Josef Varmuža

"I know, that when we're doing the sealing of the wine cellars in our village, a regular autumn holiday, then all the texts have to be approved. When there was a folklore festival in Milotice or Slovácký rok, they gave the texts out beforehand. Everything had to be approved beforehand, including the narration. I remember that we would be putting together some numbers for the Milotice festival and telling ourselves: 'Not this, this won't pass, we can't put that there.' The pressure was that great. But there was so much self-censorship there that people told themselves: 'Let's not irritate them. Better to just go there and sing about drinking and conscription and that's it.'"

"It was unpleasant and mainly, it was disgusting. And we didn't feel guilty at all. For example, my daddy, that is quite a gem - one of dad's friends gave him some advice: 'Look, pack up, drive up to the County National Committee to the secretary, who's from Boršov, he's an old folklorist, I'm not saying names on purpose, he'll definitely help you.' Dad called for him, they gave him an appointment in about a week, he drove there, because a drowning man will grasp at even straw. He was just trying to find some way by which we wouldn't have to go under that house of culture. He went there and said: 'I was sitting in the anteroom and from the secretary's office emerged the chairman of the local national committee from our village, and soon also came the ideological secretary of the County National Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. And so I told myself we're getting somewhere.' He went there and that secretary of the County National Committee tells him: "Look here, I'll now tell you between four eyes something, that I'll in a little bit deny. You're a clerical family and people who are behind the altar every week, that's something we can't in any way support. And because you're doing that music, and we have a house of culture there, then you'll go under that house of culture and you'll dance to the tune of Čajka, the house's chief. How the chief will give you notes and how he'll command you, that's how you'll jump, and we'll be giving him notes. And if you don't do it, then we'll stamp you out like something and scatter you like feathers in the wind.' Oh how our dad came away from that meeting like a wet hen. He came home, and told my mom everything, and she said: 'Well we might even have to cancel, we might even just have to let it be.'"

"When they tried to push us under that house of culture, for example what happened was that I was working in Šardice in an agricultural business and my father calls me: "Please come to where I am. The director of the house of culture called me, saying that he'll come over with the county cultural chief, that they want to work out how we'll be co-operating." I knew from that tone of voice why my father reacted like that, why he was so thrown off by it. And so I jumped in the car, flew home and we debated it for about half of the second hour. We explained to them, that we don't want to be under the house of culture. They told us, that it would be very beneficial for us. Eventually it culminated in them leaving. I returned to work and that chief of culture, some doctor of history or something, drove to visit me there. And if we could talk just between our four eyes. So we went out in front of the building, where I had my office, and he's telling me: "You know, Mr. Varmuža, it'd be good, if you went under that house of culture. And I'll tell it to you straight. There's pressure from the side of the district administration. You'll maybe call it off, but Dvořák, chief of culture, won't go against me. You can do that, but you won't be able to get away with it. And not even considering, that you have a fairly good position and problems could arise for you. On one hand it really made me quite angry, but on the other, and I'll tell it to you straight, I got scared, but still I told him: ´Please, come up with me, and tell me again in front of my colleagues. He answered: Well, I won't tell you. And I replied: So I didn't hear anything.´ And I went away, but I was scared, I'll admit that much."