"It was four pages; pages could be added when something special happened, and there were regular columns. We were three editors, each in charge of a particular area. The editor-in-chief covered the communist party stuff. He spent all the time with the works' committee of the party and wrote about the developments, what the Communists had agreed to do 'better and more happily'. The next colleague was in charge of the column on the Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship Union. It may seem inconceivable today, but back then, factories had three specially designated people who worked at the Union of Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship secretariat. So, he was in charge of that plus some interest columns. I was in charge of the life of the 'socialist labour brigades', so I went to workers and asked them how they were doing and wrote about the various teams. Again, it's ridiculous from today's point of view, but back then every one of those socialist labour brigades or 'BSP' had to make commitments to mark various anniversaries. They would commit to honour the October Revolution, the Victorious February [1948], the May Day and who knows what else. And since not everybody was crazy [about the communist stuff], it could be difficult to come up with things to commit to. So they said, for example, that the collective of the Socialist Labor Brigade committed to coming to work on time, delivering on tasks and so on. It may seem ridiculous because it's only logical that you should go to work and come on time. Still, they would commit to things like that."
"I worked from 6:30 am. Those morning moments wre funny. There were punch clocks at the time; you punched a time card to record your arrival time. And so, hundreds of people would rush out of buses and trams near the military hospital in Zábrdovice just before half past six, coming from all directions in Brno. They sprinted to the factory gate's punch clocks. Then they breathed a sigh of relief and most walked calmly to the canteen to buy a snack. Interestingly, between 1982 and 1986 the canteen still used this grocery scale that was actually made right there at Zbrojovka sometime in the 1920s. They used it to weigh the salads most people bought with bread rolls as snacks back then."
Helena Sedláčková, née Rožková, was born in Kudlovice in the Uherské Hradiště region on 23 April 1956 as the youngest of four children. Her parents Cyril and Bohumila were private farmers. When the communists came to power, they lost their farm and both worked in a farming cooperative (JZD). Due to their poor ‚cadre profile‘, all the siblings had problems getting an education. Despite this, Helena Sedláčková eventually managed to enrol in university, completing a degree in journalism in Charles University between 1975 and 1979. After graduation, she worked with the works newsletters of První brněnská strojírna and MEZ Brno for a while. In 1982, she became an editor of Zbrojovák, the works newsletter of Brno‘s Zbrojovka, heading a section focusing on ‚socialist labour brigades‘. She witnessed the Velvet Revolution still as the editor of the magazine. She left Zbrojovka in 1994. She lived in Brno in 2023.
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