Zdeněk Závěšický

“When I had so many employees that they were enough even for foreign assembly operations I requested an increase of my salary. But I was prevented from entering a higher salary group by certain regulations. Therefore I was forced to complete my education in order to be eligible for higher salary groups. I needed a school-leaving exam from a school of engineering. So I attended this school and graduated from it. But before I graduated from the school of engineering, I attended VUML. I don’t remember anymore who recommended it to me but I was a party member and a leader of a certain collective at work – there were regulations saying that people in leading positions should have some kind of higher political education, so that’s why I studied at VUML. I mean I didn’t apply for that school myself but I didn’t mind studying there because I enjoyed education of whatever kind. I graduated from VUML and after my graduation the director of the school appointed me a lecturer of political economy. I was lecturing for two years – until I started to study that engineering school. I had an oral agreement with the director of VUML, that he’d release me for the duration of my studies at the engineering school, in the years 1967 – 1969. That means that the year 1968 caught me in the middle of my studies. The situation changed dramatically after 1968. Everyone who had committed an offence or didn’t like to see the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet army, was on a so-called “black list” and was persecuted in some way. The rule was that leading economic employees were sacked and the workers had milder persecutions. That’s when my trouble started. I had screenings all the time and eventually I was expelled from the party.”

“I had one experience. I and the father of the girl found out that there were 35 grenade-hits to the building. One of the reasons why this building had been so heavily under fire was that there was a German tank located in the entrance of the building. It was a “Königstiger” tank. The shelling, which was very fierce, lasted four days and the only luck was that they didn’t use incendiary shells, because the building might have caught fire and a lot of the houses in the village burned down like that. When the Germans found out that the tank is being targeted by the Soviet artillery, they moved it away. Thereafter we had relative peace in the cellar but harsh combat continued. On the last day of the fighting we heard intensive artillery fire, but from the opposite side. We didn’t know why. Why only learned why later on. At that time we didn’t know yet what “kaťuše” (a Soviet rocket launcher) were. We only found out after the liberation that it was the kaťuše.”

“On February 24 or 25, but I think it was 24, a state of emergency was declared and we were called to duty. We were all gathered in the police station in Opava, there were quite a lot of us. After a short initial speech of the police-station commander we were divided into two groups and all those policemen, who were members of the National-Socialist Party, were dismissed out of hand. I wasn’t a member of the National-Socialists so it wasn’t of my concern. So that’s how that February was proceeding. After they announced the February Communist coup, the guards were reinforced at all prominent buildings in the town like the radio station, the banks etc. I was one of the guards at the Svinov radio transmitter. All of the guards there were locals from Opava. We were standing there on guard for about five days and then we were replaced by another unit. I don’t know who these SNB members were. Maybe they were from Ostrava, maybe Ostrava had to supply its own men, I don’t know. From the Svinov radio transmitter I was transferred to the Roury works where I was on guard for two weeks. Later I was sent to Dolní Benešov to guard an airport. In the meantime I was offered to join the party by my superior so I joined the Communists.”

“There was a former German camp in Ostrava-Kunčice and this camp was transformed to a camp for people who committed petty economic crimes like a tailor, who maybe withheld some fabric etc. There were also small traders who had a negative attitude towards the new regime. These people were rather harmless. I was made camp commander what seemed interesting to me. Because there were eight camp guards and I was put in charge of them. But at that time I was just a young guy and I was made the commander of the camp. I think it must have been on the grounds of some psychological or some other tests I took at the Brno police academy. That must have been why the regional command appointed me as the commander. Afterwards they found out that the people held in that camp are pretty harmless. Therefore they gradually let them go.”