"They tested everyone, and so they wanted to test us as well. But we knew already, so we went with them, and we ran away in the end. And we no longer wanted to be Kovpak's men. We said: 'Let's go back, that's better.' But we never told them, because we were afraid that Russians might take their revenge on us. Nobody would trust us anymore. We went back all the way to Žilina."
"When we were there, Černý's dad told us about everything because he had built the fortifications, and so we knew all about it. And then we were in contact with the Red Army, so we trafficked people to Bratislava. The battle of Bratislava started from the castle; it houses their Parliament now. That's where the combat started, and Bratislava was won in six hours."
"I went to get some bread in Sučany. First, I asked for water, and then I said: 'I need a little bread.' The farmer looked at me and gave me a bit of bread. I said: 'I need one more.' So he gave me one more slice. So we went and he shouted at us to come back. He told us how to reach the guerrillas, lest we wandered uselessly."
"We had drunk some, and the German was looking at me. He was dead, but he was still looking at me. So I thought: 'I cannot do this, I must run away.' I figured that once I shoot my way through, I will run away. But in the meantime, Germans caught our reconnaissance men and did horrible things to them. They cut out their tongues, teeth, fingers, genitals - everything. So I thought, if I could kill a hundred more, I will stay and fight Germans."
"So we said, let's go. And since Germans would grant leaves to their good workers, we worked so as to get the leave too. We worked well and they granted us leave. Instead of enjoying the leave, we went to our place and told them we were going to the works, and we went to the works and told them we were going to the Hlavičkas' place, and we left. We took a train to Veselí nad Moravou and then we walked."
Michal Hlavička was born in Budkovce in Slovakia on 12 March 1923, and when he was six years old his family moved to Velešice near Litoměřice. He obtained a fitter training in Mladá Boleslav and went on to work at Škoda. He was dismissed and deployed on forced labour in Mimoň, but decided to escape due to the local conditions, and he and friends made it through Slovakia towards Kiev. He was in contact with Soviet guerrillas from General Kovpak‘s brigade in what is Ukraine today, and he had an opportunity to join them. He eventually returned to Žilina in Slovakia and joined the Milan Rastislav Štefánik guerrilla brigade on 1 August 1944 and participated in the Slovak National Uprising. He became a platoon leader with the guerrillas, and when the brigade was dissolved, he was involved in the battle towards the liberation of Bratislava. After the war, he worked as a fitter in Pardubice and at Škoda. He lived in Jaroměř. Michal Hlavička died in February 2021.
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!
