Eva Kordová

“We staged a protest, it was a sort of a sports show. We walked through the town and people were on our side because we protested. We said that for the anniversary of the Republic, we just wanted to show that we the young ones have a different opinion. Many of our teachers were punished for that, though. When we were taking our graduation exams in 1970, we thought that if we would have good grades, it would save the teachers and our headmaster, Mr. Horáček. Oh no! It didn’t work that way. We passed the exams with flying colours, almost all of us had nothing but excellent grades but as early as 1970, there was a big purge. They installed a bigwig comrade from above and this woman created such an atmosphere that students started denouncing each other.”

„One day, our parents went to see our grandma and grandpa in Prackov, they were sick. We children stayed alone at home and some men in leather coats came and asked where our parents were. They wanted us to tell them what parents do, whether we are accepting some pinted matter and so on. We were so scared that we almost cried and we didn’t want to tell them anything. Then, they left but later on, they summoned dad for questioning. Fortunately, they couldn’t prove anything and they didn’t put him in jail. However, it was all noted in our dossiers and none of us could study beyond the primary school.”

„Měla jsem zážitek, že šel voják po městě a za tou šarží šli dva vojáčci jako sluhové, co nesli kufr. Šli po městě a skupovali úplně všechno, co viděli. V Turnově ‚mezi mosty‘ byla dětská obuv. A tehdy nebyly capáčky. Stála tam velká fronta, lidé čekali na zásilku těch botiček. Přišel tenhle Rusák, šel rovnou k pultu, otevřel kufr a řekl, že bere všechno. Stál tam mladý člověk, chlap jak hora, přišel k němu a řekl: ‚Ty svině jedna, ty nám tu chceš skoupit boty pro naše děti?‘ A jednu mu ubalil. ‚Koukej vypadnout, ty hajzle!‘ Rusové opravdu odešli z krámu a my si říkali, co teď asi nastane. Nestalo se vůbec nic. Zmizli a byli pryč.“

„One day, our parents went to see our grandma and grandpa in Prackov, they were sick. We children stayed alone at home and some men in leather coats came and asked where our parents were. They wanted us to tell them what parents do, whether we are accepting some pinted matter and so on. We were so scared that we almost cried and we didn’t want to tell them anything. Then, they left but later on, they summoned dad for questioning. Fortunately, they couldn’t prove anything and they didn’t put him in jail.”