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ANTONIN KAREL PADEVIT
(30.3.1918 Duchcov - 17.4.1983 London)

1) Introduction

2) Russia

3) Africa

  4) England

From Czechoslovakia tu Russia

1939 - Germans invaded Czech, and father was in Resistance at age 21. His first kill was a young german soldier he met near a haystack. Father was faster and knifed or bayonet him first. Each day the group of men with my father were being pushed towards to Russia. One of these men named Alois ( Loiza) Yuric. ( He moved to Canada after the war to be near us, all his family dead in Czechoslovakia , no children, end of line ) He was a "uncle" Loiza to me until he died in Montreal in the 70's.

The men ( I don't know how many) were starving and cold in the woods somewhere near Russia, they had shot an old owl and it was tough so Loiza went out into the surrounding farmlands to steal salt. By the time he finally came back with a block of cow's lick the bird was all eaten and he had only bones left. My father and him would talk and argue and laugh about this as I listened.

They were captured by Russians and ended up in a Russian concentration camp, name and where I don't know. Father said they were given only watered cabbage soup every day. One day uncle Loiza stole a goose from a farmer passing by and was about to lose his life as the farmer was pointing his rifle at his head. As Loiza was sittting on the ground plucking the goose a Cossack on his horse jumped the wall behind him and told the farmer to leave.

Father cooked the commandant"s dog and all loved it, including the commandant, but they didnt know what it was LOL. He would have been shot if they had found out.

There was a very sick man in this camp and nobody would help him. He had a massive growth somewhere on his body. As it turned out my father cut it open and it was filled with maggots or something like that. Father took a red hot poker from fire and burnt and cleaned the wound, the man survived.

Jirka Wagner