"We are now in Ležáky, where the mill used to stand. I was born here on the first floor, my parents lived there. My mom was cooking for Jiří Potůček. Our grandpa and grandma lived in Včelákov, and the Gestapo took us away from here. They had taken my grandparents before, but I and my sister were in the neighbour's house at that time."
"From my uncle, Václav Pelikán, I know that when Jiří Potůček Tolar (the paratroper) came here, my mom cooked for him. Unfortunately I don't remember anything from that time, and not even from the time when I lived with my grandparents. I only remember the moment when they were taking us from the children's home in Bruškov (Bruckau). There were six or eight of us children, but I don't remember their names anymore. There was Venda Zelenka from Lidice, for example. After a few days they were suposed to take us to Puszczykowo in Poland. From there I was sent to be Germanized. Mr. Paetel came for me with a black car to take me to his family. He was an agricultural engineer."
"At first I lived with Mrs. Židová (from Lidice) in Kročehlavy. Mr. Ondráček then took me to my grandpa in Včelákov. I could not speak Czech when I returned in June 1946. In 1947 I began going to school. I brought exercise-books from the German school with me, but I hadn't filled in many of the exercises because I had not been going to school there long. I had to learn Czech; I used incorrect grammar in sentences, like using feminine verb endings when talking about a boy. The school principal was strict and I was afraid. I allegedly corrected him when he called my name: 'Ich bin nicht Jamila Špulik, ich bin Camilla Paetel.'"
Jarmila Dolezalova was born in a mill in Ležáky on November 13, 1939 as Jarmila Šťulíková. Her sister Marie is a year and a half younger. On June 24, 1942, Germans burnt the mill and the nearby village of Ležáky. The children from the village were at first taken to Zámeček (Little Chateau) in Pardubice, and from there to Dyk Street in Prague (Rassen ud Siedlungsamt). There, the Šťulík sisters were selected as suitable for the Germanization program. All 13 of the children in the village were sent to the assembly camp in Łódź in Poland. Eleven of them later died in gas chambers in Chelmno. The Šťulík sisters were sent to children‘s homes in Bruckau and Puschkau. Jarmila was placed into the family of Rudolf Paetel, who renamed her Camilla, due to her Polish sounding name. Placing an ad in the newspaper after the war, her adoptive parents reported that they had been taking care of a child whom they had adopted during the war. Jarmila was subsequently transported to Czechoslovakia. At first she was taken care of by Mrs. Židová from Lidice, and then by her grandfather František Pelikán who returned to Včelákov from the Buchenwald concentration camp after the war. She graduated from the Teaching School in Litomyšl and worked as a kindergarten teacher. She lives in Včelákov and has seven children.
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!
