Ladislav Kováč

“The others from our group formed a meeting in Umelecká beseda. Gál and Budaj got to the lead and they founded a movement Public Against Violence. In times when I was lighting candles to meet the agreement, they created Public Against Violence. Then we began to attend meetings at universities. The actors started to strike and we used to go to universities with them. I was quite engaged; we formed a club for reforming of our research. My article named What to Do with Our Research was published in Literárny týždenník (Literary Weekly). It comprised a reflection of 1989, which wouldn't be normally possible to be issued. But it was. It all led to the fact that the teachers themselves created their own organization. The teachers went to Budaj and Kňažko and convinced them that I should be the Minister of Education. I had a great career started in Ivanka pri Dunaji, we had an ultra-centrifugal machine. I was hesitating for over a week whether to become the minister or not. I found it comical that I should become a politician out of nothing, since I had nothing in common with politics before. After a week, my colleagues convinced me to take it. So on Friday, I went to announce my decision to the Public Against Violence. On the next day I was getting ready to go on a bus to Ivanka, where my experiment was semi-finished. Suddenly I had a phone call from the Ministry of the Interior that I should attend the appointing of ministers. So instead of going to Ivanka by bus, to proceed in my experiment, I went by car to the Castle, to be appointed the Minister of Education.”

“There were elections in June 1990. The government changed and the Prime Minister couldn't be the old communist named Čič, but someone from the Public Against Violence (VPN). My colleagues from VPN thought that I should have become the Prime Minister. Of course I said no. I wanted to become an ambassador in France and I wanted to do the research. 'So if not you, then Mečiar shall take that post,' they said. Mečiar became dizzy from all that power he had. He learned from me that the research had been badly organized, thus it would be appropriate to create another university besides the Academy of Sciences, not to have divided education and research. I found it necessary to establish also a ministry for the science, not only education. Therefore Mečiar appointed me the Minister of Education and Science. I told him: 'Vladko, you can't do it just like that. The Parliament has to agree on this as well.' But he replied: 'Don't care about the Parliament. You shall be the Minister of Education and Science!' And suddenly the people were watching TV, where was broadcasted how a new government was appointed and Kováč became the Minister of Education and Science. Some scientists opposed and they summoned a big manifestation. They almost threw eggs on me and booed me off. It was in September 1990. Just two months of witnessing Mečiar's ruling regime I came to know that even if I wanted to, I shall never be a part of such government. I was one of the first people who realized that Mečiar is not a sane man. I left with pleasure.”

“I returned back to Czechoslovakia with my whole family with a hope, we can surpass the Americans in our research. However, when I came back, they called me to an inspection. I told them just what I thought, but they did everything possible to throw me away from the Faculty. Not only because of my political views, but precisely because we were quite successful workplace, respected by the world scene. The Slovak situation was so shallow that the people became envious. We happened to be a subject of huge envy. There was an effort to liquidate our research at any expense. But I have to add this – I wanted to have in my team only skilled young boys and girls. The boys were extremely talented and the girls, besides being smart, they were also very pretty. Thus the people really envied us everything. I didn't agree with invasion of the Russian troops, and that's what I said at the inspection. Since I returned from America they knew that the Americans were offering me a job, but despite of that I came back to Czechoslovakia. That was enough for them to know that I was determined to proceed in my work. They had labeled me as an anticommunist even before the change of the regime. They said my colleagues had to be dismissed from the Party and that it was my responsibility as well. I accepted that responsibility. Yes, we were really such a workplace, where people insisted on saying what they thought. 'If you wanted to fire them, blame me for what had happened.' They took it literally, so I was fired from the university. They fired me, but of course, they fired them as well. The whole workplace was dissolved in 1970. And now just imagine that I came from America, where I could have had my own workplace, teach students, have a wonderful position at the university, since it was an extremely important work I did. Then I came back home and a month later I was fired from the university. I became unemployed.”