Eliška Polanecká

"The Gestapo took it at Vomočil first, but they didn't find anyone there, so they picked up provisions and moved to my grandfather, František Famfulík. They broke in there like a bunch of criminals, banged on the door, so Grandpa opened it and they smashed his face with the handle of their gun, knocked out his front teeth and interrogated him. They wanted to know where Karel was. They took Grandma to the backyard, pressed her against the wall, and put a pistol on her head to tell them where Karel was. In the meantime, they also grabbed Slávek, whom they had in foster care, dragged him to the barn and beat him there so much, that he was then in the hospital for three weeks in order to recover from it. The beating disturbed his balance centre and caused also other injuries. And Slavek heard them yelling at his grandmother in the yard, to tell them where Karel is, but his grandmother told them she didn't know, but that even if she knew she would never tell them she wouldn't give them another son. "

"I no longer enjoyed going to steal wood from my neighbours to warm up by the stove that was there. So one fine day I sat down and wrote to the President, where I wrote him about the rats, I even stated the number I saw that day because there was a dilapidated corridor in front of our door with an open door that could not be closed, and behind that was the stinking stagnant water around which the rats ran. And we met them in the hallway. So I described it all to the president and I waited. I am a sceptic, so I did not expect to find a letter in the mailbox from the President's Office in three weeks, informing me that our housing issue had been handed over to the housing department of Prague 13 with a recommendation. So I thought something was moving? Our parents were happy because they felt there would be a shift. And it happened. In another week or two, I opened the mailbox and found a decree for a new apartment. "

"When I saw them on Václavák turning around the horse and the flying cobblestones and shooting at the Museum, I was so sick that I started to hate the whole Union of Republics (USSR). I vowed never to speak Russian again. I worked at the bank for a while at the exchange office, and when a bunch that smelled of their 'duchas' appeared, I said, Look, Russians, and I shut my mouth, "neponimaju", and that's it. It was terrible, brutal, tanks everywhere, Prague surrounded and we were in the streets. At the same time, we were afraid, because they were looking at such illiterate faces from those tanks. Who knows where they got these soldiers? And they didn't understand us, we spoke to them in Russian, because we could, and we explained that there is no counterrevolution here, that we are a free country, that nothing bad is happening here, that we are living well. They didn't believe us, their guns protruding from the tanks. The soldiers looked like they were from Mongolia and had submachine guns. And then Palach. That was terrible. In the 69th, empty trams ran throughout almost whole Prague. We walked, I walked with my bank manager. I had about an hour's walk to work, so I had to leave an hour earlier. Full streets of people showing resistance. Everything was useless anyway. "

“It was the 9th of May celebration and the classmate of mine… because she was so happy about her home she kept convincing me that everything was amazing. But I had ears and children’s ears are sharp. At home they even listen to things they shouldn’t be listening to. I told her: “Look, that’s not true, Americans liberated us too, the west of Bohemia. They liberated Rokycany, they liberated Pilsen. Even black people were there, everybody. And how come we don’t learn about them liberating us as well.” Well, she didn’t know any better than to tell her mother at home that I told her it wasn’t true that only the Red Army liberated us, that it was also the American army. So her mother took me aside the next day on my way from school and told me: “If you say one more time that the so-called American army liberated us…” – I don’t know why she said “so-called” but I remember it to this day – “then remember, that your father is going back to Jáchymov because I won’t just let it slip.” Well, I was terribly scared. I thought that was horrible. I knew it was true. I believed my father who told me that and suddenly someone is threatening me that they will send my dad back to prison again.”

“Except they planted this very curious gentleman there. Today they say that these people were members of the StB and this gentleman worked there as a manager. And because he overheard – of course my dad was the kind of person who always spoke his mind and never cared who he was talking to – eventually they put him to trial. They found him guilty of being an enemy of the people’s democratic establishment and sent him to Jáchymov, where, as you know, uranium mines were back then. Since his actions never stood out, only the way he spoke and how he kept being a responsible businessman, they simply didn’t like him.”

“Back then, I believe in 1951, or 52, 51, we received some sort of decree or an order, I don’t know what it was, but the consequence was that we had to leave the pub. Despite the fact that my parents took a loan and worked hard to pay it off. My mother worked in the kitchen, she was a cook, and she cooked perhaps 120 meals per day despite having two small children and a third one who was born there, so if anyone was exploiting somebody, it was them exploiting themselves. So obviously my father considered this decision to be highly unjust and commented on it accordingly.”