Zdeněk Pukovec

* 1946

  • "When my brother Bedřich went to the army, he joined the army ensemble in Martin, Slovakia. He got into the orchestra, but there were well-known actors like Kvietik and Vlado Müller and so on. He said that they played Janosik somewhere in a village in Slovakia, somewhere in the fields in an amphitheatre. The Slovak highlanders came to see the performance and played, played, played, and when they were about to hang Janosik, the audience got up from their seats, went to the stage - and said that they would not let Janosik be executed. The play ended and the actors explained in vain that it was just a play. They wouldn't let Janosik be executed anyway, and the play had to end."

  • "We had a clarinet at home, so I started to play it a bit in the sixth grade. I got good at it very quickly. At the end of sixth grade there was a youth creativity contest. There I got to the district round, to the regional round and finally to the national round in Bratislava. I won the first prize. I got a diploma at school. But I kept on practicing and then collectivization came and the secretary of the national committee in Příbor, a man named Vanya, invited me and said: 'Your brother ran away, but you won't run away from us anymore. We know you can play, but the working class needs bread and butter. You'll have to stay in agriculture. Labour must be provided.'"

  • "My father had to take over the farm - and so he farmed it for a few years. In 1958, the JZD (unified agriculture cooperative) was founded. That was the beginning of our hardships. The contingents were so high that many times the fields didn't even produce. Everything had to be solved. Dad had a Jawa Robot motorcycle, and if he didn't meet the delivery, for example eggs, or it didn't produce in the field, the policeman came and confiscated the motorcycle. The motorbike then sat in the town hall until he paid for it somehow. Fortunately, we had such neighbours who helped us. A lady named Rieger, after my mother's death, even cooked for us, did our laundry and took care of us. When there were fines for unpaid deliveries, her husband paid. Then the motorcycle was returned."

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    Ostrava, 18.08.2022

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His musical talent saved him from working in the mine

Zdeněk Pukovec, 1961
Zdeněk Pukovec, 1961
photo: archive of the witness

Zdeněk Pukovec was born on 18th November 1946 in Příbor in Nový Jičín region. His father Bedřich Pukovec, like the other men in the family, was an amateur musician and performed with the Eagle Music. They found their livelihood in a small bakery, which had been built in Příbor by Zdeněk’s grandfather. In 1950, his father had to take over the farm from his father-in-law Josef Štivar when his son - an RAF pilot - gave up the family property. In 1951, Zdeněk’s mother died, leaving her husband and four sons alone. Zdeněk was a self-taught musician, following the example of his older brothers, and began playing the clarinet. However, because of his father’s negative attitude towards the socialization of the village, he was not allowed to study at his dream conservatory. Eventually, however, he graduated and got a job at the Janáček Philharmonic in Ostrava. He was still working there at the time of the interview in 2022 and still lived with his wife in Příbor.