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The story of my life

Part 3

On Sunday 23 January 2005 I discovered two more pages of my Father Ing Josef Pavel's manuscript, where he describes the first years of his married life with my Mother Marie. Although most of the information has been dealt with in the text above I nevertheless believe that we should include these two pages in my Father's "Story” also. My Father (Grandpa) writes:

I met my wife Marie at a village dance in Doňov in October 1929. She happened to be there on a visit to her Grandpa and Grandma Pícha, with whom she used to live when she was younger. She also went there to the primary school, to make the upbringing and education of her brothers and sisters at the Marek's home in Drahov easier. The Mareks had six children.  

Our wedding took place on 8 August 1931 in the church in Drahov. It was a splendid wedding attended by relatives from both families. Apart from my Father and Mother my brother came with his wife Anna, both my cousins Miládka Štruncová, married Lindaurová from Bolevec (near Pilsen) and Božena Ježková, married Číhalová from Pilsen. My cousin Rudolf Pavel was best man. He came with his stepmother.

After the wedding I was called up on a military exercise in Bratislava for one month. After my return we rented a flat in a house belonging to Mrs Bozděchová, a widow. Her husband was employed by the ČSD (Czech State Railways) as an engine driver. The house (no 241) stood in the main street of Mezimostí opposite the railway station. The flat was on the first floor and consisted of a kitchen and one room. At the beginning it was a pleasant place to live in but later Mrs Bozděchová began to dislike us. On the ground floor was a large grocery shop belonging to the railways.

Jára was born 17 June 1932 under the supervision and assistance of the local midwife from Veselí upon Lužnice. Everything went smoothly and well. We bought a pram at once in Soběslav and a cot later. From the beginning Jára was very lively, and particularly at night did not sleep and cried a lot. We thought that he was missing something or was ill. So we took him to the local GP Dr Soukup for examination. He recommended us not to give him too much to eat and to drink less milk. But this did not help and Jára was yelling more and more. So we took him to another GP in Veselí. His name was Dr Fürst. He was older and more experienced; he himself had his own children and grandchildren. He diagnosed immediately what Jára was missing. He said he was hungry and prescribed him a suitable menu. In addition he gave him a sun bed treatment. After the visit to Dr Fürst Jára became stronger, steadier, and slept well during the night. We often went with him to Drahov and to the local woods called Klobasná. By then he was well and hardly ever ill. He was baptised in Veselí by Chaplain Jan Bártík 26 June 1932.

At the end of 1932 we moved into a new unoccupied house located on the bank of the river Nežárka in Mezimostí. There we had a flat, which had a kitchen and two rooms. We lived there alone. The owner had a job in Slovakia and built this house for his retirement. It was a pleasant place to live. Very peaceful. The house had a forecourt with a shed for wood and coal and a garden, where we planted fruit trees, which we bought, in a nursery in Tábor. We also had a beautiful guard dog, an Alsatian called "Bojík". We built for him a doghouse on the forecourt. Water was obtained from a well. However, Jára was bathed in the water from Nežárka, which was very clean. At that time we were joined by Bóža (sister in law). She had just finished her secondary school education in České Budějovice but could not find work.

Later she went with us to Jindřichův Hradec, where we moved in the spring of 1933. There we had a nice and large flat on the first floor of the railway station building. We shared a hall and WC with our neighbour railwayman. There was a water main on the landing, which also served the steam locomotives. For cooking and drinking we used water from a well beside the station building. It had good water and was also used by people living in the neighbouring houses. By then Jára was able to walk and I would go with him to the woods near "Svatá Barbora" to pick blueberries; there were plenty of them. Also there was the opportunity to have a nice bath or swim in a nearby pond. But usually we would go for a swim to the river Nežárka that flowed on the other side of the railway station.

Living in Jindřichův Hradec was extremely pleasant. The job was excellent. My office was in the building standing next to the station. Office hours were comfortable. Work was simple. We had a good relationship with the employees of ČSD who lived in the same house; we met often and had a good time together. The town was lively; it was the centre of a large district, which extended as far as the Austrian frontier. Many Germans lived in Jindřichův Hradec. They were all good, skilful and reliable workers, who had been living there for many centuries. We had a nice garden, where mum (my wife) grew flowers and vegetables. A stream flowed through the garden. We had many visitors from Drahov, Doňov and Vřesná. Grandpa Marek brought Jára a rocking horse. I used to take Jára with me to the Sunday mass in the cloister and then to my office where he could run as much as he wished.

Unfortunately, I was often sent to other railway offices in Kolín, Benešov, Tábor and most often to Most to help them with their work. This was unpleasant and tiring. And particularly travelling to Most was bad. I used to travel home every weekend. I got home at 9pm on Saturday and had to depart at 1am Monday morning on a goods train. I arrived at Most on Mondays at 9am and departed for Jindřichův Hradec at 1pm on Saturdays.

Our daughter Mařenka was born at our home at Jindřichův Hradec on 2 July 1934. A local midwife assisted during the birth. Everything went well thank God. She was baptised in the local St Mary's church.

We lived at Jindřichův Hradec until August 1935 when I was transferred to Most. We were allocated a comparatively nice flat in a new ČSD house standing opposite the old railway station. Of course we were reluctant to leave Jindřichův Hradec. There was a big difference between living there and Most. The former town was very peaceful, with clean air and beautiful surroundings. The latter town was quite the opposite. But soon we got used to the new conditions. We found ourselves new friends. My work was interesting and everyone was busy. My brother František and his wife Anna came to visit us. Jára was then over 3 years old and Mařenka over one. She was already able to walk and I used to take her out for walks in the pram. She was very good, because after the experience with Jára we did not cheat her with food. We lived at Most for only one year. 

In 1936 we moved again and this time to a flat in Ruská Street, in a district of Prague called Vršovice. The house was facing barracks belonging to the 28th infantry regiment. However, I wrote about this in parts one and two of my Story....

Translated from Czech by his son Jaroslav Pavel in Edinburgh on 25 January 2005.

Jaro and Roberta Pavel

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