Jana Zítová

"In third grade, we had to take the Pioneer oath. So, the Pioneer oath was taken, at least I took it, up in Doubravka. We had refreshments there—some lemonade, roasted sausages, and so on. And for us it was an incredible experience, because we learned the oath: 'I, a Pioneer...' and so on, I don't even remember it anymore. And when I said that, I got a red scarf in front of everyone, because we wore scarves. So there were photos and we were very proud of it."

"I was enjoying a wonderful time in southern Bohemia when suddenly all the radio and TV stations reported that there were tanks here. I saw all my other relatives crying. I didn't understand what was happening or why. When I asked, I thought there was a war. For me, war meant tanks. That was the connection. So I thought to myself that it must be war. They said that it was like this in Prague and different over there. My father was with me and my sister at the time. We had no idea what was going on. My mom was here in Teplice, and we had no idea what was happening with her. We only heard the horrors, that there was shooting in Prague. And that there were already dead people there. So it was a cruel, cruel experience. We had no idea if we would get home safely."