"They brought several anti-tank and antipersonnel mines there. And that was really something. It was already near to Ondava River. Germans mined it completely there. The river ran there and there was a downhill. So the Germans were higher than we were so they could see us clearly and also our troops and regiments. We were supposed to watch a passage of the river long about 32 kilometers. Every hundred meters was one soldier. That was absolutely not enough, because it was only first and the third brigades. The second brigade was parachutist brigade. So there was nobody here on this place. The soldiers were dropped down at the back and moved to the mountains. That was bad. And now all these mines. The anti-tank mine is not dangerous for the foot soldier, because it needs a load pressure of 250 kilo to explode. So either a car or a tank can activate it. These mines were iron made, or glass ones or made of bakelite. But our boys had plenty of experiences with these, so they knew how to de-activate them. When he found one, or he dug it from the ground he found a fusing mechanism in the middle. And if he unscrewed it, they could play bowling with it. It looks like a big disk. And it looks the same on the antipersonnel mines. But they are much more dangerous, because they only need two and a half kilo to explode. When you step on it, then...They used to me made also out of wood. It looked like a wooden box. Or they were made out of bakelite or metal. But the far worst were the so-called S-mines. It was big as a large meat can, with some wires on the top. All it took to explode was to touch the wires. Then the mine would jump one meter up high and then exploded. It could kill everything as far as 30 meters away...These mines were the worst ones. The Germans saw us. Once we found out that the territory is mined we could assume that the Germans won’t use the tanks. So we were safe from the tanks. Only the whole place has been a mine field. Although they knew where they are..., they would have must de-activate them, and that would reveal them."
"My father originally came from Volhynia, but my mother was from Zitomir, which is a territory further on the East of Ukraine. After the war the border line has been parted and Volhynia and Rovno and Lvov towns became Polish unlike the Zitomir remained Russian. My father came to a local pub in the village he lived, because he was the oldest son. This pub was authorized to sell alcohol and vodka. Vodka is a number one product in Ukraine. Unfortunately my father didn’t want to run this kind of business. We lived together with his younger brother and grandma back then. So his brother worked in the pub at the end and my father went to Kiev. Kiev is a capital of Ukraine. It has about one million people. My father became a chairman of bakeries in Kiev. And from what I heard from Mr. Štěpánek, my dad used to employ the prisoners in the bakery. They were Czechs, who served the Austro-Hungarian army and fell in captivity. There were poor living conditions in the cage. The food was bad, there was no bread. There were lice, fleas and everything was dirty. They took the prisoners to work from time to time, but mostly it was misery. And my dad used to bring out the Czechs and made taught them bakers. All of these Czechs later became the Czechoslovak legionnaires in Russia. He helped this way to Mr. Štěpánek too. And now he writes about my dad as about very honorable patriot etc. That’s why he mentioned him there." (The author is speaking about a book written by Zděnek Štěpánek called ´Behind the Theater around the World.´)
"On the west side by Jaslo town the fellow troops were weakened by the German army pretty badly. There was a real threat of surrounding of the American and British troops, so they have asked President Stalin to start the offensive fights here. They made a decision to start with to attack them. So the fights began all over the front, all the way from Baltic Sea to Carpathian Mountains. So we went to Poland and stopped near by Jaslo town. The Germans troops were prepared in defensive positions there. They built three ditches, first one, second one, third...But our commanding officer named Jaroslav Perný (he come also from Volhynia), he arranged everything. I was supposed to find the place for our regiment to settle. We were not able to move a bit during the day, so we could only do stuff at nights. During the night we have received the firing positions, where we were going to be and there were sticks with detailed map information on them. So I had to show and explain this to everyone. During the night we also must have dug the firing line, dugout for the operators and some shelter for the ammunition. That had to be also covered to be safe from the weather conditions...Depends on the temperature etc. The common process is short setup, then the regular setup and then the complete setup. The complete preparation means to calculate the wind power, air temperature, dust temperature and all kinds of these funny things. Everything is measured by using the tablet. We did all of this at night and then during the day if someone came any closer, the Soviet soldiers were ordered to shoot them. It was quite freezing outside and a little bit of snow. There was a forest with more snow inside, so our boys would carry the now in some canvases form the forest and covered the ditches with it, so nobody could see them. Then I have received an order to perform the aim. I received two targets. First target was on the first ditch and the second one on the second ditch. They told me exact hour and minute when I can fire. But I have noticed there, that there was a section about seven kilometers long and on just one kilometer was a hundred and fifty cannons, mine throwers, katyusha and other stuff. They were spread deeply and of course wide."
"I saw some tanks approaching. I knew something about tanks from the training they provided, so I recognize these tanks were the T-34 Tiger German tanks. And if there is a Tiger tank it means only one think - either attack or fight back. And there were three or four tanks. Our commander was lying down and slept, or his eyes were closed. I woke him up and told him: ´ Mr. Lieutenant, sir, Germans are attacking us.´ He answered: ´Hmm...´ And that was it. So I woke him up again in few minutes when I saw that the tanks came closer. At that time I also saw the infantry alongside with the tanks. ´The Germans are attacking us, sir.´ I said again. He went only: ´Hmm...´. Then after another two minutes I tried to wake him up again. He said: ´Somol, write down to the record that the Germans are attacking us and that you woke me up.´ Then the phone rang and he received an order to start the fire. I didn’t know, that he is not allowed to start the fire without an order from the staff."
"Each member had his own duties. Our boss was Mr. Vladimír Knopp. My task were girls, women. The main task of our group was...Because we already knew about President Svoboda´s arrangements in Buzuluk we gained some small successes already. We should appreciate one thing: The Germans knew there is some kind of organization. That’s why thy later burned out the Český Malín village, although they had no reasons for such act. It is the same like in Lidice village. But they didn’t have any idea about who was the leader of the group. So I was supposed to teach the girls the first aid and also some of the telephone operating stuff. The telephone was no problem for them, but they didn’t know anything about health care. I have had a plenty of study materials from my brother, because he was a doctor. Some of the girls started to work at the hospitals. They worked there as a cleaning woman at the beginning, but they gradually became nurses. Then they were ready for the army."
"About three days before the January 15th 1945 they invited us to the chief of staff of the battery for a meeting. It was in some big Polish farm house. The meeting took a place in one big room then and was led by some Soviet Lt.-Col. And then all of a sudden a bang! The windows clattered. Bang again. He took the phone and asked: ´Whose battalion is shooting at us? Destroy! It is spoiling our meeting here.´ And that minute I knew we will win the war. If they have had it all figured out, they knew where everything was, who was shooting from where etc. all kinds of precautions. Of course the fire started after this and last for over an hour. I had to sign down, that I will destroy these two targets. But as I was firing there, somebody else was firing here. If I moved over there somebody else was firing here. It was only nonsense what we had to sign. But they were so perfectly ready for all that that I must have admire them. And that morning I have believed that we will win the war."
„And then all of a sudden a bang! The windows clattered. Bang again. He took the phone and asked: ´Whose battalion is shooting at us? Destroy! It is spoiling our meeting here.´ And that minute I knew we will win the war.“
Dimitrij Somol was born on February 29th, 1916 in the village of Mirohošť in the Volhynia region. His father used to help the Czech prisoners and the to-be Czechoslovak legionnaires during WWI. He was murdered one year after the October revolution by the Bolsheviks. Dimitrij Somol visited the Training College in the town of Ostrog and despite some troubles at the beginning; he managed to start his career in 1938. He worked as a teacher in the Village of Verba School. He taught math, algebra and geometry. In 1941, he helped establish the resistance organization called Blaník. His task was to teach the women‘s first aid course and to manage the telephone connection. He stayed here until 1943 when the 1st. Czechoslovak regiment came, which he joined the same year in the town of Rovno. After military training, he went to the mortar battalion; he later became its commander. He was sent to the Smolensk artillery school, which was moved to Ural due to the upcoming German threat. After his return, he refused to go back to the mortar battalion. He swapped his position with another soldier and began to fight side by side with soldiers from the anti-tank artillery regiment. He became a commander of this unit again. Later on, he became a news officer of the regiment and then after the reorganization he became a brigade news officer. Among others, he fought by Dukla Pass and in Jaslo. After the end of the war, he stayed in the anti-tank division in Litoměřice, where he worked as a squad commander. He also established a new anti-tank division in Příchovice. He was a vice chief staff officer in Usti nad Labem, then the chief of staff officer in Ústi nad Labem town. He obtained the same position in Hradec Králové but was dismissed by the defense council due to improper Army behavior. He briefly worked at the Ministry of Defense, where he was a member of the committee, which was issuing war veterans certificates. He was a chairman of the Czech Association of Fighters for Freedom in Ústi nad Labem. He retired in 1973.
