Mgr. Helena Kučerová

* 1946

  • „We needed to arrange something in Prague. We lived in Vinohrady at the time and were woken up by the sound of an aeroplane. We were like, 'What is this? The plane is circling over Prague and can't land.' Later there was a call to turn on the radio or television, so we learned what was happening: planes with the Soviet army were landing. We were horrified. I had a child at a cottage in Všenory and we didn't know what would or wouldn’t happen. We ran out into the streets. My husband decided to stay in Prague and he experienced the situation in front of the radio, and I moved to the cottage to look after the child.“

  • „When the Cvrčanins had to flee from Hitler, they asked my parents if they could come live in their villa in Horní Počernice. Bishop Gorazd from the Orthodox Church lived there with them. As a result, they were affected by the assassination of Heydrich. They themselves did not know about it, but they too were interrogated at the Petschek Palace. Strangely enough, they have been there three times and nothing ever happened to them, except searching their property, the entire villa, and they also witnessed arrests. But they survived the war.“

  • „She only said that, strangely enough, they were interrogated by the Gestapo in the department that was in charge of churches. Thank God. Mother directly said that they were quite decent. Bishop Gorazd then sent a message to someone saying that he did not involve them in anything, that they weren’t mentioned at all, only that she was his secretary and that she served him and gave him lunch. That they didn't know about anything, which they probably didn't. So they survived unscathed.“

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    Praha 10 - Strašnice, 30.06.2021

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Mother was Bishop Gorazd‘s housekeeper, knew nothing about the paratroopers and survived the interrogations

Helena Kučerová in 1965
Helena Kučerová in 1965
zdroj: witness's archive

Helena Kučerová was born on July 16, 1946. Her father František Roubal worked as an accountant at the Ministry of Justice during the First Republic in the protectorate era and after the war until his death in 1958. Mother Marie Roubalová, née Uhrová, met him in the same ministry department. Before the war, they became friends with the Yugoslav Cvrčanin family. During the war, they lived in their house in Horní Počernice, and the then Orthodox bishop Gorazd (real name Matěj Pavlík) shared the home with them. Marie Roubalová worked as a secretary and housekeeper for the bishop. During the Heydrichade period, Bishop Gorazd knew about the hiding of paratroopers in the crypt of the Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral and after they were found he was executed by the Nazis. The parents of the witness experienced his arrest, they themselves were interrogated by the Gestapo, but escaped further persecution. Helena Kučerová went to a gymnasium (then SVVŠ – secondary general education school) and in 1964–1971 she graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of the Charles University, majoring in Czech language and history. She experienced the softening of the political climate of the 1960s as well as the subsequent shock and disillusionment from the Soviet occupation in 1968. Until 1996, she worked at the Albatros publishing house as a proofreader and professional editor. Her most significant achievement was the publication of the volume History in Pictures. Since 2004, she has participated in the creation of the encyclopaedia about J.A. Comenius, Encyclopaedia Comeniana. In 2021, she received the prestigious J. A. Comenius medal of the National Pedagogical Museum and Library for her long-term contribution to the development of comeniology.