Jaroslav Ondráček

“The problem with Šverma mine was also that it was ranked in the second danger category which meant that there was a risk of methane explosion. So for instance a regular switch was a box eighty times sixty times sixty centimeters large. It was a waterproof one so that nothing would get in. It all cost enormous amount of money and we had to act in a way not to cause any trouble. This means that the methane had to be measured and when there was a higher concentration, we couldn’t have worked. During our training we learned what was a shovel and a pneumatic drill. But suddenly we got there and found plowing machines. Those machines included a saw of sorts, with blades undercutting the mining wall which would then be scooped away. We learned to operate this. We learned to operate combines. Well, we just spent our lives learning stuff.”

“My neighbor came over, knocked on the door and said: ‘Hey, the Russians have arrived and occupied us.’ I replied: ‘Hey, if they came, it was not in order to occupy us but to prevent the shit we might end up in.’ We went to the mine. Naturally, there was a crowd of people discussing things. So I went for my afternoon work shift. I normally went down the pit. The workplace at a pit needs to be under constant surveillance so as to prevent something happening. When work was about to start on Monday morning, someone would need to go underground Sunday night to make an inspection at all the workplaces to look for possible problems. There could have been water there, there could have been gas, a cave-in, whatever. So I just went to do my shift. And I remember the section chief saying: ‘Regardless of how this turns out, there will always be a need for coal.’”