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The Slansky trials [7] didn't affect us in any particular fashion. My father didn't have any problems. As for me, I got more than my share of anti-Semitic remarks from my teachers at the Piestany high school. They made fun of us, because we looked very bad. When I arrived in Piestany, the doctors gave me about two years to live. I got the flu. The doctor came, and said: "He won't suffer long. He won't survive it!"
During high school I was this outcast. I played basketball, first I tried to play basketball for the school, but also for the city team. There were five or six of us our class that also played for the city, basically one lineup. The city club players were all veterans, and didn't let us participate much. Because I was very persistent, I was the first to succeed in getting onto the top team. Otherwise I was a good swimmer, despite having only learned at the age of 13. I don't remember ever having gone to a pool before the war. After the war, at the Eva swimming pool, my classmates caught me and threw me into deep water. I drank half the pool, and learned to swim. The members of the Piestany swim club were mostly children whose parents were doctors, it was hard for anyone else to get in. They were all excellent swimmers. In Piestany our family belonged among the quite important ones. The building we owned in the center of town before the war belongs to us to this day. We renovated it recently. My stepsister Hana Urbanova lives in the back part.
My health wasn't the best; I couldn't breathe well. I stopped swimming and started playing basketball, running, and cross-country swimming. I ran 3000 and then 10,000 meters. In the winter I took part in ski races. I was among the best in Slovakia. I was a member of the Piestany Spa Team. Soldiers also took part in the races. They belonged among the elite. They'd take the top prizes, but I was definitely right after them. The soldiers did all they could to prevent me from winning. During one race, they pushed me off the track so badly that I tore a tendon. I had a very bad fall. I fell down a terribly steep hill. They treated me in the hospital in Hradec Kralove. I was even nominated for the national team, but in the end I didn't become a member, because I did one stupid thing. I exchanged my skis, which wasn't allowed. My father always bought me the best skis and equipment. They custom-made it for me. I had several pairs of skis. My father would always plane, wax and tension them. He took care of all that. I was the only one that went to races with two pairs of skis.
During high school I was this outcast. I played basketball, first I tried to play basketball for the school, but also for the city team. There were five or six of us our class that also played for the city, basically one lineup. The city club players were all veterans, and didn't let us participate much. Because I was very persistent, I was the first to succeed in getting onto the top team. Otherwise I was a good swimmer, despite having only learned at the age of 13. I don't remember ever having gone to a pool before the war. After the war, at the Eva swimming pool, my classmates caught me and threw me into deep water. I drank half the pool, and learned to swim. The members of the Piestany swim club were mostly children whose parents were doctors, it was hard for anyone else to get in. They were all excellent swimmers. In Piestany our family belonged among the quite important ones. The building we owned in the center of town before the war belongs to us to this day. We renovated it recently. My stepsister Hana Urbanova lives in the back part.
My health wasn't the best; I couldn't breathe well. I stopped swimming and started playing basketball, running, and cross-country swimming. I ran 3000 and then 10,000 meters. In the winter I took part in ski races. I was among the best in Slovakia. I was a member of the Piestany Spa Team. Soldiers also took part in the races. They belonged among the elite. They'd take the top prizes, but I was definitely right after them. The soldiers did all they could to prevent me from winning. During one race, they pushed me off the track so badly that I tore a tendon. I had a very bad fall. I fell down a terribly steep hill. They treated me in the hospital in Hradec Kralove. I was even nominated for the national team, but in the end I didn't become a member, because I did one stupid thing. I exchanged my skis, which wasn't allowed. My father always bought me the best skis and equipment. They custom-made it for me. I had several pairs of skis. My father would always plane, wax and tension them. He took care of all that. I was the only one that went to races with two pairs of skis.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Ladislav Urban