Václav Hybler

“A friend of mine and I were playing in a small army band. It was a small band, there were about five of us. Two of us played trumpets, one guy played accordion, and another was a contrabass player. He had the idea that since the Soviets arrived here, we could play the lights-out tune on the trumpets every evening as a sign of protest. When we went to do it for the first time, we were scared, because the Soviets had surrounded the barracks from all sides and aimed searchlights at them… but when we played the second and third day, and a week later, they didn’t care anymore.”

“We had to get into the car and as he was driving us towards Prague, he was saying to us: ‘Oh guys, guys, I am so sorry that you haven’t made it…’ Many officers left the army at that time, because they were forcing them to move basically for nothing… for the counter-revolutionary regiment; that was the situation at that time. I thus got to the Ruzyně prison where I was in detention awaiting trial. A week later the investigator called me – I don’t know where the other guys were at that time – and he asked me why we had done it… I thus told him, just as I’m telling you now, but he was reasonable enough, considering the current situation, and he advised me: ‘Don’t say this! That would not do you any good… Rather say that you did it because of your youth and naivety…”