"In the morning the Russians were already there and my uncle said to me, 'Give the Russian soldier a beer bottle,' and so the young soldier went and I helped him with the beer bottle, but the Russians could only be with us for a short time. They had to leave pretty soon. And they were all on the truck, only the young Russian soldier who was carrying the beer was missing. Now he was spotted by this limping officer with a walking stick, and now the boy dropped the bass on the ground and ran to the truck, because everybody was already there. He was beating him with his walking stick before he got on the back of the truck."
“I was thrilled with Mongolia, I enjoyed the work, even though we worked on Saturdays too. I was the chief construction engineer of the glue plant. Our company ZPS managed the construction technology of the glue factory, providing a large part of the supplies of machinery. My job was to put them into operation. I had people from Adamov who were doing mixers, there were people from Milevsko who were doing air conditioning. And there were also builders. My wife was there with me back then, but I needed to have some fun for the boys, my co-workers, to keep them from drinking. There were such tendencies. So, I arranged a trip to Gobi for my friends. We flew there. We could also go fishing. It was very nice. There are plenty of things to say about this stay. Everything was not 100%. Maybe my guys sometimes did rogue things that had to be solved.”
“The German soldiers baked bread made of our uncle's flour. They needed supplies. They baked bread, but they returned the flour before they left at night. The supply came to them later than they needed to bake bread. And in the morning, there were already Russians - the Soviet army. There were Romanians in Zlín, Russians here. They did not come in tanks, but in trucks and armored cars. My uncle, who was making his stout, told me to give a Russian soldier the casket of those beers. He was a young soldier, I helped him with it. But the Russians were in a hurry. Everyone else was already on the trucks, only he was missing. Suddenly, such a limp Russian officer with a baton appeared, the soldier dropped his beers and ran to the truck. The officer beat him until he climbed up the back.”
“Daddy managed to buy a piggy together with the neighbors. Killing a pig was not allowed at that time. I remembered how it was with my uncle in the country. He always kept two pigs, but only one was reported and the other we ate secretly. And my dad and his friends had got a piggy in Hostišová at that time and were planning a pig slaughter. But I got to know about it, I ran around Letna, jumped up and shouted that we will have a pig slaughter. My father chased me, and when he caught up with me, he beat me hard. That was the first beating I got from my Dad. I spoke too loud about things that were secret. That was in 1944 or in 1943.”
Alois Laznicka was born on March 29, 1936 in Zlin. The father worked as a turner at Bata. He experienced the end of the Second World War in Koněšín in the Highlands, where the family resorted for fear of bombing Zlín. His father was a Sokol instructor and in 1948 he led an expedition of Zlín gymnasts to the Sokol Meeting. Even little small Alois trained at Strahov, who from his early childhood excelled in sports. He did gymnastics, and successfully competed in athletics and skiing. After his knee injury he started to practice orienteering, which was just beginning in Czechoslovakia. The Zlín section was one of its pioneers. He has been a representative in this sport for ten years. In 1960 he helped the Czechoslovak team to win a medal at international races in Bulgaria. He started at the first World Cup in Finland. He graduated from the Technical University, specializing in shoemaking machines. He worked in Zlín Precision Engineering Works. In 1966 he joined the Communist Party, during checks after 1968 was expelled from the party. After leaving he also trained the national youth team. In the 1980s he built a large-scale shoe glue factory in Mongolia. He helped modernize factories in Poland, Siberia or Algeria. At the age of eighty-eight he won a gold medal at the World Orienteering Championship. He was an active member of the Baťa School of Labor Graduates Club and promoted shoe craft.
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!
