This book introduces ten victims of Stalinism who survived their own death. Political persecution changed the lives of individuals, families, and perhaps whole generations in many countries. Here we deal with the 1950s in former Czechoslovakia. Young Czech authors, both doctoral candidates from Charles University in Prague, introduce five mwworced labor in Stalinist prisons and uranium camps, but also illustrate how active citizenship, patriotism, and civil resistance of the youth were rewarded in the Soviet times. They show the everyday life behind the Iron Curtain where sudden captivity for ideological reasons was a daily bread. All the narratives were recorded in 2007–2008 using the method of oral history interview. The authors believe they can be used as an educational tool for today´s youth. Witnesses of the past eighty years describe in them what they had gone through in a very frank way. What and how are they telling us has one major aim: to share the secrets of those who were meant to be forgotten. See also: www.politicalprisoners.eu Co-financed by the European Union within the programme ”Europe for Citizens” 2007–2013 Czechoslovak Political Prisoners 1 Co-financed by the European Union within the programme Europe for Citizens 2007 – 2013. Tomáš Bouška, Klára Pinerová: Czechoslovak Political Prisoners. Life Stories of 5 Male and 5 Female Victims of Stalinism. www.politicalprisoners.eu All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the authors. Copyright © Tomáš Bouška and Klára Pinerová, 2009 ISBN 978-80-254-3716-2 2 Contents Preface . 5 Historical Overview . 7 Interview with Mrs. Jindřiška Havrlantová. 27 Interview with Mrs. Julie Hrušková. 43 Interview with Mrs. Květoslava Moravečková. 59 Interview with Mrs. Drahomíra Stuchlíková. .73 Interview with Mrs. Hana Truncová . 85 Interview with Mr. Augustin Bubník. .97 Interview with Mr. Zdeněk Kovařík. 113 Interview with Mr. Jozef Kycka. 127 Interview with Mr. Jan Pospíšil. 141 Interview with Mr. Hubert Procházka. .153 The main prisons and labor camps in communist Czechoslovakia. 165 Labor camp Vojna . 166 A letter from prison. .167 A suit for pardon. 169 Photodocumentation. 170 About the authors. 175 Czechoslovak Political Prisoners 3 4 Preface This book is part of a larger project targeted at commemorating the victims of Stalinism. We, the young volunteers from the Czech Republic, are introducing life stories of former political prisoners as an educational tool for youth and wider public. Lives of political prisoners perse- cuted in 1950s, then young people themselves, seem hardly believable today. It is the very sub- ject of our interest, the narrators and their personal beliefs, strengths and hopes that underline the times when Europe was split into two ideological blocs. It is their stories that question the basic values we take for granted nowadays. It is their voices that will commemorate the victims of Stalinism. We do not mean to rewrite history by this book. In today´s world nothing is older than yesterday´s newspaper. Life is fast and even faster is the information all around us. In order to achieve an effective and efficient distribution of the results of this project a combination of communication tools is used. We publish our work on our website, in a book publication, and during youth conferences and workshops. Our intention is to stress an interdisciplinary approach where interpretations of the past can be studied from the perspectives of history, sociology, penology, political science, anthropology, psychology, and many others. Male and female memories of political oppression in former Czechoslovakia offer a complex interpretation of the recent past. Individual histories are something we do not have to believe in. However, we can try to imagine how it felt. To be a young captive sentenced for crimes against the Czechoslovak regime. Crimes which usually did not contain any criminal activity at all. Victims of political brutality became the worst enemies of state. They were not allowed to live a free life, to study, travel, or see their families. They were sent to prisons and forced-labor camps instead. What is seen beyond possible today was a daily bread then. What is more, the men and women who survived and started new lives after release were meant to be forgotten. Their persecution went on. They had to find manual jobs only, their children were put aside from the official education system. As former political prisoners they refused to support Communist government and leading institutions and they had to pay for it. They did pay indeed. They lived a bound life full of stigmas. The political pressure about their anti-communist belief did not stop until 1989. Finally, when most of them were in their twilight years, they were free. Luckily, they agreed to share their memories with us. Some of their slavers are still alive. Some of the “modern slaves” too. What do we know about them? Do we want to know? The answer is up to everyone of us. But we, the authors, want to voice the life stories of those who would probably never be heard again. It is not the solution but it may help us in finding the right answer. Life story interviews and biographical narratives started to be popular in Central Europe after the fall of Communism. Even this book has been prepared using the modern approach of oral history. Yet not all the experts studying recent history are familiar with these methods, some even refuse them strictly in the Czech Republic. This is why we would like to contribute to the debate and offer empirical examples how fruitful oral histories can be. We do not argue that Czechoslovak Political Prisoners 5 spoken memories equal historical sources like standard historical annals, chronicles, and other records (that are equally subjective). What we believe in is they are equally valuable sources of historical and perhaps even general knowledge. Individual histories should contribute to the descriptions of the past especially there, where official historical records fail. Such information can only enrich the well known facts. After all, history was at first oral and all the knowledge was spread by a spoken language. It is our task to put down the words of those who “were there.” If not for us then for generations after us as it seems obvious that such stories can teach us more then many textbooks. It was not always easy to explain to the narrators there is a sense behind all the recording, transcribing and editing. As a result we gathered ten examples of the “little history” of former Czechoslovakia in this book in 2008. We provide you, our readers, with stories dealing with “big history,” but using one´s own words and delivering personal explanations and interpretations of what has happened, what has been seen and lived through. We do it at dawn of electronic technolo- gies which offer fast and precise information and data on-line. Reading books may seem old fashioned and unpractical especially from the point of view of today´s youth. However, we are aware of it and our aims go further than that. We do not want to fall back “just” with con- ventional books. This is why we created a website dedicated not only to former Czechoslovak political prisoners, but to all who were once politically oppressed. We wish to give the floor to all who feel they belong to the huge family of political prisoners in the world. Last but not least, it is important to thank at this place to all who assisted in making this dream come true. This book would never be born without the kind help of Kamila Nováková and Justin A. Osswald who translated it in English from the Czech original. Many volunteers in- cluding Marcela Kubíčková, Michal Louč, Berta Štěpánová and many others contributed to the existence of our initiative with great enthusiasm. The Czech non-profit organization ANO pro Evropu (YES for Europe) gave us the auspices for running a project supported by the Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission. Some of the necessary costs related to publishing this book were covered by this project. Another important partner to be mentioned is the Czech Oral History Association and mainly its President, Mirek Vaněk, who kindly supported our work with great understandment. Special thanks goes to Ondřej Kafka, head of Kafka Design studio, and Jana Petrželová, graphic designer, who gave this book its visual identity. However, the biggest gratitude shall be expressed to the heroes of this book. The ten former political prisoners introduced in this book are the most precious result of this project. Their stories are the peak of an ice-berg of victims of political oppression in the sea of oblivion. Un- fortunately, one of the narrators, Mr. Jozef Kycka, will not be able to read this book anymore as he passed away before it was published. It is for the memory of people like him, respected wise men and women, why we run initiatives like politicalprisoners.eu Therefore, we wish to dedicate this book to all the political prisoners who are unable to read it anymore. The authors. Prague, Christmas 2008 6 Historical Overview Postwar Development of Czechoslovakia The development of the Czechoslovakian society in the postwar was an important historical break in its story. The relations in Europe changed since the European political field got two new great powers, the Soviet Union and the United States of America. They fought together to knock down Nazi Germany. After the victory, the interests of these two countries were increas- ingly different until they divided into two antagonistic blocks.