Karel Ležák

“Night and day watches were organized, in the monastery, the Svazarm room, interpreters were provided for interpreting the negotiations with the garrison and the municipal council – at first it was student Pavla Kramosilová. The representatives of the Soviet army later refused to deal with her, arguing that she was being arrogant to them. Mr. Holík, employee of the archive in the ČKD factory, helped with the request for entry to the factory. Signs and slogans protesting against the occupying armies were made in the Tatra factory, and a so-called militia of young students were asked to display them in the town. This militia was led by the local police chief, captain Rudolf Kafka, who forced his way into this position. I went with this police chief to the Soviet army command in Slaný (the negotiations took place U sloupu behind the bridge in the direction of Trpoměchy). That was when one of these students got caught when displaying a poster. (His name hasn’t been recorded, however). The student was taken to the Soviet army camp and we demanded his release. The camp commander refused to release him, claiming that this was a counterrevolutionary act. Only after negotiating, which took about an hour, after we threatened to report it on the municipal radio which would stir unrest among the inhabitants, he agreed to release the student. The same situation occurred when a rhymed poster aimed against the Soviet army appeared in the display case in the Husova Street. A representative of the Soviet army came to the municipal committee and threatened that if we hadn’t removed the poster, he would do so himself, using tanks. I don’t know how it happened, but somehow this news leaked into the national radio, and the radio broadcast a distorted report that the city of Slaný was to be destroyed by the Soviet army tanks. The army forced their entry to factories. They demanded to speak with the workers, which we tried to prevent. One such case is recorded in the book by Dr. Horák (Vladimír Horák: The days of August 1968 in Slaný). I recall another case, when representatives of the Soviet army came to the gatehouse of the Tatra company and requested entry, and I refused. Certain Mr. Pivarči, a former soldier who returned to Czechoslovakia with Svoboda’s army and was decorated with the Hero of the Ssoviet Union medal, worked in Tatra at that time. Mr. Pivarči came to the gatehouse and wanted to return his decoration to the Soviets as a sign of his disagreement with the army’s entry to Czechoslovakia. The army representatives refused, saying that they were not authorized to receive the decoration, and they left the factory.”