Anna Hyndrakova with cousins and friends

This picture was taken in 1933 in Brandys nad Orlici where we were going for summer holidays.

It was my mum's dream to go to the sea. Every year we made plans to go, but in the end we never did. We always went to Brandys nad Orlici in East Bohemia, where it was very beautiful.

Some of our relatives and friends also went there. Sitting next to me on this picture is my friend Ota Taussig.

In the second row there is some friend and the boy above me is my cousin Jiri Flusser.

And in the upper row standing from left are my cousin Pavel Stransky, my sister Gertruda and her friend Ruth Taussigova, and my cousin Milan Flusser.

I've got happy memories of it, but mum never did get to see the sea. We used to spend the entire summer holidays in Brandys. Dad would come to stay with us at the weekends.

We had a rented room there. We used to go by train and sent our things as registered luggage. They would wrap up a large wicker basket, as well as dishes, because mum did the cooking. We lived on the square, but it wasn't far from the river.

The square was full of little stores. They already knew us there and when I had some money I would go to buy toffees. It was nice to walk past the baker's shop because there was always the delicious smell of bread.

Others who went there included Mr. Stransky, the Flussers and, later on, the Barnais, with whose daughter, Margit, I went to school and remained friends after the war. We were a kind of big summer community over there.