Jan Bajza

"The year '68 was certainly the most critical of it all, when I was in the barracks in Martin, when we learned what was happening, what had happened, that the Soviets had invaded the republic. They locked us up in the barracks, took all our weapons, locked everything up, we weren't allowed to go anywhere for two weeks. Tanks and armoured cars were blocked around the barracks. It was something unimaginable for us, stupid. There were guys from Prague. When they heard and then saw the events that had taken place in Prague, they cried there. It was not pleasant for anyone. I was in such expertise that we did meteorological reports for the rocket and artillery troops, and we had locators and radios in that facility. I had the keys to the cars and one time I went in there and turned on the radio and I could hear the Russians and they heard all beeping and jamming, and the next day they came to the barracks and found out and went to monitor it. It didn't occur to me at all that it could have been a big mess and that if it had been reported or they had found something, that I could have paid badly for it. Nothing was found and they didn't find out who it was, so it stayed quiet. But then, as we got out on our walks and met Russian soldiers, officers, we refused to greet them. And then it came back to us anyway, there was some talking, arrest, and political training of the men, what we must and must not do. And then the normalization period and it was like..."

"At one time, when there was a period of time when balloons flew in from West Germany carrying all kinds of leaflets, we found such a balloon with a teacher and she lifted it up. It was this huge plastic bag and the whole class of us, if there were fifteen of us, got into it and she kind of closed us in and I thought there was very little oxygen in there, so I ran out of there. So that was kind of an experience."