"But I also found a recording of an interview with Mr Chytil [from the State Security interrogation]. The commanding officer then evaluated it and wrote a report that in the case of comrade Martin Hilský he suggested not to investigate further because he did not have a positive relationship with State Security. Apparently unlike others. So I asked it to be copied, because I had not yet been lustrated and I did not know how it would turn out. Because when you are approached by the police, you never know, you might find yourself on a list. I think even Václav Havel was on the list at some point. Or like that, but it wasn't necessary. I still have a copy of it, it wasn't necessary because the lustration was negative. It said that I am in no way connected with this. So I was very happy that I passed that test. And later it had a really nasty aftermath, much later. Because my wife was invited as well, and, by the way, they told her that the children - we had three children - didn't have to come back from school. And then she didn't sleep for three months. So it was horrible. Anyway, she didn't agree. Even under that pressure."
"And then the Warsaw Pact tanks came here. It was a trauma of my life. It was a complete disappointment for me that I can't describe. Because I didn't believe it could happen. I had a visitor from Holland around August 15, and when they left - they were staying with us, I was letting them out - all this was possible in 1968, that was a miraculous year. A year of relative great freedom actually, a year of liberalization that ended under the belts of tanks. They said, 'Aren't you afraid here?' And I said, 'And what, please?' 'Well, there are already big manoeuvres, military manoeuvres all around Czechoslovakia, you are actually a besieged country.' And I said, 'But these are all friendly armies and these are military exercises, of which there are many.' And they left with a smile. And by... By August 21, they were here."
Martin Hilský is a translator, Shakespearologist and professor of English. He was born in Prague on 8 April 1943 into the family of architect Václav Hilský and japanologist Vlasta Hilská, where he received the foundations of his broad humanities education. In 1965 he graduated from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University (FF UK), where he joined as an assistant professor. In May 1968 he won a competition for a one-year PhD at Oxford University as a junior research fellow at Linacre College, where he went immediately after the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops. There, the opportunity to work in universities around the world opened up, but he eventually decided to return to communist Czechoslovakia, to pursue his translation work, to teach and to try to bridge the gap between East and West within his limited means. This entailed restrictions on professional work at the Faculty of Arts as well as the interest of State Securit (StB). Martin Hilský was approached for cooperation, which he never signed. At the time of the student strike after 17 November 1989, the students chose him as their representative from among the teachers. After the Velvet Revolution, he was appointed professor, worked at several universities, and worked extensively as a translator. He has translated the complete works of Shakespeare and is also the author of extensive books on Shakespearean England. In 2001, Queen Elizabeth II made him an honorary member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the promotion of English literature in the Czech Republic and for his Shakespearean translations. In 2011 he received the State Prize for Translation for his translations of Shakespeare. At the time of recording (2023) he was living in Prague with his wife, translator Katerina Hilská.
Hrdinové 20. století odcházejí. Nesmíme zapomenout. Dokumentujeme a vyprávíme jejich příběhy. Záleží vám na odkazu minulých generací, na občanských postojích, demokracii a vzdělávání? Pomozte nám!
