Misunderstanding with Jan Masaryk
"The soldiers serve the officers according to British military traditions. I was sitting at the table. We were sitting and waiting. Then Jan Masaryk came. We all rose. We shook hands and I heard him saying: ´How are you? ´ I replied in Czech: ´Okay dude.´ I have witnesses. If they were still alive they could confirm it. The commander’s face turned red and if he had a gun I would have gotten shot. And this Czech named Skalník (he was from Most town) said: ´Mr. Minister, don’t be angry with him, he’s not Czech he’s French. He only speaks Czech what he learnt in the army.´ He asked him again: ´What is he doing here? ´ He replied: ´His father is Czech and his mother is Italian. They are Czechs, but they lived in France. Therefore he doesn’t speak any other language than French.´ Me and Mr. Masaryk sat down then and talked in French. He wanted to know how I got there and what my planes for when the war is over are. I said to him: ´Only God knows what will happen after the war. I have never been to Czechoslovakia; only when I was two years old. I have no idea what is it like there..."
- he was born on January 16th 1923
- he comes from ethnically mixed marriage (his mother was Italian, his father was Czech)
- he spent his youth in Northern France in Sallaumines town
- he entered the Czechoslovak independent armored brigade in 1944
- he underwent the military training in England; he has been assigned to the tank battalion
- he experienced very unusual meeting with Jan Masaryk in England
- he participate shortly in the Dunkirk siege
- he cleared the Le Havre port from the landmines with his tank
- he served the army even five years after the end of the war
- he lives presently in Prostějov town