"I will tell you how we were scared once the Germans came. The Germans came to us on the Allsaints' day. And they shot at our village and then sent us back home. We went to the mountains. They returned us, but did not harm us, but repeated to return home or else they will shoot us. So we obeyed. But we were scared, they cast us out of the cottage. We stood outside, we were not allowed to return to the room. A half from Nastice belonged to the Hlinka's guard. The members of the Hlinka's guard were also here, all the villages around Banovce were mostly guards, they supported Tiso. Of course, we had Hlinka's guards also here in Ksinna who supported Germans. We were scared. They drove us out of our cottages and the members of the Hlinka's guard and Germans plundered them. They were looking for money, food, bacon, meat. But they didn't find any money since we have taken all money with us, when they expelled us. We returned, they called us inside and ordered us to return into the room. We were told not to stay outside. When we returned everything was a mess, barrels, beads, everything,...."
0:23:33 - 0:26:15 - Germans and guards looted houses in Kšinná, looking for money and food
"The whole village brought food to the partisans. Only bacon, meat, we gave them such good things. (We cooked at home) and we carried it to the mountains. We also baked bread and brought it all to the mountains, for the partisans. And they were already waiting. They said - bring it there to this place and where we will wait, bring it to us and that's it. They asked us in advance and were hiding there and waiting. (Weren't you scared?) Well, we were afraid they'd catch us there. Like with that gun when I carried that gun to my brother... Well, I went, my God... what could I have done? He left it there, forgot her it of fear, and then I carried it with fear. After all, they were good partisans. "
0:50:15 - 0:51:38 - Margita, her parents and other villagers brought food to the partisans in the mountains
"I carried it, but how. I'm ... My brother came home to change, he was a partisan. And he changed into clean clothes because the partisans were already dirty, it's true when they weren't even bathed ... So he slept at home, spent the night. (He slept in the attic, the German soldiers slept in the kitchen). We woke him up smartly to go away. He left his gun at home! He forgot, leaving the gun at home out of fear. And so my father put it in my bag so I could drag it to the mountains, he will be waiting for me there. He asked me to leave the gun for him there. Well, I dragged it to him, he was already waiting for me, but I gave it to him there. But if the Germans met me then, they would kill me. But, fortunately, not a single German showed up in the mountains when I was going there. "
0:20:38 - 0:21:52 - Margita carried a gun for partisan brother to the mountains that he forgot at home
Margita Duchová, born Čukanová, was born on October 16, 1926 in Kšinná near Uhrovec. Father Michal Čukan and mother Katarína, born Števková had six children. Margita was third. Her father was a major of Kšinná. The family subsisted on agriculture and children had to help from an early age. After graduating from school, she also went to work as a seasonal labourer near Vienna, where she experienced bombing. Her brother Ján Čukan was a member of the Jan Žižka Partisan Brigade. During the Slovak National Uprising, Jews hid in the house, but it was dangerous for both sides. Later, their father took them to the prepared bunkers behind the village. They cooked food and carried it to the partisans to the mountains. Margita also carried a weapon to the mountains that her brother had forgotten at home when he came to wash and sleep. A German staff also resided in their house for a while. They also experienced a raid by German soldiers and guards, who searched their house for food and money. The father gave all the money to the children so that they could hide it and have something to buy bread for if the Nazis accidentally dragged it away. The villagers supported the partisans until the end of the war in April 1945. After the war they had to hand over high contingents, later came collectivization. Margita and her family had to hand over horses, cows and land. She got married and had three children with her husband Adam Duch. She worked as a milkmaid on a cooperative, later in a furniture company. She has never been politically involved. At the time of the documentation, the nearly 95-year-old pensioner lived in the Home of Social Services in Kšinná. Margita Duchová died on October 5, 2022.
Hrdinové 20. století odcházejí. Nesmíme zapomenout. Dokumentujeme a vyprávíme jejich příběhy. Záleží vám na odkazu minulých generací, na občanských postojích, demokracii a vzdělávání? Pomozte nám!
