Jan Šolta

„Tak nám vydali ostrý a samopaly a pak si ten roťák, ten rotmistr z povolání, vzpomněl, že vlastně nemáme přísahu, čili bysme zbraně neměli dostat. Tak vzal v kanceláři text těch přísah, to byl takovej papír, že jo, natištěnej, přísahám věrnost pracujícímu lidu, socialismu, Sovětskému svazu a tak dál. Tak jsme všechno vyškrtali, tyhlety Sovětský svazy a socialismy, tuší jsme to přeškrtali, jenom přísahám věrnost vlasti, už nevím, co tam bylo, ale všechno jsme z toho vyškrtali a podepsali jsme. Čili přísaha, která měla být slavnostní a já nevím, co všechno, tak jsme to podepsali na bedně se střelivem a dostali jsme ty samopaly. Ty naši velitelé přijeli až v poledne, předtím tam jezdili buzerovat už ráno, ale jak měli strach, přijeli až v poledne a ten major Kopecký říká, nechal nás nastoupit s těma zbraněma a říkal: ‚Já nemám žádnej rozkaz jinej, pojedeme podle plánu, čili dneska je nácvik pochodu se zpěvem, příprava na slavnostní přísahu. On nevěděl, že už to máme podepsaný, tu přísahu.“

„Asi za deset minut nebo za čtvrt hodiny jsem vyšel ven na chodbu a Honza tam stál přede dveřma a čekal na Huberta. Tak jsem říkal: ‚Honzo, proč stojíš přede dveřma, co blbneš, tak si sedni dovnitř, tam můžeš sedět, vždyť jako místo tam je. Proč stojíš na chodbě?‘ Strašnej slušňák. Tak jsme se začali bavit a on vykládal právě, že chtěl studovat historii a tak dál a tak dál. A tak jsem mu říkal, později teda, několikrát jsme se setkali, že tu historii by mohl studovat tím způsobem, že by přešel na filozofickou fakultu. Já jsem měl takovýhle zaječí úmysly taky.“

“I made the rounds of about fifty different institutions, and then at the advice of one friend I came to the Institute for Culture Management and Information – that’s what it was called – in Černá Street, and I came there with an appointment of some kind, let’s say at ten a.m.; the building was open and all, but not a soul in sight. So I looked around, then somewhere at the back I found a lady, terribly fat, sitting in an apron and eating a Wallachian [egg] salad from a paper cornet, somehow, and she said: ‘What is it you want, actually?’ So I said: ‘I came to see Doctor so-and-so...’ – ‘Well, I guess he’s having his snack and he’ll stay there for lunch as well.’ And then she said: ‘And what’s your deal?’ I’m to negotiate with the cleaning lady? But I guess it doesn’t matter at all anyway, so I said: ‘There’s probably no point me being here, I’ve been to fifty places already.’ And she said: ‘And what’re your troubles?’ So I told her about everything, I said: my father was expelled from the Party, I had these and these troubles, written all over the place, my brother emigrated, so... And she said: ‘Where did he emigrate to?’ I said: ‘To Israel.’ – ‘Right, you start work here on Thursday.’ [laughing] So I was pretty surprised, and I said I couldn’t start till Monday. So she said: ‘Then you’ll start on Monday, I’m the director.’ And then I found out that this lady, who was the director, was actually a Jew – she didn’t tell anyone that of course, but she helped various people.”

“I have met lots of people who have in some way influenced my life or given it a certain meaning, and one of them is certainly Oleg Yefremovich Lushnikov, who was a student when I made my acquaintance with him in sixty-five; he was the only Russian at Unity – I mean Jarov – Student Hall, in Žižkov. We met there somehow and got talking. He was mainly studying Czech here, which is why he was sent to the University of Economics for a year, and his main task was to learn Czech properly, so he liked talking with people and socialising. He studied at MGIMO, which is an acronym of the State Institute of International Relations in Moscow, the diplomat school, and he told me – which was interesting – how he had found his way to Czech. It was because he had the least favours, so he couldn’t enrol in a program that would have English or French, or Indian perhaps, as its main language, from which he could go to one of the really important embassies, and so he ended up in the Czech class, which wasn’t exactly the diplomatic top league – from the point of view of Soviet diplomats. Nonetheless, it marked his life, which he actually devoted entirely to Czechoslovakia. So he graduated from MGIMO, then, when he returned from Czechoslovakia he immediately began as an interpreter for even the highest representatives; roughly from sixty-six, sixty-seven he interpreted all of the meetings at the highest level between Czechoslovak and Soviet representatives. So he was present to all the negotiations, whether it was Novotný or other big wigs and Soviet functionaries.”