Bohuslav Vlasák

“I remember myself that when the policemen from Trhový Štěpánov were coming to the mayor here, and I can say that as far as I got to know them, they were honest people. Of course, they required adherence to the law, that the law be observed, but they were very decent people and they were able to talk respectfully with everybody. They were troubled by the war situation, too. I remember that when they knocked on the window and dad stepped out of the door, they advised him that next time he ought to place at least some carpet or curtain over the window; at that time there was a blackout in force and it was forbidden to have light in windows. Obviously, the law had to be observed. When they saw and heard that the broadcast form London was on, they asked my father: ‘What are they reporting from Nesměřice?’ It was said in irony, because Nesměřice is a village nearby. They too wanted to know what was being reported from London and how the war front was advancing. Father always answered their question about the movement of the war front. They were coming to our house not to gain information about neighbours, but their intention was always to pass by so and check that some bad things were not happening, but they behaved like educated people.”

“You cannot even describe the atmosphere in the village at that time. Because the people who had farmed here for years were thus obliged to pass the farms on to the next generation. But when the children wanted to stay at home, they had to go away. The authorities would not let them stay at home. Therefore the farmers did not even have anyone to whom they would hand over their farms. These people could see for themselves that they would not be able to manage the farmwork, because they were getting older. It was all artificially created, this anti-agricultural policy to carry out the collectivization process in the village at all costs. When I recall February 1948, I remember it well, when Gottwald shouted in Prague that when somebody comes here with a kolkhoz they would chase him away. That there would be no kolkhozes in our country, only for farmers with more than 50 hectares; that they would nationalize their land. But apart from that, there would be no kolkhozes. But the reality was different. And the characters of young people were thus formed as well, because politicians were promising something and then not fulfilling it. Because they were unable to fulfill it, because they had been ordered from the Soviet Union that everything would be demolished. My father used to say it as well, and he has read a lot, and he was saying to the neighbours here: ‘None of us will have anything, only the clothes we wear.’ And it was really so.”