Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

Interview with Mrs. Jindřiška Havrlantová
At the beginning I would like to ask about your childhood and where you were born.
I was born in the Hostýnské Mountains 1 on October 28, 1929. I wasn’t even six years old yet
and I started school. I also had a sister who was four years older and I really liked her books.
I was not even six and I was able to count up to ten by twos. However, there was a lot of work
at our place. I was five and was given two cows, but today I am finally happy for it. I was really
interested in school and I was waking up at four in the morning so that I wasn’t late for school.
It was an hour trip. The school was more at the end of lower Rajnochovice 2 .
You had school in the village?
Yes, it was in Rajnochovice and there it was written, “To our kids.” It was an eight-year school,
but there were only four classes. I left with honors, but it didn’t help me because I didn’t go
anywhere else. When I was nine years old Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk 3 died. It was raining at that
time and we took our shoes off because there was a lot of water running on the road. We came
to school and there was a black flag. Then the principal came and said, “Kids come tomorrow
and each of you bring a flower.” We had that day off then and there were no classes for about
three days. Each kid brought a flower. As a result of all the candles, the black board caught fire
and burned down. I remember my mom said, “What will happen now?” They liked Masaryk
a lot and grandma said, “There will be a war,” and there was.
How big was your farm?
We were living on Bílová 4 , on the meadows. There were just a few people, perhaps seven cottages
and each had a part of the field and that’s how we were making a living. We had cows,
three or four for plowing the field. We were raising pigs and poultry. During the war we were
ordered to contribute supplies. We had to hand over pork and beef, butter, and eggs. Though
we were not given punishments or charged fees for not fulfilling the requirements. At that
time we couldn’t get money anywhere. We were just happy to survive and happy to have the
bare necessities. They required 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of butter per year. We were handing
in butter each Monday, once a week then. Many times we didn’t even have one egg left for
us, but we were getting money for that. With the supplies we always had to go to the town
hall. German controls never came to us. Once my dad said to them when we didn’t fulfill the
requirements, “I have nothing to pay you with. I’d rather go sit in prison,” but they didn’t put
him in. In a shop we were usually buying salt and yeast. As kids we always had to help during
the harvest.
Were there any German patrols accommodated in Rajnochovice?
In Rajnochovice there was a big depot of Czechoslovak ammunitions. In 1939, Germans took
everything away. As I said, Germans were not walking around the countryside, but they were
1 Hostýnské mountains are located in the northeast of the Czech Republic.
2 Rajnochovice – a small village in northeast of the Czech Republic.
3 Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk – the first President of Czechoslovakia, he died in 1935.
4 Bílová – a small settlement where Mrs. Havrlantová used to live with her family.
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