Jan Turek

"At that time, these activities - meeting at our place - had to cease. But we the work in the resistance continued. We helped obtain food stamps for illegaly residing people. Sometimes, I was entrusted with that task myself. I went to visit our relatives mostly in Nymburk, around Žďár and to Rožďalovice from where I brought either money or food stamps. Via her brother, my mum passed these on for illegaly staying people. This had begun very early - already since 1939, 1940. On the same occassion, we distributed illegal magazines. Especially Rudé právo but also V boj and others. Later, there were Předvoj or Aktiv. As a schoolboy, I used my bag to transport various things. I was ordered not to stop anywhere, not to talk to anyone and to return straight away."

"There was a machine-gun, which posed a threat to the whole Domažlická street, all the way up towards Jeseniova where there used to be explosives factory. It was place at the Vítkov hill in a concrete toilet shed. They had their cover there and from up there, they were endangering passers-by. People who needed to run across to the barricade at Ohrada had to be very careful there. An order came in to liquidate that machine-gun. Major Kubala was put in charge of that but it also concerned us. Cpt. Herold sent the six of us as reinforcement to fulfill that task. A group of experienced soldiers were supposed to crawl up, encircle that nest and liquidate it with a grenade. We were placed in houses with windows facing Vítkov, and were supposed to attract attention by rifle fire. Despite having cover, one of our boys was wounded by a piece of plaster which ricochetted from a bullet."

"We were sent to reinforce this barricade. We had no panzerfausts left down there. They handed out bottles filled with petrol covered in cloth - the cocktails. Plus each of us a container with petrol or alcohol. We were distributed to the first floors in the houses in that street so that - in case they broke through that barricade - we'd be throwing it down on them."

"He threatened my mum and left. He left a Czechoslovak policeman behind to finish the house search. So, they carried on with it. After an hour, he returned and said: 'She had slept here! On that bed!" That meant they caught her and beat the confession out of her. My mum said: 'You should have said so, I haven't recognized her, I am short-sighted. Yes, she had slept here because she wasn't able to get a hotel, everything was full. I went to close the door and she asked me to let her sleep over and offered good money. I am a poor woman and need every penny.' That SS-man shouted at her that they would have us arrested the next day. Then they left."