Alena Schulzová

* 1954

  • "There was this joke, you surely know, about the Iron Curtain. That made me leave. That was the last straw, when you've had enough. Dad and a boy go through the woods and they come to this barbed wire fence. And the little boy says, 'Daddy, what is this?' 'Well, it's this barbed wire fence.' 'And who lives behind it?' 'Well, we do.' And the idiots laughed. I said, 'What are you laughing at? At yourself? ‘I said, I'm leaving. Really."

  • "People have stopped thinking. They stole as much as was possible. And they complained that they couldn't get anything. I said, well, if you steal, they steal too. So agree to not steal, then everyone will have enough. That was really absurd. I said: I've had enough. No one is trying to stop it. Everyone started to normalize it. They fed the family as best they could, brought home products from those factories, and sold it. It was disgusting, I didn't like it. Standing in line for books and persuading someone not to buy the book when I was in line with him, and he planned to buy it. And he obviously didn't know what he was going to do to with it. So I said, 'You won't enjoy it.' And he crossed it out, and I knew it was mine. Awful. People went to the cinema everywhere, film club, secret screenings, home screenings. Rockpalace went god knows where to watch television at some stranger's house, because of music. I said: I've had it. I won't be here like this. I'm leaving. "

  • "Did you go to the polls?" But because of the chairman of the election committee or how the position was called. That was Mr. Peter, he lived on the corner. I was friends with his children. And that polling station was in the pub where our people went for a beer. And when we didn't get there, he came to us and said, "So please just throw it.... we're just waiting for you. "Everyone had to vote. We didn't go, but they came to us to shove it there. There was no way not to vote. Well, we could have had an argument with Mr. Peter and everyone, but… Oh, the people from Pocernice. My parents were no big heroes. And it wasn't worth it. "

  • "Have you been a member of SSM at High School?" No. I wasn't fundamentally, that's why I didn't study. I thought about it for a moment. It didn't work. I did an exam at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague for film and television graphics, because illustrations, about 500 people applied there, and only half for television and film graphics. So I said, it'll be easier and then I'll switch. And so I marched there, I smoked some terrible partagos or ligeroes for those three days, it was tearing my lungs apart. I was so nervous. I passed the exams, I passed the test and the interview, they didn't accept me. And I know that when I left that school, after that test, I said, it would be good. Professor Jágr ran after me. And he said, "Hájková (that's what my maiden surname was), next year join the SSM and make sure your parents try a little bit more with the National Committee." And I said, 'Why? I am good at it, what's the need?. ‘So I marched next year, after graduation. I was so excited that they didn't take me because I didn't have a high school diploma yet and they weren't sure if I would do it and then drop out. So I marched there. In front of all those who were nervous about the rehearsals there, he walked across the studio with open arms and shouted, "Hajkova, you came." They were looking at me, probably thinking about my protection. Well, I had none. There was no SSM. But I know my parents knew it because I told them. One day I came home from school and there sat our acquaintances son, who was the chairman of the SSM in Počernice, and he had the paper in front of him and said: 'Then read it here, sign it and you have it.' And I'm looking at it . And I say, "I can't." I didn't sign it. I just gave up on school. "

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    Slavonice, 03.08.2020

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I won’t be here, I am going away

Alena Schulzová (2020), current photography
Alena Schulzová (2020), current photography
photo: Natáčení ve studiu

Alena Schulzová was born on July 4, 1954 in Prague. Her father was the academic sculptor Miloslav Hájek. She spent her childhood and youth in Dolní Počernice. She graduated from the Secondary School of Applied Arts. She twice applied to the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, but was not a member of the Union of Socialist Youth, and was therefore not accepted to the school. She was in contact with people from the Czechoslovak underground and dissent. In 1973, she married Martin Schulz, they had two children, and after a few years the marriage fell apart. Martin Schulz was constantly bullied by the State Security, and under her pressure he moved to Germany in 1982. After maternity leave, the witness worked as an auxiliary force in the hospitality industry. In 1985 she emigrated to Austria, settled near Vienna and began to earn a living as an illustrator. She returned to her homeland in the second half of the 1990s. In 2020, Alena Schulzová lived in Maříž, South Bohemia.