Ondrej Póda

* 1931

  • "Russian officers were coming to control. And there was this soil thrown out, on these rubber carts, we threw it on these. And when we knew that the Russian officers were coming, we tossed [the soil] in a way that they couldn’t enter, otherwise they would have had to come through it. And it was all wet, muddy soil. They didn’t come there to see the hole, they didn’t come. We were just waiting for them to come. They got angry and turned back immediately."

  • "Two sub-lieutenants were going there in Dunajská Streda, we used to be friends because one of them was a barber, the other a car mechanic. And they went there to train with those in service, with guns. They were good cadres and they received the rank of sub-lieutenant. And in case they wanted to serve as a soldier any longer, they could have, but then they would have had to do exams. And I saw that he was writing in front of me on the little table; what I want, so I said that I was working in health care and I would like to go to health care. And he wrote on the first page, “the son of a veterinarian”. And with that I was done with."

  • "In 1951, I became free [finished training] and I told him that now I wanted to get money. Like this. Because he gave me a certificate. And I told him that this is not enough, I need money. But he wanted to give me very little, very little, ridiculously little. I didn't tell him anything, I took the certificate and I immediately went to this Moravian dentist, whose wife was Hungarian. And I told him that I was free and I told him that he had wanted to give me 1800 Crowns as salary for a month. And this Moravian told me that I should go to him and he would give me 1000 Crowns a week."

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    Dunajská Streda, 10.05.2019

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He wrote: “the son of a veterinarian” and I was done with

Ondrej Póda, 10 May 2019
Ondrej Póda, 10 May 2019
zdroj: taken during interview

Ondrej Póda was born in 1931 in Dunajská Streda, in a relatively wealthy Hungarian family. He studied in the same town. During the Second World War, his family home was used by the army. After the war his father died, therefore Póda‘s mother had to start working. Póda was not admitted to higher education in Bratislava, so he started working as a dental technician in Dunajská Streda. He was conscripted into auxiliary technical battalion (PTP) in 1951, he started his service in the next year. He served in 13 different locations, mainly in the Czech lands. After 27 months, he returned to Dunajská Streda, however, he did not receive a job there, only in Veľký Meder, due to his past in the PTP. In 1956, he completed a dental technician course in Bratislava. From 1960, he worked in the hospital of Dunajská Streda. He got married in 1961. He retired in 1992. In 2005, he received compensation for his experience in the PTP.