Jan Procházka

* 1955

  • "All the time, they tried to persuade me to start picking up a diary called Red Right at the time. I kept refusing because I didn't want the newspaper because it was published by the Communist Party at the time. I was subscribing to the Young Front at that time, which would correspond to today´s “Dnes”. And when I returned from Yugoslavia, suddenly in the mailbox, because the price of the newspaper was exactly the same, so suddenly in the mailbox I got the Red Right instead of the Young Front. When I asked why, I was told that it was for me to be able to go to Yugoslavia, so now I will just get the Red Right."

  • "Fortunately, we didn't have to, but those acquaintances who travelled with us had to leave their daughter at home. And that was supposed to be such a guarantee that they and we would not stay in Yugoslavia and that we would return. And when we arrived there, for us, even though it was not the western state of Yugoslavia at that time, it was still a free state and only then did we begin to see the difference, what we are all fed here at that time and for me, this was the turning point you are asking when I realized that something was wrong."

  • "Maybe you know something about coupon privatization, which took place somewhere in 1990, 1990, 1991, when there were queues at the post offices so that people could buy a coupon book for just one thousand crowns. I experienced my stuff there, because the demand for those coupon books was such that there weren't that many of them and with that there was one of the greatest experiences for me and maybe one of the impulses why I left the post office because not at all didn't everything worked there.”

  • Celé nahrávky
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    Štoky, 19.04.2021

    (audio)
    délka: 01:22:52
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu The Stories of Our Neigbours
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

Suddenly I had the Red Right in my mailbox instead of the Young Front

Jan as a small boy
Jan as a small boy
zdroj: archiv pamětníka

Jan Procházka was born on July 27, 1955 in Havlíčkův Brod, but grew up in Štoky. After returning from the military service, he got married and moved to Havlíčkův Brod. He worked at the post office. He recalls how he managed to travel to what was then Yugoslavia in 1985, which had a number of consequences for him, including job interviews. In 1989 he joined the events of the Velvet Revolution in Havlíčkův Brod and after 1990 he started a business.