We waited for the trains to start rolling again
On May 8, 1945, the first Russian Army liberated the women's labor camp in Merzdorf. A group of Czech Jewish women, among them Jana Dubová, embarked on their way home together with the Russian soldiers. On foot, the group crossed the foothills of the Krkonoše mountain range and arrived in Trutnov, where they spent one night. The next morning, the girls were picked up by a gendarme bus that took them to Prachatice. Here they stayed in a hotel for a few days, waiting for the situation to calm down and for the trains to Prague to start rolling again. At that time, the uprising in Prague was still unfolding which disrupted traffic in the area. In the hotel, the girls could once again enjoy all the modern conveniences, like a bed, a good meal, or a clean bathroom and toilet. The initial euphoria that was caused by the restoration of their human dignity was, however, soon replaced by the harsh post-war reality. Many of them had nowhere to go because their homes had been occupied by strangers. Gradually, they would also discover that many of their loved ones will never again return.
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Jana Dubová
Jana Dubová, née Heller, was born on August 30, 1926, in Prague. She came from a Czech Jewish family. After the occupation of Czechoslovakia, her father wanted Jana to take part in the rescue operation of Sir Nicholas Winton, who organized the departure of Jewish children to safety in England. Unfortunately, it was already too late for Jana to leave as the war broke out. She thus had to stay in the Protectorate and in April 1942, she and her family were deported to Theresienstadt. Jana remained in Theresienstadt until the fall of 1944, when she was placed in a transport headed to Auschwitz. After their arrival, her mother was sent to the gas chambers right away. After about three weeks in Auschwitz, Jana was selected to work with other women in Merzdorf, where they worked in a factory for flax processing. There she had to live and work under tough conditions, with very little food, performing a difficult job. By the end of the war, an epidemic of typhus broke out in the factory. Right after the liberation of the camp by the Russians, Jana and a few girlfriends set out on foot on a journey back home, on the tail of the receding front lines. The return to Prague was difficult. Out of the whole family that counted 30 people, only her and her sister survived the Holocaust. After the war, she married her boyfriend, whom she knew from Theresienstadt and who was also a survivor of the Holocaust. She graduated from the State School of Graphic Arts and made a living with applied graphics. Jana Dubová created a series of paintings called the "Dreams of the Dead," in which she depicted her memories.
