Recliners

Greetings to all fans of history and travellers against the flow of time. I think there is no one who does not know the fate of Ležáky and Lidice. Much has been written about them.
I would like to offer you one small story written by my then eight-year-old son Benjamin, who was a member of the SDH Štěpánov. Back then, in the spring of 2013, an offer came to involve members of the volunteer firefighters in a literary and artistic competition "Fire protection through the eyes of children". Ben also decided to participate and chose the literary part. When he was finished with the piece and my wife and I read it, we were unable to utter a word at the time. Well done for an 8 year old.
Ben's literary work was sent to the district round and after some time, the news came that he was moving on to the county. From the regional round, Ben even went on to the national round. He had already received an award that made us proud as parents, but the other two, and especially the second to last one, are indelibly etched in our memories.

One weekend afternoon in late June 2013, an older lady accompanied by a younger lady rang our doorbell. She asked for the small author of the work entitled "The Fire That Must Not Be Extinguished". I invited the ladies to tea, saying that Ben was flying something and would be right over. At first I thought they had come to see Ben personally from the county to congratulate him. But I only understood everything when I introduced myself and the ladies did too. "Jarmila Dolezalova Jr., Jarmila Dolezalova Sr., nee Stulíková." And there I was at home. Mrs. Jarmila Doležalová Sr. née Št'uliková, the elder of the two sisters who were the only survivors of the tragedy of the lager. They learned about the success of Benik's work and came to congratulate him. He received a book Crossroads of Time - Ležáky in Dates with a dedication and a promise of a gift of two forthcoming books, Ležáky Known and Unknown and Fate on Behalf of Ležáky. Then Benik returned to his platform connections and we talked for a long time. About the author and his interests, about the garden, cooking and everything else but about Lezaky, the war and things related to it. Of course, I wanted to ask for a photo together as a memento, but I recognized in my wife's look that this was not appropriate. After a cordial farewell, it was explained to me why the camera was not such a popular device. No matter, we'll all keep the memory where no one but us can.

In the middle of the holiday season, we received a notification of Benik's final placement in the national round, and so we are 20. 9. 2013 we went to Přibyslav, where the award ceremony took place. The result can be found in the picture attachment together with several photos of the burnt settlement of Ležáky taken just after the event. Some of the photographs were published for the first time in the publications mentioned above.

Regards to all Martin Král.

A fire that must not have been extinguished.

My name is Benjamin King. I live in Cejřov on an old farm. I will tell you about my great-great-grandfather. His name was Leopold. He lived in Cejřov before me. I know him from stories and photographs. I have an old stamp (fireman's stamp) and sealing wax from him.

There used to be a volunteer fire brigade in almost every village. People needed each other more and helped each other. My great-grandfather belonged to the Volunteer Firemen's Association in Cejřov. Firemen helped wherever they could. Like pulling a cow out of a well. Often they put out steamed hay that got caught in the attics. There wasn't much electricity in the houses, but there were fires from candles and kerosene lamps. There were also fires from lightning. Firefighters also took care of old trees. They cut dry branches. There were hardly any cars, so there were no car accidents. But gravel was often hauled onto the roads by firemen. They were most afraid of forest fires. They took a long time to put out.

One time my great-great-grandfather was working in the fields. Then he saw smoke coming from Vrbětice. It was a beautiful day. He thought there was a hay fire somewhere. He immediately hitched an old pump to his horse. And he followed the smoke. That day was June 24, 1942. Leopold rode past Vrbětice and approached Lezaky. He got no further. The Gestapo with machine guns wouldn't let him go any further. There were other people with buckets and shovels.
They couldn't do anything ........ Lezaky was on fire.

The firefighters didn't have the equipment they have today. Often the fire was beyond their strength. But they fought as hard as they could. Back then, the people of Lezak felt helpless. THE FIRE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN EXTINGUISHED!

(copied from the original, see attachment - with drawing and stamp)

Literature and picture appendix:

Crossroads of Time - Lezaks in Data, DOLEŽALOVÁ, Jarmila. Crossroads of Time - Ležáky in Data. Včelákov: Jarmila Doležalová, 2007. ISBN 978-80-254-0457-7
Ležákyknown and unknown , Jarmila Doležalová., Jarmila Doležalová Jr., Štěpán Doležal, Marek Doležal
Fate on behalf ofLežáky, Jarmila Doležalová Jr., Štěpán Doležal, Včelákov: Jarmila Doležalová - RONADO Publishing House, 2017. ISBN 978-80-906356-3-0