Ladislav Drahorád

"I remember the events surrounding the executions of the citizens of Ležáky. That day we heard repeated, frequent gunshots behind the tracks, and even in the evening there was still shooting, somehow into the night. They were bringing people from Ležáky there and executing them and taking them to the crematorium to be burned. According to the citizens who lived next to our field, they said that the Germans used to light the execution grounds with cars so that they could go on and execute people from Ležáky. I also found out later from Mr Pikl's daughter - her father had a funeral service. His chauffeur drove the executed people to the crematorium and back. The daughter told me that the driver was sitting and a soldier with a flint sat next to him. He had to back up, they loaded the executed, took them away and took them out again at the crematorium. He wasn't allowed to move from the driver's seat. I didn't learn this until after the war."

"As we were bathing there [near the Chateau] one day, we saw a platoon of soldiers move in. We as boys, when we saw the soldiers, immediately ran to the fence, our heads between the bars. There was a line of soldiers with rifles. At that time, I saw that they were leading an older white-haired gentleman who was handcuffed there through such a passage; he was blindfolded, his hands were cuffed behind him, and they were leading him there to the hillside and tying him to a stake. As boys we watched it. Only after they tied him to the stake, a guard came and chased us into a nearby wood, chased us out."