“My father was still in American captivity at the time. When we arrived in Niklasdorf, we became the chiefs; we were allowed to bring fifty kilos per person, or take with us and then that it was investigated accordingly, what could be taken away or what was given out. The clambs or clothes of my father were immediately thrown into the corner for the simple reason - my father was not there. And so we stayed then in the Niklasdorf lager until the resettlement.”
“From my father my uncle had a farm in Černá Voda. He has done one thing. During the Nazi period he secretly put food to the Russians, who had to work in the forest. The German rights have indicated he had to sit after Tropau for half a year. On the occasion of his release to the Czech Republic he acquired that he could stay. The only problem was they took his farm away. During the time when he was at the farm, another Czech came and took the farm there, and he had to buy a new farm in Červená Voda. He once visited Leonberg in Stuttgart, and begged bitterly.”
“I started to visit my old home because of my mother's urge to go to the Czech Republic for the first time without a visa, and then I went to Černá voda for the first time."
“And we came to Reisum, which was municipality B ... Beuren. There we had been divided to a farmer, who was not exactly friendly to us. He had 30 dairy cows, but he could not provide us with a liter of milk. So we had to get the milk three kilometers away in the dairy, it was skim milk from the next community.”
“Since then I was with my grandmother and my sister was also taken care of by my grandma, we were the only family left. That was until the end of March 1946, when we were resettled. And from the end of October 1945 we stayed with the grandma and she was in charge of us. In March 1946 the police arrived at six or five in the morning and picked us up. We had to leave the house within two hours. My grandmother and my aunt have stayed because my grandmother had a small farm and had to cattle. My aunt was not even allowed to go to Niklasdorf. My sister and I, we were resettled alone, from Černá voda to Niklasdorf.”
"Ich habe begonnen, meine alte Heimat zu besuchen aufgrund des Drangs meiner Mutter 1991, wo man das erstenmal ohne Visum in die Tschechei konnte. Dann bin ich zum erstenmal nach Schwarzwasser gekommen."
“Yes, my mom said at the time, that we might buy it again. I said it is illusory, what do you want here, as we have our own house at home; what shall we do here? The time has passed by us.”
At that time, in his day, Černá Voda was a purely German territory, at least as far as the inhabitants were concerned. He spent all war with his parents in Černá Voda, where he studied the German elementary school until 1945. His father was a trained stone technician. His mother was a housewife in the household. The resettlement reached him in March 1946. At that time he lived with his grandmother, because his mother was brought to Frauenlager in Freiwaldau (Jeseník). In Germany the time was not easy at first, until the family was back together and had a decent housing situation. After studying, Mr. Schnalke worked for Bosch, with whom he even left for Ghana. He began to visit his homeland mainly because of his mother. She was so enthusiastic that she wanted to buy a house again. This, however, seemed to him highly illusory. He was very well aware of the difference in the fate of the people who remained in the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, he still continues to visit his homeland repeatedly after the death of his mother.
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!
