František Kopecký

"At that time a school for repairmen of agricultural engines was opening at Dobris, and we were somehow destined to fill it in. That's where I could go, but I did not want that. I wanted to be a bricklayer like my dad. He took it pragmatically, he said, "Well, you will finish these studies and when you good at it and you want it, so you will continue to industrial school, and when you are really good at it, you will want to go to college." In order to know things from handwork to some other matter. Well, the local comrades meant otherwise. The comrade director of the school, the comrade chairman of the cooperative and the comrade chairman of the National Committee said, "No." That was such a local menace, so here was the absurd situation that some people were not allowed to go to study. When they realised I did not want to study, I was not allowed to go to become a bricklayer."

"The establishment of an agricultural cooperative has come into play. In our country it happenned quite late in 1957. I was ten years old and I remember the job well before. It was just like when you watch the movie [All good natives], exactly like that. And when Frantik signs it, we will also sign... and if he does not sign, we will not sign up. Threats - your children will not be able to go anywhere. We'll give you the land of felds right next to the woods. Because we had fields quite a distance from the forest, so there was quite good ground there. Those were not bad fields, our parents saved each crown to buy them, and when they repaid the debts, the the coop took place. We'll give you the fields in the forest with all the stones, and we'll give you big contingents, those weree mandatory levy, the supplies that were collected. They threatened, sufficated us, and finally daddy said, "Okay." on informal terms, he told him: "You know, Frantik, that we have a lot of power to do all this." And be careful, because that can happen at any time in the society. That's just the way people do and we need to be careful."