“I think, or maybe I hope, that it was worth it, not to budge, not to renounce your faith and your beliefs. At least I didn't have to lie after the revolution, I didn't have to make up all those stories of how I joined organizations I didn't want to join. But I must say that it wasn't easy, that going with the crowd was maybe the easier thing to do. And maybe my family, my upbringing played its part, as you mentioned. And my father, as I knew that he refused to work for the State Security, so I would be quite ashamed if I would just agree to do their bidding. So my upbringing played an important part for sure, and there was also this fellowship of friends, and all of that was important.”
“They asked me about my mother, they said: 'You mother has been quite ill lately, right? Should we invite her and work with her a bit? That would be quite a surprise, right? And what about you lying at the bottom of the Macocha Gorge? Would you fancy that?' That was bad indeed, as you knew that there were people who ended like this. And then they said: 'Well, we will lock you up, no matter what, we will follow every step of yours, and in the end, we will get you, you will end up in jail.' Well, I wasn't even twenty-year old, I was nineteen and a half, so I was quite shocked. And you could play hero, of course, but such a thing would affect you for your whole life.”
“Then the manager came, stating: 'There's someone looking for you.' And the man told me right away to get my ID and follow him. So we went to the place where I was interrogated, it was just across the street. They kept me there till 3 PM, for six hours. Without food or water, and as I woke up late on that day, I didn't even have breakfast. So later I was quite hungry and also thirsty. So I asked them for something to drink. So they gave me some water, and I just put some moist liquid on my lips with a finger, as we were instructed that they could put something in the water, some downers or something like this, and I didn't want to betray anyone. And in fact, they wanted me to tell them who I was meeting with at the church, and so on, what my opinion on the situation in Poland was, and where our meetings took place. And their main weapon against me was them saying: 'You call yourself a Christian, lying like this? Don't you know that a Christian is not allowed to lie? How could you tell us you didn't know Jarka Veselá, as we saw she was a schoolmate of yours?' But I didn't lie. I just told them I didn't know the person they were talking about.”
Alois Sassmann was born on July 10, 1961, in Čtyři Dvory near České Budějovice. He grew up as the youngest of four children in a Catholic family. He trained as an electronic salesman and started working in that field. While working, he studied at a secondary school, receiving his leaving certificate in 1981. He started his compulsory military service in Líšeň near the city of Pilsen, but was discharged prematurely on medical grounds after six months. Since childhood he dreamt of becoming a priest. From his teens he was in contact with a group of young Christians from České Budějovice. Soon the State Security took interest in teenage believers and as a result, Alois had been interrogated regularly till the end of 1980´s. Since 1982, the witness kept applying for a seminary in Litoměřice. After two years he had been admitted, yet after the intervention of the State Security, the dean had to cancel his admission. He has been allowed to study theology since 1985. He graduated in 1990 and was ordained a priest. He joined the Salesian order and had been serving as a priest in the Strakonice region. There he fell in love and decided to leave the priesthood and start a family. Later he converted to the Old Catholic Church where celibacy is voluntary. With his wife, Alena, he has been raising three children. In 2020 Alois Sassmann had been living in Malešice, South Bohemia, with family, and has been serving as a priest.
Church of the Name of the Virgin Mary in Lomec, pilgrimage in September 1979, Alois Sassman in front with a guitar; some of the men standing by cars were probably State Security officers
Church of the Name of the Virgin Mary in Lomec, pilgrimage in September 1979, Alois Sassman in front with a guitar; some of the men standing by cars were probably State Security officers
