Bohumír Švestka

"On the first anniversary there were demonstrations on Wenceslas Square. And I thought, 'How would I do it to get there, to see it?' I didn't even think about it. So I put the meters in my pocket at the assembly line and the meter for electricity and screwdrivers. And I went, because we're on the ramp of the National Museum, right at the top of that ramp in front of the entrance, we had this shaft where you climbed in, where you climbed out, where you put things, pumps and all kinds of things, because it was already being carried up. "So I took this and went up there, but I couldn’t get through. Around the Esplanade there was a cordon, and they weren’t letting anyone in. There were lots of people around, but nobody was allowed through. I was pretty bold back then, so I walked up and said I had to get in, that there was a pump failure and I needed to fix it. And the rank-and-file policeman said, ‘No, no, you’re not going in.’ I said, ‘Then call your superior.’ And some guy came, all in leather—like he was made of leather—some lieutenant, and he said, ‘What? No, you can’t go in.’ I said, ‘I have to, something’s burning in there. If it floods, the damage will be terrible.’ ‘No,’ and then: ‘Alright, go ahead!’"

"When I had holidays, I had to go out every day to herd cows. I would go to school in the morning, and when I came I would have a wagon ready to hitch up and load the manure and take it to the fields. There I would drop it, throw it around, and meanwhile the cows would graze. That was the only day I was free. Otherwise, when I didn't have work to do, and that was when it rained, dad would say, 'And today you're free.' But I still had to take the cows every day, every day at five o'clock, I always had four - two in the front, two in the back, and lead them to pasture. And I had to graze till eight o'clock during that summer time."

"Because the cooperative farm (JZD) was run by farmers who—I still remember their names, though I won’t mention them because they’re already up there with the Lord, on the side of truth. And for example, they still had stooks of grain out in the fields at Christmas! We were celebrating Christmas, and they still had stooks of grain standing there. But by then they looked more like bushes—because the grain had started growing again, like this tall already. They spent most of their time in the pub."

"Well, but the contingents further, when they gave him the forced rent, he couldn't meet them. Well, I know there was a lot of trouble all the time and they pushed him into that JZD. Eventually in 1957 they did the action again, they wanted to push those people in again, into that JZD, and they've succeeded. Because there was almost nobody who could resist it. Two people. And it was two brothers, one family, there were two brothers who were alone, they didn't have families, they were together on the farm, so they said no, and they farmed until about 1967, then they died. That's the way it was. And then there was another family, I don't remember who it was. But I know two. Because they said to the father, 'Look, okay, okay, if you don't go, my brother' - my like - 'will go from studies, your sister, your daughter from employment.' My other brother from employment again, and the children that they won't get anywhere in schools. So they did it anyway basically then. So he joined."

"I don't remember it as a child. But I remember that my dad was going away somewhere and like he was going to see somewhere, that he was going urgently. So he was there for three days. And I said, 'When is he coming back?' I said to my mum, 'When is he coming back?' And she said, 'Well he's coming back, he's coming back, wait.' Well luckily he came back after those three days. And someone came to us. We had a way from the house like this and there was a - it was called a fox - a gate because the fox was made of wood and it opened like this, it wasn't any wheels, it just opened like the hinges. And I was looking to see who was going. Somebody was walking up to us and talking to somebody. I was looking at the road to see who he was talking to, because it was parallel to the road and the road was coming towards us almost like side by side. And he was nobody. And then I found out it was my dad and he was talking to himself. He was having a discussion with somebody, debating, answering, like defending himself against some accusations, and he was just completely out of it. They had worked him over so much in those three days!"