Letters from Bradáčov by Eleonora Melicharová

Dobrý den,  

I'm new to this group as of today.  We're planning a trip to Czech Republic next October.  I've been to Prague once before but never ventured out in to the countryside.  At the time I didn't really know the villages where my ancestors had come from.  But I have all that now and hope to get down to the areas where they were born and lived.  Three of my great grandparents were Czech...Bohemian.  Maybe that is my first question for this group.  They all 3 would have immigrated pre-WWI before Czechoslovakia was a country from the villages of Smilovy Hory, Pojbuky and Zadní Střítež.  What would the inhabitants of that region have been called in the late 1800s?  I remember my grandmother and her sisters always talking about being Bohemies or Bohemian.  Technically they were first generation Americans. But what would the people of the region have called themselves pre-WWI?

While my great grandparents did come to the States in late 1800s and early 1900s they did not come with their families.  My great-grandmother Josefa Maršíková was an only child and came to America with a friend after her parents had died.  My great-grandfather Josef Kačer came alone at 16 years of age.  His future wife Anastazie Vítovská came several years later with her 10yo sister.   

It's Josef that we know left many siblings behind.  A few years ago I found some letters in my grandmother's things from one of his sisters, Eleonora Melicharová from Bradáčov.  They were written in Czech of course...handwritten in cursive Czech.   I couldn't read Czech.  But the date on the letter, 1945 caught my eye.   My grandmother and all her sibling were gone and I didn't have any hope of learning more about them from the family.  So I found a professional translator who first transcribed them and then translated them for us. They turned out to be the first letters the family had been able to send out of Czechoslovakia since the just after the occupation by the Germans in WWII.  They were an incredible mix of the horrific and the mundane updates on daily life.  I'd be really interested to know if others have any wartime letters from family in Czechoslovakia in Czech or translated to English.


Here are the translated letters.

In Bradáčov 17th July 1945 

Blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ 

Our dearest, in our thoughts we are sending you a hundred thousand greetings and kisses. We want to let you know that we are still alive and well and survived the war and hope that those few lines will find you well in a good health. I have already several times thought about writing to you but the postal services were not united so the letter would not have reached you so I delayed it. But when dad found out that all is arranged again now I am picking up the pen and writing to you with the hope that I will hear back from you. In 1940 Baruška was still writing but she was poorly so please, dear sister in law, if you receive my letter, please pass on to her this message that in our thoughts we greet her and kiss her hundred thousand times and if she would also please send us few lines and her address if she is still alive. 

We had the war horrors here. The Germans executed so many people, often the young ones, even if they were not guilty of anything, they were so terribly rigid. They used to check on people sometimes even twice a week. If they found anything, they took the person, and nobody saw them ever again. It is still the same, we still must deliver the quota of the produce we grow on our farm. In the shops there was nothing anyone could buy and still is not. If we did not manage to barter things for the food we produce on the farm, we would end up walking naked. Rice, coffee, such things are not for sale in the shops. Even salt, if we hadn’t had that we would not be alive now. 

But who was obedient and handed over everything as they (the Germans) demanded could keep what was left over for their own family. Healthwise it was not bad. One could earn enough money but it was no use because they took all the money from us again. So it is poverty now again and high taxes, one after another. Fortunately our Lord loves us and we were granted a decent crops, enough so that we had enough for the supplies to the Germans. So for now that will be it. During the war some of the people in the village 

My poor brother František had a funeral this year in the autumn on 8.10.1945, he was not even ill for too long. He died nearly in full movement, he was still young 60 years of age. Same as my late brother Josef, he was also very young. The others are still alive. 

Kačena (Kateřina) from Těchobuz has a hard time in her old age. The children are moving her from one house to the next. They nearly kicked her out of her house. She went to Kout and after that to Chýnová to stay with Anežka. I hope that she is being well looked after there. It is sad how they treat her now she is old. We are still working on our smallholding. Karlík got married last year to a girl from the Krchovi family from the village of Mostek and lives there. They have a big house. Toník and Jeník are still single. Toník is a Matryjálist. Jeník will get our smallholding. Mařka is married in Černá to a man from the Vlkovi family, they also have a big house. Toník a Jeník are still single. Venouš (Václav) is married in Světlá. His children are also big now. Their son Ládík is already at the high school and two girls who are old enough to get married 19 and 17. The youngest one is 15 she is in apprenticeship to become a tailor. 

So, I wrote out all the news and I just hope that the letter will be delivered to you. Let us know if your sons were in the war. We were thinking of you the whole time that you did not have much easier life there than we had here. I know that you my dear sister in law must have shed a few tears now their father is no longer alive and you have to take care of everything yourself. One would get gray hair from all the worries. I am going to stop writing now. I wish you all from my heart Merry Christmas and also the forthcoming New Year that you would remain in good health and enjoy many years to come. All the best wishes from the family Melicharovi Jan and Eleonora 

Write to us soon. God bless you. 

Respectable Mrs Anaztázie Kačerová Illegibe Stello Fama Chouva 1810 North America 

Sender: Jan Melichar Bradáčov 9 Post Office Cetoraz Bohemia 

In Bradáčov house no. 9 Post Office Cetoras near Pacov, Bohemia Czechoslovakia 


Second Letter.  This is a reply to my Great Grandmother after she had replied to the first letter.  I would LOVE to find her letter that fits in between these two.   

6th March 1946 in Bradáčov Blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ 

Greetings to all of you our dear beloved friends. With your letter you gave us lots of joy and we are replying to it now and thanking you hundred thousand times. We stopped expecting that we will ever hear from you. We were thinking that perhaps you are no longer alive when the letter was not coming for such a long time. The letter from us to you was delivered quickly. We sent it on 15th December and you received it already in January and you wrote back straight away. We received your letter on 19th February, so it took two months. 

In Charvatice we expected that Baruška (Bára) has passed away because it was 8 months after the war finished and we could not believe that she would not write for such a long time. The last time she wrote in 1940. She mentioned that you had lots of work and that your son was in the army. And that she had gall stones and since then no news. 

We were here as buried alive. The Germans they were giving us lots of grief, they executed so many people, for the slightest indiscretion they took the people away and no one would see them again. They themselves had everything, we had nothing and even now there is no goods in the shops. We can only get things with coupons that we have on the rations. 

And what about Charvát, the brother in Law and Pepa (Josef)? Is he married yet? It was very sad for them too. And are all their children married? She had a very heavy heart poor thing. What about you dear sister in Law, you must surely be a grandma now too? It is quite a few years since Josef got married. They are a lovely couple. We have the photo of Mařenka (Marie), your children look so nice. It is a great shame that the brother in Law Josef died so young and František too, he was only 60 years old. In Smilovy Hory they are both still looking good, Karlík (Karel) and Anna too. Their son got married long time ago and is living with his wife at home with the parents. The sister Kateřina is still alive. In Těchobuz they are both still alive. In Střítež the farm is now managed by Lojzík's children. We ourselves are also still running the smallholding. We have two boys. Tonín (Antonín) is 26 and is still single he has a girlfriend. He lives in Slavonice in Moravia, he is a Matryjálista (??? Wholesaler). We will give our smallholding to Jeník (Jan). Thanks Goodness everyone has enough work to do. There is lots of land available to buy but no one even wants it. The government is forcing the German people to move out. We are all getting poorer and poorer. Everything is terribly expensive, so we cannot afford many things. A laborer has an hourly wage 10 Crowns which is 80 Crowns per day. But given the prices it is difficult to buy any goods. If you, dear sister in Law, know the Martínek family please give them our greetings. Tell them that Mr Professor had a stroke which affected his speech. He is alive, he can walk but not talk. 

We also greet you all hundred thousand times and send you our kisses and await an early reply from you. We are enjoying good health and we hope that you too are keeping well. That’s it for today. We remain your loyal friends. 

Melicharovi Jan and Eleonora Good bless you.