Michal Dvořák

“We came to Tylovo Square from Ječná Street, following the tram tracks. And we saw that there were clashes with the police still going on. And it was quite a confrontation, as for the first time, we saw barricades built by the protesters. In one of those barricades, there was even this tram they derailed, standing on its side. Those old trams, so-called submarines, were maybe already in service, but these were the really old ones, with open cars. And as we were watching it from a distance we saw even an army tank, a regular tank, standing in front of a barricade. One, or maybe even two, I don't know. That was quite rough, so we just watched it from a distance for a while and then we went home...” - “And those were the Czechoslovak army tanks?” - “ The Czechoslovak tanks. All of them, that was the thing... As this whole crackdown had been executed by the Czechoslovak government, the new Husák government. Those were Czechoslovak policemen, Czechoslovak soldiers, and the militiamen were also there, in militia uniforms, who were beating the people with batons.”

“All of a sudden, police came rushing, all the way from the museum and all the side streets. And he was like... We managed to get through, so they couldn't be there yet at that moment. They sealed the area and just did their thing, with... I would say they used loudspeakers... stated that we were not permitted to be there. And right away they started beating people in front of them with batons, and I saw water cannons for the first time. And also policemen wearing helmets. So we just kept running. Right there, like you have those shots of people running, taken from above, there's me and Miloš among them for sure, you would certainly find us if you would look deeper into it. And we rushed down Krakovská street or maybe Ve smečkách street, I don't know. And we managed to get through. Policemen would chase us a bit, but they were dispersed, not in a single file. And then, as they reached the Tyl Theatre, people stood up to them. And they started harassing the police. Like when the police started throwing those teargas canisters and this quick-witted fellow took the canister and threw it into an armoured car. And they all had to get out in a hurry. That's interesting. As that was the first time I saw police using military-grade armoured cars. As there was a 'VB' sign (Public Security) on it, on this military armoured car, this wheeled one. And it had a machine-gun turret. So in the course of that year, they armed and trained the police pretty well to handle such situations.”