Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

If we looked at your story with the eyes of your wife, how did she struggle during this separation?
You were a father of a family correct?
I think that our wives, parents, and families were psychologically affected much more because
those of us in the prison were together. We all had similar attitudes. We were all of the
same blood group, we say, but those who stayed at home had it hard. People were turning
their back on them, being malicious, and doing bad things on purpose. For example, they
would come up to my wife at midnight with dogs, wake her up, made a mess in the whole
apartment, tell her that I escaped, and they also told her that if I showed up she would have
to report it or she would go to prison and that our kid would be sent away to foster homes.
Then in two weeks they would tell her they caught me! They told the same stuff to my mom
and in two weeks they told her again that I was shot and wounded while trying to escape. At
that moment my mom had just gotten a permit for a visit so she would come and coincidentally
I would really be wounded a little bit. Some stones fell on me and it tore my eyebrow.
I was a little pale and my mom said, “Boy, why are you doing this? Don’t you know you have
a family?” I didn’t know what she was talking about. “Well, they will kill you.” Then the guard
jumped up and I replied, “Kill me?” Mom asked me where was I shot and I tore apart my shirt
asking, “Where was I shot?” The guard ended the visit telling us we can only talk about family
matters. I told him it was a family matter if they tell my mom her son is shot, wounded, and
constantly tries to escape! So they were chasing them as much as they could. They were pushing
the women to divorce. They were switching her from one job to another, telling her if she
divorces then she will get another job.
During the time you were in prison you were working on small gifts that you sent to your
wife is that right?
I sent those not only to my wife, but we made those for all our friends. You know we did that
because we wanted to give something to our visitors. If you had a contact through a civilian
worker there you could also send some things. For example, at Christmas time we were making
little cards, little figures, crosses, and such little gifts.
What was your return to civilian life like?
One felt really insecure. It took a long time before we felt civilized again. I did a good thing
because I took a month off. I was supposed to report myself to the labor office, but I went to
Slovakia. I told myself I haven’t had a vacation for eight years so why couldn’t I have a rest? I let
the doctors check me up properly and they sent me back. They told me to get back into shape
or it would be bad for me.
Why were they telling you this?
Well, because of the radioactivity. I had about 14,000 white blood cells. Míla Adámek, who
was a doctor prisoner who was studying the results of radioactivity on people’s health was the
biggest icon in this medical field. He was giving me 2-3 years to live if I leave the mines. Then
we met in 1989 and I told him, “Miloš, hey you don’t know how to count. He said, what do you
mean? And I said that you gave me 2-3 years to live. He just replied, ”Be happy that I can not
count well…”
Where did you go when you came back from prison? What kind of job were you searching for?
I could go to the work in the quarry because in Levice there was an old quarry and there was
a factory called Onyx. There they were making various things out of it: paper weights, tables,
various chess figurines, and other things made from stone. They wanted me to be a teacher
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