Juraj Maďar

"We received an order all of a sudden: ´Put the radio station on your back and get in the car.´ It was some Colonel or Lt.-Colonel named Štefánik. We were supposed to announce the liberation of Žilina town. We walked around the Lesser Fatra Mountains. On the way we met some soldiers who were cutting the trees down to stabilize the roads so they could drive through with the cannons. We also met some miners who were cleaning the roads from the mines. They wouldn’t let us go forward saying that we might explode somewhere. Štefánik said: ´We’ll go up and stay in the air, don’t worry! ´ Luckily we crossed the hill and then got into some small village. There was a wooden bridge that was on fire. The captain said: ´Let’s go, let’s go. It will hold us and we’ll be just fine.´ We crossed the bridge and then it fell down. But we didn’t go far. The remaining Germans fired at us from the surrounding hills. Žilina itself was already free, but the neighborhood was still occupied by Germans. They started to fire at us. We jumped to the ditch with the radio station on our backs. Our commander was threatening us, if we damaged the radio station or we couldn't send the message, they would shoot us. We crawled to the nearest house in Žilina town and entered the front yard. I told to my colleague: ´Throw the antenna up on the tree. ´ I tried to get the radio station back to work. I dialed the connection. They were already expecting us on the other side, so I confirmed ´the connection is set.´ they dictated what I’m supposed to be sending - that Zilina is occupied. And that’s how the Czechoslovak army liberated Žilina town."

"This army had its deficiencies. The soldiers didn’t observe discipline. As they crossed the Czechoslovak border, they were forbidden to hurt anyone. Like women for an example. But it happened once that the Russians shot their own soldiers who did some nasty things to women." Those were the aborigines or Germans? "No, no. I’m talking about the Russian soldiers. If they hurt some woman, the others pointed at them and they got shot right on the spot. Before we reached our unit we spent one night in some small village and there were also some Russians staying at the same house. They came back drunk and wanted to shoot each other. I thought they were very wild, but after few days I changed my opinion. I didn’t blame them for being so wild anymore. After all the battles you just become hardened.

"I remember some Alois Huťa from Bratislava. He spoke German well and he used to walk over the front to the back positions. He carried a transmitter in his pocket and was sending messages." "He was an explorer?" "Yes, he was.“

"It was 4am when I heard heavy gunfire. I jumped to the window and saw our soldiers standing across the way. I shouted at them what was going on and they said all they know is that it is a warning there. We ran as fast as we could to the other house to get some ammunition. But then we found out that the Russians were celebrating the German capitulation by firing into the air. That was on May the 8th."

"When we stopped somewhere, we had to practice the Morse code. They saw that I was listening to the message and was writing at the same time. So I had to go to the car where the radio station was installed. And that’s where I worked - in the car. Beside that I also carried a small radio station on my back when we were at the lookouts."

"You were saying that you served upon General Svoboda´s squad. Did you ever meet him in person and what kind of man was he?" "He surprised me all the time. While we were on the lookouts he never protected himself. The bullet went through his coat and he didn’t even move to hide. He was very brave; he was on the roll all the way from Zborovo town." "Was he nice, kind or rather strict?" "He was very nice, but he did demanded discipline. That must have been obeyed."

"There was a Jew from the Carpathian Ruthenia working with me. He was such a chafferer. He didn’t smoke, didn’t drink and neither did I. The Poles and the Russians were always looking for some cigarettes and alcohol and he was selling it to them. So we had some money and if we knew that we will stay at some place longer we went straight to the farmer to get the pig. And when we arrived to Prague he still had some greaves in his knapsack."