Emilie Závodská

„I wonder if you could tell me how the course went on, what it was like.“ „ Well, I have to say there were two elderly nurses, and they were really kind. They told us everything, you know, we spoke no Russian at all, so what we could understand from that, it was what they were explaining and we were also training practically. They let us in the hospital but, you know, we were fledglings, we couldn´t do much, what can you learn in four months…” Then we took this interview or an exam, they said: if you don´t know it in Russian, say it in Czech. And we sometimes didn´t know even in Czech, but we all passed with “atlično” – the best marks, so it was O.K., you know.”

„As for the “banderovci“ bandits, could you tell us anything about them?“ „Well, these “banderovci“ really opressed us, they killed our reeve and we slept in the loft, two or three families. In the evening… who had a good door-latch …there we slept sometimes three families. We had a good door-latch on our pigsty, we slept above, so when the door-latched was made, we let them, when they came to take what they wanted, but to leave us alone, and they also set stacks on fire and so on, and they also killed our reeve and they robbed dairies.” “How did that killing of your reeve happen and what was his name?” “Brozík, his name was Brozík, so how, well they attacked, I think he sent his children away to hide, but he himself remained in the house, perhaps, so that´s how it happened.”

And now for the units, where did you go?“ “Well, I went to the 3. ambulance battalion. Together with one, another one from our village, she was also there with me. So there were two of us so we weren´t lonely.” “What was or what is her name?” “Milča, Emílie, as me, Červinková.”

„There was such a rally, all young boys, and they sort of guarded the village, but they, you know, didn´t want get involved in some kind of fighting, only when the dairy was attacked, I think there was some shooting, but nobody wanted to get into such skirmishes.” “Do you know any details about that attack on dairy?” “No, no, I don´t.”