Miroslav Soukup

* 1928

  • "After the journey I also experienced a lot myself, as I only had a pass allowing me to move a kilometre around the housing facilities during war stating I am a trencher. That was with Technische Nothilfe. And so it happened that we were waiting in Olbramovice square in a bus as I went to Obory and a police check arrived. So they were checking everyone and I was telling myself: ‚Damn, it´s lost.‘ He took the pass but did not turn it around. There was a stamp with the German Eagle and so on, he gave it back to me, saluted and Heiled."

  • "The rooms were connected in this manner, here was a hallway only for illustration. This way individual rooms could be entered all along the front. The interrogator left and this way a group of around eight people were walking past, all twenty to twenty four years old, they did not ask anyone anything at all and beat everyone they found in there. Next to us they beaten a woman, until she had to be resuscitated, you can not imagine. And they would walk past during my interrogation, they walked past twice. Twice they put me to the wall normally boxing me hard before the one (interrogator – editor´s note) returned. He said, oh they got it wrong, first time around, and the second time not anymore. And when I did not sign the protocol, so the reception in Pankrác prison got an order to give me straight twenty five hits by nightstick."

  • "So I functioned (after war, editor´s note), that I began working with the charity located in Sněmovní street in Valdštejnské square and they dealt with repatriation of political prisoners. So I normally used to lead them to the stationand put them in trains, as they were so crazy, in their mind totally, that they were only left with orientation of what we told them and where we put them and so on. So we did it. Some of those we received, we had to carry them, for example from Malostranské square, in our arms all the way to Valdštejnské square and only there we were driving them to the hospital. They were fed there, always got something to eat during the journey and other stuff and when they needed to wash on the way, we took them to Tadeáš to the Capuchins in the convent, where they could wash too."

  • „Dědek Nejedlý se nám postaral o to, že se museli převzít pohraniční vesnice, odkaď byli odsunuti Němci. Nás přivezli do vesnice v deset večer a ráno v osm Rusové nakládali Němce a odváželi je. A nám zůstala celá vesnice na krku. Bylo to pět holek a čtyři kluci na sto dvacet kusů hovězího dobytka, osm párů koní a veškerou drůbež a všechno ostatní, co tam bylo – prasata, husy a tak dále. Co jsme tam měli krávy, tak od nás nikdo nechtěl mléko. Tak jsme si našli odstředivku a nic jiného se tam nepilo než smetana. Tam jsem viděl, jak se dovedou lidé hovadsky chovat. Tam byli nádherné ovocné sady. A když tam udělali lidi nájezd – ti Češi, ti zlatokopové – tak si představte olamovali větve, na zemi je očesali a jen tak to tam nechali ležet.“

  • „Po válce jsem začal pracovat v politice, tak jsem nemohl být ve skautu, protože to byla apolitická organizace. A tak jsem dělal v okresním výboru a později i krajském výboru mládeže lidové strany (…) - mládežnické organizace. Tak jsme vyrůstali dohromady se staršíma, s dospělými. A my jsme dělali to, na co oni nestačili. Zkrátka vývěsní skřínky a tak dále. A pomáhali jsme při schůzích. Vezměte to takhle: v roce 46 a 47 se dělali volby i na školách. A já, když jsem byl v oktávě, tak jsem znal dopodrobna programy jednotlivých politických stran. A z toho jsme si vybírali. Takže to bylo něco, co oni [komunisté] nechtěli.“

  • „To byla plískanice. Přijeli s provozem vpravo. Naším to dělalo potíže, říkali, že je to těžké a že to bude drahé přeměnit provoz na pravostranný. A přijeli Němci a ty jeli rovnou vpravo a bylo to. Jinak se celkově chovali jako každá jiná armáda, která něco obsadila. Jako okupanti. Byli překvapení, co si můžou dovolit, protože jedna německá marka stála v té době deset korun.“

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    Karolovy Vary, 01.03.2016

    (audio)
    duration: 01:55:04
    media recorded in project The Stories of Our Neigbours
  • 2

    Bochov, 27.06.2016

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    duration: 02:00:15
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
  • 3

    Praha, 18.07.2018

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    duration: 01:13:43
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
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Love your country, the Czechoslovak Republic, and serve it at all times

Miroslav Soukup 1946
Miroslav Soukup 1946
photo: archiv pamětníka

Miroslav Soukup was born 17 May, 1928 in Prague. He went to private elementary school  U Voršilek, where he also attended the real gymnasium in Truhlářská street in Prague 2. In his childhood he shortly attended an organisation Orel and in 1934 became an active member of the Scaut. He witnessed an arrival of the German army to Prague. In 1944 he was forced to labour together with his whole class in CKD Karlin; after three months was moved to Technische Nothilfe in Vienna for clearing work and then to Olomouc to dig trenches. At Easter 1945 he ran away together with sixty boys from units, the witness got to Prague and then to his relatives in Příbramsko region. Here he witnessed the last fights of the WW2 near Milín. After was he dedicated himself to repatriation of political prisoners within scauting organisation. In 1946 he and his schoolmates actively participated in taking over the property after displaced Germans in the borderland; first in Větřní and then in Teplá near Mariánské Lázně. He actively joined anti-communist resistance in an illegal group Truth prevails. He was arrested in December 1948 and in May 1949 sentenced to six months in prison, which he spent in custody. After releasing he was trying to get a job in vain, during 1950-1952 served at the auxiliary military troops. After his obligatory military service was over he started working for a company Posista (later Vojenské stavby), where he remained in various departments until retirement. Since 1994 he has been leading a regional club PTP. In October 2014 he was awarded by the ministry of defense for participation in the resistance and struggle against communism.