Daniela Žemlová

„My mom, she was so...she was so interested in politics and she lived her whole life around the radio. She was a wonderful partner in those kinds of debates. So she was very aware of what was going on. And when my father – when they brought us that acreage that's when On November 28, my father opposed it. That is, he said: "We are not going anywhere, that is out of the question, the children are sick, at least I will ask for a postponement." committed suicide, and Clementis was sentenced to death. That father's colleague? And our mother – I remember it because I was hiding in our room, the one next to the rascals. And our mother was going down stairs and father was walking in the hall in his coat, he didn't even take off his clothes when he learned what was delivered in his absence to my mother on Friday night, it was dark. I remember those two men in those leather coats. And my mother yelled, "Put that cigar out. Take off your coat, put out that cigar, and go pack. Clementis would be happy in your place." And then our father had to capitulate and go. And we only had two... one weekend to wrap up.“

„Well, the way we lived it. We saw that it was bad, that we had to move out. And that's what they told us. The two big ones, that we had to move out. The children were seriously ill, they had whooping cough and I remember that they were vomiting blood, when they coughed in those fits. That was terrible. I asked if it was a roast when I saw the clotted blood in that lavatory. And in such a situation, we had to pack. And then the parents also did it by giving us, they took everyone, took them to the Danube to that uncle's studio, because that's where my father's two sisters lived, and that's where they kept us. And then everyone, the whole extended family and neighbors helped us pack, that is, move things out of that house, because whatever was left there, so they will seal it on December 2. And you could theoretically take everything. Yes, we could take everything. But the biggest problem was that my father's entire lawyer's archive was stored there in the cellar in Hajci. And that was the most important thing, so that it didn't get into other people's hands. So we were throwing all those files to the neighbors. So they shuffled around, my mother told me that first of all, the lawyer's archive was saved, then coke, so that we would have something to heat the house with. We didn't know where we were going. And then the beds, the kitchen and other things were saved – Uncle Lajko's pictures, that was the most precious thing that my father had, my brother's pictures. And furniture and carpets were salvaged. People took apart our furniture. Chandeliers, everything was taken down. As neighbors, you preferred to give it voluntarily. I understand or... Well, they took it upon themselves to provide it for us. And those things were carried to our acquaintances on a wheelchair in the snow.“

„Yes, she went there right away. So on Monday we announced that the address does not exist. And father also on Saturday, when she called that the address didn't exist, so he approached that uncle, the priest in Nové Sady, asking if we could move in there. So he announced this request to the people in the church on Sunday morning. Well, two people came to the church after the sermon and said that we could provide our summer kitchen with such a small room. It was in a farm area where there was a barn and so on. Such a long farmhouse. Yes, but it was actually... it wasn't a house, it was an economic part, because they built a new house in front. They already lived in that new house. And there was only a kitchenette and one small room. So our aunt stayed there and cooked, washed and everything. The whole daily program took place in this small environment, and we went to sleep at the other end of the village to other people who were childless and gave us one front room. They had two rooms in the front – a bedroom and a front room. So they gave us the front room and another smaller room, and we had six beds there and we slept there. And this is how we lived. There was an awful lot of mud, we lived in rubber boots and it was dark. You know, around Christmas time. We were not allowed to finish school in Bratislava until the end of January. My sister and I were also kicked out of school. So it was such a dark time. But in the end, as the light grew, we discovered the beauty of the village and the beauty of the people.“

When our father was building the house, he poured a tube with one verse from the 127th Psalm into the foundation. Because he built in war and in humility. The verse reads as follows: If the Lord does not build the house, those who build it labor in vain. And if the Lord does not guard the house, it will not be guarded.

We took everything as the agenda of the day. My older sister experienced it differently. For me, everything was interesting, what was happening, where I found myself. Everywhere I very consciously perceived everything. I didn't realize that the family was in danger. I didn't see my parents cry or despair, just act.