Jaroslava Šťastná

"It was in '53, Klement Gottwald died and I cried. My comrade, the teacher, was also crying and I was crying. The whole nation will perish, Comrade Gottwald died! My father took my hand and looked at me, terrified, and said, 'Well, there will be another president,' and I cried again, that it would no longer be our president, our comrade Clement Gottwald, our president, we would all perish."

"I couldn't understand why, when I started first grade in 1948 and wanted to be a Pioneer, everyone had a red scarf except me—because I came from the 'wrong' family. Yet my grandmother and grandfather had worked for everything with their own hands. My grandfather was one of twelve children from the countryside, and my grandmother was an unwanted child, an orphan, also from the countryside. They were incredibly hardworking and built up two nurseries. And that was the 'wrong' thing that prevented me from becoming a Pioneer. As a child, I felt it as a terrible humiliation. I was so unhappy, so wronged… Everyone had a red scarf and went to sing, but not me. Later, I solved it by keeping quiet about my background and at least becoming a member of the Socialist Youth Union. I proudly marched in May Day parades wearing a blue shirt, waving my little flag, happy to be just like everyone else."