Miroslav Rehák

“I was ten years old, when the war ended. Unfortunately, as a Bratislava citizen, I have witnessed several bombings of the city. Whether it was bombing of the Apollo refinery, the first one, or the night bombing. I have experienced this despite the fact that my father wanted us to move from Bratislava, as it was very dangerous. As it was quite popular back then, that the locals of Bratislava were evacuated, we moved to Záhorská Bystrica, where I also went to school. However, as when you least need it, anytime we were returning to Bratislava for the weekend, there was a bombing. Moreover, my father very logically said, ‘Let’s not live on the lower end, as there is a road, which Russian troops might go through, but let’s live on the upper end.’ Thus, we stayed on the upper end. Unluckily, when the Germans retreated, they aimed at the church and the artillery grenades were falling exactly where we lived.”

“I went to Business Academy. Back then it was named as Upper Economical School, since the name ‘Business Academy’ would not be proper due to the political situation. That’s where we played basketball at the schoolyard. My friend’s father was a locksmith, so he installed baskets in the gym for us. The whole Business Academy went crazy about it and we played basket. Even the whole generations of students after us played basketball there.”