Ing. Radovan Kaplan

* 1966

  • "As for the disintegration of Czechoslovakia, I still consider it the greatest shame in the history of our states, our nations of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I will never forget them and I will never forgive [Vladimir] Meciar, [Vaclav] Klaus. I don't know who caused it all, but they have such a huge black circle for me - not a dot, not a dot, but a huge black circle. Every third person has a family in the Czech Republic and every third family in Slovakia, and I am happy that this is the case. Because we are two nations - Czechs and Slovaks, who have the closest languages ... I find it very difficult. "

  • "The Black Stock Exchange was in Ostrava, mostly on the Black Meadow. The Poles came from Poland and I don't know if they even cleared through the customs, there was no problem crossing the border. They came in vans, set up their stalls. There you bought vinyl records of various bands, cassettes, car speakers, maybe even car radios, clothes, jeans and everything. The Poles had a better approach and so they brought it. The authorities suffered because they also needed something from it, there were definitely some fees. The Poles were satisfied because they were always businessmen. I remember saying somewhere on TV: ,You don't have it, and we're happy to bring it in.´ What can one say?”

  • "It was harvest, the harvesters came and we, of course, [we were hanging around] those harvesters. Those drivers also drove us. One evening there was such calm, my friend and I had nothing to do, so we hung around those harvesters and one had an open tool box. So we borrowed a few of those things. At the back of the cowshed was such a huge scrap yard of old machines. We had fun, we researched what it looked like in transmissions. There was an initiative, loyal citizen who caught us there and took the tool from us. It was said that we stole the tool. The cops even came to investigate and I had to go to the interrogation. It was a child mischief, we wanted to return it, because what would it be for us. Should we sell it to someone, such old junk? Then it calmed down somehow, the police closed it as a youthful recklessness and it was no longer resolved. But after a while, when I went to school again after the holidays, the cops suddenly came to us, Orlova. The "Tool" case reopened and began to be seen as sabotage. The headmaster of our school told them that it was foolish for 12-year-old boys to sabotage the harvest. Then it closed and no one answered. "

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    Spišká Nová Ves, 22.02.2021

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    duration: 01:47:25
    media recorded in project Stories of the 20th century
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To be here just for joy and happiness

Witness - Radovan Kaplan
Witness - Radovan Kaplan
photo: Witnesses archive

Radovan Kaplan was born on March 29, 1966 in Karviná, a Czech town on the border with Poland. He spent his childhood adventurously around his hometown. As a child, he was questioned on suspicion of sabotage, but he was not charged. After graduating at primary school, he entered the Jan Žižka from Trocno Military grammar School v in Opava. There he became a member of the school orchestra, from which the music group Projektil was later formed, with which he regularly participated in the Army Art Competition (ASUT) and the Political Song festival. At the end of his studies, he wanted to organize a music event, which, however, was banned for not reporting to the political department. In 1984 he began studying at the Military Technical College in Liptovský Mikuláš. He was later assigned to army unit of the Czech People’s Army in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem. In 1992 he moved to Slovakia. During his life, he alternated between several professions, from teaching at the Secondary School in Liptovský Mikuláš, through working at the Military Technical Institute to his work in the private sector in the field of security systems, and until 2003 he worked at the Military Secondary School in Liptovský Mikuláš. Subsequently, he worked briefly at the Military Technical Institute and later in the private sector in the field of security systems. Since 1999 he has worked in the music group Mince vo fontáne, and since 2017 in the group Karavana. In 2021 he lived in Spišská Nová Ves.