“... a row of tanks with Russians sitting on them, some eating… They had newspapers. They had been given the Pravda – a large format paper like Rudé právo was in our country. One Russian was sitting on a tank and reading the Pravda. We looked at it, and there was a photo on the front page of a Russian tank moving, and people welcoming it with lilac twigs. I said: ‘Lilac in August?’ That was weird. I knew about tanks at the time, and that was a T-34 in the pic! That’s when it clicked for me, and I said: ‘That photo is from 1945, no doubt about it.’ They put it on the front page of Pravda. The paper said that people in the streets welcomed [Russians] while those who were against were counter-revolutionaries. So, I showed it to the young officer. He said: ‘They’re welcoming us!’ I said: ‘Really? Take a look! What tank is this? That’s a T-34! Where is your T-34? Nyet!’ He saw that, got in the tank, closed the hatch, and that was it.”
“We would go to any lengths for Dubček... he was a symbol for us, an idol, there was no way without him. Dubček was nice in that he would go out to meet people. He would just appear… I was at the depot in Vršovice, and suddenly a few guys popped up with Dubček in the middle. They walked from one desk to the next and chatted with us. One day, we were walking the Charles Bridge, and Dubček was walking towards us with children; I think he had two children. He actually went out to people – that was fascinating because it was unheard of at the time. Many things became loose; you know, we were able to play rock and roll at a communist party club – that used to be unthinkable before…”
“Who came up but Mejla [Hlavsa]? I remember saying: ‘Man, is that you?’ And he goes: ‘Man, is that you?’ We stared at each other… and of course we ended up in a pub. There was one right in the building, so we sat down and had a few cold ones. After like the fourth beer, I said: ‘How is your band, what is its name?’ Now, I’m sorry, I can’t speak English, but he said something like ‘Electric Potentions’ or what.’ I said: ‘What is that?’ He said: ‘That’s potatoes rolling in a magnetic field…’ or what. I said: ‘What’s that nonsense?! You can’t name a band like that!’ Unlike us, he knew a little English. I said: ‘Look, a band’s name must be short, so all the girls who enjoy it can remember it, and not long so that the concert ends before they can say it…’ That’s what I’d been telling him. I said: ‘Look, that’s bollocks, get another name.’ Then we sat down there a month or so later, and he said: ‘You know, I’ve been thinking about it, and I guess you were right. I got it now.’ I said: ‘Okay, so what’s your new band name?’ – ‘Plastic People of the Universe!’ I go: ‘Uh, right, now that’s better…’
Svatopluk Haugwitz was born in Prague on 25 June 1951. Initially, he studied at a railway vocational school, intending to take up a train driver career. However, music got in the way. He founded a band known as The Spiders, which was quite successful and had the potential to reach the top echelons of the music industry. They played rock and roll in the popular period clubs such as the f klub in Smíchov as well as dance parties for young people in gyms. The peaks of their career include playing at the Communist Party Central Committee’s period club in Slovanský dům, a feat he considers to this day both absurd and indicative of the relaxed atmosphere of the thaw that was the Prague Spring. The 1968 invasion cut their career short. Before his military service, the witness was in prison for three weeks following protests to mark the anniversary of the invasion in 1969. Having returned from the military, he did not revive his musical pursuits, not least because of his family life. He worked all his life as a driver – first with Prague 2 OÚNZ (District Healthcare Facility), then he drove a bus, and then a truck with PSO (Pražská stavební obnova). As a truck driver, he got an opportunity to visit western Germany even before the Velvet Revolution of 1989, and Russia in the 1990s. He came back to the medical emergency rescue service in 1994, first as a driver and later as an inductee instructor. Over the years, Svatopluk Haugwitz has raised hundreds of drivers and earned the respectful nickname ‘Daddy Rescuer’. As a result of his son’s family genealogy activities, the family changed their name from Haužvic to Haugwitz in the 1990s and claimed relation to the noble Haugwitz family. Svatopluk Haugwitz was living in Prague in 2022.
