Jarmila Mrlinová

“We used to get letters, not very many, but half of the content was written over by black ink so it was impossible to read. Always at the beginning he wrote greetings and said he was doing fine. And surely he was not very well at all.”

“As there was plenty of stuff to get prior to the war, but of course people had to earn money to buy it, as they do nowadays again. And there were clothes coupons. And we got clothes only once a year; a summer ones and warmer once for winter. And two pairs of shoes for children as well, if I remember well. So it was all based on ratios and to make it a bit clearer, a cube of butter for those under fifteen years old, it was a quarter a kilo per month, that was really too little. And you needed coupons for everything; sugar and meat too. I do not recall exactly, but maybe a kilo per month, so it was also a very little ratio.“