Pavol Cacara

”The meeting of the East Slovak Coordination Committee ended late at night, around two. The next day before eight in the morning, the students from the faculty called me to come quickly because there was a meeting in one of the main lecture halls. The whole faculty, the pedagogical staff were there and it was all led by Mr. Gurský, the then leader of the school-wide party organization which, in terms of hierarchy, was similar to being a rector, perhaps even more. Maybe it was out of youth recklessness or maybe out of courage, but the first thing I did, after I got there and found out what people were up on the podium, was to tell Mr. Gurský that he might have mistaken the meeting with another one and that he would have to leave the podium. Afterward, I informed the attendees about being elected the chairman of the Student Strike Committee yesterday and, just to be sure, I got elected by the teachers who were there and all of those who wanted to join as well. Then, we informed the people about the demands of the federal committee. The one in Bratislava had their own demands and we read those of Košice as well, so as to cover it all.”

“Since my second year at grammar school, I had been a member of a folk group. So even as a student, at the end of grammar school, I went on tours and traveled West. It was always preceded by the process of approbation that one had to undergo to get the travel approval. When we were about to go on a tour to France, I was called in by the authorities to answer some questions. As there was a bit of a rebel inside of me, I took it lightly, as a fun. I acted as if I did not understand what they were asking me and what they wanted. On the other hand, how they handled the process was humorous. Even at that time, I have no doubt about it, there must have been someone amongst our group keeping an eye on the others, watching their behavior. Someone must have tipped off the comrades about approaching me. So that was the first-hand experience. In the morning, the bell rang, a man came and told me where should I report the next day. It was the regional headquarters of SNB (National Security Corps), the place where ŠtB (State Security) resided as well. They asked me whether someone had contacted me and wanted me to take something abroad. So I acted as If I did not know what they were asking, I mean, naturally, everyone was going to have a suitcase. He understood that he would not get far with me. Then he emphasized that we will meet again after the tour was over, but it never happened. The meeting took place in the entrance hall, so it was no interrogation and I did not sign anything. He just asked some questions, looked important, and that was about it.”

"I remember how we organized a march in the Main Street. At the end of the street, near the State Scientific Library, we met with the representatives of the Košice Civic Forum which was founded before the Public Against Violence (VPN). It was they who invited us. We agreed to coordinate our actions and dates, as it was not in our interest to proceed separately. It´s just that everything was happening so quickly; we were changing things on the go, and we had to improvise a lot. We did cooperate; we operated coordinately. They did not deal with what was happening in the schools but rather tried to address the people, plant facilities and factories. In those days, I traveled every week to Bratislava or to Prague with a stop in Bratislava on the way back. There were a lot of meetings. Essentially, the mandate was about how long we wanted the strike to last to maintain the atmosphere that would allow the changes to take place. Specifically, the change of the president and the change of the constitution. One by one, the steps were adopted at the national level of the student strike movement."