Vlasta Novotná

"As a class, we were given the task of decorating... or creating a sort of remembrance ceremony for Stalin. It was at the Jirkovský pub Na Tvrzi, where there was a pub with a big hall where all the balls used to be held. But because it was an old hall, everything was wooden'. And there was also a wooden catafalque with a bust of Stalin. There were also tables on which we had to make various pictures of Stalin's life. And we kids were pushing each other and suddenly the 'nice' Stalin fell down and broke. But the teachers, Mrs. Doležalová and Mrs. Stejskalová - they froze on the spot. They were out of their minds about what had happened. And now - who's going to tell Vokoun?! The closest to the catafalque was Miluna Bačinová, who didn't even get her school report until about August."

"I know we went to Suté Břehy after the war with my grandfather to pick mushrooms. He overlooked the 'No Trespassing' sign and I'm not really lying, we were walking on unexploded bombs. Grandpa says, 'They've exploded long ago. You can walk here.‘ He went to light a cigarette on the road and a military car was driving by and a general got out." - "An officer?" - "More like an officer, I think, and he said, 'What are you doing here?' And right on the car and that they were going to take him away with them because they thought maybe he was a German. When Růža and I saw that they were going to take Grandpa away, we came out of the young forest and cried. Now the officer says: 'For God's sake, he even has children here! Old man, damn it, get out of here!' And we were hurrying out of the woods. I know at home my dad said, 'Well, Grandpa, you've survived the war and you're doing this,' and Grandpa stayed locked up in the house for maybe a week and didn't even come out, how ashamed he was."