“I had visited elementary school in Oldřichovice, then I should visit a high school in Třinec, but after the Těšín area was annexed by Poland in 1938 I had to visit a Polish school. One year later our country was occupied by Germans, so I moved to a German school for next year. I was a kind of an international student. This caused that my studies were poor: one year I had studied Polish, second year German and then I was placed to an ironworks facility Třinec. Later I worked in a firm Korer as a lathe operator in training. Then the war erupted. I was not adult yet but all the young people were forced to accept German citizenship. This meant I had to enlist the German Army in 1943.”
“I have served in a command unit at Dunkirk. I didn’t participate in active military operations. My task was to manage supplies. It was in April 1945, I think. We just contained Germans in their positions. A lot of German soldiers equipped with special weapons were in place. But they were afraid to attack us too. They knew they would suffer heavy loses. It was clear to both sides Germans were going to surrender anyway. A lot of German officers with French mates were encircled there. Many pro-German Frenchmen and French soldiers stayed there too. After they were all taken captive a huge mass of people got into the prison camps. I can’t imagine how many people were captured, but thousand of them had surrendered.”
“Men from Silesia made part of our unit. We had always tried to stay together, but we had been under control not to form a compact group. When we were send to guard bridges, each patrol was formed from one or two Germans and one Silesian. Germans didn’t trust us. This was unpleasant situation because we felt like we were enemies, but we had to obey their orders anyway.”
“I had served in the German Army only a short period of time, just several months. We deserted at the end of September when a total chaos had ruled. Germans were retreating from France to Germany. We were mixed with other units; no one was able to count noses precisely. It had happened in 1943 before the invasion to Normandy. ‘What were you doing after you had escaped?’ We were just wondering around the country. At first we were hiding at farms. But I didn’t trust French farmers much. One farmer brought us bread. Some of us could speak French. ‘How big was your group of deserters?’ Only three men. One of us was German who had escaped with us. We two originated from Silesia. One of us spoke French.”
“On one day we were moved to a large reception camp in Naples in Italy. We had to get rid of all our clothes and to pass trough a thorough examination. A lot of deserters were incoming there. Camp officials already knew my identity and my personal history. I have no idea where they got the information, probably from some intelligence service. They enrolled me in a foreign army where young men were needed. It was in 1944. We learned English two hours a day. We got basic military training too. We got even pay. The camp was equipped with a cinema and other stuff. Later they sent us to England over the Atlantic ocean because of current combat operations.”
Jan Prokesz was born on the 28th of November in 1926 in Oldřichovice near Třinec, where he lives now. Most of his life was spent working in the ironworks facility in Třinec as a lathe operator and a chef of special training. In 1943, he was conscripted into the German Army. He served in France defending the coastline near Bordeaux. He took advantage of confusion during redeployment and resigned along with another two soldiers. He wandered in the French countryside for some time and finally arrived at a prisoner camp near Dijon. From there he was transported to Neapol where he enlisted in the Czechoslovakian Foreign Army. In 1945, he served in Dunkerque as a commander of Signal Company belonging to a tank brigade. Jan Prokesz passed away on October, the 23rd, 2023.
