Adolf Ruš

“I wanted to join the Svazarm. They hadn´t accepted me because there was this report on me that I didn't possess a positive attitude towards the socialist regime and that I was under the influence of my father's worldview, who had been sentenced for anti-state activities. And it stayed with me for quite a while, for the whole time there was this communist regime; it showed up when I was looking for a job, for example. The only opportunity I had was sports, as they didn't care so much about such things. Also my uncle, my mother's brother, kept telling me that the only thing I could excel in was sports. And I got so much thanks to sports. As I could say that it had been helping me to forget what was going on around me.”

“I remember visiting my father in Leopoldov, where he had been transferred after his escape. Our visit could last one minute, maybe a minute and a half, and then it was all over, as my mother asked my father how he was. And he said, 'Well, why don't you just look at me.' And after that the warden said that the visit was over. So we just packed up and went home. And before we could make this visit we went for five hours at night. We came there at five in the morning, the visit was to happen at nine in the morning, but in the end we got there at half past eleven. And before we got to the place where our visit could have been, we had to pass those nine gates. And in each there were wardens on guard with sub-machine guns.”