A23 As a soldier in Prague

Narrator: Franz Fraißl
Reporter: Sabrina Puschl.

One day I had to do my military service in Prague. Some comrades and I had to do the guard. We were very nervous, because the day before something terrible had happened.

In a nearby forest there was a tunnel. Two soldiers had heard a noise coming from there and had gone to the tunnel. Suddenly two Czechs had thrown a blanket over them and had cut their throats. We were not allowed to enter the tunnel because it was too dangerous. Every second hour there was a changing of the guards.

When it was my and my comrades' turn we heard a noise coming from the forest. It sounded like steps. We were not allowed to shoot as long as we didn't shout, "Stop, who's there?". If there was no reaction we could use our guns. We were very excited, but then we didn't hear anything.

There was a fence between the forest and us, but we didn't know that. When we heard a noise again we were ready to shoot. But as we couldn't see anyone we didn't do it. We reported that incident to the officer on duty.

Later we were told that a SS unit had been stationed next to us. One of their soldiers had probably been walking around and had sat down because he had been tired. After some time he had fallen asleep and his combat helmet had fallen off his head. That had caused a noise sounding like approaching steps.