Jiří Nevyhoštěný

“I entered the CPP when I was working at ČSAD [Czechoslovak State Bus Transportation - trans.]. I was told that I would drive a holiday bus into the West. No one from Česká Lípa had gone West until then. There was a group of people some ten years older who did these holiday tours, then there were boys my age - they were both in the CPP. Everyone in the tour group was in the CPP except me. So I was called in by the operations manager, the director, and there was even the [local?] CPP chairman there, and they told me that I had been chosen for the September tour to France, Holland, and West Germany. I was the only one who wasn’t in the CPP, so the director told me it would be good if I signed and joined the CPP. I said ‘not likely’, and he said that he wouldn’t be able to support me any further and that someone else would go instead of me.”

“The biggest quarrels were in Luštěnice. After our first return the Polish arrived there and demanded to be let into the barracks. We didn’t have guard duty at the gate. That was done by other units. We were immediately called up by our commander, Captain Pulman. He was a man who lived for this. He was even built that way. It was a good thing that he was the one to come there. He toldthe Polish commander at the gate that we wouldn’t let them into the barracks. He told him we wouldn’t, he turned and left. And that if troubles arise, they will be responsible. The Poles pulled back. Then they tried it again, this time they spoke with Commander Stachovský. They want to come in with tanks, and the commander said that no tanks would come in. But that was after we had returned from the forest, where we had been for about four days.”

“The commander gave the order to depart for Luštěnice via Mladá Boleslav. We drove on to the Jičín road, and as you know, there is a military barracks there, which was already occupied by Polish, Russian forces. When we passed by - the GAZ at front, our flag, and then the other cars - that was such a surprise to the Polish and Russian soldiers that they immediately sent out an armoured car in pursuit. The armoured car caught us up in Komenský Square, where we had stopped. And suddenly an unbelievable amount of people started running up to us, thinking that we had come to liberate Boleslav. We were fit to cry. They brought us food, drink, and then that armoured car slowly backed out and returned to the barracks. And that was a good thing. We saw what it’s like to play on the nerves. Surrounded by the crowd, we soldiers started getting our courage up. It’s interesting. Alone in the field, you only start fighting when your life depends on it. But when there’s a crowd, the atmosphere is completely different, and your courage can get dangerously high.”

“Back then there was First Lieutenant Zubík there, he was our politruk [political officer]. He was so disillusioned by the occupation that he didn’t talk at all. He didn’t dare take any stance, and he didn’t speak, and you could see how unhappy he was. He didn’t know what to support in that moment. But the truth is that he wasn’t a bad person. His task was to get soldiers to join the CPP [Communist Party of Czechoslovakia - trans.] - to exaggerate a bit. Besides seeing to the noticeboards, anniversaries, and all those things, which went on all year round, as was the custom in every factory as well. There was even more of that in the army - noticeboards and the like. So his greatest task was to offer what was on offer to as many people as possible. Because back then when someone wanted to join the CPP, he had to go home to get someone who would vouch for him, and he’d get a two-day leave. So some people joined the CPP so they could go home. And others because they thought it might come in handy. That’s talking about the time before the occupation.”

“[One day] in 1989 just as I had disassembled a telephone exchange, I was summoned to the shop floor upstairs, that the cops were there. I felt pretty queasy because everyone used to nab components from there, which were needed by the boys in communications. We would build our own amplifiers at home, and the parts couldn’t be got. So they called me up, we went down into the archives, and that made me suspicious. Two pretty young boys wanted me to know my biography. I told them that they had that in the personnel department and asked what was it they wanted. They said they were from State Security, and I felt a wave of relief. I relaxed because it wasn’t about those shady deals. The way it went was that by the time a part could be officially requested, the machines would be stopped for two three days. So they’d call me - Jirka, I need this transistor. I got it out of the supplies and gave it to them. But it was dodgy, illegal. So I was worried about that. Then they asked me why I was against the Party. I said I wasn’t against it but that if only one contestant runs on the track, he’ll always be first.”