Jindřich Poledňa

“It was a large room with a big table in it. We sat opposite a commission. Brousil, the rector of all art schools, arrived and said, ‘Comrades, before I start this proceeding, please allow me to keep my fur hat.’ It was cold and he had a cold. The comrades sat opposite us and what followed was a two-day trial. It was attended by all the deans of all art schools, all personnel officers, military training officers etc. I felt like at Nurnberg trials. They started by saying that we parodied and ridiculed a Soviet heroic song.”

“I ran behind our house, it was a Sunday in August. I looked up, an azure sky, a beautiful day. The sky was full as if with stars, the planes flew in eight by eight formation. It looked like a carpet with a pattern. And the earth thundered. I ran a short way from our home by a path to an open field. It was in Tilkovice. And I said, ‘Look there was a flash from that plane!’ That was a bomb flying. It threw me against the house. They said I was stuck against the wall, crucified like Jesus.”

“It was evening, between November and December. It already started to freeze, but there was still mud. I went to fetch water from the well by the pub. A truck with a tilt came, they took people from Dr Šťastný’s house and threw them onto the truck. I was the last one to see them. Later I learned that the whole family was buried here, in the Jewish cemetery.”