Přejít na navigaci

The Mother of One of Our Daughters Has Died

  • Date: 11 Jun, 2008 at 9:33PM,
  • Add commentary
  • When I received a note this morning that Jana Svehlova’s mother, Mrs. Eleonora Roubik (Lola), had died, I experienced severe pain, the kind that is felt physically and emotionally. It is a pain that I felt for the mothers of all the daughters of eleonora-roubikpolitical prisoners. Suddenly, I realized what our mothers, mommies, moms were capable of doing for us—during those infamous 1950s—when they had to take care of just about everything. To bring us up as ethical human beings, to feed us, to clothe us, but not just that—they had to make sure we would not forget our fathers who were in prisons…

    Often, we did not show our mothers much gratitude. As daughters, perhaps we felt closer to our fathers. But we better not forget that the fundamental care we received was from our mothers.

    I am sorry that I met Mrs. Roubik only last year, even though I knew about her from talks with a friend already in the mid-1980s. She was a woman with a strong will, a sense of humor, and a love for knowledge. I think she was a very good mother to Jana Svehlova. I am drinking to her with white wine from the Rhine Valley. I hope that, from wherever she is, she is smiling back at me.

    Writer: Zuzana Vittvarova

    Translation: Jana Svehlova

    Editing: JoAnn M. Cooper