JUDr. Major (ret.) Gustav Janáček

“Many foreigners escaped through Czechoslovakia. There were many dead and many captured but surely more captured than dead. Did the Poles and East Germans run away too?” “No. Apart from the citizens of East Germany, when they had visions of a better life or when they tried to cross because of their families. One part of the family lived elsewhere, and they lived in East Germany. I mean like relatives. So that also played its role here. As far as I can remember, they mainly used the opportunity when they came here on vacation and then, while here, for example in Lipno, they tried to cross the green border here.”

“Could you tell us about some actual cases of detaining border intruders?” “I remember one case, that was with the unit in Nová Pec when the border guards caught a young man. Coincidentally, he was from Prague and was a former university student who worked as a janitor. He was discovered by the border guards or rather the service dog. He lay near the border protection, which was a wire barrier, and he had lain there for two days in that hiding place. And I remember clearly that we wore camouflage clothing, so that we wouldn’t find him, and as he lay there and had nothing to do or was getting ready to cross the border, he sewed needles all over his shirt. He looked like a walking tree.” “And what did the guy want? Why was he there?” “I don’t remember anymore. He wasn’t satisfied with the life here and thought that he could find better employment there.”

“It’s interesting that everywhere I went and didn’t wear my uniform, I mean that when I went to any authority and someone found out I was member of the Border Guards, I would never meet anyone unwilling. On the contrary, if I wanted something or was presenting or proving something, I was always greeted with helpfulness. It seems to me that people respected members of the Border Guard. Because someone who has not experienced it can hardly understand what the Border Guard service brought and what one needed to dedicate to it in order for the service to be meaningful.”

“Occupation, I searched for and thought about occupation, occupation… What about occupation? They say Fascist occupation, Russian occupation. So, I figured that… Even the dictionary that I’ve often used and still use today speaks quite clearly about peaceful occupation. So, in this sense…” “You mean that what the Soviet Union did was a peaceful occupation?” “Yes, that’s what the dictionary says. A peaceful occupation occurs to enforce compliance.” “That’s an interesting concept, so the Nazi occupation was also peaceful?” “Which occupation?” “The Nazi one, was it also peaceful?” “No, the Nazi occupation established an occupation regime. Whereas the Soviet occupation didn’t…” “What do you mean? The government of the 1970s and 1980s relied on Soviet support and the whole course of events resulted from the Soviet occupation.” “When the Nazi occupation happened, they installed officials in all institutions and companies. Whereas with the Soviet or Warsaw Pact occupation, there were no officials, no occupation regime was established.” “And why is that important? What is the difference?” “A peaceful occupation, at least that’s what the dictionary says, is supposed to compel the occupied party to fulfil certain commitments that they had made. We had been part of the Warsaw Pact and somehow didn’t incline to it too much.”

“And, just so I understand it well, that was family from your father’s side? So it was your father’s father?” “Father’s father.” “And why was he executed? Why was he locked up?” “Because he was a private miller. And in the countryside, as was common then, corn was grown but people had no money. So, he milled flour and didn’t take any money for it, thereby robbing the Nazi regime because he didn’t pay tax on profits. He was busted based on his employee’s denunciation, was arrested and they even pinned on him that a partisan group that was later wiped out by Nazis in Leškovice near Chrudim had stayed on the mill for three weeks. And that the mill had fed them. They put all this together and then executed him in 1945 based on that.”