Helena Josefová

* 1923

  • "Viktor Steiner's son from his first marriage, Pavel, made it across the border and wrote to his father: 'Dad, leave everything, absolutely everything, behind, because you'll lose it all anyway. It's a matter of life and death now!' And his wife told me that Mr Steiner had read the letter, but he thought his son was foolish. He thought that as they had all their property here in southern Bohemia and all his siblings in Prague, that they wouldn't have to go anywhere. But Pavel, who was an architect and lived in Teplice, knew how bad the situation was. He knew what was happening and what Hitler was doing. Mr Steiner didn't want to believe that disaster was approaching, so he stayed here and was among the first from Trutnov to be sent to the Petschek Palace (the headquarters of the Gestapo) and to be killed."

  • "In Trutnov, I used to go to the Sokol (an all-age gymnastics organization), where we were practicing for the last national Sokol gathering. The coach always told me, 'Yes, you can come to practice, but never come alone.' This was because Henlein's supporters were already starting to cause trouble. They were just boys. One time, during practice, paving stones flew in through the window of the gymnasium. It was awful, and the coach told me, 'Helenka, it would be best to stop coming to the Sokol.' For me, that was terrible because we were practicing for the national gathering. And I had to stop. Not just me, but the Sokol in Trutnov had to be dissolved because it was impossible to continue with paving stones flying around and with broken windows. This is how the Sokol in Trutnov came to an end."

  • "The worst was when they took my cousins away from me. I loved them so much. They took them to the camp in Meziměstí, with only the allowed 25 kilograms of laguage, and even those they searched through and took what they could. One of my cousins had a fever of 40 degrees. So my mother and uncle in Choceň gathered everything they could find, and I brought it to them in the evening. Who else but me? The others had families and were afraid. So I took the risk, and besides, I spoke German. So, I threw it all over the fence and shouted who it was for. The packages were labeled. The Meziměstí camp was huge."

  • "My husband served here in the Teplice-Trutnov region, and from January 1st, he was supposed to take command of the station in Teplice. He had everything sorted out on paper. However, just before Christmas, he was on duty in northern Bohemia. According to his roommate and friend Mr. Ríha, on December 16th, the doors of the adjacent office opened, and a telegram had arrived saying that Josef Josef was to be dismissed immediately. They didn't know why, and there were no details in the telegram. Then a young man, an officer of the National Security Corps , burst in and shouted, 'Is this the traitor? The one who is to be dismissed?' And he tore off my husband's uniform."

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Police nad Metují, 07.11.2022

    (audio)
    délka: 02:50:56
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Příběhy regionu - HRK REG ED
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

Her dream was within reach, but then the war divided both the world and her family.

Helena Josefová, born Plachtová, 1941
Helena Josefová, born Plachtová, 1941
zdroj: Archiv Heleny Josefové

Helena Josefová, née Plachtová, was born on January 6, 1923 in Broumov. She spent her childhood in Police nad Metují, where she completed her primary school education and later learned to be a dressmaker. Before completing her training in 1938, she worked for several months as a nanny for a Jewish family, Viktor and Martha Steiner. The Nazis shot Viktor Steiner during the first days of the Heydrich Terror. During the war, Helena worked as a seamstress in Broumov in the Sudetenland, as part of the total mobilization. Her German relatives also lived there. However, during the post-war expulsion of Sudeten-Germans, they had to leave Broumov and move to Germany. In April 1948, Helena married the soldier Josef Josef, and they had a son named Pavel later that year. In December 1948, due to political reasons, her husband was dismissed from the army, which had a lasting impact on the family‘s livelihood for several decades. In 1954, their daughter Eva was born. In 1962, Helena started working at Meopta Hynčice and remained there until her retirement. For another ten years, she worked as a dormitory supervisor at the dormitories of a vocational school in Broumov. As of 2023, she lived in a retirement home in Police nad Metují.