"I signed in by the British troop and they have transported us to Algeria. There I was able to join the army, because I have applied for on our embassy. And while I was in the army I got to Great Britain. I have underwent the military training - I was a tank operator."
"What was the training like?"
"It was regular training. It was divided into three parts-practical part and a theory. And also the combat part. After the training I served as a tank commander."
"It was too friendly and rigorous. I remember that while I was in Algiers I invited one lady to the coffee shop. She asked me where I learnt Italian language. I told her I was already in Sicily for some time. In Algiers I spoke French. We sat at the restaurant and were eating our dinner. I was too young and her lips were too red colored. I told her that I want to kiss her so bed, but that her lips are so red. She tried to wipe it off, but it wouldn’t work, so she said I can go ahead and kiss her."
"I wanted to join the air forces and tvice I had to wait for a course. The reason why was that only ten percent of the infantry soldiers were allowed to attend the air force courses. So I have undergone two trainings. We used to go to some English port to dance. I spoke English well - that was no problem. I danced with some girl. She put something into my hand. I looked at it and it was one pound coin. She asked me to buy twenty cigarettes and a double whiskey. I thought to myself: ´Right, that’s just what I needed! ´ I went to the bar, made my order and then I was shocked to see her to drink the whiskey all at once. Those were my youth relationships. It’s a nice memory after all."
"I ran away because I wanted to fight for our country. I got to Hungary. From Hungary I went to Yugoslavia and from here I made it to Italy. In Italy I spent tree years in a concentration camp (campo di concentramento). I managed to escape from there though. I went to Sicily first and from there to Algeria. From Algeria I went to Great Britain. In 1944 I fought in French Normandy in Dunkerque battle. That is it."
"After the end of the war I came back home, to Czechoslovakia. I was so excited. I started to study at a Business university. I finished it and then I had to find some production work, because I was being former foreign soldier from the West. I was working at the Rudy Letov factory. I made couple of production gimmicks there. They called me to go to see the director. He offered me to continue the technical studies. So I started to study the Electro technology and the radio technology. I used to start up all of the transmitters in our republic. I was an employee of Tesla factory in Prague-Hloubětín."
Mr. Oto Horovič, MEng. was born on December 24th, 1922 in Nové Zamky in Slovakia. His family moved to Bratislava. In Bratislava, he attended the commercial college and he also found his first job there. After the beginning of WWII he decided to run away from Slovakia. In 1940 he set out on a trip with his friends. They went via Hungary and Yugoslavia to Italy. Unfortunately, in Italy he was captured and spent three years in a concentration camp. He managed to escape from the camp to Calabria. From Calabria he went to Sicily where entered the British army troops. Although he always dreamt about the Air Forces, he underwent tank training in Great Britain. He participated on the Dunkerque battles during the invasion of Normandy. After the war he returned to Czechoslovakia and finished his University studies. Because he was successful in his work, Oto was allowed to continue in his technical studies working for Tesla. He was among the Tesla employees who put the television into operation, being honored for doing so with the Order of Work. He was working in the same position during his eleven year long stay in the USSR.
He died on December 28th, 2004.
Hrdinové 20. století odcházejí. Nesmíme zapomenout. Dokumentujeme a vyprávíme jejich příběhy. Záleží vám na odkazu minulých generací, na občanských postojích, demokracii a vzdělávání? Pomozte nám!
