"It wasn't really that hard for me because I was in the hospital. I still had some complications after the birth, so I was in the hospital for a long time and they were not so much interested in us to sign the Anticharter, no one pushed us, we were already out for them. We had bans, we weren't famous. There was pressure on the more important actors, I know that Kemr, they wanted Kemr and they perhaps even forced him to sign it. I know that the negotiations about how it was with the National Theater, were controversial. But there were, there it was, two great Anticharters for theatergoers and then for musicians. And that was, I think, the National Theater and maybe the Music Theater or where it was signed. And I know, I'm almost one hundred percent sure that at the National Theater, it happened so that people came, they were normally in the auditorium… no, they came, they had to sign that they came, they signed, they went to the auditorium, and something that was going on was happening. It was then called… it wasn't called Anticharter at all, only Švorcová talked about it there. I then watched it on TV and basically in the Musical Theater the musicians signed it afterwards. Here it was signed at the National Theater right at the beginning. When they entered the theater, they immediately signed. And that information was misused. Today it is said that everyone signed it afterwards, but I think it was done this was at the National Theater and at the Musical Theater, as Pilarová said, it was done somehow after that speech, and then they just had to decide who would sign, and everyone actually signed it. Yes."
"And then I remember the bombing, because Vysočany was bombed in the 1945, and I know that there was a shelter directly under the station as in the earthworks, on such a slope, I do not understand why under the station, because it could be very dangerous, but nevertheless there it was. And they took me there, I was very sick at the time, I had a whooping cough, I didn't quite understand why it was, but people were crying, crying, scared, calling each other and of course the fear was so obvious that I got scared too, I also started, I remember, crying. Then, it was after the bombing stopped, we went out into the street and I remember that the street was full of shards, the windows were broken, the barracks were so strangely bent, so I was five years old, and I remember that very well."
"It simply came to our notice then. Of course, my mother came, who lived then, my brother, we just all met that evening and, of course, we celebrated with the family and the next day was New Year's Eve, which we experienced among the people outside. We were at the Drama Club, I know they welcomed us there, everyone was still alive. We were at the National Theater, where they took us on stage again, we were on the stage of the National Theater, Havel came there, we greeted him. I know that Frej and Věra Galatíková came to the Drama Club and Věra just shouted down the stairs: "That's right, they're here!"
"It was about 1986, Christmas, and we got such a letter. There were more Christmas cards, but among them there was this letter, and it was threatening, anonymous. Saying that if Martin [Štěpánek, husband] does not force Free Europe to pay somewhere, it has not been said where, a million marks, so that he will be murdered. Like that. We read it, we had dinner, the children went to bed, and we both thought hard about what it meant. And I tell him, 'Martin, we should probably tell the police.' And Martin said, 'I think so too.' It was about nine o'clock, he got up and went to the police. He did not arrive in about three hours, so I was worried about what was going on, then he came in and said, 'It probably won't be that easy.' It was written there in that letter that Martin would be killed as he had been killed - and that name was written there - Hlavniak, the name Hlavniak. We then learned from the police that Hlavniak was a Slovenian editor who worked for a Czech newspaper, and on that day or two days before the letter came to us, he left the table where he had hot soup, got into a taxi, he paid with a mark in the taxi, and after that no one knew about him ever again."
Jaroslava Tvrzníková was born on April 17, 1940 in Prague. According to her, she had a beautiful childhood in Vysočany, even though she and other relatives lived in a one-room apartment and there was a war. She came from a family of tradesmen, her father Jaroslav Tvrzník operated a confectionery production and sale; everything was confiscated from them after 1948. Already at the age of thirteen, Jaroslava got her first film role. Three years later, she went through difficult trials and played Robinson in the film of the same name. Other roles followed, and after graduation, she also studied acting. Jaroslava Tvrzníková spent the most beautiful acting period on the boards of the National Theater, where in 1965 she got a contract and subsequently many beautiful roles. There she also met her future husband Martin Štěpánek. They got married in 1969. By persistently refusing to join the Communist Party, they faced increasing restrictions and bans. They as the two from only few other artists did not sign Anticharter. In 1981, under the pressure of circumstances, they emigrated with two children. After two demanding years in Austria, they moved to Munich, where they collaborated with Radio Free Europe. In 1994, they returned to Czechoslovakia. Integrating back was not easy, and it never worked out fully. Jaroslava Tvrzníková no longer starred in the film. For many years she collaborated with Czech Radio, taught acting and to this day we can see her in some theatrical roles. In 2022 she lived in Prague.
Jaroslava Tvrzníková (the second one from the left) her husband Martin Štěpánek on the left, Milan Šulc on the right, Lída Rakušanová standing, Sláva Volný on the right. Christmas in exile
Jaroslava Tvrzníková (the second one from the left) her husband Martin Štěpánek on the left, Milan Šulc on the right, Lída Rakušanová standing, Sláva Volný on the right. Christmas in exile
