Martin Krajčovič

“Sometimes in January 1989 we happened to be at the Wenceslas Square in Prague and suddenly we realized there was going to be some demonstration. The square was empty, policemen were standing all around and people in lines were standing in front of empty shops. For example, in front of a goldsmith's shop there was a fifty meters long line of people moving, so at once a man standing right before the door moved to the end of line so that it looked like people were just shopping. But the policemen knew that the Wenceslas Square was closed and they urged the mob to disperse. Then they shouted the last appeal and we all noticed when walking down the square that behind the bars there were men prepared in white helmets holding shields and white long truncheons. Their eyes fumed with rage which their superiors knew how to provoke in them by various psychological methods. It was apparent how mad they were to see us there.”

“The Civic Forum was founded in Prague and for a long time we in Banská Bystrica didn´t understand, why Bratislava wanted to detach and found a new movement called Public Against Violence (VPN). For long we functioned under the head of Civic Forum, but at the same time we easily cooperated with Bratislava´s VPN.”