Jarmila Sikorová

"My sister told me that she once carried a quart of alcohol to a school keeper and it broke in her bag. We went to school in Bukovka and my mother packed me with alcohol. I had to take it to a man and then go to school. One day I tripped and broke my leg. We used to go to Lomná or Bystřice. I remember a black zipper bag that could hold six bottles. We got the bag and we went. One day my mother sent us to Bukovka. My sister and I got lost under Girová. We got to the so-called Black Valley, where partisans had once been shot. So we were wandering around there. Mum had the courage to send us like that. It would be unthinkable nowadays."

"Poland used to take shirts from Bohemia that they liked. Brushed nylon was also well marketed. In return, the Poles gave us alcohol. So it was swapped. If there were lighter things, like fluffy hats, they went across the border and thrown over. I remember when it was thrown over, the soldiers saw it, and there was shooting. My younger sister was there. My mother ran with her home quickly, but she got sick because of the shock. I remember my dad taking pepper, going around the cottage and sprinkling pepper so that the dog that was called there wouldn't come to us. Then they had to call the doctor for my sister. He said she must have been in shock, but my parents denied it. Daddy wasn't a supporter of smuggling, he didn't get involved. Mum did. All the women did it, they wanted to help the family."