“In the nearby square we did this 'Beverliade', we were unveiling this statue of a Swedish scientist. It might be in 1958 or so and this colleague of mine who had later become a professional traveler, made this statue, put this canvas over it, and in that square he gave speech from a balcony of a house on the opposite side. It was like Jára Cimrman, but back then there was no Cimrman. So he gave this speech about the works and life of this Swedish scientist. And one part was in Swedish yet he knew no Swedish so he just tried to sound like he was speaking the language. But the problem was that people started gathering around. And there were quite a lot of people and after some time they realised that it was a joke and were quite amused. But the police they didn't like it at all. So after that they were quite vigilant I would say.”
“So my father was quite cautious and he was afraid after all. So when there was this press conference, with the journalists, where the reestablishment of the Social Democratic Party was to be addressed, he sent me there and told me to just hit there, stating that he would be sitting on the opposite side watching and if it would look good he would also come. So we came there and found out there were just State Security men. As some of us still knew who he was, so they told us that the Ministry of Interior just occupied the place. So after that it was announced that the press conference was postponed indefinitely and we just left. And I remember that on May Day me and my mother made this banner stating: REESTABLISH THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY. And we carried the banner. And then we saw that it was bad. But the May Day of 1968 was fine. There was this gathering in Na Příkopech street, there was Dubček and so. But this slogan of ours was too much for them. So we threw it in the Vltava River from Šverma's bridge.” - “No one joined you?” - “No one.”
“I think that in the end we convinced him so in May he started reestablishing the Social Democratic Party. They wrote this letter regarding the reestablishment of the Social Democracy and we were visiting all kinds of people and so did my father. Actors, Voska and Kemr, for example – they were quite enthusiastic. And they were also quite brave men – both Voska and Kemr. But after that they got all the way up to Smrkovský he just threw them out, stating that it was impossible that there would be several political parties. So they had this platform of theirs. But even in the most liberal perspective they couldn't see another possibility than the one party system, with just the Communist party and nothing else. I remember my father organising meetings in our flat. Mr Bechyně used to come, he was the son of a minister, and Přemysl Janýr, who were reestablishing the Social Democratic Party, and they were preparing all those materials and they organise this press conference at Žofín in May 1968.”
“Back then there was this initiative, that people should walk to their jobs and they should be wearing tricolour. And in the afternoon they should walk back home again. So me and my colleagues we went from work and in the Republic Square (Náměstí republiky) there were militiamen who started beating people quite badly and I would say that they even shot someone there. And we started running down the Dlouhá Street and the militiamen were chasing us, they were just furious. So we thought that this was even worse then 1968 as now Czech people were beating us. And policemen were also quite strict so we thought that probably it would be quite bad from then on.”
“For example, my father said that I forced him to use word 'zvrat'. And he didn't understand why he should say 'zvrat', as it was grammatically incorrect. What 'zvrat'. So the investigators who were practicing that with him kept correcting him that he didn't say 'zvrat' again. And indeed, even in the charge against him there is that he was preparing a 'zvrat'. And after that they would add many things themselves. As during that rehabilitation Dr Kovařovic stated that there were many things my father didn't say. As he was one of the few people who said that they didn't feel guilty and that there was no ground for him to feel guilty of treason. But the document states that they all pleaded guilty to treason and they all acknowledged their guilt. So they just created those statements as they wanted to...”
“All of a sudden we were left without resources as my father had no savings and he just wasn't saving money, All of a sudden she had maybe sixty Crowns in our household. So relatives would support us. As that was a common thing, that wives of political prisoners were having quite a hard time. Many of them wouldn't be able to endure such a thing and they would ask for a divorce. In a way their situation was much worse than that of the prisoners. Most of them weren't prepared for something like that, they had no funds to support their families. They couldn't get a job. Our mother would knit those small caps, but there was someone else who was responsible, there was this go-between. After three years, maybe in 1957, she got a job as a road sweeper at the Municipal Services in Prague after someone would put in a good word for her. So she would sweep streets in Dejvice, in Střešovice, in many different places. I knew that well as I used to come to help her. They would give her this wooden cart with those big wheels, which was so heavy that she wouldn't be able to push it, so I used to help her.”
MSc Pavel Tomek was born on October 29th, 1943 in Prague to a family of Pavel Tomek, a lawyer, and his wife, Olga née Zemanová. He has an older brother, Ivan, who is four years his senior. From 1936 to 1950, Pavel’s father had been working at the Zbrojovka Brno arms factory Prague’s offices, then he was a department chief at the Ministry of Industry. As a Social Democratic Party member, he opposed the Social Democratic Party’s forced merger with the Communist Party in 1948. In 1954 he was arrested and a year later, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for alleged treason in a show trial with Josef Šádek and co. Pavel’s mother had no income, and as she had to take care of her two sons, she depended on her relatives for help. His father left prison in 1960, after a presidential amnesty. Due to political reasons, Pavel wasn’t allowed to study at a secondary school. From 1957 to 1960, he trained as a turner in ČKD Stalingrad national enterprise, after that he studied at ČKD’s evening school and passed his secondary school leaving exams in 1962. He did his compulsory military service as a Technical Battalions (TP) member. After that, in 1964, he was admitted to the Czech Technical University in Prague’s Faculty of Engineering, graduating in 1969. During the so-called Prague Spring of 1968 he was helping his father in his efforts to reestablish the Social Democratic Party, which proved to be unacceptable even in the era of political thaw. During the Warsaw Pact Invasion of August 21st he was in Dortmund, West Germany, where he was getting professional experience. His father, fearing that he might be imprisoned again, wanted to leave for France with his family, but in the end, they all came back to Prague in October 1968. Only Ivan, Pavel’s elder brother, emigrated to Canada. A year later, Pavel witnessed protests on the 1st anniversary of the August 21st 1968 invasion. Since 1969, Pavel Tomek had been working at the Machine Tools Research Institute (VÚOSO). In the 1980s, he couldn’t get a higher academic degree due to political reasons. Yet, he was allowed to do that in 1988. In 1990, he became the director of VÚOSO. The enterprise went through ‘the first privatization wave’ and was transformed into a stock company, VÚSO, PLC. The company was dissolved during ‘the voucher privatization´ when the Investment Fund became its majority shareholder. In 1994, the Fund replaced the company director and dissolved the whole enterprise, selling VÚOSO’s real estate with a huge profit.
1952, April. his father on the left, second row, his wife, Olga, in front of him, their sons Pavel and Ivan, next to the father his brother, Ivan, with his wife
1952, April. his father on the left, second row, his wife, Olga, in front of him, their sons Pavel and Ivan, next to the father his brother, Ivan, with his wife
