They shot dozens of Germans in front of our villa
Immediately after the liberation of Prague in May 1945, fourteen-year-old Helena Stachová witnessed a horrific incident. When sitting on the balcony of the family's villa, she could see about seventy German prisoners being assembled just across the Jírova Street. A man in the uniform of a Czechoslovak officer stood in front of them. "He was obviously patrolling them and he would order them to raise their head and look directly into the scorching sun. Suddenly, there was a stir among the group and a woman at the head of the crowd tried to snatch the officer's rifle. Unsurprisingly, he lost his nerve and opened fire into the group. Bullets were flying around and as I was well within range I quickly disappeared from the balcony and hid inside the house. I have no idea what actually happened there afterwards, how many prisoners were actually shot and what happened with their bodies," she recalled. Even after all those years, Helena Stachová has not been able to find a single reference about the incident in the archives.
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Helena Stachová, née Teige
Helena Stachová was born on May 26, 1931, in Prague. Her father was a distinguished mathematician, her mother a known expert on Poland. Their daughter continued in their footsteps publishing her first translation of a book before her graduation from grammar school. As she had never tried to accommodate the existing social and political imperative, her name soon appeared on the index of forbidden translators. She gave up her functions as President of the Union of Youth, refused to interpret for the delegation of the Polish government on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia and was accused of subversive activities for having smuggled Polish texts across the border. She translated the works of Witold Gombrowicz, Sławomir Mrożek, Gustav Herling-Grudziński, Czeslaw Milosz, or Mariusz Szczygieł, to name just a few of the authors she translated from Polish to Czech. Over the course of sixty years, she has translated around 150 books. In 1999, she was awarded the Komandérski Cross of the Order for her merit in the Republic of Poland. She also received several Polish and Czech awards for her translations, including the prestigious Josef Jungmann Award. In 2014, she was awarded the Medal of Gratitude of Solidarity.
