Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

then he would come right to us and we had to line up. Sometimes those line-ups were just
horrible. They couldn’t count us all and there was always someone missing. We had to line up
and stay there for an hour all chilled. Then in the morning we had to get up for our work shift.
They were really able to make one’s life sour. In the evening we had potato salad and a little
piece of Christmas bread. In Pardubice it was acceptable, even the cooks were trying. We also
got a little piece of fish.
Did you ever meet any nuns there?
There were departments called “Castle” and “Vatican,” with them we were not allowed to
meet. When the nuns were divided between us I even brought a missal to one of them. One
of my friends Ilka Ondráková told me before she was released, “You know, in my things I have
a missal, I would like to give it to you.” I responded that, “There will be a “čůzák” 16 (read
[chou:sack]; a slang word from prison for a guard, in Czech language it comes from the word
„bitch“) for sure who will not allow it.” She just said, “Don’t worry, we will make it somehow.”
So I went with her and all though there was a “čůzák,” he was talking to someone, and in the
meantime she gave me the missal. Then we said goodbye to each other. Then I had to go to the
other building at Wenceslas Square where there was a commander standing. He just unlocked
the door and let me go to my building. I was nicely surprised that he let me by without problems
because he was the one known to always be yelling at us and we called him Škrhola.
What did the prison clothes look like?
Brown pants with white and black fur sticking out. It scratched. The jackets were the same
kind. Simply said, it was clothes for prisoners. If someone was released, we switched blankets
and whichever was worse we gave it back. In 1958 before Christmas we were told to write
home and ask for warm underwear. So we all were sent long under pants for men and longsleave
undershirts. We slept in this about two or three times and then were told that a boiler
broke down. That winter during Christmas time was really chilly. They took these warm clothes
from us and let us freeze. Almost all of us were ill and got the flu. The whole prison was ill and
just a few of us kept going to work. So finally it wasn’t worth it to them to take our clothes.
How often did they change your clothes?
Maybe every two weeks, but It was worse with washing. In Pardubice we had only bathrooms
and a manger where there was only cold water. At most went once a month or once every
two months to the bathroom that was close to the kitchen. Showering over there had to be
very quick because everyone wanted to get in. I went there rarely. I remember only one good
washing. Water always stopped running and they didn’t let us in any more. So both winter and
summer we were washing only in cold water.
Did you get anything for hygiene, like a toothbrush, soap, or toothpaste?
We could have bought soap from a prison canteen. We got toilet paper and sanitary towels.
The terrible thing was that this stuff came in such small amounts. Hygienic things were absolutely
deficient. One always had to keep track of their money, so lets say you got 12 Crowns per
month, one half had to be saved for hygienic things, the rest of the money could be spent any
way one wanted. The wage was always according to the amount of work. In the beginning it
was less because it took a while before one was trained.
16 A guard.
36