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On 14 January 1945,

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a long train with barred windows
stopped at an unfamiliar station.

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The German military guards opened the
carriage doors and roared: “Los, los!”

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We tried to get out

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as quickly as possible so that the guards
would not vent their hatred on any of us.

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A large sign on the station building
announced that we were in Oranienburg.

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Beside me walked our singer Jenko Harach,
who sang even where others wept and who

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had suffered with me in the prisons
of Prievidza, Nitra and Sereď.

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Slovak miners from Handlová
had also arrived with me.

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Among them was my friend, old Schmidt,
who had worked in the Handlová mines for

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30 years and was now walking here
with me towards an unknown fate.

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At the gate we saw the name Sachsenhausen.

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In the barrack they registered us,

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shaved us and gave us ragged
prison clothes and wooden clogs.

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Each of us received a little piece

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of white cloth on which he had to draw
his assigned number with an ink pencil.

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I was given the number 123357.

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Above, behind the number, we drew one red
triangle, and below it the letters SL.

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These stood for “Slovak
political offender”.

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The hardest thing was having to learn

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our prison numbers by heart
and report them in German.

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About a week later they
took us to the station,

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and we travelled by train
through the ruins of Berlin.

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A tram took us to the
edge of Berlin, where

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there was a small concentration camp,
Lichtenrade, and again a long, high wall,

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barbed wire and a gate
with SS men standing at it.

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The camp had been built for 280 prisoners.

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The next day we travelled
by tram for almost 2 hours

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through the ruins of houses.

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We got off in a small square,

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were given pickaxes and shovels, and had
to clear away the rubble of buildings.

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I look nearby and see the street name
Wilhelmstraße. It is a very long street,

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with most of the surrounding
houses in ruins from the bombing.

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I was bent over picking up bricks when
a parcel suddenly landed at my feet.

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I quickly picked it up
and hid it under my shirt.

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I opened it with one hand and could
smell salami, cigarettes and chocolate.

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Then I realised that not
every German was a fascist.

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I looked at the guards to see whether
they had noticed anything, but I see

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that something is stirring among
them. One guard came over to me,

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wrote down my number, shouted something
at me and took the parcel away.

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Then I realised what awaited me:

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hanging, being tied up and
suspended, or a terrible beating.

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My friend the builder, who knew
German well, was working nearby.

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I turned to him and asked
whether he would try to

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persuade the guard not to report it.
He agreed and spoke to the SS man.

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Then he came and told me it was settled:

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the guard had been persuaded
and would not report it.

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We went on working, hungry and frozen
through, and grew terribly thin;

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yet some prisoners would
still sing in the evening.

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The unpleasant cold still continued.

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One day at work I felt a sharp stabbing
pain beneath my left shoulder blade,

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and swelling began to form around my eyes.

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When the pain would not stop
and I began to swell up,

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the doctor ordered me to
stay in a room for the sick.

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I shall never forget the complete
silence that fell after the

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prisoners had left for work. It was broken
by the steady tread of military footsteps.

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The door opened and the
all-powerful SS man came in.

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With his stick he lifted
the blanket on my bed,

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checked whether I was
still alive, and left.

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My illness did not improve,

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so they sent me back to Sachsenhausen
with five other prisoners.

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And so I found myself once
more in dreaded Sachsenhausen,

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that terrible camp where a
human life means nothing.

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At last I was assigned to the
prisoners' hospital, which they called

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the “revír”, where I could at least lie
down and have my temperature checked.

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The sick men lying there said, with fear
in their eyes, that an SS doctor came to

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examine them and was constantly
giving experimental inoculations,

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producing various sera with which
German soldiers were then treated.

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I too received many injections
and had blood taken several times,

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but nothing helped me.

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Soviet troops were drawing closer,
and the camp was being emptied in haste.

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They drove us out of the barracks
and into a long line to leave.

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While we were still at
the gate on our way out,

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a German detachment of SS men with a
commander surrounded us, and we were off.

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They drove us northwest, towards
Neuruppin. We marched all day.

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Various shrubs

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and little plants were already growing
beside the roads along which we marched.

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I did not know some of them, so I asked
my neighbour whether he knew them.

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He looked at me in astonishment and said
he was surprised that, in such a state,

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I was still interested in nature.

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I told him that I did not want to
die yet, that I wanted to return

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home and felt supported by
nature in this wretched state.

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My friends, with whom I have endured
that dreadful abuse and torment from

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the beginning, are slowly
disappearing and dying.

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Their graves are mostly
just the ditches beside

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the roads we have already travelled.

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Near Parchim, one guard,
a Hungarian SS man,

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told me we should escape because
they had been ordered to shoot us.

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From that moment I kept
thinking that I had to escape.

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Under no circumstances did I want,
at the end of all that evil,

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simply to let myself be shot without
doing something to prevent it.

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Only my nearest neighbour,
a former partisan,

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young Jožko Kovalčík, told me that
he would try to escape with me.

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We agreed that I would pretend to be very
ill and weak, that he would accompany me

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and that we would gradually
fall behind the main group.

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Everything happened as we had
agreed, and beside that wood,

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at the signal, we leapt away and ran
into the trees as fast as we could.

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The guards opened fire on us, the bullets
rattled against the trees all around us,

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and we ran on with the
last of our strength.

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We went on into a second wood,
where we found an abandoned shelter.

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We made a little roof of branches over
it and, exhausted almost to death,

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slept for the first time as
free citizens, at liberty.

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In the morning we searched
the wood for something to eat,

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but found nothing except young nettles,
which we seasoned with red salt and ate.

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We survived here like this for 3 days.

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After three days we went further.

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In the wood we found some lorries.
Once we had made sure nobody was inside,

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we discovered sacks of
soya beans and almonds.

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We ate, changed our filthy clothes for
clean ones and packed food into rucksacks.

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Then we set off towards Parchim.

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We reached a large farmstead.
In the barn we found former prisoners,

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including Slovaks, who gave
me a piece of raw pork.

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In the empty rooms I found
a civilian coat and a hat.

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I took utensils from the kitchen.

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We built a fire in the yard, and over it I

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fried pork in a pan and boiled potatoes in
a pot; I had found the potatoes there too.

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Darkness was slowly falling.

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The meat in the roasting pan was almost
ready and the potatoes were cooked when

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a loud rumbling came from the road, by
which we knew that tanks were approaching.

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Three tanks stopped in
front of the farmstead,

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soldiers jumped out of them,
and a few came over to us.

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One of them looked at us for
a long time without speaking.

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Then I noticed that he
was not a German soldier,

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but a Soviet soldier—an
officer, a tank man.

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I was very weak from illness and hunger,

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but in my great joy I embraced
and kissed that tank man.

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We told him that we were Slovaks and
had been in a concentration camp.

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A little later the tank crews left.

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After breakfast we slowly
made our way to Parchim.

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The Soviet army was already in the town.

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At headquarters they advised

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us to find transport and make
our way to an assembly camp.

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We learned that the transport
of prisoners from Sachsenhausen

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from which we had escaped had
remained somewhere near Pritzwalk.

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We very much wanted to know how they were,
for all our closest friends were there.

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Together with Kovalčík, we boarded a
Soviet truck travelling in that direction.

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After a long ride we got off
in a village near Pritzwalk,

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and in the village we met the
miners from Handlová whom we knew.

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I asked them where Harach and Schmidt
were. They told me that Schmidt had died

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during the onward journey and that Harach
was in a barn on the edge of the village.

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I ran to the barn, and there on the
straw lay Harach, my comrade in arms

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from Svätý Kríž and my fellow sufferer in
the prisons of Prievidza, Nitra and Sereď,

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as well as in Sachsenhausen.
He no longer recognised me,

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for he was very ill and had a high fever;
they said he had contracted typhus.

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The next day he died beside me in
that barn, where we also buried him.

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He remained far from home and his
loved ones in a small German village.

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Afterwards they took us back to Parchim in
trucks. We slept there in a town school.

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I was the first to fall ill.

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I developed very severe dysentery
together with a high fever,

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and then Jožko Kovalčík came
down with the same illness.

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We could no longer bear
lying in an abandoned house,

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and set out for home on foot.

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But the fever and weakness
made me walk very slowly.

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Jožko, who was younger
and had more strength,

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kept to my pace at first,
but then he could bear it

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no longer and told me that he was going on
faster and that I should walk on my own.

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He left me to my own fate, ill
and very weak in a foreign land.

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And I, alone, slowly dragged
myself towards my unknown fate.

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On one stretch of the long, straight road,

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an old-fashioned carriage drawn by a
single little horse caught up with me.

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It was decorated with a Czechoslovak flag,
and six people were sitting in it.

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They stopped when I called out and asked
who I was and where I had come from.

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When I told them that I
was a Slovak and very ill,

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they made room for me in the
carriage and I climbed in.

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They were Slovak Jews, and one of them
took out a bottle of strong spirits,

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handed it to me and

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told me to have a little drink.
Afterwards I felt a little better.

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They drove me to a large village where
a small hospital had been set up,

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left me there and went away.

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After three days on a special diet
I recovered a little and went on.

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But the fever returned. I found a
handcart and loaded my rucksack onto it.

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In Bützow I then spent a week

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in a hospital supervised
by the Swiss Red Cross.

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When I felt better,
I continued east on foot.

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Towards evening, when I
was already very tired,

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I noticed a piece of stiff paper
nailed to a telephone pole.

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On it was written: “Czechoslovaks, report
to the assembly camp in Prenzlau.” It was

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the first greeting from my
homeland, and I was very glad.

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In Teterow I reported
to Soviet headquarters.

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A driver took me to Neubrandenburg,

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where I found an assembly
camp for Czechoslovaks.

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A week later three Soviet trucks
arrived and took us to Prenzlau.

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The weather was kind to us
throughout the journey; after all,

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June was already half over.

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They took us to the town of Prenzlau,
to the assembly camp for Czechoslovaks.

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And I had to go to hospital again.

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The Belgian hospital did little to help
me, so I went to the Soviet infirmary.

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A woman doctor examined me
and gave me medicinal powders.

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Our greatest worry was
how we would get home.

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Our leaders did not know what to do,
because no trains were running anywhere

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in Germany and telephone and telegraph
connections had been completely cut off.

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They did not know

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how to let Czechoslovakia know
that we were here in Prenzlau,

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far from home, and that we needed to
be taken home as soon as possible.

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I had almost completely recovered.

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The powders I was taking
helped me greatly.

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The swelling went down, and the
dysentery soon disappeared as well.

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I continued recovering from the other
illnesses at home for a long time;

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only nervous weakness
remained as a reminder.

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At the beginning of July,
a prisoners’ representative

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flew to Prague with a Soviet commander
to ask for trucks to bring us home.

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On 6 July 1945,

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the first vehicles from
Czechoslovakia arrived to collect us.

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They had been sent from Prague.

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The women and some of the seriously
ill left with the first transport.

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When the vehicles were due to come
for the second transport, we were told

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to prepare a large heap of wooden blocks,
because the trucks would run on wood gas.

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Not far from our camp stood a
large building that was locked,

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but some of our people got inside
and found that it was full of skis.

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We carried the skis
out of that storehouse,

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cut them into small blocks
and piled them up ready.

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When the vehicles came
for the second transport,

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there was still no place for me.

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So I was assigned to the third transport,
on an old truck powered by wood gas.

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On the night before our departure for
home, I could not get to sleep at all.

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I was overcome with great joy that I
would see my family and my homeland,

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Czechoslovakia, again.

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I thought again of all those
with whom I had suffered.

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I asked myself why people are so
wicked and cruel to one another,

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when we live on this earth
for such a short time.

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But I could find no answer.

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00:18:10,350 --> 00:18:12,810
In the morning we climbed
into the vehicles.

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00:18:13,090 --> 00:18:16,590
We travelled through Berlin towards
Dresden, but our truck broke down.

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It could not be repaired
without spare parts.

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00:18:19,230 --> 00:18:21,970
We pushed it to the roadside
and continued on foot.

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00:18:22,570 --> 00:18:25,930
Another vehicle was to be sent
from Teplice-Šanov to collect us.

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00:18:32,013 --> 00:18:36,073
We slowly drew closer to our border
and spent the night in a small village.

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It was our last night's
lodging on German soil.

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00:18:39,313 --> 00:18:41,693
The following day we slowly set off again,

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00:18:41,913 --> 00:18:45,493
and in the distance we saw a
fine large bus coming towards us.

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00:18:45,733 --> 00:18:48,513
It was a bus from the
spa of Teplice Šanov,

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00:18:48,513 --> 00:18:49,953
and it had been sent for us.

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00:18:50,353 --> 00:18:54,613
With great joy we climbed aboard and
settled comfortably into its seats.

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00:19:02,008 --> 00:19:03,888
The bus stopped before the barrier,

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00:19:04,088 --> 00:19:06,868
we got out and crossed onto
the soil of our homeland.

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00:19:07,248 --> 00:19:11,208
On our side a ceremonial arch had
been erected and festively decorated,

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bearing a large inscription: “Welcome”.

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00:19:19,166 --> 00:19:23,861
We were approaching that ceremonial arch
when the border guards' band began to play

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00:19:23,866 --> 00:19:28,006
our anthems, Kde domov můj and
Nad Tatrou sa blýska. We stood

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00:19:28,906 --> 00:19:32,906
as if frozen to the spot, tears
fell from my eyes, and I threw

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00:19:32,946 --> 00:19:38,411
myself to the ground with the cry: “My
dear homeland, dear Czechoslovakia!” I

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00:19:38,546 --> 00:19:42,086
saw that all around me everyone was
embracing and kissing and weeping.

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00:19:47,875 --> 00:19:50,235
When we got up, with tears in our eyes,

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00:19:50,475 --> 00:19:54,755
we promised one another that we would work
so that there would never be war again.

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00:19:58,725 --> 00:20:03,765
In Teplice Šanov we changed to
another bus, which took us to Prague.

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00:20:05,709 --> 00:20:07,289
Since no trains were running yet,

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00:20:07,509 --> 00:20:13,589
we travelled by various means of transport
and finally reached home on 22 July 1945.

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00:23:01,875 --> 00:23:04,935
Pavol Bučan survived,
and left us his testimony.

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00:23:10,675 --> 00:23:13,895
His son Ivan transcribed and edited it.

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00:23:21,675 --> 00:23:25,615
Ivan’s daughter, Odetta Peniaková,
kept it safe for decades.

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00:23:31,675 --> 00:23:34,095
Her son Martin now carries it forward.

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00:23:34,435 --> 00:23:38,335
In his doctoral thesis, he wrote that
Ivan taught him never to give up,

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00:23:38,515 --> 00:23:40,895
to persevere, and to fight for his dreams.

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00:23:45,375 --> 00:23:50,525
This film is dedicated to
Ivan Bučan and Odetta Peniaková.

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00:23:51,725 --> 00:23:56,065
His journey did not end when he
came home. It continues in us.