“As for the training, when we were enlisted, it was stated in our military book that one 'attended individual training without weapons'. We were the worst political class, labeled as 'E'. This is how I got to the military service and there in Hvězdov they trained us without weapons. Afterwards they assigned us to different building constructions. I was starting in Terezín, where the military stores were. From there I was transferred to Postoloprty in Czech, where were two battalions from Hvězdov. We were then one unit along with another PTP company there. The works took place at the Žatec military airport.”
“I tell you one story that happened. There was a young boy, who applied to the officer training school. They accepted him, he began his studies, but as they found out he had some relatives in America, they dismissed him immediately. Moreover, they sent him to place where we were enlisted, to the PTP. The only reason for him being there was that he had some kind of uncle somewhere abroad. Unfortunately, that was a common practice back then.”
“They took us everything during the uprising. Two trucks, a car for the purposes of the uprising. We had to submit it to the army and it took over. Then there was one insurgent who used to drive our car during the whole uprising. All of the mechanisms we used to own were seized, they even took us our horses. There were two or three levies for horses in Slovenská Ľupča and each time they took us one horse. In fact, nothing tangible was left from the company. No material, no mechanisms, they took it all.”
František Fábry was born on October 25, 1930 in Banská Bystrica. His father was a respected regional civil engineer. Later his family and the company moved to Slovenská Ľupča. Majority of property of the family company was requisitioned during the Slovak National Uprising and in 1948, their business was put under the state ownership. Yet after his father‘s death in 1950, František Fábry was allowed to study at the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava. In 1951 he had to enlist in the military service and he was assigned to units of Auxiliary Technical Battalions (PTP). After serving 26 months he was released to civilian life. He returned to the university and in 1959 he completed his engineering studies. Until his retirement in 1990 he worked in the building industry as a designer.
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