Peter Lenek

“The Czechs were, of course, a bit further. They had a magazine Dissent as well as their influence of music scene was completely different than of the Slovak scene. There were more bands, in Bohemia they tried to play illicitly, too. Our magazine called Melodies was amazing. There I published my first advert to sell the recorded tapes. Many people began to write me, they had a great interest. I sold the recorded tapes really quickly. I replied to the advertisements and wrote that the people can send me blank tapes and I shall record them in return. This is what I did during two – three years and it helped me to earn money for my favorite music. In the package they always sent me tapes along with the money.” “Was the package opened before?” “No, No. The packages were not opened within Czechoslovakia. They were opened only when they arrived from abroad, from the West. However, one day in October 1987 some policemen knocked on my door. They needed to clear something out. At first they left me waiting for two hours outside on Moyzes street. I found out it was done so on purpose, to make me nervous. Then they took me and it was not just clearing out stuff, but rough cross-examination. They said they had some information and they wanted to accompany me to the post office. There we received the package and returned back. The package was opened and there were the tapes and money. I was accused of unauthorized business. The next paradox was that such business or even permission to do such activities never existed. (Laughter) Well, during the socialism, there was actually no private business whatsoever.”

“Concerning that provocateur, we were in a hotel in Alps for about two days. We sat with him, the driver, in a restaurant. He began talking with us and he wanted to provoke us: 'You know what I just heard in a radio? Czechoslovakia has signed a treaty with Western Germany on yielding emigrants back to their homeland.' Such a thing he made up, since he probably hinted we wanted to emigrate. I said: 'What?! If someone would like to emigrate, the Germans won't accept him, they shall drop him off at our borders and here he shall have great troubles for which he'll be imprisoned.' That's how it worked during socialism. If someone emigrated, he was automatically tried in his absence in Czechoslovakia and sentenced to two-three years if imprisonment for illegal leaving of the republic. Of course, his property was right away confiscated by the state. We know how it used to be done. The communist bosses then shared the property for dirt cheap. It was enough to own a red book and one could literally own a house for few bucks. That's how it worked and many people still use this way of property gaining up to the present. The driver told us this, but I didn't want to believe him, since I didn't know. I just knew my friend wanted to emigrate. That was the truth. There were forty-five of us travelling by bus and only twenty returned back. From the younger ones it was just me and one married couple, returning from their honeymoon in Germany. All other young people stayed in the West. Majority left the group in Munich.”