Lev Mařádek

“I was afraid of the Russians because half of them weren’t even Russians. I couldn’t understand them at all, they were some sort of Mongolians. I dug the trenches for the first ones, for the Germans. It was before they retreated to Opava, they built enormous trenches in front of Opava so that they would be protecgted against Russians. So I witnessed this, and I knew German well. They knew I was a Czech and I did not curse at them because it wouldn’t change anything anyway. They talked to each other and I knew that they were not happy but what could they do?”

“They were already retreating. I witnessed it at the front where they had dug horseshoe-shaped trenches. We dug the for Russians. There were, it was in a spring, major rains. They just picked us in the town, they took women as well to dig the trenches at the front. Our girls were afraid of the Russians because they had heard what they had been doing. And those girls had to go with us Czechs to dig at the front. They dug the trenches with us. They would not go near the Russians. Some of them did not managed to run away so they had to dig at the front line. The closest village was a part of Slavkov, it was inhabited entirely by Czechs who did not leave, they had some supplies. The front was there twice, it went there and back. The people had to go through all of that. We were returning from the front and we stayed in those cottages. There were large tile stoves so we would light them and dry our clothes on them. And then we went digging again and our clothes were not dry, the water evaporated but they stayed wet. And after three days, I managed to run away from the front and from the Russkis.”