"Unhošť locates near the settlement of Amerika, and Mr. Žák lived there, a naive painter and friend of the writer Bohumil Hrabal. He often went to see him, and it also inspired him to write the book Pearls at the Bottom, where Christ was missing at that crossroads in America, it got lost. The painter Žák placed a little boy on a metal plate, drew around him, painted it and hung it there. This sculpture is in the Unhošť Museum, you can see it. He also dedicated various paintings on glass to the museum, because he also painted and painted on his own house, for example Kozina or Jan Žižka, it is no longer there today. Someone who bought it destroyed the drawings. But it's in the film, which then became a safe one; it was not allowed to be broadcasted and is called Pearls at the Bottom. You can look at it sometimes. He painted on glass and strange animals, for example, he called it a "pivoni," and they were deer, but they had such strange antlers you wouldn't expect. Or hares with antlers. And as they became friends with him, he once brought him to the museum and they came to see it. Such a group met there, František Ringo Čech, Mr. Hrabal, Mr. Žák, Mr. Pastor Krba, who was the last cruiser, you may not know, but the parish priest of the Crusades or the parish in Unhošť, which has always been under the Crusaders and Krba was the parish priest. They kept meeting there, we always had discussions, and so did the archaeologist Dr. Moucha, who was in charge of Unhošt archeology. Unfortunately, none of those gentlemen are alive anymore, in fact only František Ringo Čech is. And there were such great discussions about the world, democracy, and philosophy. It took a while and then the State Security intervened."
"They were gradually summoning us then. As for the pastor, they had no authority over him, except that the pastor Krba died, he had a funeral in Unhošť, he is buried like all the crusaders in the cemetery. One of his predecessors in the 19th century was Antonín Jungmann, who was the brother of Josef Jungmann. It is said that he collaborated with him on that great dictionary. He was not affected anymore. Mr. Hrabal and Mr. Žák were banned from entering the museum, and as far as František Ringo Čech was concerned, we had to end the program discos; there was just no program. Everyone was summoned by the State Security to the new building that was built there. Police were previously in the building where today a museum is located downstairs. -And how did the state security interrogations go? -Well, it was just like a normal conversation. The biggest surprise for me was when one of the young officers was my classmate from the Slaný grammar school. He didn't even show that we knew each other, and I feel like he helped me back then that he muffled it. Unfortunately, he is no longer alive; he died of cancer very early at the age of forty. -And how did you feel? Weren't you worried about yourself? -No, I didn't, I had a feeling it was a misunderstanding and that it would be explained. I understood only much later."
"Apart from the grammar school in Slaný, it was a general education school at the time, as my parents were artistically oriented, so I also applied to the conservatory. It was the dance and drama conservatory of Jaroslav Ježek, because I have been doing ballet since I was young and they accepted me. But I was just doing pedagogics so that I could teach. I went to Prague, the school was in Prague and I went back from school once, it was Wednesday, in spring 1969, hockey was played and we won 4:3 over the Soviet Union. And I experienced an incredible…, because I had to get off the bus on Wenceslas Square, I drove from Pankrác and came to Florenc, to bus station direction to Kladno. And there were so many people and such enthusiasm that I couldn't get to Florenc. As I was from Kladno, when it is the countryside, I did not know where to get around it. An elderly lady was looking out the window with a dog. She left the dog at home and led me through another passage to get there. But I saw the Aeroflot smashed, I saw mass action, and I saw college students holding up signs and banners and shouting various slogans related to the period of time. For example, Tarasov, Tarasov, to Siberia ... ’and now they have said the vulgar word ... ... it will’. Or, 'Tarasov, bububu, Brezhnev will shut you up.” Then I took the bus later, came to Kladno, there was no longer any public transport and I walked nicely from Kladno to Rozdělov; back then I was afraid. "
Lenka Vrchlavská, née Ranglová, was born on 18 February 1953 in the Rozdělov district in Kladno. Both of her parents were totally deployed during the war. The mother was injured and the father survived the bombing of Dresden at the end of the war. After graduating from the Faculty of Arts at Charles University, she worked since 1978 as a curator of the collection in the Unhošť Museum of Natural History, which belonged to the Kladno City Museum. She has co-organized many concerts of popular music, discussions and themed discos. She also took part in debates in the company of painter Václav Žák, writer Bohumil Hrabal, archaeologist Václav Moucha, musician František Ringo Čech, pastor František Krba and other personalities from the field. To participate in these informal meetings, the witnesses were invited for questioning at the State Security. As a result, this meant the end of organizing similar cultural events in Unhošť. In 1992, the local museum ceased its activities and Lenka Vrchlavská has been engaged in education and pedagogical activities ever since.
Tereza Bardonková, Albert Štěpánek, Anna Němcová, Kateřina Petrová Pedagogické vedení: Mgr. Leona Černá
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