Czechoslovak Political Prisoners - über das Projekt Political ...

Preface
This book is part of a larger project targeted at commemorating the victims of Stalinism. We,
the young volunteers from the Czech Republic, are introducing life stories of former political
prisoners as an educational tool for youth and wider public. Lives of political prisoners persecuted
in 1950s, then young people themselves, seem hardly believable today. It is the very subject
of our interest, the narrators and their personal beliefs, strengths and hopes that underline
the times when Europe was split into two ideological blocs. It is their stories that question the
basic values we take for granted nowadays. It is their voices that will commemorate the victims
of Stalinism.
We do not mean to rewrite history by this book. In today´s world nothing is older than
yesterday´s newspaper. Life is fast and even faster is the information all around us. In order
to achieve an effective and efficient distribution of the results of this project a combination
of communication tools is used. We publish our work on our website, in a book publication,
and during youth conferences and workshops. Our intention is to stress an interdisciplinary
approach where interpretations of the past can be studied from the perspectives of history,
sociology, penology, political science, anthropology, psychology, and many others.
Male and female memories of political oppression in former Czechoslovakia offer a complex
interpretation of the recent past. Individual histories are something we do not have to believe
in. However, we can try to imagine how it felt. To be a young captive sentenced for crimes
against the Czechoslovak regime. Crimes which usually did not contain any criminal activity at
all. Victims of political brutality became the worst enemies of state. They were not allowed to
live a free life, to study, travel, or see their families. They were sent to prisons and forced-labor
camps instead. What is seen beyond possible today was a daily bread then.
What is more, the men and women who survived and started new lives after release were
meant to be forgotten. Their persecution went on. They had to find manual jobs only, their
children were put aside from the official education system. As former political prisoners they
refused to support Communist government and leading institutions and they had to pay for it.
They did pay indeed. They lived a bound life full of stigmas. The political pressure about
their anti-communist belief did not stop until 1989. Finally, when most of them were in their
twilight years, they were free. Luckily, they agreed to share their memories with us. Some of
their slavers are still alive. Some of the “modern slaves” too. What do we know about them?
Do we want to know? The answer is up to everyone of us. But we, the authors, want to voice
the life stories of those who would probably never be heard again. It is not the solution but it
may help us in finding the right answer.
Life story interviews and biographical narratives started to be popular in Central Europe after
the fall of Communism. Even this book has been prepared using the modern approach of oral
history. Yet not all the experts studying recent history are familiar with these methods, some
even refuse them strictly in the Czech Republic. This is why we would like to contribute to the
debate and offer empirical examples how fruitful oral histories can be. We do not argue that
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