Scything on a mine field

In April 1945, the battlefront was passing Nový Přerov. The Russian and the German soldiers were fighting for key positions and a very popular method of stopping the enemy was to employ antipersonnel mines. The mines subsequently posed a great risk to the local inhabitants for a long time even after the end of the war. Nobody knew the exact location of the land mines and they were never properly cleared of. Jakub Gregor recalls a tragedy that took place in his family: “It was during the season of harvest and we were out on the field scything the grass. We were just working a stretch next to the road. I was scything and my mother and sister walked behind me, clearing the grass with a sickle. As I was scything, suddenly, there was an explosion behind me. A loud ‘bang’. A mine exploded. I was some twenty, thirty steps ahead of them. There was a dense fog, you could hardly see anything. I was shocked and stood still with my scythe. My sister fell on the ground. The mine tore off her leg and arm. So it was over with the scything. Uncle Rochus, the brother of my father, loaded her on a carriage and they went to the hospital in Mikulov. However, she died before they got there. She bled to death. There was one more guy on the field, who helped dragging her on the road. The mine tore off his hand as well. It was terrible. It was over with work then, I didn’t scythe anymore. I went home and that was it.” In 1948, the family of Jakub Gregor was moved to Huzová in Jeseníky.