Ing. Karel Mornstein-Zierotin

“Mum’s cousin Podstatský of Litenčice was put in prison arbitrarily. He spent three years in detention. There was virtually no accusation, and all his property was confiscated in the meantime. Then when Gottwald died and Zápotocký came, he was released upon having to sign a document to the effect that all measures taken thus far remain valid, including the confiscation of property of course. So as a result he spent three years in prison for nothing and lost all his property. But he was a patriot who had demonstrably supported the guerrillas and the resistance – and this is what he got.”

“The local agile communists arranged for almost all rooms to be sealed. As a result, my grandmother and my mother’s sister – my aunt – lived in the rooms that were left on the ground floor. Or course their life was not very pleasant. They [communists] placed as many restrictions on them as they could, so it was not joyous for them at all.”