Jiří Král

“In 1938, when the border region was occupied and Ordners [Sudeten German paramilitary - trans.] were already wreaking havoc in Varnsdorf, Dad was first notified that he should send me and Mum inland, that the Ordners would be coming, because they’d done various provocations there beforehand, coming over from Germany as well. The chairman of the district office had Dad arrested again, and like in other places in Bohemia or other Czech officials, he was taken to Dresden, or actually Magdeburg, where they were interned in the Crystal Palace until the beginning of December.”

“As far as that goes, the Catholic troop was pretty much an illegal enterprise, but it was noticed, so right from my youth all the way through business academy, through military service, through all my jobs, I had this mark, assessment of being ‘religiously burdened’. And so, for example, I wasn’t qualified for any kind of career progression or bonus. That was one thing. And then one time, they summoned us one by one to State Security because the one older brother, who mentored us, was secretly studying to be a priest. Well, so of course they started questioning us and asking things, looking for information. It was an unpleasant situation overall.”