Jiří Vrdlovec

“One day the head of the Dukla Communist Party unit came to talk to me. I knew this guy and I knew he was forced to do that. With sadness in his eye he explained to me that there was no other way for me than to become a communist. I replied that I was not interested and that I wouldn’t join the Party. He said that I was of course free to do whatever I wanted but that I had to face the consequences. So I told him: ‘Fine, let’s see how it turns out.’ For a couple months nothing had happened but then I learned that it wouldn’t be easy. There was a year- or a two-year-long waiting period for new Party members back then. I wanted to thus elegantly delay my accession to the Party and then say that during the waiting period I learned that I really wasn’t the right one to join the Communist Party ranks. This is also what I did but immediately they began to convince me that I can’t ever think something like that, that I was given significant privilege and that I mustn’t let them down. I insisted that the Party had many flaws and said that I would give it another thought when the flaws are remediated. Then, during training at Moldau river, my coach approached me in a motorboat and told me to immediately report to the head of the Party unit at Dukla. He tried it on me one last time and when I stood my ground he ordered me to come to the Ministry the next day. There they gave me a roasting. At that time I had a family, wanted to do sports and wasn’t enough of a hero to face persecution because of this. So I shut up not to have problems. I can tell you that I am ashamed about this to this day and wish for nobody to live through this. It was nasty.”

„(Měli jste s sebou na zájezdech politického hlídače?) Nevím, například v Moskvě to nebylo potřeba. Člověk, kterého jsme pokládali za hlídače, s námi jezdil do Anglie, do Finska nebo jinam na Západ. Ale nejsem si jistý, jestli to skutečně byl hlídač, nebo ne. Když se s ostatními sejdeme u piva, vedeme nekonečné debaty o tom, že kdo byl v Dukle a jednou jel s družstvem na Západ, určitě musí být vedený v nějakém svazku. Probíhalo to takto: když kanoisté odjížděli do západního Německa na závody, kontráš, kterého jsme na Dukle měli, nás šel poučit, abychom se nestýkali s emigranty a tak podobně. Museli jsme pak podepsat, že jsme byli poučeni – a už můj podpis někde figuruje! Když jsme přijeli zpátky, musel jsem říct, že se nic nestalo, že vše proběhlo v pořádku, že jsme propagovali svou socialistickou vlast – a zase jsem mu něco podepsal. Čili někde musíme být vedení.“