Karel Havelka

“Our workplace was placed below the third section, operating in three shifts. When I first came to the hall, everything inside me had crushed, I got sick in my stomach and I had to think about Dante. The Inferno. What I could see was steam, noise over hundred decibels, in between figures in grey T-shirts, sometimes torn-off, and in a furious tempo they were doing some moves which to me seemed absolutely crazy. On the top of that, flames were bursting around. It was unbelievable. I thought that I would not survive even just two days. The training period was nine days. I worked as a cementer and after nine days I was able to keep up with the speed. This shows that one can get used even to the gallows.”

“A state of mind. Really, that’s not a cliché. For me it is a state of mind. That means that one can be underground even while wearing a suit and a tie. It’s not only about long hair and beard. It is the craving for freedom. At the same time, it is about tolerance. Some, not absolute. Not to smokers, not to cigarettes, I mean to smokers still yes but not to cigarettes. It is also about firmness in opinions which lasts. To rely on someone who you knew thirty years ago.”

“What I hadn’t really realized, not even during the processes, was that there was the Sword of Damocles hanging above us – the risk of long-term imprisonment. It is absolutely unbelievable that one could be charged with a two and a half year sentence for performing, singing, without causing any mess or disturbances or the like. Although later, as I found out that in 1957, people were sentenced to a year in prison for dancing rock ‘n‘ roll in Mánes, it had somehow fitted in the regime's logic.“

“I was subjected to a day-long interrogation, from 10 a.m. until midnight; it was relatively harsh. They threatened that with 10, 15 years of imprisonment. I knew that this was where the fun ended. I told them: ‘I did not give him anything. He paid me a visit, that much is true; he was in Nová Víska, there were around one hundred people, so anyone could have given it to him. Not me. Do you think I would be so stupid to give it to him?’ I was playing angry. Then one of them came to me, allegedly the head of the operations in Western Bohemia: ‘Are you making fun of us, you bastard? Get on your knees, put your head down. What do you think we can do with you? You will be charged with espionage. You were in the US, you came back, you are working for the CIA, that means you will automatically get a military prosecutor, no public hearing, 10 to 15 years. Either that, or get out of here, you bastard.’ So the next day I went to request emigration.”