“They came for me at our place at half past three in the morning. Kamnach went with me as well. He was also from Lipí. They led us away. We walked to Čakov to the station.”
“We had to walk in front of the doctor, it was the selection. And when he spotted a woman limping a bit... We said to one another in a sympathetic way – bear up, bear up. And that Mrs Pisinger, well, she couldn't any more. She was terribly emaciated and she collapsed in front of the warden's eyes. So he said: 'Off to the gas.' And she didn't go with us any more, Mrs Psinger.”
“They came for me and woke me up at half past three. I was down with flu at that time. My Mum wrapped a shawl around my head and we went with Jeník Kolář. It was quite far to walk to Čakov. The Gestapo came there for us.”
“You had what you grasped. I remember I grasped a red bowl. I gave it to the museum. I brought it even home. And I gave it to the museum in Budějovice and I have no idea where it's gone.”
“It came to existence due to Karel Lavička. He was kind of the leader of the illegal group. He came from Šindlové Dvory. He owned a cottage there at the brook and we used to go there at his place. And he taught us the new stuff there.”
“They went from village to village and were waiting for the car to pass by. They already knew that the Gestapo was going that way at the police station. Well, the people were already waiting with their cans in the village square and they were waiting for us to pass by. I can still see in front of my eyes how we went by the car. I was sitting at the back. Well, there were so many people on both sides. It was such a surprise for you. They were waiting for us but what could they do – nothing. So we just passed by.”
“When there were those air raids we were hiding behind stones in the forest. There were such huge stones along the forest and there were those Russian women – captives. They used to be there, they were there. They always said: 'Girls, hide behind that stone, lie down behind the stone!' So we obeyed. We used to hide behind the stones so that... when a plane flew over it hit just everything.”
“He worked as a cook there. He came to the door, knocked and the screw opened. And then I turned up and it was my brother. I was thunderstruck but I was not allowed to say a word. So he just left it there and quickly whispered: 'Don't worry, I didn't say a word.'”
Marie Traplová, nee Šturmová, was born in the village of Lipí in the České Budějovice region on August 4th, 1920. She also spent her childhood there. She worked in the fields with her siblings and her parents. She got trained as a dressmaker. She came across the illegal Communist resistance group of Karel Lavička at the beginning of World War II. Their main purpose was to help the arrested and their families. The volunteers were usually hunted for food in local villages. Karel Lavička was put to death during the proclamation of the first martial law. However, the resistance activities carried on until 1943 when the Gestapo arrested the rest of the group. Marie Traplová experienced the interrogations in Budějovice and the camps in Terezín, Auschwitz and New Brandenburg. After the war, she married a man who was a commander of the bodyguards of Rudolf Slánský. She was also arrested during the trials and purges connected with Slánský, but she was released soon after. Marie Traplová has stuck to the Communist beliefs.
