Private First Class (ret.) Rudolf Veltruský

“Then I served in the artillery as a telephone operator in the heavy howitzers unit. Our great advantage was that unless the front moved, we would always remain in one place for a long time, whereas the smaller howitzers had to be carried frequently from one place to another, because after a firing their position would get disclosed and the Germans would immediately start shooting back. I served in this unit as a telephone operator, which does not mean I would have any training for it. Due to unfavourable circumstances, mainly my stay in the hospital, I received almost no training. So I was learning to shoot only after I had got to the front. I would take a rifle, go to the forest and try to aim at trees. This was my ´training.´ I was an exception, the others have gone through a training. But because I lacked it, I often served as an intermediary for the Soviet officers. Part of my duty was also getting food for them. I would often go to the Orthodox priest, and he, because he feared the Soviets, would often rather give me something for them. I was getting food for my comrades as well. Especially during our campaign in Poland. My Ukrainian comrades could not speak much Polish, but I could speak well. And when I came to some house to ask for food, the locals would say: ´What a pleasure to hear the Polish language, it sounds soft as honey.´ I also often exchanged food for cigarettes, because I was a non-smoker.”

“Once in Slovakia we hit a mine area. There were also mines in the entire village. The civilians were evacuated, maybe in order not to find out where the mines had been placed. I think the place was called Velký Bukovec or something like that. There was a small shack, and we would go there to cut wood for our use. A soldier was there with us, and he always cursed in such a blasphemous way that I have never heard before in my life, not even in the Red Army. We were cutting a log together, and again he began to curse Lord Jesus. I have to mention that the area was already de-mined by then. But perhaps that one mine was waiting there just for him, and he stepped on it. And since it exploded inside that small shack, it was a terrible blast. I stood right next to him, and I became deafened by the explosion. My comrade was hit in the eyes, and the blast allegedly wounded his leg as well. But I only know this from what the others told me; at that moment I was so stupefied I cound not remember anything.”

“I spent about a year and two weeks in Svoboda´a army. There were many Carpathian-Ruthenians, all very good stalwart soldiers. Mostly, they had been sentenced for having crossed the border to the Soviet Union and wanting to help the Soviets fight the Germans. General Svoboda specifically asked for them and incorporated them into the Czechoslovak army. When they finally got the opportunity to fight, and what is more, in the ranks of the Czechoslovak army, they felt extremely grateful. I got to the front in Barvínek, that was a place under Dukla. In Slovakia we were not too successful, since all the fighting had been done in a mountainous terrain. Eventually, we arrived to Jaslo and thought we would try to break through the front there. The Germans had anticipated it, there were rumours they had built concrete trenches there. The Russians therefore amassed so much artillery in this place that it led to great problems with supply of ammunition and even of food. To put it simply, the conditions were really bad. The attack began on January 15th 1945 in the morning. It was freezing slightly and suddenly there was a roar of cannons, but you could not distinguish the individual rounds. It all blended into terribly loud roar. The Germans made almost no attempts at defence, for if they had climbed out of their shelters, the artillery fire would have wiped them out instantly. Afterwards they retreated all the way to Krakow.”

“In the Záběhlice castle in Prague I decided to surrender my life to God. So I have completely changed my way of life compared to how I had lived before. Lord Jesus says: ´Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you.´ I took this seriously and no one could make me angry anymore. Before, I suffered from heart problems whenever I became upset. But now I knew: ´Don’t be mad at anyone, for your heart is still beating. Don’t get angry, for your Bible tells you so.´ So I always tried to stay calm. When someone offended me, I automatically extended by right hand to him and greeted him as a friend.”