We were told that we were catching criminals who didn’t want to live here because they had committed crimes and wanted to escape to the other side
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Rostislav Kočař, born in 1969 in Bruntál, served in the Border Guard in the late 1980s. The son of working-class parents, he had the “right cadre profile” and believed the communist propaganda about an elite unit protecting the border from criminals. The reality was different - while on the Czechoslovak side of the border there was a strict regime and bans, on the Austrian side he observed the peaceful life of the locals. On the border with Austria, he served in the 3rd Border Company, which was in charge of the area around the village of Gajary. The border was strictly guarded by signal walls, barbed wire and observation posts. During his service he began to doubt the system when he saw the contrast between the two sides of the border. After the revolution in 1989, he was unable to adapt to the new conditions. He was addicted to alcohol and fell into gambling, which led to large debts and problems with the law. Eventually, however, he found the strength to change - he underwent treatment, stopped drinking and avoided gambling. Today, he is fully aware of the absurdity of the regime he once served, and is critical of contemporary society, especially its attitude to alcohol advertising and gambling.
