Věra Tučková

"Then they gave him permission, suddenly permission came from Pardubice that we could bring him a sweater and warm socks, which really surprised us, because they didn't let anyone go anywhere. So, I took it [sweater and socks] and drove to Pardubice and arrived at the prison, there was an iron gate, so I rang the bell. Two police officers opened for me, asking what I wanted. I told them we got permission to bring the package to dad. They closed the door and came back after a while and told me to go on. I went to the prison commandant and gave him the package. He asked me if I had been to any other place. I said that I didn't talk to anyone, that I arrived and went straight there. He told me that my dad was next door from his door. I begged him to at least show him to me through the peephole. He said: 'I can't, it's strictly forbidden!' That was the prison commandant. I said we had dad take pictures of his grandkids and sent them to him, did he get them? He opened the desk, pulled out a photo and showed it to me. I said: 'And you didn't leave it to him?' And he said: 'No! We just showed it to him and he can't have it.' And he put it back into the table again."

"He tells me: 'The urn will not be given to you, because five hundred people came to listen to your father every Sunday afternoon, and sometimes even six hundred, and he had anti-state speeches.' But I don't know what exactly, he didn't say that. 'We can't allow you to put him somewhere in the grave, because bouquets and wreaths would be worn there.' I said: 'Are you afraid of the dead?' They didn't answer me at all and kicked me out. So, I went. We didn't get the urn. We don't know where they put it. Today, my sister and I think about it and say that dad was probably not in the coffin at all. That the coffin was sealed and they buried him somewhere in Valdice and gave us only an empty coffin. There probably weren't any ashes either, because our acquaintance, who was preparing corpses for the furnace for burning in the cremation... He wanted to be by the coffin they brought my dad in, and they kicked him out. He wasn't supposed to be there, so he couldn't see if it was there or not. So, if dad was there or not, no one knows."

"In Valdice. That was the worst prison, there were murderers there. We got there, my husband went with us, he thought they would let him in, but he didn't have a permit. Only my brother and I, and my husband had to stay outside. I wouldn't wish it to anyone, really. That was as far as there is from you to here. Here was a wooden railing, there was a thickly barred window. We stood behind the bar screen, one police officer next to us, the other next to Pavel. Dad was brought by two police officers. I didn't recognize my father. He really was a wreck: completely white, thin and so bad looking that I almost cried. My brother did not say a word. All we could do for him was say greetings from our mother, sisters and brother. Otherwise, we couldn't talk to him. I said to him: 'Dad, are you sick?' And he said that he had pains in his chest and stomach. I thought it was the end and that he would never come back to us."