Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

So people didn’t look at you through their fingers or you didn’t lose old friends because you
were in prison?
To tell you the truth I didn’t really consider these girls as my friends. I treated them as my
coworkers. The important friends were the girls with whom I was in prison. Then I found out
that my manager in the forestry department was assigned to spy on me.
Did you feel in 1968 that it was getting a little easier 20 ?
In 1968 Věrka Kadlecová came to say goodbye because she was leaving to immigration. At
that time I was helping at home in Bílová where I didn’t really pay attention and I knew just
a little about things. My dad didn’t take care either of the changes, he was really ill at that time
and down and out.
What do you think about when I say the year 1989 21 ?
The biggest thing I was concerned about was to inform Milan and Věrka. I was extremely
happy. I was having a little brainstorm that I would fly away because I was so happy. I was really
glad that everything was over, but I was having different ideas about how it would be.
I thought the President, who would be elected, would radically break from Communists. Yet,
Havel did a different thing. He gave them the chance to freely live and breathe, although they
never gave us that chance.
What was your rehabilitation like?
Before Havlíns left to immigration in the sixties, Milan came up to me and asked if I was rehabilitated
yet? I didn’t really think about that because Communists would never rehabilitate
me. In the nineties the whole case was reviewed. I didn’t have to take care of it much. In 1991
I got a letter that said I was fully rehabilitated, but I had to wait a long time before I got any
restitution or compensation. From the office in Brno I got a note that they were working on
it and to be patient. Naďa Kavalírová, the head of the KPV 22 , helped me a lot and they gave
me the retribution very quickly thanks to her help. We finally got it step by step. My sister got
compensation for my dad.
What do you think about the political situation now?
I would be happy if the Communists were put out behind the second railway and that they
would never come to power again because it was a criminal organization. They killed so many
good people. Everything was really hard for my family, but from my point of view it made
sense and had value. The pupils at school should really find out how everything was and how
they treated people. We didn’t want freedom for ourselves, but for everyone. When I recall
everything, I don’t think I did anything bad. It was all just my convictions.
What helped you live through the years in prison?
Mainly it was the friendships I had. I must tell you, up until now they have been my best lady
friends. People who were not there would not be able to understand this. You would have to
live through this. The friendships kept us alive. When one of us lost a relative we all cried with
20 1968 was a year of political relaxation in Czechoslovakia. The political regime was more open and a slow process of
democratization started. This process is known as “Prague Spring.” Nevertheless, this process was ruined by the invasion
of the Soviet Army and the armies of the Warsaw agreement, at night from 20th to 21st of August 1968. Then there was
a period of twenty years during which all demands for change were strictly punished and turned down.
21 During 1989 the communist dictatorships all over Europe fell. In Czechoslovakia riots and demostrations took place
between 17th of November and 29th of December 1989. Since the revolution was not harmful and violent, hence the
name “Velvet revolution.”
22 KPV – The Confederation of Political Prisoners of the Czech Republic – the association of political prisoners from former
Czechoslovakia. It was established January 3, 1990.
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