"You should have seen the mobilization – it was something the Czech nation cannot do today. How enthusiastic, energetic and fast the young boys were! I had there many friends and they would call me, ´Hi, hi, cross your fingers, support us, help us fight, we are going to fight. I stayed in a hostel for girls and a lot of boys went there to say goodbye. We did the programme in the radio in the evening and when we returned they were there ready to go. We expected that something was about to happen. There was enthusiasm everywhere, and everybody believed we would win. Nobody knew anything about the political background … Well, president Beneš decided – and I have supported him all my life even though many people bitterly criticized him. He couldn't go to war, as the Germans would have destroyed us. We had a good army and our lines were ready, but it was not enough … The people were not ready for such a war and thus we would have ended up like Poland. They would have destroyed us with all our hatred. We hated the Germans quite a bit – there were Germans in Lednice near here and they started to be active. And we, members of Sokol, provoked them: we came there on a wagon and we sang Czech national songs. We did not live in harmony with them. But we did not know about the future and the Henlein's movement in Sudetenland. We were afraid then. But we believed that our soldiers would fight bravely. Unfortunately, it was for nothing and Hitler wanted us to move to South America."
It was a terrible chaos. Nobody knew what to do. Terrible disappointment. Nobody could appreciate Hácha – it is now that we see what a difficult sacrifice it was for him. But it was not possible to do anything else. We knew there was a sword hanging over us – the life of the whole nation was at stake. Not lives of individuals but the life of the whole nation. We would have never recovered from that. Everyone experience it, both in Sokol and in the household. The worst were the traitors. Even here in Podivín. They really didn't need it, but they had brown shirts made and went to Brno to the meetings and they also informed the secret police.
“I had just one condition – I would go to the place from which I got the first reply. And it was one lawyer from Tačov in Carpathian Ruthenia.” Interviewer: “You graduated from a business high school, didn't you?“ "Well, it was a two-year business school. I was sixteen and I set off for the journey. My parents did not know that I had accepted the job. The lawyer sent me two hundred crowns for the journey, as I had written him I had no money. I was not earning any money at the time and I didn't want to ask my parents. I have been grateful for all my life that I made such a decision. It was quite courageous, really, my neighbors came running and said, Oh, God, how is it possible, you want to let her go, there are wolves in the streets. And they ran, I saw them. But the reality was wonderful – a beautiful country, the garden of Europe. One of my teachers, when he learned about my departure, wrote to me, ´Please, send me a package of the wonderful apples that grow in Ruthenia.´There were magical orchards called ´razy´. Well, a beautiful countryside.“
"Well, we had trouble. After the loyalty check he was told there was no place for him in the party. But we supported the Soviet Union then and were close to the communists. So we were disappointed. There was also the trouble with the studies – our neighbour told us directly that if people were not in the party their children could not go to high school. But my husband took no notice of what he said. He was not in the party but he had no enemies and he did what the party needed: they asked him to be a librarian so he did it for free. We started a music school so the children here did not have to go to Břeclav. We cleaned the building with our hands. They needed my husband in the cultural field so we had no trouble. But it was worse when our children finished school. "
Anybody who was interested in history knew that he and Masaryk were the first who built the country. He was a wonderful politician. He published beautiful books. My husband was a teacher and so we had some books by him. We always appreciated President Beneš. Unfortunately, he was an unlucky man. He had good intentions and he sacrificed himself. However, he came to a difficult time – such a difficult time. He suffered from an emotional and nervous breakdown. I know that Prague people resented him and there were some protests and defamatory songs. But the majority of the nation accepted him – he was elected unanimously. There was no protest. We knew that Beneš was able to keep it and we knew bad times were coming. He was very efficient – one of the best politicians. Masaryk had the contacts, but he did not work very much in politics. It was Beneš who worked there. He was excellent.“
Marie Ustohalová, née Obdržálková, was born in Angeln near Sankt Pölten in the Austro-Hungarian Empire where her parents had a farm. After the formation of independent Czechoslovakia, they returned to their home country in 1918. First they lived in Slovácko and then in Podivín near Břeclav where her father ran a restaurant. After her mother died, she went to Carpathian Ruthenia to find a job; there she lived for several years. However, due to the tense situation, she moved to Prague in 1938 where she worked as a journalist. There she experienced the mobilization, Munich Pact, and the German occupation in 1939. The occupation had a negative effect on public, cultural and sports life. Maria could not tolerate the ban of Sokol (a sports organisation), because she was an active member. It was one of the reasons why she moved back to the country, to Podivín, which was calmer than the city. She got married and had a baby, which was one of the reasons she did not fight against the Germans. However, the oppression of the Protectorate reached even Podivín - the local Jews were liquidated by the Nazis. After the war she hoped for a better future, however, the communists then seized power. Her daughter emigrated in 1968, so she had to wait for freedom until 1989.
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