František Vláčil

* 1956

Emigrant 1948 – 1989, Pohraniční stráž, Život podél železné opony, Svědci lokálních událostí z éry komunismu, Ilegální přechod hranice
Invaze vojsk Varšavské smlouvy, Sametová revoluce v Československu
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    I came across Austrian foresters who helped me

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    délka: 02:07
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    "After a while I heard flares crackling and I also heard the dogs they had there. I panicked even more and ran even faster until I came across the Austrian foresters. They were felling down trees or something. I listened behind a tree for a while to see how they were talking, to see if they were not Czechs. They were speaking German, so I followed them. They were surprised, they didn't know what to do, because I had a machine gun. They were scared. So I took off my machine gun and handed it to them. They called their boss and he took me to the police station in Gmünd. The road went around the border, so I could see the fence. I begged them not to take me back. I repeated: 'Nicht zurück.' Because I had heard that the Austrians had a special agreement with the Czech Republic about returning border guards, so I was afraid that they wouldn't return me. But they took me to the police. They already had a Czech interpreter there. They asked me a few questions that they needed, mainly they wanted to know if I had escaped or gotten lost. And then they took me to Vienna and Traiskirchen."

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    The old hands took me behind wires to pick up blueberries, so I ran away

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    délka: 02:29
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    "I was told to go on duty the next day at six in the morning. I was supposed to do maintenance, clear the fence of weeds so it wouldn't short out or set off a false alarm. So we went on duty in the morning and were cleaning it. All the time I was thinking how to escape so that the old hand who was there with me wouldn't see me. Finally it was lunchtime. They brought lunch, and after lunch the old hand and the one who brought lunch said, 'Come on. Let's go blueberry picking.' So we went and we were out the gate. So it was excellent, because there was nothing there but Austria. So we went for blueberries, and they were about ten meters ahead of me. I slowed down some more to get away from them, and eventually I turned and started running. Then I am running for a while and I'm still thinking because it was horrible. Finally, I think to myself, I'm going to come back. So I went back to where I disconnected. I am looking for them, but I couldn't find them. So I decided to run away again. And this time I ran really fast."

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    Before I ran away, I wanted to say goodbye to my parents

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    délka: 02:25
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    "I knew I was going to run away, but I didn't want to run away before I said goodbye to my family, my mum and dad. I went by train all night. And I get home, I knock on the door, and Daddy opens it, his wide-eyed, and he says, 'You ran away!' I said, 'No, I'm on vacation.' Then he was happy, and Mum was happy,too. I got ten days' leave and two days to travel. It was just at the end of June, so it turned out that I would spend my birthday at home. We celebrated with my friends and my parents. That's how I spent the last few days. I was supposed to be at the company at midnight on July 2. I celebrated my birthday at home and I admit I got drunk." - "Did you tell anyone what you were up to?" - "I think I did reveal something. I think I told my mum I was going to knock it off and run away. But because she saw I was drunk, she didn't think I was really going to do it. Otherwise, I couldn't say much to anyone because if someone accidentally spilled the beans, I wouldn't go to the line again. I had to be careful."

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    Ostrava, 23.05.2022

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    délka: 01:45:29
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  • 2

    Ostrava, 27.05.2022

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    délka: 01:51:23
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The border guard didn‘t want to shoot people. To Austria with a machine gun

František Vláčil in 2022
František Vláčil in 2022
zdroj: Post Bellum
zdroj: Post Bellum
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František Vláčil was born on 1 July 1956 in Ostrava. He started his apprenticeship as a cook, but did not completed his training and started working as a worker in a power plant. At the age of 18, he received a draft order for the military service. When he found out that he was to guard the Austrian border, he decided to escape. He did so in July 1975, when he escaped from his service at the border company in Chlum near Třeboň. He ended up in the Traiskirchen refugee camp near Vienna, where he was granted political asylum. In May 1976 he flew to the USA. He lived in the states of New York, Utah, Nevada and California. He worked on a farm, in a restaurant, in coal and gold mines, and as a digger on construction sites. Communist courts sentenced him to prison in absentia. After the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, he was rehabilitated. In 2022, he was living in Sacramento, USA.

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Fotografie (5)
  • František Vláčil in 2022
    František Vláčil in 2022
    zdroj: Post Bellum
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  • František Vláčil in 2022
    František Vláčil in 2022
    zdroj: Post Bellum
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  • At a motorcycle rally in Coloma, California, 2021
    At a motorcycle rally in Coloma, California, 2021
    zdroj: Witness´s archive
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  • František Vláčil on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the summer of 2023. He had a star with his name on it made by fun products seller for $30. Neither his namesake, director František Vláčil, nor any other Czech have their name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
    František Vláčil on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the summer of 2023. He had a star with his name on it made by fun products seller for $30. Neither his namesake, director František Vláčil, nor any other Czech have their name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
    zdroj: Witness´s archive
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  • At a motorcycle rally in Coloma, California, 2021
    At a motorcycle rally in Coloma, California, 2021
    zdroj: Witness´s archive
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