Václav Cvejn

"It was the Náchod industrial school from the year 1961. We were all forced into the Mayday celebrations, the employees of companies, the students from schools, and so on. And back then we formed ourselves up opposite the eatery on Tepenská and the girls from Plhov were walking by. Our school was still waiting for the order and the girls from Plhov were getting away from us. And because it was the year 1961, then there was that triumphal flight of Jurij Gagarin into space, and so the girls had lots of balloons with Gagarin above their heads. And the boys from our class had nothing better to do, but to start taking those Gagarins down with hook nails. And there were less Gagarins. The party functionaries noticed this and there was big trouble. And now our teachers divided into two camps. One side said, that it was very serious antisocialist propagation, that they should be immediately expelled from school. The others said, that it was boys' mischief, they had to talk to them and sort it out somehow. And so they fought amongst each other and in the end the side, who said that it was just boys' mischief, won. Largely responsible for this was our class teacher Prokop Krutil and the gym teacher Pepa Černíkovský. And so it all ended well. Oh, not exactly well, the pupils in question were rewarded with a three in behavior and a reprimand from the principal. But what was most important, was that their stay at the school continued a year before graduation."

"One time there happened, that some commissar or other came and with him two members of the VB, who you would call policemen today, back then it was Veřejná bezpečnost (Public Security). He just came to tempt the neighbors Kants, or to recruit them into an agricultural co-operative. And that old man, a farmer, didn't want to for any price. And now how to do it, he was scared to tell them: 'Get out, I don't want it.' And he probably also didn't want to agree, and so he chose the tactic of putting his hand to his ear and saying: 'What are you saying? I can't understand you.' 'Well, if you're going to join the co-operative!' 'Oh but I hear so badly.' And they repeated it about three times and then that commissar called out: 'We'll show you!' And he said, some sort of tractor driver also stood there, and he told him: 'Drive into the yard and take all of that manure for our field.' And they did this burglary right in front of two members of Public Security. But they forgot the perceptive witness from behind the fence, the other adults were holed up in their houses."