Jaroslav Řičica

“What do you think about those memories of political prisoners…?” “Well, they just say what they went through…But I don´t know anything, I don´t remember . It was forty years ago, so please…! I joined the army, was assigned to that department there. There I was supposed to be as a trainee. So I was in trainee-ship there. Then I left for Bánská Bystrica.” “So how did you feel about that “trainee-ship” in “Domeček”? You are one of the last living witnesses..” “But I wasn´t in that “Domeček! I don´t know what it was like in Domeček. I just know they started calling the place “Domeček”. But my office wasn´t there.” “At the beginning we were at the same place as the Superior Military Procurator. Then I was sent to Bánská Bystrica, and then I came back and it was already called VKR by that time.” “VKR – military counterespionage.” “I became an investigator there.” “And what kind of crimes did you investigate?” “Crimes, mmm…, desertion abroad, unlawful weapons possession, a state secret endangering and then by the end, last ten years I was an Officer for Interior Confidentiality. According to directions I used to decide what was to be secret, top secret, ZD etc..”

“Tomáš Sedláček says he was really lucky that you were his interrogating officer, because, firstly, you didn´t beat him so much, and…” “I didn´t beat him at all. Well, he is making things up, that he was beaten. I didn´t even investigate his case, I didn´t arrest him. I was there mainly watching, learning to type.” “What were you typing?” “I was typing what Sedláček was saying.” “And what kind of crime did Sedláček commit?” “I don´t know what his charges were.” “According to memories of political prisoners from 1950´s they were frequently subjected to physical and psychological violence, they were…” “Look, I heard all this for the first time probably only after 1989.” “Would you call that period a “totalitarian regime”?” “I didn´t consider it a totalitarian regime then. I just joined and then followed orders. I was summoned to army, I was supposed to work by the railways.”

“I can´t recall anything.” “How so you can´t recall anything?” “I´m taking a mental training course, I´m completely…., I´m 83 years old.” “What have you done in your life, actually?” “Well, I used to work in the railways, then I was a soldier, in the army.” “And what did you do in the army?” “I can´t tell you.” “Why not? Is it secret?” “Yes, I signed it then, so it´s secret.” “Is it secret still today?” “I don´t know that. But I won´t tell you anything, because I don´t remember anything, anyway.” “At least, what kind of army did you serve in, or which garrison?” “By the MNO. Administrative work. In Bánská Bystrice and in Prague.” “Where exactly in Prague?” “By the MNO, The Ministry of Defense.”