The horrors of the war were only experienced when it was over
Irena Mosslerová was born on 6 January 1934 in Brno. Her father František Horr was a Czechoslovak citizen of German nationality, her mother Jarmila, née Skotalová, was Czech. Irena had a twin sister who was named Jarmila after her mother, but they called her Jaruška. As soon as the war started, the whole family acquired Reich-German citizenship and the father was drafted into the Wehrmacht as a German citizen. He fought at the front and the family had no news of him until the end of the war. Shortly after the liberation by the Red Army, the mother and her two daughters were expelled from Brno and took the so-called death march through Pohořelice to Vienna. They did not stay there long and returned again. On the way, Jaruška fell ill with typhus and died at the age of 11 after returning home. Both parents were subsequently interned in labour camps in Brno, her father was initially imprisoned in Kounice‘s dormitories. In 1946, the father was released and the family gradually regained Czechoslovak citizenship. Irena worked most of her life as a knitter of steel ropes, married and had two children. In 2024 she was living in Brno.