"And that's where I experienced it as chairman of the National Committee. Because people also didn't know what it was, I set up a Civic Forum to find out what and how. At that time, we invited the singer Pavlína Filipovská and Štědron to explain things to us. There were students, the television announcer Hrušková, from Czechoslovak Television, who explained the situation, what it was about and so on. There was also such uncertainty, fear of what would happen, what would not happen. And when they learned that as a communist, I founded the Civic Forum and that I was in the Civic Forum, and it was already clear that that time would not change, they fired me from the Civic Forum."
I learned about the Velvet Revolution that we had a barbecue like this one night and the cops drove here and there. They stopped and said, 'Yeah, you're grilling, we'll join you.' And they said, 'They're going crazy in Prague, there's an emergency there. We have to stay on duty, we don't know what's going to happen.” That was my first report. And when I came to the Municipal Office on Monday, we already knew a little more from the radio, from the television. We had a plenary session, it was a public meeting, on Tuesday, and there were questions from people about what was happening, why it was happening, why we were not doing anything about it. That's why we did it, we founded the Civic Forum and we did a promotional meeting for people to find out what and how it's done."
"Did you join the Communist Party?
Indeed I was. Very soon, from the age of eighteen. And because my father was secretary of the National Committee - it's like today's vice-chairman. And because he was sick and couldn't go to these brigades, because before everything was done part-time for free, he always sent me: 'Go there for me, help and do it.' So I went to the brigade every Saturday, or whatever was needed... And that convinced me, when I'm so active, that I should be in the party."
Miroslav Krumpholc was born on May 17, 1953 in Straky near Nymburk. He trained as a locksmith and worked in railway repair shops and engineering works. By living near Milovice, he came into contact with Soviet soldiers, which brought him advantages and disadvantages. He was a member of the Communist Party, since 1975 chairman of the Local National Committee in the village of Mečíř and later in Křinec in the Nymburk region. In 1989, he founded the Civic Forum in Křinec, and since he was popular, he remained mayor even after the Velvet Revolution. In 1990 he started a business with his family.
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