Radomír Burša

* 1961

  • “Again, I feel a tremendous tension, even freezing, when I recall it. We should have started in ten, fifteen minutes, and there was a huge number of people in the Tatra yard. They hung on pillars, on cranes, where they could get using various working gadgets. They were just everywhere. It was absolutely unbelievable. When you say it with a number it doesn't sound like when you can see it. We considered it a great success that we managed to organize it.”

  • “In my first phase of practice in Tatra Kopřivnice I met the People's Militia face to face. Until then, I only knew from the civics that it was a kind of armed fist of the working class, but that was all. Then I saw the uniforms of the People's Militia at the gatehouse when I went to work, sometimes also in the workshops. I was asking myself: “What is it?”. I once found out that it will not be Militiamen who will guard, but some civil defense unit, because the People's Militia have a shooting practice. I asked why they were going to shoot, for God's sake. They said that if it was necessary to defend the factory. I laughed at that time, but the laughter was gone quiet quickly when I saw a marching wall of people with rifles over their shoulders getting into the trucks. There were also my colleagues.”

  • “Water, a hallway, toothbrushes, floor scrubbing, yelling, hard nudges. Less resistant guys had their elbows and knees beaten up in blood. I managed to protect myself from a visible injury. The yelling and the huge pressure was terrible. The following days, I observed that older soldiers, so-called “Mazáci”, worked off their anger or a mental disorder on those who suffered the most. There was nothing to be done about it. It was clear that if someone told professional soldiers, it would be a huge trouble. Gradually, I realized that it was impossible for the “Lampasák” (military officers) not to know. If they were interested, they would solve it. However, it probably belonged to the point. With a self-denial, I suffered my own troubles, and over the time these older soldiers stopped paying attention to me. They needed to see the expression of suffering and tremendous fear, and they did not receive it even though they got tougher. Then, suddenly, I got some peace, compared to others who were experiencing it more intensively.”

  • Celé nahrávky
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    v Ostravě, 20.06.2019

    (audio)
    délka: 03:35:03
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of the region - Central Moravia
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I plunged into the revolution with full commitment. I was afraid though.

Radomír Burša / Ostrava / June 2019
Radomír Burša / Ostrava / June 2019
zdroj: E.D.

Radomír Burša was born on August 7, 1961 in Uherské Hradiště. He grew up in Březolupy, a village famous for motorcycle racing. He graduated from the automobile technical school in Mladá Boleslav. After the military service, where he experienced bullying by older soldiers, he joined Tatra Kopřivnice car factory. In November 1989 he helped to organize anti-communist demonstrations in Kopřivnice, the first meeting was held on November 22, 1989. He was one of the founding members of the Civic Forum. After the revolution he was the secretary of the Municipal Office in Kopřivnice. He also performed this function in Hranice na Moravě and in Lipník nad Bečvou. Then he joined the Police of the Czech Republic in Nový Jičín as an investigator. In 2013 he moved to Hostašovice in Nový Jičín district.