Václav Veverka

* 1956

  • "Then came August 21. As a twelve-year-old boy, I experienced it during holidays in Babylon near Domažlice. That was a year and a quarter after my brother was killed by lightning. It brought the family together a bit. Therefore, the father took a stay at the facility of the institution where he worked. We arrived at Babylon, which is five kilometres from the border with Germany. So there we were and everything was just fine. We woke up at seven o'clock in the morning on August 21, and father, as was his habit, turned on the radio. There we heard that we were being occupied by Warsaw Pact troops and that people should not get out or try to get in touch with the occupying troops, as it was called at the time."

  • "I personally perceived it very negatively, because I never liked people who caused riots. I have never taken part in any demonstrations or strikes, because I am of the opinion that whoever we installed at the head, whether it was in the form of elections or not... Even if it is said that the elections under that socialism were not free, it is nonsense, because even within the framework of the National Front it was somehow possible to prevail. Of course, it wasn't completely possible, because the leading role of the Communist Party was still there, but it was possible to get through."

  • "As children, we were not very interested in politics because we lived in the village and had completely different interests. We were all roughly like the majority population. Under that socialism, you could say, we were made all equal, and there were no differences between us. We came home from school, threw our bags in the corner of our rooms, and ran out to the field or playground. We played football a bit; we threw stones at each other for a while. It was a wonderful childhood that one remembers very fondly."

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    Loděnice, 04.02.2021

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    duration: 01:17:49
    media recorded in project The Stories of Our Neigbours
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Politics should not be done in the street

Václav Veverka
Václav Veverka
photo: Příběhy našich sousedů

Václav Veverka was born on July 4, 1956 in Beroun, but spent his childhood in the nearby village of Chyňava. His grandfather, who was a founding member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1921, had a great influence on his later views. His brother died tragically in his childhood. In August 1968, Václav experienced the arrival of the occupying troops with his parents on recreation near Domažlice. He graduated from the Faculty of Education at Charles University and became a teacher. He did not approve of active resistance to the regime, yet he welcomed the fall of the regime. He is still the principal of the primary school in Loděnice.