Mosquitos at Dyje
Vladimíř Zbořílek emigrated through Austria in 1948. He crossed the borders of Czechoslovakia with his friend near Břeclav. “We were crossing the border near the customs office and there we experienced the first adventure. We were climbing across the railway embankment and we did not know what followed. The embankment was close to the border line. When we got through it we saw a man in a uniform, probably a police officer. He had a bike. He was watching us slithering through the high grass. We thought it is over that he arrests us.” In summer 1948 the border between the Soviet zone of Austria and Czechoslovakia was not well-guarded and the police officer let them go through. “We were stung by, hundred or maybe thousands, mosquitoes at dried-up feeders of Dyje. That night was difficult, the mosquitoes stung us despite our shirts.” In Austria they found a willing priest who changed their money and told them where to catch the train.