Ludmila Sedláková

* 1931

  • “Those revolutionary days were chaotic. For one thing, Jihlava was a very German city and was full of refugees. At that time my sister used to work in a local hospital as a nurse. We hadn’t seen her for almost a month because the hospital was crammed with refugees. The German women would give birth there, grab the baby and run further. Most importantly, the German doctors fled. There were nuns and a few clerical doctors – that was all. It was total chaos. The Revolutionary Guards took advantage of the situation. Milan Moučka, for instance. His brother Jarda Moučka was an actor who used to perform with my mum in the Jihlava volunteer ensemble. Milan Moučka was not alone. They were sort of last-minute partisans. And they went on a rampage. The German pastor from St. Jacob’s church was among the people murdered in Stonařov. Behind the church there was an auxiliary school and they went on a rampage there. They locked in all the German as-if-officials and from there they brought them to Stonařov. It was terrible.”

  • “I also had some problems. I had an acquaintance in Germany and we used to exchange letters. For a while I was under investigation regarding him being a spy or something. Then I had to sign that I wouldn’t share the information about being investigated. A policeman followed me out in the street. Obviously, I wrote a letter to my imprisoned dad telling him all about it the very next day. Then, this policeman approached me and told me: ‘You violated your obligation to stay silent!’ I replied: ‘I wrote it to my dad because he is supposed to know everything about me.’ Later, in 1960, I met this guy again in the street. He passed by me – by that time they knew everything about us – and whispered: ‘Wait with the wedding, your dad is coming home soon.’ It was sometime in April and I then told my mum: ‘Maybe he’s lying.’ And then in May my dad returned home. The wedding took place only in September.”

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Praha, 02.03.2015

    (audio)
    délka: 01:07:19
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Memory of nations (in co-production with Czech television)
  • 2

    Praha, 19.03.2015

    (audio)
    délka: 01:57:13
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Memory of nations (in co-production with Czech television)
  • 3

    Praha, 08.12.2015

    (audio)
    délka: 02:14:20
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Memory of nations (in co-production with Czech television)
  • 4

    Jihlava, byt pamětnice, 23.03.2016

    (audio)
    délka: 59:14
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu The Stories of Our Neigbours
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

Before the war there weren‘t conflicts between the Czechs and the Germans

Ludmila  Sedláková
Ludmila Sedláková
zdroj: Ludmila Sedláková

Ludmila Sedláková, née Janáčková, was born on 19 June 1931 in Jihlava. Her father was an active member of the Czechoslovak People‘s Party, her mother was the first married teacher in Czechoslovakia. At the time of the Protectorate, her uncle Josef was helping the assassins of Reinhard Heydrich. Following the discovery of his activities he was executed along with all of his family. In the tense years of 1944 and 1945 Ludmila‘s sister worked in a local hospital. Ludmila witnessed the Soviet Army liberation as well as the rampage of the so-called Revolutionary Guards who murdered a number of local Germans including the mayor Vilém Bardas. In 1948 Ludmila‘s father opposed the collaboration of the People‘s Party with the communists which lead to him being expelled from the party and later imprisoned for years. Both Ludmila‘s siblings, her mother and her future husband were all also persecuted. She herself worked as a teacher and along with her children took active part in catholic social life in Jihlava.