"We thought about ourselves so mature, that we used to say: there ain´t nothing going to happen to us, when we so the ruins all over. We didn’t want to be here, we were forced to come here. There were also groups of volunteers, but we didn’t talk to them. For us they were just a human scrap."
"We had one huge event during our forced labor in Hamburg. I was there with my friend called Ziza, who lived later in Australia. It was morning and we couldn´t see anything. The fuel tanks were on fire, it was very hot that day too. The enclosure walls and the chimney was all left from the building, because the chimneys were not allowed to be built inside of the walls. Everything was on fire. That was an ugly experience and I denounce the war, it is awful."
"After the Stalingrad battle (in Russia) where the German army got beat up and some of the Germans sons and other relatives were killed the Germans changed their attitude toward their own regime. Before that they were at least pretending that they agree with it, but then they started to associate with us more, because they knew we stayed back all the time, we didn’t want to be part of it. We thought about it all as a forced act. This was an experience I wasn’t to forget in my future life."
"Because most of us there were students we felt more or less better. The Poles were there, also some prisoners, but we couldn´t talk to them. They were for an example unloading the wagons, but we had different jobs. We used to throw them bread or kohlrabi under the wagon, because we had plenty of food, but they didn´t have much of anything."
"...and we jumped into the ditch, where German women with their dirty kids were hiding covered with blankets. We just told to ourselves: so this is what you wanted? …One has to play it over again in his mind."
"It was very important that we could receive packages from home. My mom roasted a half of the hen and sent it by train. I picked it up the next day. It was an express train going from Prague to Kiel. I always came to the train station to pick it up. This happened once in a while and everybody was keen on it, because I always shared it with everyone.”
"Back then we were thinking of running away too Denmark. It is very close from Kiel to Denmark. The Germans didn’t speak Czech, so when we were listening to London radio station we told them we are listening to Prague radio instead. But then one boy from other group informed against us and we had to go to court. Two boys from our group were sent to Osvetim concentration camp."
"Imagine this: the whole apartment was upside down, everything broken, the people inside were dead and there is a note on the table saying ´dinner is ready, just heat it up´. I was only nineteen back then, didn’t know much about life."
"I was at Liben (part of Prague) at the end of the war. On the same place where the police directory was we were building the barricades now. We were accommodated in school across the Liben castle. The fire department was there too so we had to work out and practice often there so we would get lazy. We help with the barricade in Liben, today’s Zenklova Street. (Former Mayor Blvd.) The Germans came with tanks from the upper Liben plaza and forced the people running in front of the tanks to take down the barricades. We didn’t have any weapons; I managed to purchase the gun, so all we had were two guns. But we better hid away, because there was no defense, the Germans we proceeding further. When they found us they made us stand in the line. Of course we threw away our guns, because the Germans broke the barricade and were all over there...We have been reclassified to an organized unit as a Prague’s Guards. We spent some time guarding several places, me for an example the Invalidovna building. I was just standing there with the gun and didn’t know why. We still haven’t been demobilized, still operated as the organized unit."
"We watched the bombing planes flying over us thinking that nothing could happen to us. And then right next to me an incendiary bomb landed. It didn’t explode, thank God. And I was born again."
"We have been selected into groups, one, two, three. All of us were students. There was one, two, three...people from my class. One of the boys was in Narvick town. I exchanged letters with him. One of the boys was in Dortmund town. Our class was split all over and we were in Kiel."
Mr. Viktor Pelzel was born in 1923. He spent his childhood in Prague. His father was employed as a locksmith and his mom was dress maker. Mr. Pelzel was attending the Prague’s gymnasium and graduated in June 1942. During the summer he worked shortly in ČKD factory in Prague. He has been not accepted as a permanent employer, because men born in 1923 were supposed to be sending to the forced labor camp in Germany. And so he was. In September of 1942 was Mr. Pelzel included for the force labor camp. He left together with his friends by train guarded by police from Prague to Kiel via Hamburg. In Hamburg they have been formatted into groups. Mr. Pelzel was sent to the fire protection section so-called Luftschutz. Work in this group involved cleaning and slaking after the air attacks. Their duty was finished at the end of 1943 as they have been swap by other young men from Ostrava town. After that was Viktor Pelzel transported back to Prague where he worked in Prague’s fire department. On the May 5th 1945 he participated on disarming of the German soldiers in Liben (part of Prague). Here he also helped to build the barricades. On the May 9th 1945 was Mr. Pelzel sent to another part of Prague called Karlin where he guarded in the riffle pits. His war duty ended on May 17th 1945 when he got wounded on his arm. He has been called up for the two year general military training on October 1st 1945 to the military school in Litomerice town. After one year he left this school as a 2nd Lt. He passed the exams in Terezin town. The second year he spent in Pardubice town.
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!
