Imrich Močko

“Nobody knew whether he was being punished for something he would have committed or not. Simply, there was no excuse. They caught you, threw you into the car and you had to go to gulag. The landlady told me back then, there were app. 15 million people already dispatched like that by Stalin. And so when the Germans arrived, the Russians claimed, even it was horrible that way, nobody had to leave to gulags and could end up being killed at home. Then the lady said: ‘Come and pray with me in the room.’ So I went; in the corner there was a carved icon and an eternal light. She told me it was their church. Her face was covered with tears, poor woman. You know, I was 22 years old, but I also had tears in my eyes. Such condition, such human treatment was something dreadful. So here I came to realize what the real communism was about. I imagined it completely different. But then I saw communism and fascism were the worst things, what can exist in world. Those were the most terrible dictatorships ever.”

“Well, during the communism, the former Ministry of Interior, those were the hundred percent solid communists. When the coup happened, the Velvet Revolution, few of them resigned, and others left. They turned their coats over and dealt with us the same way as before. Catastrophe. In 1991 I received a rehabilitation decree, thus I was rehabilitated. But not that long ago, about two months ago, I sent it back to our minister. I asked him to place it in the mirror as I don´t need such a certificate. They were the ones responsible that, for over 40 years, I wasn´t a human in their eyes. What have I received for that? Alms? Not even a pension, nothing. So why did they give me such a scrap of paper? I don´t need that paper, I told them. You know, ever since that moment, when communism fell, none of their members had access to me anymore. If any of them came, I would never let him leave. I also remember that in times, when being the politically unreliable person, there was a State Security member from Topoľčany, named Benčík, who used to come and inspect me, too. He was so nasty, always drunk… My goodness, such people had terrible power back then!”