Petrovice
Petrovice is a municipality and village in Třebíč District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 400 inhabitants.
The town was also home to several ancestral families, and we had the chance to meet them while there. The first was the Jírovský family, and then we met some Vybíral relatives.
The Jírovský family was the first of our “this is way too much food” encounters. They were also very interested in our stories and shared histories. As with all our visits, Mirek translated for us, and some of the younger family members spoke some English. They served their family’s traditional version of Kolaches, similar to Bessie’s but not quite the same.
We met at the home of Bohuslav Jírovský, our 2nd cousin 2x removed, at #53 Petrovice. This is the house where our 2nd-great-grandmother, Františka Jírovská, was born before she immigrated to America. It was the home of her mother, Marie Rambousková, who was our 3rd-great-grandmother.
The Jírovský family came from the neighboring town of Kouty.
For lunch we would dine with several groups of our Vybíral family. One set of relatives was our 4th cousin 1x removed, František Vybíral and his son, František, Jr. The other was actually the Mayor of Petrovice, Josef Mašek. Josef is also our 4th cousin 1x removed.
We met at a local restaurant to review the extensive family tree printout I traveled with and traded family stories.
When we met with the Jírovský family, they told us a sad story about our 2nd cousins 2x removed, Josef and Jindřich Jírovský. They were Czech partisans fighting against the Nazis. Tragically, they died fighting together on the LAST day of the war.
TRANSLATION
JOSEF AND JINDŘICH JIROVSKY
19 AND 17 YEARS
WE WILL NOT FORGET
THAT THEY FELL ON THE LAST
DAY OF THE WAR AS MARTYRS
OF THE HOLY CAUSE AND THEY
SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES FOR
THEIR COUNTRIES
AS PARTISANS THEY WERE SHOT
BY THE ENEMY ON THE MORNING
OF MAY 7, 1945 IN PETROVICÍ.
THEY WERE BURIED TOGETHER ON
THE SECOND DAY IN PRIBYSLAVICE