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Senior reflects on life scarred by violence of warLife as a partisan, Janosik said, was not easy.Janosik said his group would hang their dreds of partisans present when he joined, onlyContinued from page 3Sometimes the group members would sleep prisoners from the trees.a handful survived the war.Janosik would never see Bozenka or anyin caves, at other times, they would sleep outside So many, we hanged them, oh my God."Janosik had his own a brush with death whenmember of her family again. He presumes theyin the snow.You dont kill them, they kill you. We were his group was ambushed by a band of Hitlerall perished in the Third Reich's gas chambers.There was no reliable source of supplies for at war. It was bad the Second World War, very Youth.Janosik said he was so angry about Bozenkasthe guerilla movement with Janosik taking what bad.During close combat, one Hitler Youthdeath that one night he burned down her homehe needed from the local population or from the Janosik said the Germans showed just as little member stabbed Janosik through the shoulderand watched as its new German residents ranGermans he killed.mercy to partisans who were captured. The with a knife, giving him a scar he still bears.out into the night. On a few rare occasions, Janosik would dress Germans also punished the civilian population Janosik said he would have been killed dur-All of this proved too much for Janosiksup in a German uniform and go to the nearest in retaliation for particularly bad partisan ing this attack had it not been for a friend, whomother, who called on her son to take action.town to acquire the supplies his group needed.attacks.shot the German before he could stab JanosikMy mother cried and she held me and sheThe tactics of Janosik and the other parti-One of the most well-known atrocities in again.told me, Go to the mountains. Go to the parti-sans involved just allowing the German patrols Czechoslovakia occurred after partisans, from a In the final days of the war, Janosik and thesans and punish these (people) for what theyto walk to where they wanted them to be and different group, assassinated Schutzstaffel leader remains of his group participated in the Praguehave done to us, said Janosik.then showering them with bullets and gre-Reinhard Heydrich. In retaliation, the Germans Uprising of 1945, which ended with the defeat of I agreed and I went into this for revenge, tonades.razed the nearby towns of Lidice and Lezaky, the Germans and the arrival of the Sovietpunish as many Germans as I could because of Janosik said he specifically targeted mem-executed most of the male inhabitants and sent Army.my mother.bers of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (Protection most of the women and children to concentra-Janosik said it wasnt long before he realizedJanosik travelled to the Czech-Polish borderSquadron), which included the Gestapo and tion camps. Such acts of brutality made it diffi-the Soviets were worse than the Germans asarea of Moravia, which he said was well-knownother security agencies, as he knew from per-cult to feel sympathy for the Germans he killed, many celebrated their victory by raping count-as the best place to look for recruiting resis-sonal experience, these people had blood on said Janosik.less Czech women.tance fighters. However, when he found them,their hands. A dog lover by nature, Janosik said, he felt Janosik recalled his own experience with athey said he could not join because he was onlyThese attacks involved precision and the idea more sympathy for the dogs the Germans would drunken Soviet soldier.16.was to not give the enemy a chance to fight back. send after his group, which he and the other He came over to me and he had a pistol,Janosik said he dropped to his knees, told hisJanosik recalled the time he and his friends partisans were forced to shoot.which he was waving in my face and he askedstory and begged the partisans to give him thethrew several hand grenades so they would We were scared of the dogs. The Germans me where I was going, said Janosik. I took myopportunity to kill Germans.explode directly in the path of a German who would be in the woods looking for us and the gun out and I shot him right between his eyes,In the end, they agreed.was approaching on a motorcycle.dogs would smell us and they would bark, he killing him right on the spot. It was me orThe partisan group of about 700 fighters wasThe grenade would explode and you would said. Thats why we had the hand grenades him. headquartered in the mountainous areas of see the man fly 10 feet up in the air. You would ready. Poor dogs, so many dogs we killed because Janosik immigrated to Canada in 1951 whereMoravia. Using stolen German weapons, thelaugh then, but if you missed, you didnt laugh of the Germans. he married. He eventually moved to Oakvillegroup, which was divided into several cells of sixbecause you were in trouble, he said.Despite many successes against the Germans where he has lived for the last 20 years. or seven fighters, ambushed German patrols,Any German soldiers who survived these during the war, Janosik and his group were not Janosik still thinks about the war on a dailyblew up bridges and really did whatever theyattacks, didnt survive for long.unscathed. Janosik said he estimates of the hun-basis.could to hinder the German war effort.Unlock the door to active retirement living at Vistamere, Oakvillespatio walk-outs, with many opening on to the beautiful gardens in premier retirement residence.our courtyard.Beautifully decorated, from the casual elegance of the lounge toThere will always be just one seating for breakfast, lunch and dinner in our tastefully appointed dining room. Daily housekeeping and our professionally landscaped private courtyard, weve designed weekly linen service leave you free to enjoy the many activities Vistamere with a relaxed lifestyle in mind. Spacious studios, oneand day trips that are so popular with our residents.and two bedroom units are available to active seniors who want tomake the most of their retirement years. Half of our suites haveCall today for your personal tour. Wed love to have you join us!380 Sherin Drive, Oakville, Ontario(905) 847-1413www.vistamere.cawww.insideHALTON.com OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, July 14, 2011 10