“In the end, it looked like the stadium was full, the chair table was full. There were 10, 12, 14 people sitting there. Some microphones were supposed to be shared amongst the audience; whose number was far from sufficient to give us an idea of how it could work. We had a group of 20-30 people, each with some questions prepared, and we had it planned to bet them there. We also had reasoning to be able to argue against their answers and convict them of something they would want to present to us as truth, and it was not. That's how it was, maybe a little naive, prepared. However, the reality was worse because the microphones were just two in the audience, and still something wasn't working. I do not know if it really did not work because of the technical issues, or it was manipulated, if they heard what sounded wrong and the transmission of queries was interrupted. Suddenly there was nothing to hear. That was how they shouted there and there was not much left of the argument war we wanted to win. More or less it culminated by the appearance of the one - I think his name was Chmel. Son of a colleague of my friend. He came there and brought a message of what was happening in Prague. And if I remember well, then it disappeared and I do not know if anyone had finished it somehow, or people found that the debate could not objectively take place. Then it somehow broke up and still went to demonstrate in front of the communist party headquarters.”
“Mining, power plants, emissions and I would say that the most important role was played by local fire spots, many of which were there. When the inverse situation arose, what the chimneys spewed remained under the blanket. And it was not only to feel but to see. It was obvious he could not be seen. It also had a very negative effect on one´s psyche. And if those days were five, seven, ten at a time when you woke up in the yellow fog, now you had to walk somewhere to work and come back in the same yellow fog and it was several days in a row, of course, except the fact that it led to some respiratory illnesses certainly had an impact on the psyche of people with depressive tendencies. Of course, depression and such things spread more easily than if the sun was shining there."
Petr Veselský was born on May 21, 1955 in Teplice. Parents came to Teplice after the Second World War from the countryside, worked as clerks and did not engage politically. At the age of 13, Petr Veselský witnessed the arrival of the occupation troops in August 1968. He graduated from the Teplice grammar school, during the first year of medical studies he completed a one-year practice at the Department of Neurology in the Vinohrady Hospital under the supervision of MUDr. Valja Stýblová. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the Charles University (now the 3rd Faculty of Medicine) and after a year of military service he joined the Department of Medical Microbiology at the District Hygiene Station in Teplice. He perceived Teplice as a place with an underground art subculture, but he did not engage himself in their activities. The long-standing critical air condition in Teplice led him to take part in spontaneous illegal demonstrations on 11-13 November 1989. Together with Jana Dvorská, he was the author of a statement calling official state establishment to a dialogue, which they handed over to Antonín Váňa, the secretary of the Communist Party of Teplice, on 13 November. He also took part in a public debate on November 20 at the Teplice ice rink, where, in addition to environmental problems, issues related to the suppression of the November 17 demonstration in Prague and the subsequently announced student strike were addressed. Petr Veselský organized the activities of the Civic Forum of the District Hygiene Station in Teplice and after the revolution he also participated in the activities of the Ecoforum of the basin areas of the Northern Bohemia. In 1990 he was elected to the Teplice council. At the beginning of the 1990s he began working for General Health Insurance Company, where he worked for 27 years. Now he is an employee of the Military Health Insurance Company.
Hrdinové 20. století odcházejí. Nesmíme zapomenout. Dokumentujeme a vyprávíme jejich příběhy. Záleží vám na odkazu minulých generací, na občanských postojích, demokracii a vzdělávání? Pomozte nám!
