Josef Pokorník

"Then the Russians came and I was right then in the Brno hospital. And then the nurse came in, it was on August 21st at five o'clock. She said, "The Russians are occupying us." I say, "How could we get attacked by the Russians when they are already here?" They were here with their soldiers. I look out of bed and saw the planes up in the skies, the heavy kinds. Well, I said: "That cannot be true." And I got released out of hospital on that day. I walked through the square, but I was afraid, so I walked away. I did not trust anything anymore. There were people screaming out. I didn’t know what to believe. I walked through the whole city and hitch-hiked cars to take me. People were shouting at them, throwing things at them, wanting to drive them out. The police were there too, but it was weak. That was only the first day. Everyone was gathering and before it got filled, I was already gone. I was back at home in eight hours or maybe nine. Back then I smoked. I did not have any food, so I only smoked. I thought, 'How do I get home?' In the Square of Liberty there were tanks and everything was already riding out there; they brought all that with those heavy airplanes. So I walked on foot and hitch-hiked. And I got to Kyjov. And from Kyjov I just smoked the whole way, lit a cigarette by a cigarette. And then it was reported that it was just a temporary placement. I said, "So good." I arrived, all poisoned as smoked maybe a hundred cigarettes. Just it is temporary, good enough. I'll stop smoking. So I threw the cigarettes to the ground, trapped it and said, "And I will not smoke anymore." And I really stopped for good. I gave myself a condition: When they leave ... And then it happened: "Grandpa, they've gone, let's do it." I say, "No, I'm not going to make my mouth dirty because of them."

“It is the kind of ground we called “blížina“. Kotovice, bricks were done of out that. And the hair of the calf and the beer instead of water. And that's pretty ... and wax. The form was made of it, and the ornaments, the reliefs were made of that. The first form was made, the inside was waxed. They called the material mud, and we used our hands to smooth the form. And then she had such a metalic sheet and stroked it all over to make the mold. And it was still burnt and warmed inside. Then it waxed as the fake bell was made, and there were the reliefs, the letters, and so on. Again, as it was done from that wax, then the material was used again and gradually glued. And coated using with wire, maybe three or four centimetres of material, and the weak wire wrapped around it. You understand, such a form ... and then mud and the mold again; there were up to ten layers. That is how large it was. And then when it was waxed, the fire was lit up under it again, the wax poured into that mold and into that fake bell, into that core. Then the whole thing was lifted, the inside of the bell broke out, and the centre and the cover, the cloak, were left. It was lifted up, checked and all faults were glued up. When it was put together, it was put down in the pit, where it sank into the sand so that the top was at the same level with the ground. Then it was filled with sand. You had to walk around stomping. And then the bell material was poured into that and it all took about half an hour or so."