Dana Paulová

"The police interrogated everyone very hard. Promises and a solitary confinement and threats forced everyone to speak, until the chain stopped at my grandmother, who announced during the interrogation that she had received the leaflet from a wounded soldier in the infirmary who had returned from the Russian front. The police did not believe her and the judge urged her to say what color he had, what the kitbag he had... They wanted to know the details. Grandma wrote in her memories that she tried to use her imagination a lot, but the police knew that she was not telling the truth, so the chain stopped with her and no one else was imprisoned. But when Grandma was tried, she was sentenced to death by a rope. She entered a prison in Vienna, where she was to await confirmation of the verdict by a military court. In prison, she met Dr. Alice Masaryk, which was something very wonderful for my grandmother, because Alice, who was even older, but not much more than my grandmother, was a very educated person. She was interested in history, philosophy, culture and she tried to pass on all her knowledge to my grandmother, so my grandmother didn't have much time to think about her destiny. They actually spent all the evenings and free time together in discussions and learning."

"So, the family is still sticking together, and the most beautiful experience lately was that the people from villages that belong together - Hleďsebe / Lhotka - gather for Christmas in the neighboring village by the Christmas tree and sing Christmas carols together. Last December, my Italian aunt and cousin came from America and we went to sing carols together. My cousin forgot it, and he said, 'I don't remember them all anymore.' So, they gave him the notes and he just sang and said it was one of the very beautiful experiences he had here. I hope that nothing bad will happen to us anymore and that the way how my grandmother raised me actually accompanies me all my life, although, as I said, sometimes it was not good, because my grandmother was a very honest and principled woman and during the communist era it was not that useful. However, I think at least I can look back on my life and say it is OK."