Vladislav Herzán

“My name is Vladislav Herzán and I was born on 1 February 1932. My father was an accountant and mother a housewife. I had a sister, but she died several years ago. I was born in Velké Hamry, where we lived until 1935. Then we moved to Jablonec where we lived until 1938. I started to go to school there but when Sudetenland was occupied, we moved to Nová Paka where we lived during the war. We returned to Jablonec in 1945 and my father worked for a health insurance company.“

To the Council of Prague In the Prague council there was a great shock. You cannot imagine who sent a letter there: They always have a lot of letters in their stock But St. Wenceslas is writing, believe me, I swear! „Dear councillors, with pain I'm writing, Standing in the Prague square, that's what I just cannot bear: The service that I am doing Is also so hard for my mare. In the past, the beloved anthem they were singing But what is happening now is worse than an electric chair. I must listen to communist pamphlets, fearing That it will never stop, beware! The respectable Kramář, Klofáč I was used to hearing - The speeches of Gottwald are just good for a teddy bear. And when others start their boasting, I must say that I don't care. And when the communist youths start singing, I feel like taking my sword and scaring Those who are always lying. And it's every day and every week, they blare. So, then, here is my suggestion: Hearing All that, you must change the name of this square. It must be called The Square of Constant Kidding. And I will not be a patron saint – not just in this lair.” (The poem is „spoken“ by a sculpture in Prague's main square, St. Wenceslas, a patron saint of Bohemia.)

“They arrested me a day before the burial of president Beneš on 7 September 1948. They arrived and left me in Jablonec. They came the next day to escort me to Liberec where I was remanded in custody and then taken to court. After a week, other people were arrested and they also arrived. I was arrested on 7 September and the hearing was held in three weeks' time. It didn't take long. Afterward, they formed some groups – I worked on a farm in Grabštejn.”

“In 1952 I enlisted in PTP (Auxiliary Units) in Komárno. There I underwent the basic training and the squads were sent to do various tasks. I was sent to the High Tatras where a sanatorium for soldiers was being built. In the next year a detached unit was established in Martin. There, houses for officers were being built. We lived in wooden barracks near the houses but in March a new squad arrived and we had to go to stay in the army barracks. After Easter we had to go to Prague and we were ordered to build a hospital in Střešovice, houses for officers in Podbaba, The Internacionál and a playground for Dukla.“

„At the end of 1949 bands and groups were established in Zámrsk and after New Year's day we performed at the Ministry of Justice. The boys who were from Prague were allowed to have a day off. They all returned in time, so after that even political prisoners were allowed to go for walks, which they had not been allowed to do before. It was a man named Kloss who arranged it. So it was easier in Zámrsk then.“