Stanislav Chromčák

“And then, so to say, they had to scare the nation. And so they selected people who did not fit their standards and who were known for never bending. Because our nation was not used to this new collective economy. Frankly speaking, my original occupation was agriculture, I studied Masaryk’s agrarian school in Opava which was at that time the most renowned agrarian school in the whole of Czechoslovakia, the second one being in Čáslav. We studied private economy; we were not brought up for Soviet-style kolkhozes. That was different and it had shown itself in the whole nation. Those farmers had a terrible aversion towards it. And this one whom I had talked about – he had horses and would lend them to me when I needed to cultivate my own land. One could see that he was a farmer who would never bend to anyone. Since the agricultural collective had not been established there yet, his friends had sent him to Auxilliary Technical Battalions. His name was Štach.”

“As far as service goes, when the Soviets got as far as to our place, they begun running out of petrol. A special train was dispatched from the east with twenty-five cistern cars. I had not known it was bringing petrol for the Russian units. It was an extraordinary event and when the train began its journey someone anonymously announced its number and time of arrival and told me: ‘There will be a overheated bearing in the train, have it repaired.’ Anyone working in the branch knows how long it lasts and how far it can go. It had been calculated so that it would knock over at my station. Twenty-five cisterns with petrol. I was hesitant. If I were to do such a thing, that would mean commiting suicide. I probably wouldn’t be sitting here now if I did. I do not know how they found out but when this train left Půchov, the Soviets soon found out about the overheating bearing. They stopped, the train returned to Půchov and the military units would then return and refuel there.”