For a small reward
František Mandák, a native of Rohanov, attended school in nearby Vacov. At the age of nine, he would frequently meet with American soldiers who had liberated his native region in May 1945. One of his memories concerns their shooting practice at a local shooting range, where František together with his classmates often went. “The American soldiers staying in Vacov were shooting in the valley underneath Peckov. They had three targets at the range. When we walked home from school, we went there many times. Behind those targets, there was a high and steep slope, so the bullets bored into the ground instead of flying around the place. We were helping them by repairing the holes in the targets with adhesive paper. Obviously, in return, they would give us chewing gums, canned food, chocolate and lots of other stuff.”
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František Mandák
František Mandák was born on October 19, 1936, in Rohanov in Šumava (the Bohemian Forest) in the family of a cottager and a dandy - a mason, who usually spent most of the year away from home with a bunch of other masons, usually in Germany, where he earned money for the livelihood of his family. Since 1942, František went to school in nearby Vacov. In addition to the usual boyhood joys and worries he also experienced some unpleasant moments, such as his encounter with the fanaticized German youth or the rehearsal of the 'sieg heil' directly in the classroom. Furthermore, he recalls several dramatic events that happened later on in the war and also the stay of U.S. troops in Vacov and Javorník. František didn't become a farmer or a mason, but a teacher. In 1956, he entered military service in the Border Guard. He spent the longest part of his service at the 19th border-guard company at Roklan forest cottage where he experienced very hard service in harsh conditions. After completing his military service, he worked for most of his later life as a teacher in Zdíkov in Šumava. He's interested in the history of his region and he's also the author of several articles and books on the subject.
