Milan Drbohlav

„In 1968 things were happening already during spring and summer. Hence it was probably called the Prague Spring and it was an attempt of some representatives of the communist party to build socialism with a human face here. There was a lot of controversy around it, and debates, a new wing of the central committee has been created and still it looked it will come out well in the end. And just that year the Czechoslovakia was meant to organise the common practice of the Warsaw pact armies. Every year it took place in a different state and in 1968 it was Czechoslovakia. It was called Vltava, the training was done and in July as the troops were going away the rumours were, that the troops withdrew, but right here at the Eastern Germany border, the Soviet troops remained. They would not go further to their bases, they had since the end of the WW2 after the division of victorious powers they had their bases since 1945, they simply stayed near the Czechoslovakian borders.“

„It was hard to call dramatic, not really, but my brother-in-law woke me up at 4 P.M. in the morning on August 21, that one colleague called to immediately turn on our radios and wake up, the Soviets are coming to occupy us. He was a nice man, but liked playing cards so we thought he´d probably had too much to drink and is just kidding. He was alone and without family, so we told them to say we´d turn the radio on in the morning. He said no, you must turn it on now and go to the telephone. So I stood up, went to the phone and he said: ‚The Soviets are occupying us.‘ I was telling myself, they were up in the border, what´d they do here... He lived in the spa promenade so he said: ‚I am watching them from my balcony, they´re rushing through Sadovka, I don’t get what happened up there, but they´re here.‘ Well we could not wait anymore, so we turned on the radio announcing that the parachutes dropped here at midnight and occupied the Prague castle, the central committee of the communist party and the airport, that transport aircrafts landed in Ruzyně and the heavy technique and soldiers are coming from there etc. So we dressed up really fast over our pyjamas and rushed out. The whole streets were full of people and in balconies in their gowns, we heard the screaming and ran along Bezručova Street down to the city centre. There we went to Palačák, and saw the gray monsters there from far away.“