Ivana Málková

“It was really cold. I had a down jacket but I was freezing. I stood there for at least 45 minutes. A few times the anthem was sung, sometimes something was shouted, sometimes there was complete silence. It was endless and we couldn't move. I was terribly hungry, because it took several hours from Albertov. I suggested to my husband that we go eat, there was a Slovak restaurant near Máj, where they had 'halušky' (Slovak national dish). We started moving to Mikulandská. And there it was already being prepared. Those people couldn't go on. We went in that direction. In my opinion, there were normal police officers who decided individually who they would or would not let go. But it was already closed. I begged them to let us go, that I needed to go to the toilet, I was cold and I was hungry. They argued with each other, and one of the cops said, 'Let these two go.' So we left. We went to eat, and then I said, 'Let's go back, I'm warm now.' We walked out of the pub and I remember having a similar feeling as when I once experienced a solar eclipse, when the sky darkened and the birds stopped singing. I thought, 'This is the end of the world.' It felt so. Dead silence. We started approaching Národní třída and it was really over. The street was empty, there were remnants of trampled flowers, candles, scattered clothes, pools that looked like blood, dented cars with clothes on top of them. Some cops walked around, I don't remember if they wore white helmets or not. I started taking pictures there, not hearing or seeing anyone. Then, when I heard someone knocking on my shoulder, they wanted my camera and they took the film out of it.”