Ružena Kramárová (1918)

Biography

„They came, took him away and he did not come back. A year later they came again and took me from my three little children...“

Ružena Kramárová was born in 1918 in Vrútky. Her mother Zuzana was a housewife and her father Eugen Korda was an important railway official. Ružena had five siblings, three brothers and two sisters. Her eldest brother, Alexander Korda was a gunnery officer and since 1942 he was a member of illegal military resistance organization Victorie. He was also an active member of the anti-fascist resistance in the army and since September 10, 1944 he was in charge of the military training camp Oremov laz. He helped to arm the partisan units as well. During the Slovak National Uprising he was a commander of the 25th Foot Battalion and a co-operator of general Golian. After the February 1948 was Alexander along with his wife and the family persecuted, exposed to an inhuman tyranny and convicted to life imprisonment for alleged treason and espionage. This weakened his health a lot and he died in 1958 during the imprisonment. The whole family, including his siblings and their relatives were considered to belong to the enemies of the State. In 1941 his sister Ružena married a young architect Eugen Kramár, a son of an evangelic priest. After their moving to Bratislava, her husband worked as a university professor and as an architect he participated in building many projects. One day, the State Security officials came and took him away. Without stating a reason they sentenced him to spend fourteen years in prison. A year later they came to take Ružena as well, supposedly to confirm her husband´s testimony, however, she neither came back home soon. Three little children stayed alone. In years 1951 – 1952 she was unfairly imprisoned in Bratislava. Except the freedom she and her husband were deprived of their newly built house and it was given to them back twenty years later.

Moving to Bratislava

„The Slovak National Uprising came and my eldest Brother Alexander was its commander. He had the biggest military arsenal in Slovakia and he sent another commander for us who worked in the Žilina region and whom Alexander supplied with ammunition. Once we had a little cottage in Jánošíkov and when Alexander came, my husband picked him up by a little boat. They stayed at a little terrace in front of the cottage where my husband was told that Hitler will be assassinated. “Why did you come?” my husband asked. “I brought some eggs from the Orolaz,” answered my brother, and that´s where the ammunition was being transferred. There were guards on both sides of the road so the transfer was done very quickly. Then he left and we didn´t see him anymore, because he was captured. Our family had to move from Vrútky; Alexander´s friend (the commander) brought a lorry, loaded everything possible and took everyone to Pliešovce. So my family was in Pliešovce and we went to Bratislava by the last train with little Ivan and Zinka, whom I was expecting to be born.”

Arrest

„Well, we don´t know, they came to take him and he did not come back. After a year, they came and took me, supposedly to confirm my husband´s testimony. They took me from three little children; the youngest was eighteen months old. And three children were left to their grand mother.”

Life in the Prison

„That was the worst time of my life. I lost more than twenty kilos (44 Lbs) on weight. My husband could write me once a month a postal card with twenty words. And he wrote me: I saw your laundry hung outside at the courtyard, that´s how I know you are here. Just trust that after the trial we get home.”

Innocence – the Only Hope

„I knew we did nothing wrong. That was the only thing that kept me hoping. Even though half a year I slept on the floor, on such a straw mattress, because it was a period of shutting in, capturing at the boarders, right? And everything was full. There were six of us in the cell with two beds. Two were lying on the beds and other on the floor. And really, what kept me going on was the card where my husband wrote that he knew I was there. And then in the evenings he sometimes whistled our love song, and that was my strength.”

Communists’ Speculation...

„Our children weren´t thought that their parents had been arrested. We never talked about this in front of them, because we knew we didn´t deserve such a thing, that it is just communists’ speculation. Yes, they wanted to get rid of us and gain the whole property and our house. There was nothing more in our case. Concerning my brother´s case – there was envy that he was an important deputy in Hranice, Czech.”

Welcoming the Husband after Ten Years

„It´s not even possible to describe it, to talk about it. It was so great and so sad as well. Sad, because they stole him ten years of productive work he would have offered to the state. He helped churches; he helped everyone who came to him. Such a generous man, generous, but consistent he was.”