Slavomil Braun

* 1935

  • "I got into physical education. They told me that Spartak was well led by the party because it was led by a communist. But my grandma, she always… Of course, the first thing... was the forests again! They took all the forests from all the owners. They also called me to the town hall as a communist. I came there and they told me… Firstly, my grandmother said to me: 'Look, I'm asking you for one thing. You're with the komilists, too, 'she said with the komilists,' she didn't call them the communists, 'but don't give them the forests, don't give the forests!' And I did that. I came to the office, there were about five guys sitting there. One of them said, 'Comrade Braun, you must be aware. You would like to put the forests in the state fund, for sure. 'I said,' No, I will not give the forests!' No, that's how it was, I told him, 'Yes, but under the circumstances ... I'm rebuilding a house and I need to make about ten cubic meters of planks.' And one of those comrades said to me there,' There will be no exceptions here! 'I say,' Well, if there are no exceptions here, you will not get a forest from me! You can take it, so you will steal it, but I won't give you my signature! ‘There were two people in Rokytnice who didn't give their forests, me and another one. Well, they were even trying at my work, the headmaster called me: 'Comrade, you should lead by example!' I say, 'No, I follow my grandmother's order and I will respect that!' In short, they did not have a signature from me. At that time, it was a big meeting at the town hall. And I, as a comrade, I disappointed then."

  • "Then it was worse, because the Germans were no longer here, were they?" But I must say that we were very sorry. My grandma and I were crying as they expelled them. Because they were people who didn't hurt anyone here. But it was probably about the politics. That was Henlein, you could say... I'd say an ugly word, I can't even say that. So, he fooled them. But Hitler didn't like the Sudetenmen very much, he didn't love them and he practically put them into the front line. They were all at Stalingrad. And it can be said that practically everyone died. Just three survived. Everyone we knew all died at Stalingrad. A neighbor when they were leaving… She had a daughter, I made great friends with her. The guys who were leaving, with whom I was skiing and playing, so we hugged and cried. It was a difficult time."

  • "I remember that exactly. That's what we were having a lesson here in the basement [of the school], in the bottom part. And when [the director] told us that Germany capitulated that the war was over, we didn't even go out through the door, we ran out through the windows, we jumped out the windows and we cheered and ran with joy, not even on the way, but on the meadow, there was a hole in the fence. We ran across the meadow to our homes, that the war was over. We were all very happy about it, everyone, including the Germans, everyone, all the boys. Only after that you saw what it brought. But that moment, I remember exactly, when the director there told us that Germany had capitulated that the war was over. He didn't say we lost, he probably didn't say it, but he said it was over. And we cheered, yelled and ran home, all of us. But it was a rumble, it's true, we shouted, we shouted with joy."

  • "However, because I organized this physical education… Such a jerk came to me, I remember, an important comrade, and he said, 'Well, comrade, but you should also do political activity, do it in the physical education!' I said to him: 'Comrade, when we build a hall for ten million and those people do it for free there, isn't that a political activity?!' He said, 'Well, it's a political activity, but you know, it's about the awareness.' I said: And they are not aware when they do it?! After all, Jesus Christ, otherwise we wouldn't have built it here! 'And he said: 'Set up a Voluntary Socialist Labor for example.' And I said: Ok we will set up the Voluntary Socialist Labor. I came up there, because back then I still… The ski lifts and the whole, even the economic department, belonged to Spartak, it was one [organization]. So I was, so to speak, the CEO for the whole of Spartak, and for the leadership up there. So, we founded the Voluntary Socialist Labor. No one knew that there was a Voluntary Socialist Labor, but I was reporting about it and it was settled. Look, that's how it was. But it helped! It helped! That activity helped! They didn´t bother me anymore, they did not bother Spartak anymore. Take it this way. Just an example: Harrachov, Špindl and Pec were facilities of the central physical education unit, state facilities. Only Spartak was private. And the director of this organization lived in Rokytnice, can you imagine that?!”

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    v Rokytnici nad Jizerou, 02.09.2020

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    délka: 02:25:07
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
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    Rokytnice nad Jizerou, 10.09.2020

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    délka: 02:07:08
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
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It was a rumble when the war ended, we shouted and cheered with joy

Slavomil Braun
Slavomil Braun
zdroj: archive of the witness

Slavomil Braun was born on March 3, 1935 in Rokytnice nad Jizerou, in the Semily district, into a predominantly German family, his birth name is Günter. His mother Emma Braun died when he was less than three years old. His father Reinhold František Braun died as a Wehrmacht soldier in the battlefield in Normandy in 1944. He was raised by his beloved grandmother Františka Fischerová. He recalls the good relations between the German and Czech inhabitants of Rokytnice nad Jizerou during the war, the war years and the post-war expulsion of German fellow citizens from their hometown. Shortly after the war, his house and forests that he inherited from his grandfather, Robert Fischer, were expropriated from him due to his German citizenship. The authorities returned the house and the forests to him in 1948, when he received Czechoslovak citizenship. The communist regime later confiscated his forests. He trained as a miner in Žacléř and worked in the local mine until 1955. Before the basic military service, he got married and joined the local company Tofa (later Elitex) as a workman. He served two years with the missile army in Milovice and then returned to Elitex. He spent his entire working career in it, during which he worked his way up to the position of the production manager. He retired in 1993. He was involved in Rokytnice physical education since 1968 for several decades. He led the local ski club for about seven years. From 1972 to 2003, with the exception of a few years, he held the position of the Chairman of TJ (sportclub) Spartak Rokytnice. On this position, among other projects, he was responsible for the construction of a sports hall and a cable car to Lysá hora. Together with his wife Zdena, they raised two sons, Miloslav and Vladimír. He lives in his birth house in Rokytnice nad Jizerou in 2020.