even among the Germans who were not Jews, and there were also many of them. There was no conflict until Hitler ordered to divide people. [Until then] everybody got along living together quite well. Of course, we got some information from Germany, but nobody believed it. [Dad] said to me [once], 'It was not expected the horrors would come here.' For anyone to have any tangible evidence at that time, that was not possible. It was well contained, well hidden. But then, when it was just before [Hitler] came, Dad said they gave him some gold bracelets, pendants and rings to get him started. Since Oscar wasn't here in Pilsen and Leo was already married, so he didn't want to leave and he didn't want to leave his parents alone, well, Dad was the only option, so he went to England. And why did he choose England? He said they assumed England was an absolutely free country and that Hitler wouldn't get there. Fortunately, they guessed right."

"My great-grandfather David's brother, Vilém Löwy, also died, but they were survived by a daughter who survived the concentration camp and the death march because she managed to escape. She emigrated in 1948. She has two children who live in the United States and whom we see occasionally. I have been to see her about three times. She was born in the '24, I believe. She told me what it was like in Auschwitz. She went through Terezin and was in Auschwitz. She was lucky she didn't stay in Auschwitz long. Then she went to work camps on German territory. They were making weapons there. Then, when the end of the war was approaching and the death march went through the town where she had to work, they were including them in the death march. Because they stopped working and they didn't know what to do with them. And she said that when she saw the impoverished condition of the people who were walking the death march, she realized she wouldn't last long, she wouldn't survive. So she and her friends - there were three of them altogether - decided that they had to escape immediately, as long as those who were guarding them didn't remember them yet. And while they still had enough strength and were still dressed so that they could blend in with the locals. So the very next day, they ran away and hid in that German town. They were also hiding on a farm, then they were at some mayor's house where they got betrayed, but also got an echo they could go somewhere where they would be taken care of. Her name was Hana Weiner, [maiden name] Löwy. Then they arrived to some parish where the nuns took care of them. They were in some convent where she worked as a seamstress, fixing clothes. Here in Pilsen she transferred from school, which she didn't enjoy, and she learned to be a seamstress, which came in handy there. And that's where they stayed until the end of the Second World War."

"[Dad and his brother Oscar after the war] did not return to Pilsen at the same time. They didn't come as liberators either. They came with the Czechoslovak army, and by then, Pilsen was already liberated. When they came to Pilsen, they were, of course, wondering what happened to the family because they didn't really have information [about] what has been going on, although they had suspicions, there were rumours... Then they found out that the worst reports were true. The properties remained, they reportedly weren't damaged much, but no one from that family remained alive. The parents, Moritz and Berta Löwy died in Estonia in Kalevi-Liiva. Leo, the eldest brother, with his wife Marie and daughter Helenka, who was four years old when they went to the transport in January 1942, died in Zamość. And the brother of the great-grandfather David, Vilém, also died. But they were survived by their daughter [Hana], who survived the concentration camp and the death march, from which she managed to escape."