Jarmila Sikorová

* 1953

  • "We had two hectares of fields, horses, two cows, pigs, chickens, rabbits. Later, when my mother became independent, my grandmother had one cow and we had the other. We grew potatoes, oats. Mom was progressive and at one time she grew also cucumbers. She bought seeds somewhere. Otherwise, we grew mainly turnips, kohlrabi and cabbage. Cabbage was pickled in a big barrel. We had it for the whole winter. Potatoes were eaten every day. We didn't have meat during the week, only on Sundays. There were no refrigerators. Daddy killed a rabbit in the morning and we ate it in the afternoon. My mum used to conserve the meat, so it could be preserved. Otherwise we ate sweet rice. We never ate rice as a side dish. We also ate gnocchi, potatoes baked in the oven or pancakes. We ate the pancakes sprinkled with granulated sugar. Nowadays I don't like it anymore. My mother used to bake a lot too. We were raised on cakes. We ate very modestly, but it was nutritious food because it contained quark, sourdough, cream. We had an excellent cellar in the house, completely ice cold. There was water downstairs, so we didn't have to go out in the winter to get water. I had to wash the dishes,clean the floor. From a very young age, we had to help my mother with everything."

  • "My sister told me that she once carried a quart of alcohol to a school keeper and it broke in her bag. We went to school in Bukovka and my mother packed me with alcohol. I had to take it to a man and then go to school. One day I tripped and broke my leg. We used to go to Lomná or Bystřice. I remember a black zipper bag that could hold six bottles. We got the bag and we went. One day my mother sent us to Bukovka. My sister and I got lost under Girová. We got to the so-called Black Valley, where partisans had once been shot. So we were wandering around there. Mum had the courage to send us like that. It would be unthinkable nowadays."

  • "Poland used to take shirts from Bohemia that they liked. Brushed nylon was also well marketed. In return, the Poles gave us alcohol. So it was swapped. If there were lighter things, like fluffy hats, they went across the border and thrown over. I remember when it was thrown over, the soldiers saw it, and there was shooting. My younger sister was there. My mother ran with her home quickly, but she got sick because of the shock. I remember my dad taking pepper, going around the cottage and sprinkling pepper so that the dog that was called there wouldn't come to us. Then they had to call the doctor for my sister. He said she must have been in shock, but my parents denied it. Daddy wasn't a supporter of smuggling, he didn't get involved. Mum did. All the women did it, they wanted to help the family."

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Ostrava, 06.03.2023

    (audio)
    délka: 01:39:29
  • 2

    Ostrava, 09.03.2023

    (audio)
    délka: 01:33:37
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

As a young girl, she used to walk across the mountains with Polish alcohol. In Hrčava, everyone smuggled

Jarmila Sikorová / around 1971
Jarmila Sikorová / around 1971
zdroj: Witness´s archive

Jarmila Sikorová was born as Wawrzaczová on 6 September 1953 in Hrčava in the Těšín Beskydy Mountains. She grew up in a cottage not far from the then heavily guarded border with Poland. Her father worked on the railroad as an assistant engine driver, with his wife they took care of the farm. They had horses, cows, pigs and farmed two hectares of fields. Jarmila experienced the time when there was no electricity or public transport in the mountain village. Her mother was involved in smuggling goods from Poland. From childhood Jarmila helped with the distribution of smuggled alcohol. She graduated from a public catering secondary school in Opava. She worked, among other things, as the head of the school canteen in Mosty near Jablunkov. In 2023 she was living with her family in Hrčava.