"They were forcing people into kolkhozes, into cooperative farms - well, that's what we were experiencing, because my husband had the German grain binder" - "What did he have, excuse me?" - "There was a grain binder that cut and tied, laid the sheaves. The hard work was gone. They took that away - all the binders, they created agriculture machines cooperatives. They took the machines which people got after the Germans had left. They even took my husband's horse rake, imagine. You know? They took this, they took tractors from people where they had them, about four or how many. Everything like that away from the people... and they were forcing them enter into the cooperative farm." - "And did you join the cooperative farm after all?" - "Four farmers said they wouldn't join, and we were among them. But we were stupid." - "How so?" - "Well, because we thought we could break through the wall."
"He was shot. They were going... there was some fog, the commander ordered them to go. So they were attacking, without any artillery preparation. The Carpathian Mountains were occupied, the Dukla Pass, by Germans. So he said that they had been seen and they had been shooting, right? Without any preparation, it was foggy. Well, he talked a lot [about it]. He was shot in the left hand, he said, yes, and he wanted to bandage it by his right hand somehow. As he reached for the bandage, his elbow... and that's where he was shot. With a dumdum bullet which expanded. About eight inches of his bone are missing here, that's why he's wearing a prosthesis. Without a prosthesis that arm isn´t functional." - "So he actually came back as a war invalid, you could say." - "[He has been disabled] for all his life, since he was eighteen. He was eighteen, right."
"Do you have a life credo? A motto or a quote, an idea that you like in your life ?" - "So that I could stay in the church and in connection with the congregation and the God until I die. I would wish that for all of us: to anchor ourselves in these serious things that carry on into eternity. Probably like this."
She was born on 20 February 1927 in Lysá nad Labem. Her father Josef Šerák‘s relatives lived in the Czech compatriot village of Český Boratín in Volhynia in today‘s Ukraine. In 1944, several of these relatives enlisted in the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, went through the Battle of the Dukla Pass and contributed to the liberation of Czechoslovakia. Libuše‘s half-cousin and future husband Jan Opočenský also joined the eastern army. He was wounded near Krosno and spent three years in military hospitals. In 1947, similarly to his other relatives, he was given a farm of the expulsed Germans in Chotiněves in Litoměřice. Libuše, who had come to Chotiněves for a summer job, married Jan Opočenský in the same year. They began to farm together, but soon had to deal with communist collectivization efforts. It was not until 1960 that they handed over their fields to a cooperative farm. Then they both worked as cooperative farmers. Their life was closely connected to the Church of Czech Brethren congregation in Chotiněves, and their son became an evangelical pastor. Libuše worked until 1982. Libuše Opočenská passed away on year 2018.
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!
