MUDr. Hynek Faschingbauer

“I went home for the flag, I think I am a patriot. It hung over my bed. So, I took it off. With the flag under my jacket, I set out before four, accompanied by three colleagues from surgery. I was afraid I wouldn't even get the square that they might want to detain me. I reached the square. There were more people than usual. So I thought it was going right. When I turned back, I saw people coming out from the Domažlice arcade. They were not visible, and suddenly a crowd of people followed me. So we arrived at the absolute center of Domažlice at our leaning tower. There I stood on a bench and started chanting, "Freedom, freedom." The three hundred, four hundred people immediately caught on. That first day only I spoke. I told them what I witnessed in Prague. I read them statements from us the medical staff of Domažlice hospital, I have read them some statements – of Prague actors and schools and requirements of the Civic Forum.”

“Even during my studies I had a huge problem with the lack of freedom. I tried to express it differently. For example I wore the original American jacket M 65 with an American patch. Despite the opposition of state power the laying of wreaths by the US Embassy reestablished in Domažlice in 1985. People thanked the Americans. Of course it was filmed by the StB. I was there too, of course, because I heard it in the Voice of America, when exactly according to the timetable they will be in Sušice, in Domažlice. So, I went there. By chance, I was the last one who went to shake hands and thank the Ambassador. And de facto all people left, so we went for a walk around Domažlice Square. I spoke English, so we talked. It was all filmed by the StB. So a simple handshake gave us an interview with the US ambassador.”

“My father, at the time thirty-one, at the peak of his power, understood it as a big injustice as my mother did. He took off a red star from the school and then he and his colleague Milan Borovička walked around Domažlice and painted the inscriptions "Idite domoj" (“go home”) and so on. We as children had daily contact with Russian soldiers who had headquarters next to our school canteen, which was in the Domažlice monastery. We stood there by the railing, where GAZes were going to headquarters. We encouraged ourselves and spit on them. The Russians settled over Domažlice in the so-called Týnské háje. That is the forest north of Domažlice, there is a perfect view of the city from there. It was in range. From that forest, the gun points of tanks and cannons were visible. Of course, this does not assuage anyone. If we went to our grandmother in Horšovský Týn, we had to pass through the groves where the gate was. There was a red star and a portrait of Lenin on the gate. There were soldiers with machine guns. They searched our car. When they found nothing, they let us in. Until we arrived after five kilometers to the so-called Blížejov crossing. There was again such a foothold - a barrier, an armored personnel carrier with a heavy machine gun aimed at us – a checking number two. Even though I was seven at the time, I was very much aware of the presence of Soviet troops.”