Alois Kuznicius

* 1923

  • "We came to Ostende in Belgium and from there we were taken to Dunkirk." - "What was your first combat experience?" - "I've never been in the front line, only at the back of a cannon." - "Even so, it was something else than training shooting?” - “Not at all. I had already experienced something in the German army, so it was not a big surprise for me. We received commands through the loudspeaker - 'cannon operator, get ready'. Those commands were transmitted from the observatory by that radio."

  • "I received a summons to Český Těšín. There we had a meeting, we were loaded on a train and we went the barracks in Germany, Lusatia-Serbia. We were there for ten or twelve days, they loaded us into a freight train, a wagon and we went to France, to Moulins. I trained there." - "What training did you go through in the German army?" - "I was with the Mountain Hunters as an infantryman and then I was assigned to a nine millimeters mortar."

  • "How much did you look forward to going home?" When we returned to the republic, we arrived in Šumava, there was such a small village called Mlázovy, there were only 42 numbers. We were accommodated at the school, next to it was a castle and a farm. There was an American army in Sušice, then the American army left, and we moved to Sušice. We were there until about the middle of the ninth month and then we moved to Jihlava to the barracks on the Brno hill. We served until April 14, 1946, when we were demobilized."

  • Why he had to enlist in the German army "Mother was a widow and the Germans were here. We were in reich. It was the German Empire. The mother was receiving a pension and they scared her that if she didn't take Volkslist, as it was called, she would stop her pension. Mother didn't want to look at us. The eldest brother was already an adult and had Czech nationality. But the two of us, me and my older brother, we weren't adults, so my mother decided for us. She was forced to accept the Volkslist, in 1942. Then, in 1943, on October 28, I had to enlist in the German army. I was on October 28, 1943, and on September 1, 1944, and I was already in captivity."

  • "When the Allies disembarked, they began to chase us from France, and my friend and I stayed hidden in a barracks in the village at the first opportunity. First the owner of the house came and when he saw us, he was full of fear. We spoke a little French, so we showed him we wanted to be captured. Then one white came, the other one was black, I still had a German helmet on my head, so he tore it off and hit it, and we threw the barrels out of their rifles so they wouldn't shoot us. We wanted to be captured."

  • "Then you signed up to join the Czechoslovak army, they took you to Africa, can you talk about the training in Africa?" - "There was no training there yet, we were there as prisoners. Only then in England did we undergo artillery training and then there was the oath on December 12, 1944." - "What unit were you assigned to?" - "I went for artillery. Artillery Regiment, First Division and First Cannon." - "How did the training go?" - "Just like training. With cannons, then we each had one function. Aimer, charger, feeder, cannon commander of the cannon. The sight received instructions and so on. The English cannons were already a great weapon at the time."

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    Orlová - Poruba, 13.03.2004

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    délka: 25:35
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
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They threatened their mother that she would lose her widow‘s pension unless we get Germanized

Alois Kuznicius_
Alois Kuznicius_
zdroj: pamětník

Alois Kuznicius was born on August 13, 1923 in Rychvald near the Czech-Polish border. His father was a social democrat, an employee of Czechoslovak Railways, his mother had five general classes and was a housewife. In 1934, when Alois was 11 years old, his father lost his life at the railway station in Bohumín. He left four children behind; Alois, his two brothers and a sister. In 1942, under the threat of losing widow‘s pension, the Nazis forced the mother to register herself and her minor children on the so-called Volkslist, and since then they have had the status of German citizens. Alois was totally deployed at the shaft in Lazy from the age of 17, and in October 1943 he had to enlist in the Wehrmacht. In France, he trained with a German infantry army specially trained for combat in mountain terrain, with the so-called mountain hunters. A year later, after the Allies landed in Normandy, he voluntarily surrendered to American captivity. As a prisoner, he went to Italy, where he enlisted as an adept in the Czechoslovak army. He was then transferred to Algeria, where the motive for his service in the Wehrmacht was examined. In December 1944, he took an oath in England, received a uniform and underwent artillery training. From January 1945 until the end of the war he fought at Dunkirk. After returning to his homeland, he served in the army until April 1946. He worked as a line worker for a while, but he wanted to get married, so he went to work in the mines to receive a better salary. The Communists did not recognize his title as a foreign soldier and reduced his pension due to serving in the German army. The correction and compensation took place only after the change of politics following 1989, when he also joined the Czech Union of Freedom Fighters. He was never a member of the Communist Party.