He was banging on our door at night from 20 to 21 (August). He would never come into our rooms, I mean Mr. Konečný, the old man. He was very restrained. He left the room, even when Mrs. Konečná was changing her clothes because she needed privacy. He would never come to our rooms but he was banging on our door. I was in the first room, and Evička Jarmová was in the second room. And we went out of the room, (to find out) what was going on and if he was crazy. And he said the Russians were there, the Russians had come. And he wrapped us in blankets. And dragged us to the basement because he had to hide us in the basement. That he knew they would burst there and rape everyone. That they would kill cattle again, make a fire, and boil them in cauldrons. That he had already experienced that. He was crying hard, he was very unhappy, extremely unhappy. ‘I have already experienced that once, I have experienced Russians, they are vermin. Girls, you have to hide, you cannot...‘ And we were like: ‘What Russians do you mean, what happened?‘”
“He was reading an article in Květy magazine about Comrade Lenin who was invited to go and shoot ducks by some gamekeepers. It was a duck hunt. And they invited comrade Lenin to hunt ducks. So they were on the boat and Comrade Lenin was holding a gun and they let the dogs run and the ducks flew into the air. And Comrade Lenin took aim and lowered his gun. And in a moment the dogs ran there again and the ducks flew out. And Comrade Lenin took aim and lowered his gun again. And he did not kill them. And the one who was with him on the boat told him: ‘Comrade Lenin, why are you not shooting, they are within range, they are nice, you would hit them, there is a lot of them.' And he said: ‘I will not take them freedom.‘ ‘Son of a bitch, how many Ukrainians did he kill? Millions of Ukrainians! They were the biggest wretches. Lenin and Stalin slaughtered Ukrainians the most. They were the biggest bastards! I mean, Ukraine was the granary of Europe. All of them were farmers. What did the poor people have? A cow and five morgens of fields, I mean they were working from dawn to dusk. Were they even kulaks? He slaughtered everyone there and caused the famine. But a duck? Comrade Lenin did not kill a duck.‘ He told me stories like that. Several such stories. And she always said: ‘Dad, do not get angry.‘ And he said: ‘It is keeping me alive. I hope that I will live to see the end of the decay caused by communists.‘ ‘Dad, do not shout!‘ ‘Why should not I shout, nobody can hear us!‘ He was incredibly brave, he was such a brave person. I mean Mr. Konečný.” - “So, do you remember him when you see (the events in) Ukraine? “Yes, they are basically being threatened all the time. Always! Someone is always threatening them!”
“However, they did not invite me from the Veterinary school to... because there were entrance exams there. So he rushed to the school to ask about it because they did not invite me from the Veterinary school either. We came and knocked at the door. Comrade headmaster Orava invited us to come in and I went with my father, I was scuttling two metres behind him. Because it was exactly two metres when he stepped to the side and stretched out his hand. So I knew that I had to be two metres away from him so that I could dodge quickly. So I was standing behind him and he asked Orava what was going on because their daughter had submitted applications. And that it looked like nobody had asked her to come to the interviews. How it would be solved, and what would happen or not happen. ‘If you could be so kind, Mr. headmaster, and explain it to me because I don´t know what we should do with her.‘ And he like a toad sitting at his desk told him: ‘Well, comrade, you have to admit that it is impossible like this... She, just realize it, she has an aristocratic and capitalist origin. And we recommended contact with the working class to her and we recommended her to work in construction, agriculture, or mining. And we think that it would be the best for her to train in a rubber factory.‘ My father turned around and shouted: ‘Go away!‘ He did not even have to tell me, when he pronounced ‘g‘ I was already running away from the headmaster´s office. However, I put my ear to the door but I did not even have to because my father was shouting. And that was the first time I found out that he was a hero. Because he tore a strip off the headmaster. He told him to go and fuck himself with his cadre profiles and if I was to blame for where I was born. If he contributed to where he was born and what would he do if I had been born for example to Hitler. And he was yelling at him in an unbelievable and vulgar way!”
Drahomíra Žákovská was born on 11 April 1946 in Zlín. She comes from a strictly Catholic family. Her grandparents came to Moravia from Ireland which they fled because of religious disturbances. The Stacke family settled in Kyjov and the parents of Drahomíra Žákovská met there. They moved to Zlín where they had a general store. They lost it after nationalisation. Her father contributed to founding the Scout movement in Zlín before the war and after the war to its renewal. He was also a member of the Sokol movement. The witness, as well as her two siblings, had big problems being admitted to studies because of their aristocratic and bourgeois origin. Drahomíra Žákovská was married twice and raised two daughters. She did scouting, mountaineering, and tourism. She moved from Moravia first to Teplice and in 2022 she lived in a small village Tisá in the area of Ústí right under the Tisa Rocks.
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!
