Nataša Lichnerová, rod. Dekanová

„I was satisfied with the separation with Czecho-Slovakia. I was like that all the time, my father was also a nationalist, and after the experience in national representation, when from the twelve players, there could have been only three or four Slovaks, I was persuaded, that when we’ll have an own state, many more people will have much more opportunities to learn not only in sport but also in other disciplines. Whether it was ministers or diplomats in foreign countries- representative offices, all there were only a few Slovaks. The central was in Prague, all roles were distributed there. I had a feeling we would develop faster as a nation separate, then as part of Czecho-Slovakia. I may be wrong, but I still feel, it is good like this.“

Do you remember where were you on August 21st? “Yes, I remember very precisely. I was at home with my brother. My mother had a holiday back then, but she wasn't home. That was the first time they were screening the Beatles at the Prague cinema. My brother and I were ready to leave right away. I turned on the radio and wondered why their broadcasting such stupid radio play, they kept repeating something about troops and war and I don’t know what. I didn’t know where I was when I woke up in the morning, I still couldn’t believe something like that could have really happened. We had breakfast, got dressed and went into town. We were living on Zrinskeho, which was close to Holubyho, where was the gynaecological hospital, we lived opposite the hospital. It was just a short walk downhill to the centre when we were walking on the sidewalk, and when we were at the crossroad, around Palisady, we met our mother. She asked us: “Children, where are you going? You mustn’t go into town, there’s war.“ I asked:“ War?“ Mother replied:“ We were attacked by Russia.“ We were shocked. We were afraid to go on that day, but two, or three days after that, the city was in a great mood. The Russians were there, many people talked with them, they were perplexed themselves, why they were sent here because nothing was happening. The posters were the best, they were everywhere, with texts such as „I’ll exchange my love for the Soviet Union for a bucket of poppyseed dumplings“. Basically, mostly similar funny slogans. The entire corset was plastered with it. We were going to the centre and read it.“