Emilie Škábová

“Back in the 1950s the smart people all had to go away. Factory and shop managers, they had to be replaced so that they would not enrich themselves. The tradesmen, nobody really had much of anything, no luxury at all. There were two cars in Říčany; in fact there were no cars in the whole of Říčany, the farmers had only horses and carriages, so nobody had anything. And this is how it was after that. And then, when the communist district started to operate, there was a road officer who made decisions there. Then I'll tell you what she did to me. Just imagine, they drove around the estates, they kicked people out of their estates, they all had to move out, they took away their fields, tools, whatever they had, mowers were much simpler back then. All this remained with the state, and all the peasants got evaded. And my husband comes from Předboř, and I remember that four families came there, they took only what they could load up, it makes me want to cry, just what they loaded on the car, a sideboard, a bed and some kind of duvet, and they came there like beggars to stay in the farmhouse. There were four families. So, it was really a terrible time.”

"When socialism came... a terrible regime. They took the money, everything was to get for the tickets, she couldn't get anything. Vegetables and things like that were mostly grown at home. Or there was a garden, so there were apples. But southern fruit, we had none, and chocolate we did not know at all. It wasn't until the UNRRA brought it in, and the Russians ate it, that they stuffed themselves. They opened a can of food, and it was them, we - everyone got a piece of lard with bread."

"Then the revolution came in 1945. The radio reported to all states: 'Help Prague.' The Russian army was the first to arrive, bringing food. The city printed out vouchers, for which we could buy canns and various foods."