“The worst I experienced was in the apelplatz. They let us stand there whole morning, the whole afternoon as long as they liked. Especially when they could not count people together. We were standing there all the time; in winter or heat... I was holding my ears as they were freezing. Thanks to Franta Homolka, when he went home early, so he gave me his tracksuit. I put them on under mines. So I was quite warm but nothing to wear on my head.”
“They came to me on 9 December, 1953 around four in the morning. They asked me to start a service in the airport. It was some first lieutenant... I got dressed, said goodbye and went with them. But they were already waiting for me downstairs. They took me and threw me into a car. Back then it was a tatraplan. They put black glasses on me and took me to Ruzyně... We had no set departure date, we were just waiting for a chance. We could have flown away anytime.”
“In Ruzyně they had a chamber somewhere in a cellar, it was completely dark. Only a blicking light was on there, everything was covered in tiles, very wet, they let me sit there for a whole week. That was terrible! A whole week alone, without any food, anything at all, sometimes they gave me water. That was torture in the Ruzyně prison. They didn’t say a word, nothing, had all rights to destroy a man.”
Otakar Vinklář was born on 27 December, 1930 in Radošovice near Říčany. His father worked as a chauffer and mother was at home with his three sisters. After finishing elementary school he apprenticed a mechanic engineer and in 1949 he started working at the army military training center in Šternberk. First he sat in the airplane at the training ground in Havlíčkův Brod and already after two months he could fly professionally. In December 1950 he started working with the Czechoslovak airlines, where he then worked until 1953. During this year together with other six airport colleagues lead by Milan Frýbort they planned an air escape across the borders. The witness had a role of a navigator. But their plan was leaked, and they were arrested in December 1953 and on 23 April 1954 tried for high-treason and conspiracy in purpose of abduction abroad. Otakar Vinklář got eleven years and served his punishment in mines in Jáchymov. In May 1960 he was released during amnesty. Then he worked as a turner and a mechanic and garage master in bus transportation. He got rehabilitated in 1990s, when he was promoted from a lieutenant to lieutenant colonel and then a colonel. He engaged in activities of many organizations, such as for example the Confederation of political prisoners. He received several honours. He most appreciates the T. G. Masaryk´s medal. With his wife Zdenka he raised two children.
