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My great uncle – Fero – is one of the six siblings of my grandfather. By his own words, he “has always been the most inventive one”. He was born in the times of communism and the principle based on “we work and share everything” didn’t seem good to him at all. “Why should I work for some lazy Jano from Upper Cifer when I can work for myself?” he thought. After he turned nineteen, he packed his stuff and decided do leave for USA where – as he has heard – the life was better. The first step is always the hardest one and for him it was leaving his family without telling anyone. In that time you couldn’t be sure who is or isn’t an agent so he left without saying goodbye. The only thing he left behind was a letter. It said: “I love you all, I will send you a postcard. Don’t forget to feet my Zubnicka. See you later, Fero.” When I asked him what was Zubnicka he answered: “She was my favorite pig of all of pigs we had! She was like my pet.” As my grandfather told me, after their father found out Fero left, he was so angry that he killed Zubnicka for dinner. And how did Fero’s journey continued? Along with his co-deserter Peter they crossed the boarder of Czechoslovakia to Austria. “We crept in dirt, trying not to be visible. It was the hardest part of our escape. The soldiers could easily kill us but we were clever enough and they did not see us.” Fero remembers. One would think that everything will go good since they got safely to Vienna and bought tickets to USA. But that was not the case of my great uncle. On the airport, a man come to our two deserters and asked for their tickers, saying he had to check something. Either of them flew on a plane before and they really didn’t know that giving their tickets to a stranger is not a good idea. The result? Their tickets were gone for good. Since Fero refused to go back to Czechoslovakia, they had to find another way to get over the ocean. He used his best language skills to explain to a captain of one of the boats that they needed to get to States and they would be very grateful if the captain could take them on his boat. “It was very funny to talk to the captain because I didn’t know German at all! I only knew one word – schnitzel. Luckily we agreed somehow that he would take us with him and discovered that the captain like schnitzel too!” Fero laughs. According to him, the weeks he spent on the boat was the worst time in his life. He had to work all day, help the captain with dinner and clean the boat. After long weeks on the boat, Fero and Peter finally reached the shores of United States of America. “I remember that in the harbor, a little girl came to me and asked me something. And that was when I realized I had no idea how to speak English. I was a stranger, in a strange land. But I was determined to stay there.” my great uncle says, a little more serious this time. In New York, Fero began to work as a worker. He worked more than 9 hours a day and he managed to earn a little money. Every time he had a little more money, he went to a cafeteria near the place he lived. In that cafeteria he saw a young waitress and he fell in love with her instantly. She always smiled at him and brought him a coffee but never said a word. “Oh, she was so beautiful! And there I was, wishing I could talk to her. But I couldn’t speak English and it would be very awkward to try to talk to her. And that was when I decided – I had to learn English so I can talk to her!” he says. So he began to learn English. He attended a night course and after 4 month he had enough courage to talk to her. What a surprise it was for him when after he introduced himself, she smiled and said: “I am sorry, I don’t speak English.” Fero didn’t know what to do – laugh or cry? He cursed in Slovak, telling himself how stupid he is. And another shock came to him – the young girl’s eyes sparkled and she smiled widely: “Are you from Slovakia? I am from Poland!” As my great uncle said, he couldn’t believe his luck. His love spoke polish which was very similar to Slovak. That was how their relationship began and after few months, they got married and moved to Naples, Florida. Now, after 20 years, Fero has a house and he owns a firm. He is married to Margaret, the girl he met in New York, and they have a daughter Maria. He is happy and he speaks fluent English. According to his wife, he didn’t study English after he discovered she speaks polish but learned how to speak by himself. Finally, I asked Fero if there was a time he regretted leaving his country. “Yes, I felt really sorry for poor Zubnicka. But I know she’s now somewhere where she always wanted to be – as well as me.” he smiles.
During the Second World War in the years 1941-1945, almost all mighty people like Hitler and his companions were dangerous and indirect mass murderers of Jews. Some countries were also joined in the great "project" of those times- the attempt of the genocide of Jews. And Slovakia (or the area where Slovakia is now) wasn't any exception. Many Slovak Jews were escorted to the labor camps, actually and eventually the places of their death. Jews, as a nation, were, and still are, very intelligent and skillful. So in every job that they had, they prospered. And maybe because of the possession these Jews had gathered, or just because of mere enmity, many people became traitors. They couldn't resist the view of wealth. The special police, established to erase the existence of Jews in our "great" country, were merciless. But... Once, my grandpa told me a story about a man, who wasn’t selfish or covetous at all and who refused to commit the act of betrayal. It was his Grandpa. He was a Christian, but not just officially, but sincerely in his heart and he didn’t really try to conceal this fact. Around the year 1942, in the time when the first batch of Jews was to be taken to the camps, a young Jewish couple of newlyweds were living on the highest floor of Grandpas house. Actually, they were hiding there. Grandpa attempted to avoid them to be taken to the camp. But once...the terrible Gestapo, the guard who took people from their homes to the trains that transported them to the camps, came. The young wife was cooking, she even had an apron dressed on, when it happened. The couple was never seen again. But this horrible experience didn't discourage Grandpa from attempting to save another Jew. It occurred in 1944 or 1945 during the second great removal of Jews. No one knows now, where and when Grandpa and Dezider Kramer met the first time. Dezider, as a Jew, was in tremendous peril. Grandpa decided to conceal him from the eyes of the Gestapo. After the experience with the couple, he made a better refuge for Dezider. He made a wall dividing the small basement from the big one. And he hid Dezider in the small basement and left him just a little, about 50x70 cm window to give him food and other things through it. The window was hidden behind a shelf. Dezider lived there for three months during the most dangerous times. It was cold and moist there and it wasn’t enough for the life space of a normal man. Could you even think of living in a room so extremely small for three months, shivering with fear of the next day? It was cruel, but it was the only possible way. Fortunately, the Gestapo came only once, however, it could have easily become a death bringing visit. It was in the time, when the wall between the big and the small basement was being made by a trustworthy bricklayer. When the Gestapo came, every person in the house was petrified. They couldn’t warn the bricklayer because "the death-bringing men" would have perceived it. They could just pray and that was the "mere" thing they were doing. They begged God to blind the men so they won’t see Dezider. The Gestapo opened the door to the narrow hall leading to the basement. Just quiet but incredibly fervent prayers...The door shut and the Gestapo left! I believe there were also some tears of relief. God helped them. Dezider survived and after the perilous times had lasted, he traveled to Israel where he probably died in peace. But he sent some postcards of thanks to Grandpa because he, Grandpa, gave a great sacrifice. A man who helped any Jew should have been sent to death too. In those times, my grandpa was about five years old and just his older relatives told him this miraculous story. So he didn’t know all the details. But he knew enough to describe me the story and the admirable act his Grandpa had done. After I heard this story, I was proud of Grandpa who preferred death over betrayal.
It was in November 1944 during World War 2. This unexpected and cruel war effected and drastically change lives of many people. One of the people that was affected was my grandmother. She told me a story of her personal experience which she would never forget. She was only 12 years old when this terrible event happened. It was a windy, bleak, autumn day. Russian and German- Nazi soldiers were having a gunfight in a village that was situated in eastern Slovakia. It had been enduring for 2 days. The village and the area that surrounded it was strewn with corpses of shot soldiers. Screams of dying people and smell of blood were floating in the air. Bullets were swishing in the air and destroying everything that stood in their way. My grandmother with her family and about 15 villagers were hiding and were shivering with fear. There was no silence. The sound of weapons, guns, grenades, contributed to the thick atmosphere, stress and fear. They had been hiding in a beerhouse under the house for 8 hours. Everyone was hungry and so my grandma’s mom decided to carefully go upstairs into the kitchen. When she got into the kitchen a drastic scene was offered to her eyes. She saw a Russian soldier in the garden. He was dying and bleeding. Someone had shot him. The soldier tried to put a white tissue on his gun in order to surrender to the enemy. When a German soldier saw him trying to surrender he shouted “Now you want to surrender?! Drop you filthy Russian!” and he shot him without a hesitation. After he had shot him, the German soldier pulled away the dead body of the Russian. My grandma’s mother noticed that something was lying on the place where Russian soldier had previously been lying. She called for her oldest sun to cautiously take that. It was lying approximately 1 meter from the window so it wasn’t hard to reach it. After he had taken the thing lying on the ground they recognized that it was a white piece of paper with something wrapped in it. When they took the paper of there was a peace of paper with something written in it and enclosed in the Bible. In that paper was written “Be careful. Do what is right. Your mom.” There was also the address of the soldier and his name as well. Later on, after this terrible scene, my grandma’s family tried to send it to the address but that attempt was unsuccessful. After they had seen the Bible and the piece of paper my grandmas mother and her son went downstairs, back to the beerhouse where others were waiting tensely. When my grandma saw the piece of paper with the legacy she broke into tears. The fear was floating in the air. Suddenly, the door of the beerhouse was knocked open. A Russian soldier fell into the room. He was bleeding. “We are surrounded by Germans. Our soldiers are dying rapidly fast. Your house is surrounded by Germans trying to put mines around it. All of us are going to die.” After he had said these 3 sentences he fell on the floor, dead. After this unexpected statement of a Russian soldier villagers thought that they would die. Some of them and my grandma as well started to pray. Surprisingly the Second wave of Russian soldiers rushed and attacked Germans from behind. Since German soldiers weren’t prepared, Russians took the advantage into their hands. They started to chase off Germans. When Germans saw this scene they were stunned and stiff as boards. They rapidly lost a significant number of soldiers. Luckily for my grandma, Russian soldiers chased off Germans and rescued her family from the house which was in ruins. None of the villagers along with my grandma that were hiding in the beerhouse were hurt. In spite of a fact that every member of my grandmas’ family stayed alive, this experience would have constant place in her memory for ever. I don’t know what happened with the Bible which my grandma’s family found. Truth is that my grandma had the Bible for a short period of time but then during the time when she and her family moved from the destroyed village, she probably lost it.
In the year 1945, when the World War II. ended, it wasn't the end for everybody. One mistake changed a life of a young man called Jani Báči. And the real "war" started for him when it ended for others. Jani Báči was my father's grandfather. He was a part of this strong emotional story, which my grandfather told me. Jani Báči lived in a small city called Senec, which is located in southwest Slovakia. During World War II, that part of Slovakia was taken by Hitler from Slovaks and given to Hungarians. Here comes one of the moments that changed Jani's life. Because Senec now belonged to the Hungarians, everyone who was born there had to become a Hungarian soldier now. Jani was one of them. When Russians won the war, they let Slovakian soldiers go home, because Slovaks were their allies during the war. But Hungarian soldiers were in bad position. They were taken as Russian enemies {they were taken to Siberia}. Jani was one of the captives taken to cruel Siberia with its beautiful forests, but horrible climate. After the war, Senec was to be part of Slovakia again, because Slovakia was an allied state to The Russians who won the war. The Russians gave it back to the Slovaks as a price for helping them. When Jani heard about it, he was trying to explain to the Russians that he was Slovak. Finally he was allowed to go home. He traveled a long way home, and, he came to the area where he had lived his whole life before. He looked for the places that he knew so well when he was a child and where he used to hide from everybody when he needed to, where he played with his friends... Those places were all gone. It seemed as if they disappeared. But he still could find the river on which he grew up, where he returned every day again and again. In winter, he played ice- hockey there and when he had to take care of his little sister, he was just ice- skating with her there. During the summer, he was swimming there or just laying on the grass next to the water. But always he stayed at lonely place where nobody was around him. But he couldn't find the football pitch where he was playing with another boys football every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. When he had to take care about his younger sister and he wanted to play football, he brought her with him in a carriage and used her as a one of the two sticks that are around the goalkeeper, so the players from the opposite team know where they should shoot the goals. But that were the old times, when he was small careless child. Now, he was walking near to the train station. But there, at the train station in Senec, transports with Hungarian soldiers were prepared to be sent to Russia. Jani had only 8 kilometers left to get home, but Russian police caught him and didn't believe him that he was allowed to go home. They thought he ran from the transport sent to Russia and then, they placed him on it. It was an old train with lots of soldiers, women with their children and babies fearly crying. The train engine went on, train started to shake cruelly. Jani was sent back to Russia, to the Karelofinland, next to the Onega lake. Karelofinland is located in Russia near to Finland. Jani saw there the most beautiful nature for him- lonely, silent forests "covered" by fog. As he was walking through it, there always appeared some lake or marsh that surprised him. When he saw the Onega lake, he was impressed by its majesty and hugeness. These captives were placed in families and they had to work there. Jani worked as a woodcutter. They worked really hard every day and had hard times. He was placed with one family consisting of a widow with her two children. As Jani was a prisoner there for eight years, he had also some children with that widow, because by the long eight years when he was captured there, he had lost any hope and chance to return back home. Once, the woodcutters were transporting the wood through the Onega lake on a great boat. An accident happened to them. Everywhere a Russian soldier should go with them- to guard them, so no-one will escape. So there was a Russian soldier in the boat with them. But suddenly, they heard a terrible "crack" and the boat sank. There were a lot of people from the boat in the water and they didn't know how to swim. Jani, as a Slovak who had grown up on the small Danube, was an excellent swimmer. He saved the Russian soldier, even though he new they were enemies. Lots of people died there. When then Russians were told this, they let him went home. But it had to be hard for Jani- could he leave the family where he lived and had there children? Should he stay there with a feeling that he had a chance to return home and he decided to not see it anymore, to not see his real family and home any more? On the way home, Jani met one man with very similar life story to Jani's. They became to be very good friends. That man from the train on the way home he met died, because when they were in Russia, they didn't get enough food there. When they came back to Slovakia, that man had eaten so much food that he died from it. Jani came back home after these 8 years. His family thought he was dead. He had never known nothing more about his Russian's family.
One day my mom told me a story from her childhood. This story took place in Stupava, a little village near Bratislava, about 20km from our capital city. It was a normal day like any other except that it was a weekend. My mom, her name is Ingrid, went out with her 2 best friends Luba and Eva. They went to the streets, just to chill out. Because Stupava was a small village it often happened that you met someone you know. And this time it happened. They met their (lets call her “friend“) who lived on the same street. Her name was Blanka. She was a strange girl with not ver ypolite bahavior but they didn´t care and still were nice to her. So these 4 girls went together to a playground where they used to sit and talk. That playground was really enjoyable and colorful. They liked it, because there was one bench which was big and comfortable and they loved to sit there. This day wasn´t any exception. Eva had a problem and so it was obvious that she told it to her friends. The problem was that she had problems with“girly things“. By this term i mean girls period. Ina ( my mom´s nickname) tried to help her so they were talking about it for a long time. It was getting late and they decided to go home before it will get dark. The next day after they went home from their schol( high schol) , soem huy went straight ahead to Eva and said: „ Eva why didn´t you tell us? I don´t know how can you handle this...“ Eva looked really surprised and she asked him what was he talking about. „Don´t pretend like you don´t know waht im talking about“ said that guy. „ you are pregnant! How could you think that we wouldn´t have known it! Come on Eva this is a tiny village.“ Eva was shocked and she tried to tell him that i tis not true what he just said. He didn´t listen he just started laughing and walked away. Eva went crazy and she started shouting and screaming at my mom, sayin hoe could she had said something stupid like that and she started saying the whole village will now know that she is pregnant even it wasn´t true. If they had found out she was pregnant, it would be very unpleasant situation. Her relationships with other people would change rapidly. Ingrid was sad and she tried to explain to Eva that she dint´t tell anyone anything. Eva just stopped her speech and went home. My mom was still thinking about what she had just told her. She was really anxious about who did it. „ Who could have said something like this?“ she asked her self. The next day of course everyone knew that Eva was „pregnant“. People were mean to her, because she was just 17. My mom decided to find out the truth. She started with Luba and Blanka, because these two were with them on the playground when they were discussing Eva´s problem. Ina was sure that Luba would never ever do something mean like saying that someone is pregnant when the person is not. But Blanka... Blanka was known for her jealousy. She was jealous at everyone and anytime. The same day my mom came to Blanka and said:“ How could you have done it??!“ Blanka pretended like she didn´t know what was my mom talking about. After a while, she admitted that she was is. She had said it, bacause she liked Eva´s boyfriend and she wanted him. Ingrid made her to apologize to Eva and tell everyone that she just made the whole thing abou Eva´s pregnancy up. After she have done it, everything seemed to be better. People weren´t mean to Eva anyore. And Blanka? Blanka got what she desereved. For a mont she didn´t go out, because she realized that she should change her personality and she felt bad about her self. From that day Eva had decided to be more careful to whom she was telling her personal sectrets...
I´m going to tell you a story my mum told me about my grandma. Her name is Anka and she lives in a very small village Spišské Bystré right next to Poprad in eastern Slovakia. There´s a beutiful nature with a lot of mountains and forests , and the freshest air you can imagine! One day my parents bought Anka a little present, very little. A white doggy that looked like a snowball! I was about one year old then. When the holiday came the doggy had to say goodbye to our apartment in Bratislava and went with us to visit my grandma. She was so happy and surprised when she saw him! She named him Bruno, nobody knows why. Anka was a teacher and every day she went to schol Bruno walked her through the big garden with hundreds of flowers which my grandma loves so much and he was waiting at the gate till she came back. Everytime he saw her coming, his tale was turning around , his eyes were sparkling and he was jumping and running to and fro, that happy he was. One day when grandma arrived home Bruno wasn´t standing by the gate. She was calling him, looking for him all over the garden but after a while she realized he was gone. She asked some people in the street if they´d seen Bruno and they said some Gipsies had been running with him away into their shanty town. Grandma immediately ran there. Their few damaged doorless and windowless houses stood in the very beginning of the village near a little bridge. The Gipsies were always standing in the middle of the road or sitting on the bridge´s paraper like sparrows glaring at everyone who walked around. There was a huge amount of garbage in the brook and all around and a lot of dirty dogs. Some Gipsies are quite nice but most of people hate them because “they´re dirty and stinky and too lazy to find a job so they just steal.” So my grandma walked up there and she was so angry she would beat them all. Her face was red and she could barely find the right words to yell at them. Gipsies´ faces were very surprised and shocked that someone is blaming them. They were really good actors.. Anka would have almost believed them when barking of a baby-dog sounded. Bruno rushed out. That was the last time any Gipsy was that near to him. He is fourteen years old now and he carefully protects Anka´s house and everytime she comes home he is turning his tail around and jumping on the fence.
6 comments:
The Great Escape
My great uncle – Fero – is one of the six siblings of my grandfather. By his own words, he “has always been the most inventive one”. He was born in the times of communism and the principle based on “we work and share everything” didn’t seem good to him at all.
“Why should I work for some lazy Jano from Upper Cifer when I can work for myself?” he thought. After he turned nineteen, he packed his stuff and decided do leave for USA where – as he has heard – the life was better.
The first step is always the hardest one and for him it was leaving his family without telling anyone. In that time you couldn’t be sure who is or isn’t an agent so he left without saying goodbye. The only thing he left behind was a letter. It said: “I love you all, I will send you a postcard. Don’t forget to feet my Zubnicka. See you later, Fero.”
When I asked him what was Zubnicka he answered: “She was my favorite pig of all of pigs we had! She was like my pet.” As my grandfather told me, after their father found out Fero left, he was so angry that he killed Zubnicka for dinner.
And how did Fero’s journey continued? Along with his co-deserter Peter they crossed the boarder of Czechoslovakia to Austria. “We crept in dirt, trying not to be visible. It was the hardest part of our escape. The soldiers could easily kill us but we were clever enough and they did not see us.” Fero remembers.
One would think that everything will go good since they got safely to Vienna and bought tickets to USA. But that was not the case of my great uncle. On the airport, a man come to our two deserters and asked for their tickers, saying he had to check something. Either of them flew on a plane before and they really didn’t know that giving their tickets to a stranger is not a good idea.
The result? Their tickets were gone for good. Since Fero refused to go back to Czechoslovakia, they had to find another way to get over the ocean. He used his best language skills to explain to a captain of one of the boats that they needed to get to States and they would be very grateful if the captain could take them on his boat. “It was very funny to talk to the captain because I didn’t know German at all! I only knew one word – schnitzel. Luckily we agreed somehow that he would take us with him and discovered that the captain like schnitzel too!” Fero laughs.
According to him, the weeks he spent on the boat was the worst time in his life. He had to work all day, help the captain with dinner and clean the boat. After long weeks on the boat, Fero and Peter finally reached the shores of United States of America.
“I remember that in the harbor, a little girl came to me and asked me something. And that was when I realized I had no idea how to speak English. I was a stranger, in a strange land. But I was determined to stay there.” my great uncle says, a little more serious this time.
In New York, Fero began to work as a worker. He worked more than 9 hours a day and he managed to earn a little money. Every time he had a little more money, he went to a cafeteria near the place he lived. In that cafeteria he saw a young waitress and he fell in love with her instantly. She always smiled at him and brought him a coffee but never said a word. “Oh, she was so beautiful! And there I was, wishing I could talk to her. But I couldn’t speak English and it would be very awkward to try to talk to her. And that was when I decided – I had to learn English so I can talk to her!” he says. So he began to learn English. He attended a night course and after 4 month he had enough courage to talk to her. What a surprise it was for him when after he introduced himself, she smiled and said: “I am sorry, I don’t speak English.” Fero didn’t know what to do – laugh or cry? He cursed in Slovak, telling himself how stupid he is. And another shock came to him – the young girl’s eyes sparkled and she smiled widely: “Are you from Slovakia? I am from Poland!”
As my great uncle said, he couldn’t believe his luck. His love spoke polish which was very similar to Slovak. That was how their relationship began and after few months, they got married and moved to Naples, Florida.
Now, after 20 years, Fero has a house and he owns a firm. He is married to Margaret, the girl he met in New York, and they have a daughter Maria. He is happy and he speaks fluent English. According to his wife, he didn’t study English after he discovered she speaks polish but learned how to speak by himself.
Finally, I asked Fero if there was a time he regretted leaving his country. “Yes, I felt really sorry for poor Zubnicka. But I know she’s now somewhere where she always wanted to be – as well as me.” he smiles.
*** Michelle, xoxo
Death or betrayal?
During the Second World War in the years 1941-1945, almost all mighty people like Hitler and his companions were dangerous and indirect mass murderers of Jews. Some countries were also joined in the great "project" of those times- the attempt of the genocide of Jews. And Slovakia (or the area where Slovakia is now) wasn't any exception. Many Slovak Jews were escorted to the labor camps, actually and eventually the places of their death. Jews, as a nation, were, and still are, very intelligent and skillful. So in every job that they had, they prospered. And maybe because of the possession these Jews had gathered, or just because of mere enmity, many people became traitors. They couldn't resist the view of wealth. The special police, established to erase the existence of Jews in our "great" country, were merciless. But...
Once, my grandpa told me a story about a man, who wasn’t selfish or covetous at all and who refused to commit the act of betrayal. It was his Grandpa. He was a Christian, but not just officially, but sincerely in his heart and he didn’t really try to conceal this fact. Around the year 1942, in the time when the first batch of Jews was to be taken to the camps, a young Jewish couple of newlyweds were living on the highest floor of Grandpas house. Actually, they were hiding there. Grandpa attempted to avoid them to be taken to the camp. But once...the terrible Gestapo, the guard who took people from their homes to the trains that transported them to the camps, came. The young wife was cooking, she even had an apron dressed on, when it happened. The couple was never seen again.
But this horrible experience didn't discourage Grandpa from attempting to save another Jew. It occurred in 1944 or 1945 during the second great removal of Jews. No one knows now, where and when Grandpa and Dezider Kramer met the first time. Dezider, as a Jew, was in tremendous peril. Grandpa decided to conceal him from the eyes of the Gestapo. After the experience with the couple, he made a better refuge for Dezider. He made a wall dividing the small basement from the big one. And he hid Dezider in the small basement and left him just a little, about 50x70 cm window to give him food and other things through it. The window was hidden behind a shelf. Dezider lived there for three months during the most dangerous times. It was cold and moist there and it wasn’t enough for the life space of a normal man. Could you even think of living in a room so extremely small for three months, shivering with fear of the next day? It was cruel, but it was the only possible way.
Fortunately, the Gestapo came only once, however, it could have easily become a death bringing visit. It was in the time, when the wall between the big and the small basement was being made by a trustworthy bricklayer. When the Gestapo came, every person in the house was petrified. They couldn’t warn the bricklayer because "the death-bringing men" would have perceived it. They could just pray and that was the "mere" thing they were doing. They begged God to blind the men so they won’t see Dezider. The Gestapo opened the door to the narrow hall leading to the basement. Just quiet but incredibly fervent prayers...The door shut and the Gestapo left! I believe there were also some tears of relief. God helped them. Dezider survived and after the perilous times had lasted, he traveled to Israel where he probably died in peace. But he sent some postcards of thanks to Grandpa because he, Grandpa, gave a great sacrifice. A man who helped any Jew should have been sent to death too.
In those times, my grandpa was about five years old and just his older relatives told him this miraculous story. So he didn’t know all the details. But he knew enough to describe me the story and the admirable act his Grandpa had done. After I heard this story, I was proud of Grandpa who preferred death over betrayal.
baro(meter)
The Lost Village
It was in November 1944 during World War 2. This unexpected and cruel war effected and drastically change lives of many people. One of the people that was affected was my grandmother. She told me a story of her personal experience which she would never forget. She was only 12 years old when this terrible event happened.
It was a windy, bleak, autumn day. Russian and German- Nazi soldiers were having a gunfight in a village that was situated in eastern Slovakia. It had been enduring for 2 days. The village and the area that surrounded it was strewn with corpses of shot soldiers. Screams of dying people and smell of blood were floating in the air. Bullets were swishing in the air and destroying everything that stood in their way.
My grandmother with her family and about 15 villagers were hiding and were shivering with fear. There was no silence. The sound of weapons, guns, grenades, contributed to the thick atmosphere, stress and fear. They had been hiding in a beerhouse under the house for 8 hours. Everyone was hungry and so my grandma’s mom decided to carefully go upstairs into the kitchen. When she got into the kitchen a drastic scene was offered to her eyes. She saw a Russian soldier in the garden. He was dying and bleeding. Someone had shot him. The soldier tried to put a white tissue on his gun in order to surrender to the enemy. When a German soldier saw him trying to surrender he shouted “Now you want to surrender?! Drop you filthy Russian!” and he shot him without a hesitation. After he had shot him, the German soldier pulled away the dead body of the Russian. My grandma’s mother noticed that something was lying on the place where Russian soldier had previously been lying. She called for her oldest sun to cautiously take that. It was lying approximately 1 meter from the window so it wasn’t hard to reach it. After he had taken the thing lying on the ground they recognized that it was a white piece of paper with something wrapped in it. When they took the paper of there was a peace of paper with something written in it and enclosed in the Bible. In that paper was written “Be careful. Do what is right. Your mom.” There was also the address of the soldier and his name as well. Later on, after this terrible scene, my grandma’s family tried to send it to the address but that attempt was unsuccessful. After they had seen the Bible and the piece of paper my grandmas mother and her son went downstairs, back to the beerhouse where others were waiting tensely. When my grandma saw the piece of paper with the legacy she broke into tears. The fear was floating in the air.
Suddenly, the door of the beerhouse was knocked open. A Russian soldier fell into the room. He was bleeding. “We are surrounded by Germans. Our soldiers are dying rapidly fast. Your house is surrounded by Germans trying to put mines around it. All of us are going to die.” After he had said these 3 sentences he fell on the floor, dead. After this unexpected statement of a Russian soldier villagers thought that they would die. Some of them and my grandma as well started to pray.
Surprisingly the Second wave of Russian soldiers rushed and attacked Germans from behind. Since German soldiers weren’t prepared, Russians took the advantage into their hands. They started to chase off Germans. When Germans saw this scene they were stunned and stiff as boards. They rapidly lost a significant number of soldiers. Luckily for my grandma, Russian soldiers chased off Germans and rescued her family from the house which was in ruins. None of the villagers along with my grandma that were hiding in the beerhouse were hurt.
In spite of a fact that every member of my grandmas’ family stayed alive, this experience would have constant place in her memory for ever. I don’t know what happened with the Bible which my grandma’s family found. Truth is that my grandma had the Bible for a short period of time but then during the time when she and her family moved from the destroyed village, she probably lost it.
No way how to return home?
In the year 1945, when the World War II. ended, it wasn't the end for everybody.
One mistake changed a life of a young man called Jani Báči. And the real "war" started for him
when it ended for others. Jani Báči was my father's grandfather. He was a part of this strong
emotional story, which my grandfather told me.
Jani Báči lived in a small city called Senec, which is located in southwest Slovakia.
During World War II, that part of Slovakia was taken by Hitler from Slovaks and given to
Hungarians. Here comes one of the moments that changed Jani's life. Because
Senec now belonged to the Hungarians, everyone who was born there had to become a Hungarian soldier now. Jani was one of them.
When Russians won the war, they let Slovakian soldiers go home, because Slovaks were
their allies during the war. But Hungarian soldiers were in bad position. They were taken as
Russian enemies {they were taken to Siberia}. Jani was one of the captives taken to cruel Siberia with its beautiful forests, but horrible climate.
After the war, Senec was to be part of Slovakia again, because Slovakia was an allied state to
The Russians who won the war. The Russians gave it back to the Slovaks as a price for helping them. When Jani heard about it, he was trying to explain to the Russians that he was Slovak. Finally he was allowed to go home. He traveled a long way home, and, he came to the area where he had lived his whole life before. He looked for the places that he knew so well when he was a child and where he used to hide from everybody when he needed to, where he played with his friends... Those places were all gone. It seemed as if they disappeared. But he still could find the river on which he grew up, where he returned every day again and again. In winter, he played ice- hockey there and when he had to take care of his little sister, he was just ice- skating with her there. During the summer, he was swimming there or just laying on the grass next to the water. But always he stayed at lonely place where nobody was around him. But he couldn't find the football pitch where he was playing with another boys football every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. When he had to take care about his younger sister and he wanted to play football, he brought her with him in a carriage and used her as a one of the two sticks that are around the goalkeeper, so the players from the opposite team know where they should shoot the goals. But that were the old times, when he was small careless child. Now, he was walking near to the train station.
But there, at the train station in Senec, transports with Hungarian soldiers were prepared to be
sent to Russia. Jani had only 8 kilometers left to get home, but Russian police caught him and
didn't believe him that he was allowed to go home. They thought he ran from the transport sent
to Russia and then, they placed him on it. It was an old train with lots of soldiers, women with their children and babies fearly crying. The train engine went on, train started to shake cruelly. Jani was sent back to Russia, to the Karelofinland, next to the Onega lake. Karelofinland is located in Russia near to Finland. Jani saw there the most beautiful nature for him- lonely, silent forests "covered" by fog. As he was walking through it, there always appeared some lake or marsh that surprised him. When he saw the Onega lake, he was impressed by its majesty and hugeness.
These captives were placed in families and they had to work there. Jani worked as a woodcutter. They worked really hard every day and had hard times. He was placed with one family consisting of a widow with her two children. As Jani was a prisoner there for eight years, he had also some children with that widow, because by the long eight years when he was captured there, he had lost any hope and chance to return back home.
Once, the woodcutters were transporting the wood through the Onega lake on a great boat. An accident happened to them. Everywhere a Russian soldier should go with them- to guard them, so no-one will escape. So there was a Russian soldier in the boat with them. But suddenly, they heard a terrible "crack" and the boat sank. There were a lot of people from the boat in the water and they didn't know how to swim. Jani, as a Slovak who had grown up on the small Danube, was an excellent swimmer. He saved the Russian soldier, even though he new they were enemies. Lots of people died there.
When then Russians were told this, they let him went home. But it had to be hard for
Jani- could he leave the family where he lived and had there children? Should he stay there with
a feeling that he had a chance to return home and he decided to not see it anymore, to not see his
real family and home any more?
On the way home, Jani met one man with very similar life story to Jani's. They became to be very good friends.
That man from the train on the way home he met died, because when they were in Russia, they didn't get enough food there. When they came back to Slovakia, that man had eaten so much food that he died from it. Jani came back home after these 8 years. His family thought he was dead. He had never known nothing more about his Russian's family.
hrozno
Mom´s experience...
One day my mom told me a story from her childhood. This story took place in Stupava, a little village near Bratislava, about 20km from our capital city.
It was a normal day like any other except that it was a weekend. My mom, her name is Ingrid, went out with her 2 best friends Luba and Eva. They went to the streets, just to chill out. Because Stupava was a small village it often happened that you met someone you know. And this time it happened. They met their (lets call her “friend“) who lived on the same street. Her name was Blanka. She was a strange girl with not ver ypolite bahavior but they didn´t care and still were nice to her. So these 4 girls went together to a playground where they used to sit and talk. That playground was really enjoyable and colorful. They liked it, because there was one bench which was big and comfortable and they loved to sit there. This day wasn´t any exception. Eva had a problem and so it was obvious that she told it to her friends. The problem was that she had problems with“girly things“. By this term i mean girls period. Ina
( my mom´s nickname) tried to help her so they were talking about it for a long time. It was getting late and they decided to go home before it will get dark.
The next day after they went home from their schol( high schol) , soem huy went straight ahead to Eva and said: „ Eva why didn´t you tell us? I don´t know how can you handle this...“ Eva looked really surprised and she asked him what was he talking about. „Don´t pretend like you don´t know waht im talking about“ said that guy. „ you are pregnant! How could you think that we wouldn´t have known it! Come on Eva this is a tiny village.“ Eva was shocked and she tried to tell him that i tis not true what he just said. He didn´t listen he just started laughing and walked away.
Eva went crazy and she started shouting and screaming at my mom, sayin hoe could she had said something stupid like that and she started saying the whole village will now know that she is pregnant even it wasn´t true. If they had found out she was pregnant, it would be very unpleasant situation. Her relationships with other people would change rapidly. Ingrid was sad and she tried to explain to Eva that she dint´t tell anyone anything. Eva just stopped her speech and went home. My mom was still thinking about what she had just told her. She was really anxious about who did it. „ Who could have said something like this?“ she asked her self.
The next day of course everyone knew that Eva was „pregnant“. People were mean to her, because she was just 17. My mom decided to find out the truth. She started with Luba and Blanka, because these two were with them on the playground when they were discussing Eva´s problem. Ina was sure that Luba would never ever do something mean like saying that someone is pregnant when the person is not. But Blanka... Blanka was known for her jealousy. She was jealous at everyone and anytime. The same day my mom came to Blanka and said:“ How could you have done it??!“ Blanka pretended like she didn´t know what was my mom talking about. After a while, she admitted that she was is. She had said it, bacause she liked Eva´s boyfriend and she wanted him. Ingrid made her to apologize to Eva and tell everyone that she just made the whole thing abou Eva´s pregnancy up.
After she have done it, everything seemed to be better. People weren´t mean to Eva anyore. And Blanka? Blanka got what she desereved. For a mont she didn´t go out, because she realized that she should change her personality and she felt bad about her self. From that day Eva had decided to be more careful to whom she was telling her personal sectrets...
lil lia :P
Lost gift
I´m going to tell you a story my mum told me about my grandma. Her name is Anka and she lives in a very small village Spišské Bystré right next to Poprad in eastern Slovakia. There´s a beutiful nature with a lot of mountains and forests , and the freshest air you can imagine! One day my parents bought Anka a little present, very little. A white doggy that looked like a snowball! I was about one year old then. When the holiday came the doggy had to say goodbye to our apartment in Bratislava and went with us to visit my grandma.
She was so happy and surprised when she saw him! She named him Bruno, nobody knows why. Anka was a teacher and every day she went to schol Bruno walked her through the big garden with hundreds of flowers which my grandma loves so much and he was waiting at the gate till she came back. Everytime he saw her coming, his tale was turning around , his eyes were sparkling and he was jumping and running to and fro, that happy he was.
One day when grandma arrived home Bruno wasn´t standing by the gate. She was calling him, looking for him all over the garden but after a while she realized he was gone. She asked some people in the street if they´d seen Bruno and they said some Gipsies had been running with him away into their shanty town. Grandma immediately ran there. Their few damaged doorless and windowless houses stood in the very beginning of the village near a little bridge. The Gipsies were always standing in the middle of the road or sitting on the bridge´s paraper like sparrows glaring at everyone who walked around. There was a huge amount of garbage in the brook and all around and a lot of dirty dogs. Some Gipsies are quite nice but most of people hate them because “they´re dirty and stinky and too lazy to find a job so they just steal.”
So my grandma walked up there and she was so angry she would beat them all. Her face was red and she could barely find the right words to yell at them. Gipsies´ faces were very surprised and shocked that someone is blaming them. They were really good actors.. Anka would have almost believed them when barking of a baby-dog sounded. Bruno rushed out.
That was the last time any Gipsy was that near to him. He is fourteen years old now and he carefully protects Anka´s house and everytime she comes home he is turning his tail around and jumping on the fence.
Cz
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