ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...

of the time. That's why he had the same name as his father, and I'm actually the third
Rudolf Perina because it was assumed that I would take over the business someday. My
father was educated as a lawyer which is what one studied to go into business. He had a
doctor of law degree from Prague University. He grew up in this little village outside of
Tabor called Plana nad Luznici where the lumber mill was located on a river bank. Most
timber at the time was transported by waterways.
My mother studied at a Prague vocational school for secretaries and clerical workers.
That is where she was when she learned that her father had been arrested. My mother
actually studied some English in this school. My father knew more German and Latin,
which did not help much later in America.
Q: Obviously, you were born in 1945 which was sort of a critical time at the end of the
war. How did things go during the war? Then we'll talk about the Soviet occupation
which obviously you didn't experience but you were hearing about.
PERINA: Well, during the war my father was allowed to continue operating his business
because the Germans wanted it to continue as a source of lumber and wood. He was able
to continue operating, though under all the rules of the Protectorate. My mother's family
was in a much more difficult situation because when the father was executed the family
was also condemned to confiscation of property. She had horrible stories of how a
carload of soldiers came with a truck to the house a few days after my grandfather had
been executed. They went through the house and took anything of value: pictures,
jewelry, the radio, pieces of furniture etc. They left the family with minimal necessities to
survive. This was a family of two daughters and two sons, a mother and four children.
They were allowed to stay in the house but they lost title to it, and they were moved to
the upstairs of the house, with a German family moving into the first floor. It was a very
difficult period for my mother through the end of the war. She also had to leave school
and was put to work in a factory. Then she met my father, and they were married in 1944.
Q: Are there family stories about when the Soviets came?
PERINA: Yes. This is when we get to the next chapter of Central European history. I
heard many stories about encounters with the Russian army from my parents. Apparently,
at one time I was almost kidnapped by a Russian soldier who was drunk and thought I
was really cute and wanted to take me with him. In the last months of the war, there was
an incident very close to our house, actually just across the road, where there was a
railroad track. There was an air raid and my parents saw what people said were American
planes coming in and bombing the railroad tracks. With the Russian army, however, the
main problem was a total lack of logistical support in the military structure. Russian
soldiers had to find their own food and support themselves from the territory through
which they passed. Thus stealing and ravaging the countryside were sort of unavoidable.
But the real problem came with the domestic political situation after the War. Russia and
the Czech Communist Party were the strongest political influences in the country. In
February 1948, Communist Party leader Klement Gottwald came to power and began a
policy of radical socialization: confiscating factories, businesses, persecuting so-called
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