Jiřina Veverková

* 1929

  • “And now he brought three men. We had a neighbour, she came from Russia. She was there after the Revolution, so she knew what it was like during the October Revolution. My mother hid me in her flat immediately, because I was sixteen and the Russians liked young girls a lot. I remained hidden until they left. It lasted quite long, I am not sure any longer, well almost to May 17.”

  • “I remember that my father expected they would come for him. That night he was so sound asleep that they could not wake him. Then they searched our flat. They threw all books from the bookshelves. They arrested him and that was it. I saw him afterwards because for a year we were allowed to visit him at the Gestapo. The two of us and my godfather because he was like a member of our family. They asked her why she took care of him and she said that he belonged to us. It was difficult.”

  • “There were some groups, resistance groups, collecting money for such people. Sometimes somebody arrived and brought my mother some money. She had no money at all. We had such a beautiful dining furniture. And old one, cut in wood. She sold it and got for it two thousand crowns for it, including kitchenware. The price was ridiculous. But at least she had some money. When my father returned, we even didn’t have a table. So we had to find some table. Well, it was bad.”

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    Praha, 27.03.2018

    (audio)
    délka: 01:03:47
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When my father was arrested by the Gestapo, we survived thanks to the help of other people

Jiřina Veverková, 2018
Jiřina Veverková, 2018
zdroj: autoři natáčení

Jiřina Veverková was born on May 7, 1929, in Hradec Králové. Her father, Josef Pokorný, was an artillery officer. Due to his part in the resistance he was arrested by the Gestapo and sentenced to ten years in prison. Jiřina spent the war in Prague with her mother. They were left without any means and survived only thanks to the help of other people. The reunited with her father in May 1945. Jiřina sat state exams in English and French and worked as an translator at the General Staff of the Czechoslovakian Army. She married an intelligence officer and both entered the Communist party. She had two sons, both emigrated as adults, due to which she and her husband were never allowed to travel abroad. Until her retirement she worked in Czech Ceramics company. She left the Communist Party after the fall of the regime in November 1989.