Rudolf Dobiáš

“Sometime at the end of December they transported us to the central camp named Ostrov (Island). There they divided us according to ability of working in a pit. So I was sent to the camp Svätopluk in Slavkov region. There I worked in a pit named Barbora; I am not sure about that name, though. We went there through such approximately one kilometre long corridor. In Slavkov the winters were really cruel, with tons of snow, the corridor used to be always very slippery and surrounded by wires. We were being walked by guards and guard dogs, and this way we got to the pit. It took us about an hour, then we mined, and all sweaty we went back through that corridor again. We were so benumbed; our gum boots were leaky. This is how we worked day by day until May. Until May I was in Slavkov. There I also had my friends, my co-prisoner Ivan Masár. He was later moved to camp Mariánska and I was transferred to camp Vojna, so they separated us.”

“Well, at the camp Vojna, the atmosphere was much more tranquil, I would maybe say it was more intellectual atmosphere. There were mostly people – intellectuals. As I already mentioned, there was a priest, economist, literary critic, poet-beginner, originally a medical student, script editor who wasn’t allowed to finish his studies, etc. So those were people, who had close relationship towards literature and we could talk together also about the literary issues and about poetry. This way I also got familiar with the Czech poetry as well and I started writing again; I wrote here a little collection. Of course, it was all illegal, because one could not write anything publicly. Even though a man could ask for a notebook to take some notes, I wrote down excerpts from the books I had read. By some coincidence I remember taking notes on Rolland’s work Jean-Christophe. Most probably, there was usually a confident at each room, so they used to do a ‘filcung’ (a purge). I always hid my notebook under the mattress, so when they found it, they took it, threw away and never returned back. Of course, there wasn’t anything what could they punish me for. Even though, those poems I used to hide down in the pit, because it was possible to hide whatever behind the timbering.”

“On December 21, I went home and nothing serious actually happened that day. However, on December 23, as I went to bring some wood from our woodshed, two men came and asked me what my name was. I answered their question and they detained me. I wore just old sweatpants, flannel shirt, pullover and some stogies. They searched our flat, our rooms and took some of my poems. And of course, they took me as well – dressed as I was, in those sweatpants, flannel shirt, pullover; I just managed to put on my winter coat. They seated me in their car – it was actually my first ride in a car – what an experience! We stopped in Trenčín and from Trenčín they drove me directly to Bratislava, to Račianska Street.”

“Since I was considered to be a serious criminal, I was at the department for serious criminal offenders, which was very close to the department for those sentenced to death. So I used to hear how they took them or brought them at nights or early in the mornings. Supposedly the execution was always done at three stages: from their cell they took them to such a waiting cell, from there they were moved to a cell where they could say goodbye to their relatives, and then there was one more cell, which presented the last stage before the act of death penalty itself. I often used to hear various screams, as well as the rustle of the one being dragged away, or when he was reluctant to go… It was horrible to listen to that. I couldn’t even imagine the act of the execution. Later, just by chance I was at the Higher Military Court, where Tomáš Chovan was being rehabilitated and I was allowed by the judge to read through Chovan’s file. There I found a note, a record about the execution. It was written there when the guards came to take the sentenced one, when they brought him before the judge or the prosecutor, which again reread his sentence and announced him the suit for pardon was refused. Afterwards, particularly at this and that hour and minute, the sentenced one was surrendered to the hands of executioner, and at this and that hour the present doctor stated choking to death.”

“They sentenced us in two ways. One part of adults and two students received ten years. They named a new group leader, Ján Sýkora, that train shunter. He was sentenced to twenty-two years, the farmer to twenty years and two of us, one workman and I, got eighteen years. Ivan, a university student, was sentenced to seventeen years and there were two more who received fifteen years each. And then there were boys who were accused of consorting against the Republic, whose sentence wasn’t higher than five years. So I guess they received from three months up to four and a half years. They asked me what it had been like before the trial. The prosecutor and a man - supposedly it was a judge - came and called me, probably to see me. They told me what my indictment was for and that was it. They said I was accused of high treason, even though I had no idea what high treason was, nor what the consequences could have been. They asked me whether I was sorry and I answered I wasn’t. Maybe I worsened my situation that way and therefore they transferred me into the heavier group of ‘criminals’. I don’t want to say it was for sure like this, but at least I assumed so. Well, the trial resulted in what it resulted. No one could prepare for that trial because we didn’t have any records, or our accusations. We had nothing.”