Vincent Dorník

* 1929

  • “The front stopped in Liptovský Mikuláš. Here lived the German reservists, but we somehow used to get along with them quite well. However, once they were carrying wood from the valley and someone started shooting on those Germans. Thus they led a raid into the valley. People used to say it was the forester chief who led them. Since people listened to Radio London and heard the front was near Liptovský Mikuláš, one group went down to valley to last out the front´s crossing. Unfortunately, the German raid, provoked by the gunshot, captured and sentenced them. They shot them all down and threw them into Váh. I think there were eight of those who laid down their lives like that.”

  • “During our stay in Bruntál we had a guard who was the first lieutenant from Trnava. He was very flippant. I remember once he told me: ʻYou damned Franciscan, when I kick your ass, you´ll shit my boots all over!’ But that was his way of expressing himself. Luckily, there were no other punishments, only his words.”

  • “And when we returned, we were transferred to the command in Rajhrad. An officer from the Regional National Committee came and gave us a speech: ʻThe situation here has consolidated to such an extent that we can release you to civilian life.’ They didn´t dare to call us criminals or so back then, even though he openly admitted that. We were supposed to return home and report to our church secretaries. Meaning – to stay under control.”

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    Lúčky, 04.06.2017

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Life can change our journey, but not our goals

Vincent Dorník - from criminal military service (1950)
Vincent Dorník - from criminal military service (1950)
zdroj: z archívu pamätníka

Vincent Dorník was born on April 29, 1929 in the village of Lúčky. He attended elementary school in Lúčky and the Grammar School of Andrej Hlinka in Ružomberok. In 1948 he enrolled at a study into theological seminary in Spišská Kapitula. After the state´s intervention against churches, he was forced to leave his studies. In 1950 he was called to join the correctional military service in Auxiliary Technical Battalions (PTP). He was assigned to the heaviest manual terrain works and for 11 months he worked in the Mine of Antonín Zápotocký in Orlová. In 1953, after more than three years of the military service, he was released to civilian life. He worked at the District Construction Company of Ružomberok. Between years 1964 - 1968, during the times of political thaw he finished his theological studies at the Roman-Catholic Theological Faculty of Cyril and Methodius in Bratislava. In later years he worked as a priest in parishes of Veľké Borové, Chmeľnica, Lisková, and Malatiná. In the present he performs spiritual ministry as retired priest in his native village of Lúčky.