Dalibor Plšek

* 1939

  • “I remember one case from 1968. A barn was burning at Spálenec, I don’t know if it was the children or Gipsies or who set fire to it. One citizen of the German Republic, who lived right next to the borders - we knew him by sight from when we did the demarcations, or because we would look, so we knew who it was - he went to have a look at the fire. Nevertheless, he crossed the state borders, he came right up to the fence, and there he was caught by a patrol. The soldiers did as they were ordered to, they caught him, called us, we sent an escort, they brought him to the base. So I talked with him, he told me he had seen the light from a blaze, that he had been afraid the forest would catch fire, and because he was in the vicinity, he went to have a look there. That was it, he had no other motives. I informed the higher command, the procurator. The procurator decided we should formally hand him back to the Germans. I phoned to the passport authority in Folmava, I said we had such and such a person, that he had gone to check out a fire, and what the procurator had decided - there had to be papers for everything. I asked the border attorney to negotiate the hand-over with the Germans - he could talk to them, I wasn’t allowed to. Also, there were Russians there, and they were very much surprised to see us trundling up with an old geezer with a pipe in his mouth and hand him over to the Germans. They regarded it as something [impossible]. Luckily, the border attorney was a tough one, and he sent them packing. So they shut up, we handed the German over, and the case was closed.”

  • “As a part of our training we made a 50km walk with combat gear. This was an experience I wish to no one. In such cases you really know what it is to reach the very bottom of your strength. On the one hand, it was fine that you learned what you could or could not manage; on the other hand we considered it to be… a kind of torture, to be honest. But we survived, of course. During that march I learned that people could really be friends. When someone failed, others helped him, for instance by carrying his gun. We walked with full combat gear, including ammunition. It was no fun to bear a 25kg box with ammo. It is true that after each hour there was a break. The more experienced, however, warned us: ‘Don’t sit, don’t lie down, because you won’t get up again.’ When we reached our destination, we fell, literally fell like dead. And we recovered for a week. But it was a part of the training.”

  • “One time we were walking along with one soldier because we weren’t allowed to check on the demarcation [ourselves]. We were checking the border markers along the state border in the area allotted to Border Company Maxov. There was a secluded cottage there, called Singer’s, it’s still there today. Not only did the German have a farm, he also had a refreshment stand for possible visitors, or for when he had holiday workers, he had this refreshment [stand], I don’t want to call it a pub. When we approached the building, it was a hot July day, and two members of the Grenzpolizei were sitting there, drinking beer. Of course, our mouths were dry as leather, we were sweating all over, but we reckoned: good for them. One of the policemen greeted us and asked if we didn’t want some beer as well. I replied in German that we’re sorry, but we’re not allowed to, and that we have to carry on with our duty. They laughed and we went on. However, there was an aftermath; luckily, I didn’t forget to write into my report what we had seen on the state border, that there were two [police] members there who had invited us for beer, but that we had refused. That was that, I regarded the matter as closed. But then I was questioned by counter intelligence, I had to write an extra report on the event. It was nothing really, just a humorous anecdote, the soldier probably informed about it, but I don’t know, I didn’t investigate any further, it was done and over as far as I was concerned. But it was one experience from my own service, we could never afford not only to cross the state border, but also to make any contact whatsoever. And it was suspicious because I had replied in German.” (Q: “And the soldier who accompanied you, did he know German?”) “No.”

  • “The conditions on the border patrol were quite different than in civilian life or other areas of human life. I must say that the border guards were trained to do what they were told. It was a tough, demanding service. I must admit even today that those guys who served then and spent twenty months on the border deserve deep respect. They did not protect the communist country. They protected the Czechoslovakian republic, their country. They didn’t care about the political aspects. This was given by the fact… I’m not saying it was a kind of nationalism but rather patriotism. Naturally, there were individuals who had doubts on certain things. And of course I, too, had my doubts – for instance when there were news from the 20th Convention of the Soviet Communist Party and Khrushchev’s criticism of Stalin’s personality cult. These were things that opened our eyes.”

  • “1968 was a hectic year. Lots of fun... When the Soviet armies arrived at the border zone between Mlýneček and Filipova Hora, I drove out there and informed the commander of the Soviet company that was there - because I could just about speak some Russian. I told him there was a sign there saying ‘Border zone. Authorised entry only,’ and I asked him if he had the appropriate papers. He said he didn’t. I said: ‘I’m sorry, but we border guards are responsible for this area. Nothing is going on here, everything is okay. You can go back inland.’ And then they left.”

  • “It was the biggest foul they could commit on the Czech nation. The normalisation process. 564,000 of communists stripped of their party membership, honest people who just did not agree with the invasion of foreign armies. Without any warning, wasn’t it? And regardless of the fact that there were some political issues. I have never accepted it and won’t accept it now. I think this was a process that the communists should be ashamed of till this day. I would be ashamed to be a communist today. Not because it is the communist party. But because of the way they behaved towards their own people.”

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„Falls der Flüchtige nicht gefasst wurde, drohte dem Kompaniechef eine Strafe von bis zu drei Jahren Gefängnis.“

In the uniform of first lieutenant - 1965
In the uniform of first lieutenant - 1965
zdroj: ABS

Als Dalibor Plšek 1958 den Militärdienst antrat, wurde er dem Grenzschutz zugeteilt. Nach zwei Jahren Dienst wurde er Berufssoldat und diente als Offizier des Grenzschutzes in vielen Orten Westböhmens. Mehr als zehn Jahre lang bewachte er die damalige tschechoslowakisch-deutsche Grenze. Er erinnert sich, dass sich Soldaten in abgelegenen Kompanien selbst versorgen mussten. Sie machten ihr eigenes Holz für den Winter und kümmerten sich um die Bewirtschaftung des Bauernhofs. Sie konnten aber auch die Tatsache ausnutzen, dass sie die verbotene Grenzzone „für sich allein“ hatten, und dort Pilze sammeln. Die schwer bewachte Grenze wirkte sich auch auf das Leben der Zivilbevölkerung aus - viele von ihnen fungierten als Gehilfen des Grenzschutzes und sollten jegliches verdächtige Treiben melden. Selbst aus den Reihen der Kinder - den Pionieren - wurden junge freiwillige Grenzschützer rekrutiert. Er erinnert sich auch daran, dass er seinen Dienst in den 1960er Jahren ausübte, als das Leben an der Grenze schon viel ruhiger war als im vorangegangenen Jahrzehnt, in dem es zu häufigen Grenzübertritten von Exilanten oder sogar geschleusten Agenten kam. „Ich glaube nicht, dass es die Grenzsoldaten verdient haben, als gemeine Mörder angesehen zu werden, denn die meisten von ihnen haben während ihres Dienstes keine Eindringlinge gesehen, geschweige denn, dass sie mit ihnen in Konflikt geraten wären”, sagt Dalibor Plšek. Er selbst weigerte sich nach der Invasion im August 1968, im Überprüfungsausschuss mitzuarbeiten. Er verlor seine Mitgliedschaft in der Kommunistischen Partei und wurde 1973 ins Zivilleben entlassen. 1990 kehrte er zum Grenzschutz zurück. Text pochází z výstavy Paměť hranice (nejde o překlad životopisu). Der Text stammt aus der Ausstellung Das Gedächtnis der Grenze (es handelt sich nicht um Übersetzung der Biografie).