Zdeněk Pavelka

„And then, after those thorough interviews [to find out about one’s political opinions and background] after the 1968 [occupation], there were those in 1970 which were moreless pro forma. But the truth is, those people who led the interviews at the ČKD headquarters, they were very sincere and friendly. I have to say, there were many people doing the interviews, and some even weren’t Communist Party members. They had told us beforehand what they would ask us. So that we could be prepared. This help was perfect and I don’t remember a single person from the company headquarters who would have to leave for political reasons. We were all on the same boat, both the inspectors and the inspected had participated in the same things.

“The truth is, when there was a petition or some event going on, people would sign it and participate. I tried to avoid this for one single reason: the factory director told us that he knows us in and out and if we appear somewhere like that, we’d be in trouble with the Ministry [of Metallurgy Heavy Industry, the ČKD was an important company which was closely surveilled]. And now, make your pick. My daughter was about to finish the basic school, she sat the entrance tests for the nursing school which she passed but she got a letter saying that she passed the entrance tests but the school had only limited capacity so she was not admitted. So I went to see someone at the Ministry of Metallurgy and Heavy Industry and showed him the letter. He said that he would try to sort it out. He called his former schoolmate who worked at the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, that comrade called the Headmistress of the school and told that comrade a thing or two and then they called me and told me what to write in an appeal. I sent a formal appeal as they instructed me, my daughter was enrolled and when I first came at the parents – teachers meeting, I was pretty stunned because I felt that the Headmistress was a bit worried that I have long strings to pull that reach to the Central Committee."

“I was in Karolinum at the law faculty [sic! Those are two different buildings and Karolinum was never a part of the law faculty; Palach’s coffin lay in state in Karolinum indeed] to pay our respect, the casket lay in state there. There were debates going on Our opinion was that his sacrifice was too much. That it was too harsh and … I think that there were other, less violent options. In my opinion, no such harsh way was needed. A waste of young life, it was.”

"Emil Zátopek helped us considerably. From time to time, they sent some good retired athlete to our unit in Lipník to keep an eye on us when training, to be with us and such. One of them was Pepík Doležal who got a silver at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics for 50 km walking, Emil Zátopek, winner of four gold medals… but the worst thing was, when Emil Zátopek came to Lipník, always for a month, those officers didn’t see an Olympic winner but Comrade colonel from the Ministry of National Defense. They all almost shat themselves bending over backwards to do whatever he wanted. When he left, they would say ‘So, you athletes, you sportsmen, now it’s not going to be like under Emil Zátopek when you could do whatever you wanted. Now you’ll find what real army service is. It was a revenge for having slightly relaxed service and now, the guys wanted to retaliate.“

„Samozřejmě jsme se zúčastnili. Byla tam taková hesla, která se nesla: 'Marie Terezo, obrať se v hrobě, sloužíme sedm let, tak jako tobě.' To bylo pět let plus dva roky vojny. Nebo tenkrát odhaloval Chruščov kult osobnosti, tak šel náš spolužák jako basketbalista s velkým nápisem 'kult', pak šel menší 'kultík' a 'kultíček', to byl nedomrlý studentík. A volala se hesla. Došlo k velkým výměnám názorů. Po Majálesu se tenkrát šlo do Stromovky, tehdy se jí říkalo Park oddechu a kultury Julia Fučíka. Podle mě tam byli lidi, kteří měli sepětí s tajnou policií. Vedli vášnivé diskuse, protože tihle lidé, asi tak čtyřicátníci, zastávali názor, že studujeme zadarmo, že stát a strana nám to umožnily a my místo, abychom je chválili, tak kritizujeme, a že se nám to jednou v životě vymstí a podobně. Byly to vášnivé diskuse. Myslíme si, že to byli lidé od tajné policie. Oni se samozřejmě tak neprojevili, ale tvrdě a nekompromisně zastávali názor, že teď se máme nejlépe, musíme chválit, a ne abychom kritizovali.“