Vladimír Čada

"1968 opened my eyes, completely and once and for all. When the Prague Spring was happening, things were loosening up, and every now and then something was revealed about those old guards [in Bory prison]. One even tried to commit suicide there. He tried to shoot himself, but he missed, he survived. They were shaking so much... And one night, the man from Dobřany in question [who helped me get the job there] rang our doorbell and called: 'Vláďa, get up! Come on! Something is happening. Look, it's a 100% emergency, come on!' I commuted to work by bicycle. And this was at night. So I got on my bike and I rode. I didn't know what was going on, but that's where I found out. The bacharis were already relieved, like a stone had been dropped from their hearts. One of them said, 'It's about time! Otherwise, everyone would be doing whatever they wanted to do in a while.' And it was behind them. Well, I had it ahead of me. The next morning the Russians arrived in a tank, the gate opened, the comrade chief welcomed them, they went together to the office and there they negotiated. And it turned out that we were locked up in that prison together with the political prisoners."

"In the house where we lived, the Kympergers were the landlords, Mr. and Mrs. Kymperger, who had a son. My daddy taught that son of theirs to play the harmonica. Nowadays you would say accordion, but no, Daddy played the harmonica. Five-row harmonica, one hundred and twenty basses, Josef Kebrle brand, beautiful instrument. Daddy used to play at weddings and [various] stuff, he was self-taught, but he was musical nonetheless, and he taught that young Kymperger how to [play] that accordion. I remember how they [the landlord and his son] would always come to our house and how [my daddy] taught him. But one day [the landlord] and his son didn't come. It wasn't until a few days later that I saw a black team of horses, a black carriage, in the yard getting ready for the funeral procession. It was only when I was older that I understood what had happened then, my parents told me. The Kympergers were working in Pilsen at the Škoda plant, and one day there was an air raid - the siren went off and everyone was rushing to the shelter. But they were in the center [at the time], so they hid in the shelter of the Continental Hotel. They were one of the first to get there, and more were pouring in behind them. There were probably a lot of people there. Then they say a bomb fell near the entrance [of the hotel]. Everybody started backing up, and they, being so far back, suffocated. In short, they were suffocated by the other people in the shelter."