Marie Vitušková

“1968, well, that was a great time. I had just graduated from secondary school. But the 21st August was a complete blow to me. I even wrote a poem about it, about what it meant to wake up into a foggy morning. Basically, nobody knew what was happening. I, as a young woman, felt a great urge to do something about it. I certainly would have, if I had had some options. Maybe I had them; well, maybe I did not know the right persons. I had absolutely no clue what was happening. But I do remember one thing: I felt so split, and I feel so even now because I have always preferred to be on the side of justice rather than to resort to some scheming and finding a way out. And so, I remember this precisely, I wanted to write a letter to the president; Ludvík Svoboda was the president at that time. I was lucky that I had not done it, otherwise I would have probably screwed up my life and the lives of my children. So it was well that I had not been active in this way. But I suffered because of it and for all those years I was waiting for deliverance and I hoped that the situation would change.”

“Then there was 1989, and it took us by surprise, too. Around 17th November, we were in a friend’s home in Prague. On the 17th we were in her flat and we did not know what was happening in the city. But her boyfriend took part in it. On the following day we planned to go to the downtown. We decided to go to see some galleries and so on. As we were passing through Wenceslas Square - that was on the 18th - the whole square was full of people who were gathering there, and there was a protest rally and as we were there walking on the side toward the galleries with my daughter, she was so scared because the people were chanting a rhyme: Those who stand on the side walk betray the country! She asked me: Mom, what are we doing? She was a little girl. It was very intense. Then the ringing of the keys; it was on the Letná Plain and there were tons of people and we rang our keys. I remember that it was – 25° or –20°C, it was freezing terribly, we were frozen like icicles and suddenly we felt enormous strength within us and we could feel the change which then took place. Just to illustrate, there were so many people that I felt my life was in danger when we then got to a metro station and there were so many people riding on the metro and we were squeezed in there like sardines.”