Jiří Novák

“We had posters prepared before the general strike, but we were afraid the militiamen would pull them down. Until three in the morning we discussed some details in the club and on the way home we posted these posters. Each one of us covered different area of the city. I came home, I just changed clothes and washed and went to work at six o´clock. Along the way, I was still distributing the rest of the posters calling for strike to the people I met. The magical thing was that at work at the gatehouse, militiamen stood in civilian clothes and handed out completely different posters that betrayed the strike. There was something like, 'You strike today, you will suffer poverty tomorrow.'

“The gathering in Wroclaw was fantastic. You could see Kryl, Tygrid and other personas live. But I was most impressed by the way the Poles treated us. We had nothing prepared, we only had blankets in Trabant (a car), we thought we would sleep somewhere in the park. After the first concert, the organizers came to the stage and said: 'Czech brothers who have no place to sleep, come to the queue, people will take you.' We went to sleep to a house of some married couple who were doing weather forecasts. They took care of us in an incredible way. The approach of the Poles to us at that time was one of the greatest experiences. Even now, I do not like when somebody calls Poles businessmen. I got to know them from a completely different side. I don't know if people in our country would be able to offer help the way they did.”