Květuše Křemenová

“So we decided we’d go to Vršek. But we stood sticking out there like sore thumbs, and suddenly the air around us started buzzing. They were shooting at us. We could see two tanks on the bridge, and bzzz, bzzz, again - finally we realised they were shooting at us. Quick, lie down, my friend shouted. I was afraid of getting my dress dirty, but he pulled me to the ground. Luckily, the grass was tall, it hadn’t been mowed yet. The bullets whizzed over our heads, and we crawled away. When the shooting stopped, and peeked out of the grass and saw a great, majestic lady strolling down the road from Šanovice. That was Mrs Blažková. But all of a sudden she disappeared. It seemed odd, how could she have disappeared so quickly. A bit further on I peeked out again and saw white-haired old Mr Calta sitting under a tree. I told my friend he was out with the geese. But a moment later he was gone too. I couldn’t work my head around it, what had happened to them. It wasn’t until the next day that I found out they’d been shot.”

“I fell asleep, and suddenly I hear a woman’s voice shouting that the whole of Sedlec was on fire. I woke up and came out of the forest, and I saw that indeed, Sedlec was one big inferno. The school was on fire. Those German brats had set the school on fire. Then they legged it. Before that they picked out the men and stood them up against the wall there. Before that they made them dig a ditch, then they shot them. Well, and we saw it burn. I cried. I was afraid for my parents, what would happen to our house. It was horrible. We waited for what would happen next, there were tanks passing through, though not so often. Then things calmed down, and there was complete silence. I couldn’t bear it any longer, so I set off to Sedlec. Suddenly I heard the town broadcast reading out the names of those who’d died and who were still missing. And the list of those missing included my name, Květa Hrunková. I was relieved, I reckoned that my parents must be alive if they were looking for me.”