Ludmila Mikulčíková

“In September they announced they would get to the methane, which I sent him to go. So he went to work and he did it, and then when Jožinek was born in the year 1957, they fired him from the job until daddy joins the cooperative... the municipal office, all communist were there... and the young one may go to work. So they left him at home. I was trying to make as much as living, and he stayed half a year at home I think. And then doctor Lédlová came over to check on him, how he looks and how we lived. And she came to us in the worst misery. He was down with influenza, I two young children, and the doctor came and said he needs to eat well. I say, "But how? From his job he was fired, when his father-in-law signed up until his father-in-law signed for the cooperative, only then he could look for a job.´ - ´No, you need to file a request at the village municipality, he has to go to work, a family is threatened here, they have to allow him to work.´ That's how we wrote it, and they said: ´When the old man signs, the young one can go to work.´ And nothing was happening. Well, then, cooperative was established and we were already so exhausted, totally done, farmers, we too. Because we were still counted us among the farmers. We had a horse and cows and pigs as it used to be in the farm. And so the farmers did not want to. But then they were against them, their children were fired, so they agreed and then went to get signed in the cooperative.”

„There were three tickets for the parish here. So the three of us travelled. I did not have a passport, so I went to Hodonín, I had to take a picture and went out to arrange it, and they were laughing, but they did not make any trouble anymore. Maybe they could see that it was going down, so they promised that at midnight we would be back on a special train in Brno, there were three trains prepared out there. And at about twelve we were in Břeclav, but now the customs officers have asked us for goods to declare. Moravian-Slovac region can never go without wine. So off we went. Then, when it was ringing the next day at noon, we arrived in Rome. We prayed and sang.” – “You went to Rome for St. Agnes´ sainthood. How do you recall this particular event?” – “it was very nice and there was much enthusiasm. I had a lot of talk about it, and then it was on TV too, we already had a TV, and I said, "Look well, girls, I was sitting behind that lady, she was also dressed in Kyjov's costume.” We had a great deal of push as we were in costumes. So they encouraged us: "The ones in costumes should go forward ... right behind the nuns.” The priests, nuns and those in costumes were sitting down. I sat in the third row behind nuns. We were excited. Then we went to the audience, as planned, and we sat there in that hall, and František Tomášek suddenly rushed in there. And the Holy Father... He went and the first... there were those, who were from Slovakia, and with the Slovaks we were there together... there were ten thousands of people.” – “You felt just like one family.” – “Indeed we did. So we smiled at each other and handed our hands for a quiet greeting. And then the Father stood up, and he welcomed our Father first. Well, it was a good feeling for us as we thought that he would be the closest thing to the Holy Father in his heart. But when we drove back, it was so enthusiastic. We had already gathered, that was three trains, and I do not remember the station where we met, and the windows were opened, and they called out to each other: “There are nine holes in Berlin in that wall!” They´ve already started breaking down the wall and there was one Marian song heard from carriage to carriage and we were already singing, we were not afraid anymore.“