Miroslav Rehák

* 1935

  • “I went to Business Academy. Back then it was named as Upper Economical School, since the name ‘Business Academy’ would not be proper due to the political situation. That’s where we played basketball at the schoolyard. My friend’s father was a locksmith, so he installed baskets in the gym for us. The whole Business Academy went crazy about it and we played basket. Even the whole generations of students after us played basketball there.”

  • “At the time, the ambassador Stareček got very angry about it, because he was at home for holiday. He returned very upset and kept saying things against the Russians, and such. In the end, when I was done with my work in Sudan, I found this man at the airport, carrying luggage. A respected ambassador in Khartoum, just because he stood up against the system, ended up like this. Back then, everyone was being asked what he thought, thus, as an honest man, he expressed his opinion. He condemned the invasion and became only some kind of servant at the airport. Anyhow, at least we knew, he was a fair man.”

  • “I was ten years old, when the war ended. Unfortunately, as a Bratislava citizen, I have witnessed several bombings of the city. Whether it was bombing of the Apollo refinery, the first one, or the night bombing. I have experienced this despite the fact that my father wanted us to move from Bratislava, as it was very dangerous. As it was quite popular back then, that the locals of Bratislava were evacuated, we moved to Záhorská Bystrica, where I also went to school. However, as when you least need it, anytime we were returning to Bratislava for the weekend, there was a bombing. Moreover, my father very logically said, ‘Let’s not live on the lower end, as there is a road, which Russian troops might go through, but let’s live on the upper end.’ Thus, we stayed on the upper end. Unluckily, when the Germans retreated, they aimed at the church and the artillery grenades were falling exactly where we lived.”

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    Bratislava, Slovensko, 01.06.2018

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I simply loved basketball and I wanted to play it

Miroslav Rehák
Miroslav Rehák
zdroj: Pamět Národa - Archiv

Miroslav Rehák was born on February 14, 1935 in Bratislava. As a boy he witnessed bombing of Bratislava as well as liberating of the city by Soviet troops. When he was at high school, he began to play basketball and after enrolling at the (back then) University of Education, his active career has started. He played basketball during 22 seasons, until 1967. He graduated in 1957 and subsequently he employed at the Faculty of Medicine of the Comenius University as a teacher and sports lecturer. In years 1967 – 1969 he travelled to Sudan, where he trained basketball team of the capital city Khartoum. After he returned to CSSR, he continued to coach. He worked with clubs Slovan, Slávia SVŠT, and Inter, which he led to gaining a title of CSSR’s champion in 1983 and 1985. He was a coach of CSSR cadet and junior representation in Jeseník. Since 1986 until the beginning of 1990s he worked in Finland. After the fall of the communist regime, he coached also the Slovak national team, whereas he remained active as an academic and teacher.