Blažena Stránská

“I came and spent the whole night in the forest to orient myself when the sun rises. The sun rose so I walked in the opposite direction, to the west. And I was really lucky because I got out of the forest and saw a soldier who was riding a bike. And I could not go on walking because it was already March and my feet were swollen because of the snow and I was cold and unwell. And I did not know where I was and I said to myself that I would give up. And I went to see the soldier. I told him that I did not know where I was and he told me: ‘I saw you crossing the borders. You are in Germany.‘”

“I could not get a job there because everyone who had returned from the West was immediately suspicious of espionage. They told me because I could speak English and Czech perfectly and German very well: ‘We would need you but we are afraid to.‘ And no Czech company employed me. So I got a job in Reuters News Agency. My boss there was an Englishman and I translated the news.”