Ing. Jan Průša

"The hotel was taken over from RaJ (Restaurants and Canteens National Enterprise) in a desolate state, in a desolate state. At that time, it was called Hotel C, it was not, like today, the number of stars, but it was capital letters A, B, C, and this was a C. Shared showers, shared toilets, and cold water in the room. It was appalling when we took it over. Fun fact: I was at the reception desk because when we took over, of course, we wanted to take over the staff that was already there, but except for about three people, everyone else left, so we had to work at the reception desk. And here I was at the reception desk, and a Dane came here. I sold him the only single room that was here, otherwise, there were four-bed rooms, and in a moment he came back, returned the key and wanted his money back because he was looking for a shower and it was nowhere to be found. So he just left. So it was a sign that if we wanted to run a somewhat quality hotel, we wouldn’t be able to do what was common back then."

"Unfortunately, [dad] probably ran into some of those provocateurs. So somewhere in České Velenice, he was trying to cross the border, there was supposed to be someone who would transfer him, and it turned out the way it turned out in the films that were filmed later on, that someone somewhere said that he would transfer him and unfortunately it was a confidant of the State Security. And he was locked up for about a total of... because he tried to cross a second time, so he was locked up for about three and a half years in Jáchymov. It was fateful for him in terms of health. I know for sure that the period was three and a half years because we then received financial compensation, very ludicrous, for the period of the imprisonment. But for the first border crossing, he got about half a year, he served his sentence, and when they released him, Dad did not want to accept the fact that he had to stay here, so he attempted to cross the border again. He chose Christmas Day, and unfortunately, even on the second attempt, they arrested him. And then he stayed there for three years in Jáchymov. Then my mother lived alone in Bydžov. Thanks to her parents, since my grandfather was a baker, we sometimes had a chicken, some poultry or ducks. So [her] parents always helped us, sometimes an egg and such. Well, then mom had to start to work. I remember she had eight hundred and thirty crowns gross and supported two boys, my brother and me. So the situation was not rosy at all, but thanks to the parents, we somehow survived."