Bohumil Maštalka

“In 1967, a huge fire broke out in the sugar factory here, a really huge one. The factory was saved, and then, when the ruins were being taken away, I found this book in the incinerator. It originates in 1919, have a look. Why is it interesting? First, it was a book, a machinist's technician, who managed the workers' attendance. Here were coppersmiths, blacksmiths, rope makers, electricians. And it is easy to read, here were the names, here were the commas, from Monday to Saturday. They did the math and had the final weekly pay. There were the first workers, occassionally the leaders of the party. Look how much they earned in a week. And if you take it, it's a hundred-year-old book, and those people worked here at that time.”

Bohumil: “My little brother is such a handy boy, a do-it-yourselfer; and because he is involved in model making, airplanes and the like, there was such a debate that he would make a model of a sugar factory. And it was almost before the fall. So he got down to it and spent three years crafting it.” František: “Well, it was at your instigation.” Bohumil: “Well, and you implemented it. So my brother started it, I was not very present, and then he called me about it, and I was shocked. I said, 'Honey, this can't fit in a drawer or under the couch. People should see this.' And when they started demolishing the factory in 2002, I said: 'No one will see this again, we should somehow make it public because it's worth it.' Because if you take it from history, the sugar factory had a big influence on the development of the community. Historical, social and industrial. That village really rose up in importance.”