Miroslav Chudej

* 1962

  • “Because I used to go visit the Chartists [people who had signed Charter 77 and their affiliates - trans.] in Brno, because we published books. At the time it happened, I remember very clearly how I went to work to Petr Bezruč Mine, [it was] past five o’clock. A car came up, like in an American film, the breaks screeched, and they pulled me into the car and took me to an interrogation that lasted about ten hours.”

  • “The end [of Communism - ed.] was long awaited. I attended demonstrations in Prague, I was glad to see the students taking to the streets, that there was some kind of general strike going on. And that it wasn’t just happening in Prague and Brno, but in the smaller cities as well, Ostrava, Pilsen...”

  • “Sixty-eight. There were tanks in the streets. I remember that because we lived just opposite the House of Energetics, which was a strategically important building. There was a tank stood right before our front door. My parents cried, I was thrilled. For a long time afterwards I was convinced I had experienced World War II.”

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Hlučín, 17.04.2016

    (audio)
    délka: 59:29
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Memory of nations (in co-production with Czech television)
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

I wanted to see what makes Ostrava Ostrava. It was the mines.

35228-photo.jpg (historic)
Miroslav Chudej

Miroslav Chudej was born on 29 March 1962 into a Catholic family in Turzovka, Slovakia. His father was a carpenter and his mother was a teacher. When Miroslav was two years old, the family moved to Ostrava to allow his father to obtain employment at VOKD. Miroslav began primary school in 1968, when the country was occupied by Soviet forces. After primary school he trained as an electrician; he tried a number of jobs, including a post at Czech Railways, but he was fired because he refused to join the Revolutionary Trade Union Movement. After this event, he began working at Petr Bezruč Mine, where he remained until his wedding in 1987. Miroslav Chudej participated in the alternative culture scene in Ostrava, he was actively took part in demonstrations in Brno and Prague, he published the magazine Pasivita (Passivity), and he was a member of the bands Vzhůru do dolů (Up Into the Mines) and Špinavý nádobí (Dirty Dishes). After the Velvet Revolution he joined the Civic Forum and founded his own business. He worked as an electrician until 2015.