In the mirror

In the early days of May 1945, Ivan Kieslinger along with other scouts got involved in the Prague uprising. One of his tasks was to maintain the connection between the main post office in Jindřišská Street, which was a key communication center of Prague, and an outpost in the Palacká Street. Tough fighting was taking place around the post office building and Ivan Kieslinger remembers that on May 8, he was assigned a special task: "A tank was on its way to us. I was tasked to go to Wenceslas Square and if I spotted the tank, I was supposed to destroy it with a Panzerfaust. I used the men's restrooms in Jindřišská Street as my cover. A friend was supplying me with news. He stood on the corner of Jindřišská Street and held a large – about one meter tall – mirror in his hands and observed the tank. The tank crew apparently had a sense of humor and they shot that mirror out of his hands with their cannon. My friend disappeared around the corner. I’ve never seen such a change in the face of anybody again in my life – he went completely pale." The tank finally didn’t roll on – instead it turned around and left.