Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

modeling the building. They walked with me there and they took me back downstairs. Then
they put me in a car and drove me through a couple streets, my eyes being covered all the time.
Then we came back to the police department. Although your eyes are blinded sometimes while
in custody, you can get an idea of what is happening, so I knew we were back. They started the
interrogation with me. Jindřich Veselý said, “Doctor, have you ever been kicked by a horse?”
Then he punched me so hard that I had to go up about three meters high in the air. After that,
I don’t know how, but they burned my palms. My whole palms were burned except the place
in the middle and all the burns turned to blisters. I also had a cut on my cheek, which already
disappeared. After sometime a bump appeared right behind my ear, which was full of blood
and pus. From that time I couldn’t hear from that ear.
How did the interrogations go?
On February 17, 1949 I was picked up by Veselý and Pixa again in a big truck. They covered my
eyes with my red scarf and rode with me somewhere. I have the scarf still today. Pixa said, “You
will have a red cold running out any ways, so that scarf will match.” We stopped somewhere
by a roadside, there we stopped to urinate, and when I went Pixa fired off a whole round of
bullets right next to my ear. From that time on, when I wanted to urinate I had a hard time
getting started. After sometime it got better. Then we stopped somewhere and they took me
out of the car. I took my clothes off, eyes still closed and they put me in between two big bars.
There I was left standing for a little while. Then I was taken to a cell where there was nothing,
but a table and a chair. They let me sit down naked on a chair and we started the interrogation.
Where all this was happening I didn’t know until two years a go. Then I found out, those were
cells at Ruzyně. There was twenty-four cells together, twelve upstairs and twelve downstairs.
There you weren’t allowed to say your name and you couldn’t see anyone, not even the policeman
or your guard. He only said, open your window and pushed your food inside with his foot.
Then I was taken to Bartomějská and from there to Pankrác 8 . I didn’t have any records about
the stay at Ruzyně in my papers. It wasn’t nice there. I was right opposite the room where they
held the interrogations and I heard all that. That wasn’t nice at all.
Do you remember who you heard from that room?
I remember an agent and a woman. I didn’t know the names though.
So you were arrested at the beginning of 1949.
Yes, I was arrested at midnight on January 12, 1949. They came for me in my apartment and
checked it out. They sealed off my library. My daughter who was seventeen months old tore
down all the seals the next day. I didn’t know that though, my wife told me that later. From
there I was taken to Bartolomějská and then to Olomouc.
What exactly did they want to hear from you?
Jiříkovský gave testimony that I was probably helping people across the borders, but he also
talked about a radio station since I had a close connection with the radios, because I was an
amateur radio operator they were also interested in that as well.
What was you political affiliation?
I was a National Socialist, but I wasn’t really active politically. I was very busy as a general
secretary.
8 Bartolomějská, Ruzyně and Pankrác are prisons in Prague.
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