Oldřich Plajner

“At one point a colleague of mine – an eminent communist who knew Rudolf Slánský – took pity on poor Plajner, my persistent refusal, and all the misunderstandings that arose out of it. Allegedly she said at some meeting: ‘Please, can you leave finally leave Plajner at peace – he is a decent person.’ That of course amused me in many ways. First of all because they really gave me rest with the party application and second, that she implied that decent people had no place in the Party. I was fully content with the result.”

“I have to point out that our house was located at the very end of Holešov, opposite to the forest. In the evening a small unit of Czechoslovak soldiers came to our place, took shelter for the night and in an interview which lasted until the morning warned my dad that he should hide the women, radios, watches etc. because all of it would be lost upon the arrival of the Soviet army. Back then my dad was a de facto illegal Holešov county representative and so it was appropriate that he received the information and was able to take precautions.”