Jana Němečková

* 1936  †︎ 2022

  • „Bylo to 6. května, tak přes náměstí jeli už Američani, který chvátali, že jedou Praze na pomoc a v Rokycanech, nebo před Rokycanama, je zastavili. Takže tam jsem poprvé viděla Američany, ale pak ta linie se posunula, takže v Nezvěsticích byla čára, demarkační a my už jsme tam měli Rusáky. Který ale byly teda chudáci nepředstavitelný, chodili k nám na oběd, maminka vždycky něco uvařila, upekla, takže mám spoustu takových zážitků o nich. Chudáci, který strádali, ale skutečně. Měli takovej přísnej režim a tatínek jak měl pronajatý dvě místnosti, tak do tu jednu musel opustit a tam měli štáb. Chodili k nám dnes a denně, na jídlo a tak jako umejt se, zcivilizovat se trošičku. Ale byli to hrozně hodný kluci, tehdy. A mám krásnej zážitek, nevím ale jestli je pravdivej, ale známí z toho vydedukovali, že jsem…jako děti jsme si hráli před barákem, před chaloupkou a najednou přijel džíp, ale to už byla ta demarkační čára, takže jí přestoupili. Byl to Američan v helmě, takovej hezkej, pěknej, takovej statnej pán, pokynul mně, takže jsem tam přišla, posadil si mě na klín. Plnící pero, který pak tatínek dodatečně zjistil, že ty náhradní díly nebyly kovový, že byly zlatý, políbil mě na čelo, pohladil, slzy v očích a dal pokyn řidiči a odjel. A pak se dohadovali, že to byl generál Patton.“

  • “One day I was summoned to the Gestapo (the building on the river bank in Pilsen, where the Gestapo had their offices during the war and when the State security police then resided after 1948 – ed.’s note). A market was held at the exhibition grounds and one man from Spálené Poříčí had a large cake there which was shaped like a merry-go-round. I watched it and I felt happy that Mr. confectioner from Spálené Poříčí had his cake and his confectionery goods displayed there. Two gentlemen were smiling at me from the other side because they knew that I was attracted by it. As I was leaving, one of them asked me whether I could recommend them a good place to eat in Pilsen. He said that he was there with a colleague who was an Austrian and that they would like to go for a lunch somewhere. I told them that they should go to Slovan. And then I was summoned to the office on the riverbank (the head doctor Mr. Dort was completely shocked by that) and questioned about the acquaintances I had, about what had happened and about the foreigners that I maintained contacts with. And I was told that when this foreigner arrived again, I was supposed to report it to them. I replied: ‘You will have known about him already for a long time.’ They thus suspected that I was involved in some counterespionage. They asked me whether the foreigners asked me how many employees worked in the Škoda factory? I said: ‘Asked me?! I don’t even know whether there are two hundred or three hundred or thousands of them.’”

  • “I encountered workers from the Škoda factory who were marching there and so I joined them. At first I didn’t know what was going on. Later it became clear to me and so I marched with them. The PS guards were already standing in Prešovská Street where the tram line goes towards the town square. Since somebody in the militia was reasonable enough, they did not send in the militia guards (to suppress the protests rally – ed.’s note). I felt as a hero when I faced those bayonets aimed against us. (How old was I? Not much). We reached the square. Since I walked in the front, the mass of people pushed me all the way behind the town hall; now there is the (shop – ed.’s note) Žabka there. Water cannons were already prepared there. They poured water at me from just two meters away. I wore a nurse’s uniform and I had a leather coat over it. They sprayed water at me from the hoses which were just two meters away from me, and the stream of the water was so powerful. They basically pushed us out from the town square. I remember that people were throwing away money and some papers from the town hall.”

  • “This is what happened: Girls from my class knew that when we marched there, some guys - probably students - lifted me up and I placed a bunch of flowers to the Masaryk’s monument. A woman (from the municipal office in Spálené Poříčí – ed.’s note) learnt about this. The girls were then interrogated, but I was not interrogated by anybody and nobody summoned me for an interrogation. The girls came (on June 1, 1953 – ed.’s note) to school and they locked them up there so that they would not be able to go out. The girls jumped out from the window. A member of the Youth Union saw them as they were walking through the town and on top of that they showered him with some ironic remarks and they ridiculed him. A great interrogation was then held at school. Everybody was interrogated and nobody cared about me. I thought that the girls had to think that I had to be the one who had informed upon them. This bothered me greatly, but I kept waiting and I expected that somebody would ask me something. Mrs. Boháčová, née Benešová, began speaking about it. Then I walked through the town and I wore the same coat (as I had worn during the protest rally – ed.’s note). Some gentleman stopped me by the train station and he showed me a photo of me laying the flower to the monument, and he said: ‘Do not wear this coat anymore!’ I don’t know who he was; some good soul. He was probably an honest man who saw a young girl and knew what was happening. I thus got out of it and the other girls were kicked out from school. I felt terribly sorry about it.”

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Do not wear this coat anymore!

Nurse in the clinic of pediatric surgery
Nurse in the clinic of pediatric surgery
zdroj: archiv pamětnice

Jana Němečková, née Honsová, was born in 1936 in Spálené Poříčí in Western Bohemia. She came from a family of a small trader, and her father earned his living as a varnisher. She joined the Scout troop in her native town and thanks to her bright and cheerful nature she received the Scout nickname Sluníčko (‘Little Sun‘). She also attended the sports organization Sokol since she was a little girl and she competed in rhythmic and artistic gymnastics. Jana studied the school of nursing in Pilsen. On June 1, 1953 she took part in the Pilsen protests against the currency reform. By a fortunate coincidence she avoided persecution and she was not expelled from school or arrested as some of her fellow classmates. Jana was working as a pediatric nurse throughout her entire life. At first she worked in the children‘s home in Kdyně and then at the pediatric clinic in Pilsen. For thirty years she served as the head nurse in the pediatric surgery ward of the University Hospital in Pilsen. Even after her retirement she was helping in a dentist‘s office. In 2016 she lived in Pilsen. Jana Němečková died in 2022.