Zdeněk Frištenský

* 1926

  • “So we stood in front of the house once. There was a Prostejov airport, which the Germans plowed, so that the Russians could not land. Before this happened, the Germans flew to the front. And the Americans were already flying there, liquidating it. Here is our house, here was the passage next door and there was a gendarmerie station. As one plane was shot down, it flew directly into the gendarmerie station. Fortunately, no one was there. So it was completely spilled, the plane was deep in the ground. The pilot died.”

  • “My dad was involved in guerrilla resistance and sent cattle and meat to the guerrilla staying in the mountains. I went with my mom to the Andr shop in Olomouc, it was the biggest store in Olomouc. We were buying underwear, warm things. I asked, 'Why are you buying so much for, Mum?' They didn't tell us. You know, we were just little boys, so we could talk about them buying it for the partisans. So it was bought and transported to Beskydy. There was a section of Jan Žižka, it had its proper name, there were also Czechs, not only Russians. Guerrilla activity in the Beskydy was quite extensive.”

  • “There was no electricity. As the Prostějov airport was bombed by the Americans, there was no electricity. We had cattle, but there was no water, and cattle wanted to drink. We had tubs under the eaves and it was flowing into them. Daddy told me it would be raining to let the damper down and the water to flow. I went there, lowered the flap, locked up and went to the gate. Suddenly there was a whistle in the yard. They had mortars and mine fell into our court. It bounced off the ground and straight into the dirt where I had stood. I was lucky to be gone. Otherwise I might not be sitting here.”

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, 14.09.2019

    (audio)
    délka: 01:12:19
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of the region - Central Moravia
  • 2

    Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, 14.09.2019

    (audio)
    délka: 30:39
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of the region - Central Moravia
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

We helped the guerrillas, but then the Communists deprived us of property

Zdeněk Frištenský around 1948
Zdeněk Frištenský around 1948
zdroj: archiv pamětníka

Zdeněk Frištenský was born on 7 December 1926 in Lužice near Šternberk. His uncle, a successful wrestler Gustav Frištenský, together with his father František Frištenský ran a farm in Lusatia. They contributed to the building of Czech schools there, they were great patriots. When Lusatia got under the rule of Germany, the family had to flee. František bought a farm in Bedihošť in the region of Prostějov. Frištenskys supplied food guerrillas in the Beskydy. Zdeněk witnesses a number of events connected with the end of the Second World War in the Prostějov area. His parents were arrested in the 1950s after refusing to join a single agricultural cooperative in Bedihošť. The economy was nationalized and then they lived in modest conditions in a cottage. Zdeněk became a successful motorcycle racer, winning until 1955, when he stopped racing due to health reasons. He worked as a car mechanic and later led a recreation center in Beskydy. He and his second wife Marie attempted to emigrate unsuccessfully in the 1970s, after which they were confiscated by passports and could no longer travel. His brothers and son from his first marriage emigrated too.