Adam Rucki

“As the judge issued the sentence there were sixty young people and the same amount of older people. He read the sentence and then he glanced at the beautiful, fresh and unspoiled young people whom I have been leading for several years. A then he said: 'As for you, the young people, I am appealing on you to go to the streets and to influence our youth who are smashing our lamp-posts, who are making mess and vandalising our city. You have to help them.' And everyone was wondering what was going on. He condemned the case and then he would send them to the streets. Radio Free Europe covered the trial for two weeks with several reports every day, as one ot the students gave detailed report on what was going on at the court. And they were making fun of the justice in Czechoslovakia as they would condemn something and at the same time they would urge you to carry on. At least that was the impression. So thank God it came to a good end, three months of suspended senstence. And I never got so many flowers as in the courtroom, nor while I was being ordained neither while serving my first mass.”

“Most of all they tried to persuade the big farmer as they supposed that if they would break the smaller ones will follow. As it had not been working in 1959 came tractors and by force they wanted to rozorat meze. It happened just at noon. My mother was on a hill with her neighbour, they were doing something there, working, and when they began to plow the neighbor made the sign of the cross and she would lie in front of the tractor. Traktorista would speed up. My mother was yelling: 'Run, he´s going to roll over you!' And neighbour said: 'Lie next to me.' And all of the sudden about a hundred women came running, they were gathering at the hill. And they were armed. I don´t what they all have got, pitchforks and clubs. And of course, policemen were also there. So it was quite a drama. I remember as the tractors were advancing and the headmaster have been telling us, 'Kids, there will be fields so vast, it will be beautiful.' And on the next day he cried: 'My female students were beating comrade chairman with clubs.' Fortunately, he didn´t report for if he would the girls who were 18 or older could go to jail. But he was a local man, a reasonable one, so he didn´t report it. However, it was quite a drama.”