Maria Korbelová, Marie Kocurová, Pavlína Granzerová, U Opavice 3, July 24, 2018

Message to the future generations: “Enjoy and take care of what we have built here…”

 Mrs. Korbelová and Mrs. Kocurová both live in the U Opavice 3 apartment building. They met at the Minerva plant where they both worked until their retirement. They are very good friends and visit each other frequently. Also present at the interview was Pavlína Granzerová, one of Mrs. Korbelová’s daughters, who was raised at U Opavice 3, where both the Korbel and the Kocur families moved in 1965. Pavlína, who by now has a son of her own and works as a cook in a local kindergarten, remembers her childhood here with much fondness. Mr. Korbel, Pavlína’s father and the husband of Mrs. Korbelová, died several years ago. Mr. Kocur, who holds the function of the residential adviser at the U Opavice 3 apartment block, turned 80 around the time of our interviews in 2018, and his birthday was celebrated at one of the monthly get-togethers that the U Opavice inhabitants (especially the older generation) regularly hold at the nearby pub U Tří Jabloní. In the interview the women recall the socialist work brigades that used to be organized twice a year to clean the vicinity of the apartment blocks; they talk about the various ways in which the inhabitants used to get to know one another; and they discuss how the times and values are changing today. They enjoy living at U Opavice and do not mind the small size of their flats; they appreciate the location and good relations among neighbors.