Zuzana Petrikova

* 1950

  • "In America yes, as he taught and published books there, even in English. But most importantly, his students from all over the world wrote to him. He loved writing back to them. He knew, I guess, 13 languages, he read everything in original. In Greek, Italian, German. I have a few of his books into which he used to write what he thought was wrong. He wrote to all the books, and always read something. So, I guess he was quite well-known here too. True, not so much as in Bohemia but his former students liked to remember him and even today we hear from them. Maybe it´s important that when grandad was running away from Bohemia, he didn´t want to, but they came to tell him that the next day he would be in prison. So, he took a small suitcase, and they were taken across the border. They walked across the Šumava Mts. And later they always spoke about how terrible the journey was. And granny in her dress and town shoes with heeels walked like this across the border. It was interesting that some 10 years ago my grandad got a letter from a son of the man who took them to Germany. He published a book about this. There is one whole chapter about the way across the border with our grandad and granny. It´s very interesting what these people did to help and save others because their own life must have been in danger too. My grandad always said:“ Well, I have left everything there.“ Because he left all his books and the house behind, yet that he was happy as he saved his life and could have children and grandchildren around. That in fact one life finished and another life started."

  • "Now I´d focus on my grandad: so, dr Josef Macek. He was well-known in Bohemia at university, was in the government, was friendly with Masaryk and Čapek. After the war, when they had to leave, they went to Pittsburgh where they often met with Alice Masaryková and other Czechs.. My granny wrote about all their friends. Every summer they came by train across the whole America and stayed with us for two months. I remember this, these are my first memories of my grandad. He always got up early. I came up to him and he told me some fairytales. This went on for years. Every morning these fairytales and only when I was at school I realized that these fairytales were the whole story of Illiad and Oddysey. I had no idea at that time. I thought he was making these stories up. Well, my grandad was forever writing something to somebody. He kept a lot of correspondence and he used to go down every day to post the letters and I went with him. So, we liked to be together. And with our granny we used to sing a lot of Czech songs. I remember well when my grandad retired, they moved to Vancouver not far from us. They used to walk down to the seaside. They sat there and watched ships pass by. I knew they would be sitting there every afternoon. I often went down to see them and I always found them there. I have an older brother born in Prague and then I have a younger sister born in Vancouver. As she was about nine years younger, I often looked after her. We used to go to the park where our grandparents were sitting. She was on a swing and I could talk to them."

  • "Well, Luboš and I, we were always quite active in the Czech society. For some years we danced the “Czech beseda“. Luboš has been playing in the Czech theatre for years. And I was in the Czech Association. We are always doing something. We used to have Czech dancing parties and another quite popular thing here was that since I was small, every year we have organized a Czech second hand sale. It started with collecting things that were sent to Austria to the camps for refugees. It started at the Krajinas´cellar, I remember that. We always met there, collected things and packed them up. After 1968, we started selling things. People came with something they didn´t need and others took it. Mainly the new refugees could get anything, even things for the kitchen. They cost a few cents only. Since I was very small I have worked there. Today, the sales still exist but they don´t sell clothing. People sell what they make themselves. The main thing is that you can buy soups there, something to eat, different cakes and people can meet up twice a year and they look forward to this event to see the people they haven´t seen for a long time. Czech books are sold there too, which is fine because everybody has lots of books and no idea what to do with them. So, they bring them to the sale, somebody buys them and the next year brings them back again. This is how Czech books change hands."

  • Celé nahrávky
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    West Vancouver, Kanada, 30.01.2016

    (audio)
    délka: 33:36
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
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We chose it well

Zuzana in Hawaii, 1974
Zuzana in Hawaii, 1974
zdroj: archiv pamětnice

Zuzana Petrikova, neé Mackova, was born on 16th March 1950 in Baden Baden, Germany where her father, Jiří Macek, was on business. Her grandfather, Prof. JUDr Josef Macek, a famous Czech social economist, was made by the political situation to cross the border illegally at Christmas 1949. In August 1949 Zuzana´s family emigrated to Canada and her grandparents to the USA. Josef Macek taught and later became a Professor at Pittsburgh University. Eleven years later Josef and Běla Macek moved to Vancouver to be closer to the family. Zuzana first visited Czechoslovakia in 1966 where she met her future husband Luboš Petřík. They married in 1974. Her grandfather Josef Macek worked until his final days. He died in February 1972. Zuzana´s parents Jiří and Zdenka were the heart and soul of the Czech community in Vancouver helping the newcomers particularly after the Prague Spring 1968. Zdenka died in November 2008 and Jiří in September 2008. Zuzana continues keeping the Czech traditions and the Czech language both in her family and among her friends.