Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

Do you remember the names of your colleagues who helped you write and deliver the leaflets
and were thus consequently sentenced as well?
Naturally, those were guys who were attending the grammar school or college in Chrudim or
they had recently graduated. There wasn’t a big age difference between us. There were also
other people sentenced with us who were older. The main group from Heřmanův Městec was
plus or minus two years apart in age. There were Mirek Kabeláč, Milan Netušil, Josef Řehák,
and Vláďa Doležal,… As time went by, we didn’t only edit the leaflets, but we also got in touch
with two agents – Eliáš and Marcal and we were delivering some spy information too, mainly
about the airport in Pardubice. That was always an army airport so there was always a big
interest in it. They had their own operator and a radio transmitter, but they wanted to have
a plan to fall back on. The second reason was that the radio didn’t work sometimes. They had
troubles with that.
Where did you get the contacts for the two agents?
It was through a schoolmate (B. Capoušek) also a guy through our group who contacted me
together with my mom’s patient. Together we talked about radios. Fortunately, there was no
one else who knew about it. The secret police had me on a list because I had officially kept a radio
as an amateur operator until 1949. Then they took my license away. I had some receivers left,
but I had to put away all the transmitters, I didn’t want to risk it. The one I used for this purpose
then was bricked in a chimney of our house because I was sending out messages, just in case of
emergency. The agents had their own operator, but sometimes they needed to check and sometimes
they had problems with their own one. When that didn’t work I had to substitute. We
were all nineteen or twenty years old. I was locked up a week after my twenty-first birthday.
How did it happen?
I was traveling from Hradec Králové, where I was studying medicine for the first year, to
Heřmanův Městec, almost every single weekend. Later when I was in Prague, nothing was very
easy. I was meeting my schoolmates and other people from the group who studied in Prague.
We weren’t meeting periodically, more by chance when we needed something, then we just
arranged it and went somewhere. Coincidentally and I was really lucky at this time, I met my
friend at a tram stop at Wenceslas Square. It was before Christmas and I was going to go back
home that evening. This boy told me that my schoolmates from the group were locked up
two or three days previously. So I went home and when the secret police came for me in the
evening I was lucky in that I was ready for it. I had the chance to destroy a lot of things before
they came. I did this from the spring of 1949 to midway through 1951, before I came to Prague.
So it lasted for about two years, maybe a little more.
Were you aware of any monitoring? Did you have a feeling that they put someone on you?
I was riding motorcycles professionally. In 1950 I was nominated to go on a six-day race,
which was taking place in England, but the invitation was rescinded. In 1951 the invitation
came again, but all of a sudden I was told that I wouldn’t go anywhere. This six-day race is
always taking place in September or October. In late August the two agents we were cooperating
with were locked up. I assumed that I had to be a suspect as well.
That was a sign for you then?
Yeah, but I unfortunately didn’t take it really serious. If I had taken it seriously, it would have
been possible to get over the border and I wouldn’t have stayed here. I wouldn´t have any
other option then to run away. It would have been the only possible option for me.
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