Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

What things could you get in the canteen shop?
The choice of goods was limited of course. You could get artificial fat, marmalade or plum
jam, some cheese, and toiletries. There wasn’t any fruit. I remember we got fruit only once. Our
teeth were already loose, I lost my front teeth there. Once we could order fruit so I ordered
ten kilos (22 pounds).
What did the daily routine in prison look like?
Every morning a guard yelled, “Wake-up time!” So we all finally woke up, even those who
had the afternoon shift and could sleep longer. Those who had a morning shift had to get up.
They went to wash their faces and made their beds. Sheets and blankets had to be put in a certain
order. If it wasn’t, a guard messed it again, sometimes on purpose. Then there was role
call before the morning shift. Girls started to line up in front of the gate. Then we sat down by
the machines, each of us already knew what to do. Two girls were distributing tasks and then
machines started off. When the weather was extremely hot, we moistened some big sheets and
hung them in window frames. We never had anything like a break or a snack. We worked until
2 p.m. Then there was lunch. I didn’t smoke so I only got up to go to the bathroom, which was
always booked by smokers. At the end of the first shift, the machine had to be cleaned because
the second shift was coming. Afterwards we ate in the canteen and then we could go to our
cells. What we didn’t eat, we could take with us. We already got our tin pots for food when
we went to work. Then we could have a rest. Whoever wanted to read, could read, whoever
wanted to rest, could have a rest. In the late afternoon there was a gathering for a walk, then
the blocks closed down. The second shift worked late until 10 p.m. Then they were counted
and if they were all there, we went to bed.
Do you remember why a hunger strike started in 1955 in Pardubice?
We were not treated well. The guards were arrogant, made us nervous, and they were always
making up something when we worked. To solve this and put some order in things, we started
a hunger strike. They promised that guards who were treating us badly and made us nervous
during work, would be sent away. Even a commission from Prague came. We were all put in
line facing a wall and promised that reparations would be done. Some girls didn’t believe it
and continued their hunger strike. Some of them went nine days without eating and they had
to be treated by a doctor. I didn’t take part in that because I didn’t want to ruin my health just
because some “čůza“ was so arrogant. I followed the hunger strike myself for three days. What
was interesting was that commanders were much nicer to us than “čůzas“ (the woman guards).
The reparations really finally came. The worst guard, who we called Elsa Koch, had to leave.
In Pardubice there was also another event, when 12 women wrote a letter to the Secretary
General.
They were called “Hamršildky,“ 17 but they didn’t send the letter anywhere. At least it was
a protest where we showed they could not do everything to us. We didn’t want to be treated
like a lower caste of people. We were not people to them. We had to say our numbers instead
of our names, so we were simply only numbers to them. We found things out from each other
and we all knew the content of the letter. We all protested against the way they treated us,
especially when they disturbed us at work. As a result we were delayed with everything and
17 Hamršildky – here means a group of 12 women, who sent a letter to the Secretary General of OSN Dag Hammarskjöld.
It happened on 28th and 29th of June 1956 and the women were complaining about the bad conditions in Czechoslovakian
prisons.
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