Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

abroad to buy carpets. He was getting rides from Mr. Honc who had a freight company. Mr.
Losenický escaped on time before Christmas before 1948 around Vimperk. Honc was locked up
because his own son reported him. I was locked up much earlier. The escape itself was talked
over in 1954 although I was locked up January 12, 1949. Honc was locked up in 1954. I was sentenced
on February 20, 1950 and in 1954 I was taken from my job site in Jáchymov and taken to
another round of trials, in a different prison. I even helped to build this since I was in a group
that worked on this.
Did you lead people across the borders regularly?
When I was without employment I was doing this from time to time and I helped a couple of
people. I was interested in the areas especially around Vimperk and Karlovy Vary.
Why did you choose these two places?
I chose Vimperk because I knew Šumava and Karlovy Vary because I had a connection there
through (XXX) 3 , but I will not be speaking about these things because I know Drtina made
a big mistake when he spoke about the way he got out of the Protectorate because the only
possible way of escape was closed. I will not be running away, but I could close some else’s way
if I talked about it now.
I understand.
At Vimperk it was good, there was a good organization of things, but then the trap closed
sometime around May 1949. I found out that probably the guy named Honc, who helped us
at Karlovy Vary was cooperating with the secret police, but he didn’t speak about everything,
about all the cases. I helped Doctor Rohlíček, the ex-secretary to the Minister and I was getting
ready to organize another escape across the borders for Mrs. Zemínová 4 and Mrs. Klemerová,
but that didn’t happen because I was locked up. Before that I was trying to have some kind
of employment, so I pretended to be employed by a builder named Jiříkovský in Prague. Unfortunately,
this guy was locked up based on the testimony provided by agent Anderle and
then because Jiříkovský provided testimony, I was locked up. Finally, Jiříkovský wasn’t standing
against me at the court because he died in prison, but I got twenty years.
What happened after you were arrested?
When they locked me up the head of the State secret police 5 Jindřich Veselý 6 was interested
in my case. They didn’t do the hearing with me in Prague, but they took me to Olomouc. I had
a lot of friends in Prague and they were worried about that. So then I was interrogated in Olomouc
where Jindřich Veselý and another famous secret police person, Kamil Pixa 7 was there.
There they roughed me up. I will tell you that was something. I was in the cellar of a police
department from where Pixa dragged me out of the room, took me upstairs to the first floor,
blinded me, and took me out on the scaffolding around the building because they were re-
3 The narrator chose on purpose to keep the name anonymous.
4 Františka Zemínová (1882–1962) was a Czech politician, a long-time member of the National Socialist Party and one of
the victims of the fabricated process along with Milada Horáková. She was sentenced for 20 years in prison.
5 State secret police known under the abbreviation StB, was a political police force in Czechoslovakia during the communist
era.
6 Jindřich Veselý (1906–1964), from 1933 he worked as the central secretary of the Czech Communist party, from 1939 to
1945 he was in a concentration camp in Buchenwald. From October 1945 he was a member of the Inspectorate of national
secret security police, From 1948–1950 he was a main commander of State secret police. March 5th, 1950 he tried to commit
suicide for the first time. After he was recalled from the director of Institution of socialist history on March 19th (20th)
1964 his second attempt was successful and he died.
7 Kamil Pixa was one of the founders of the communist State secret police, in 1951 he became a representative of the 1st
sector of The Head Goverment of State police.
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