MUDr. Libor Kvapil

* 1936

  • "I remember the air raids. Back then, they were complete bundles; like the planes were lined up, there were maybe fifty of them. I remember how it was buzzing, that we used to be scared. But I think infantry guns hit the town hall more, and the astronomical clock was badly damaged. It was never repaired in its original shape; it remained damaged for ten years, and only after ten years was it replaced by the socialist one with the Svolinsky mosaic; before that, it looked a little different. But I think infantry guns shot it. I remember that the church on Svatý Kopeček was hit, I don't know whether by artillery or by a bomb. One tower was long broken and destroyed."

  • "I think my father's occupation tells you his opinion as a tradesman who had to give up his trade. I think he was a top tailor; his customers included conductors, doctors, and actors; he was excellent - and I always wanted to be as good a doctor as he was a tailor. You see, already in '48, it was beginning to dawn on us that Scout was no good, and there was a contradiction. We were wondering why it shouldn't be good, what we liked so much. We were already building up a resistance to an establishment that we thought was lying. So we scouted until 1950, and then we found a troop that was still going for about a year. But, of course, we didn't like it, and we resented it. I always say that the Communists and I agreed on one thing, we didn't care about each other."

  • "I remember the currency reform very well. There was a big scandal at the time, and people would come a lot, even at night, to pay my dad what they owed him, and it became known somehow and he was detained and held all afternoon. He never talked about it. He said he expressed his distrust of the currency, but then they let him go because when they arrested him, the currency reform broke out in the afternoon, and they had to give him the benefit of the doubt. He never came back to it. But I know they lost a lot of money; it was 1 to 5 up to a certain amount, then 1 to 20, and the next amount was 1 to 50, which was a big loss. Another classmate offered to sell me some savings stamps. The school savings stamps were 1: 5, so we still saved some 1,000, but I don't think it was much. I know that instead of 40 cents, you paid 20 CZK for a tram ride. Then there was new money, and you couldn't pay with the old money."

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    Olomouc, 30.05.2022

    (audio)
    délka: 01:34:23
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of the region - Central Moravia
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With the communists we weren‘t interested in each other

Libor Kvapil photographed at home in Olomouc in June 2022
Libor Kvapil photographed at home in Olomouc in June 2022
zdroj: Paměť národa

Libor Kvapil was born on 27 November 1936 in Olomouc to parents Antonín and Vlasta. His father was a tailor, and his mother helped in administration. In May 1945, he experienced the bombing of Olomouc and the liberation celebrations. In 1945 he joined the Scouts. He started school in 1943 and then studied at the gymnasium. In the fifties, his father lost his trade, and the currency reform affected the family. In 1955 he graduated from high school, was admitted to medical school in Olomouc, and graduated in 1961. In 1963 he married Ivana Burianova. In 1968 he joined the scout movement. He was the only attendee of the Jesenice Forest School in 1970. In the following years, he socialised with former scouts, held meetings at cottages, and took several secret scout vows. Their activities did not escape the attention of the StB, which began investigating everything in 1986. After the revolution, he worked as a general practitioner, taught practical medicine at UPOL, was a trainer of postgraduate preparation for certification in practical medicine, and was involved in Scouting, where he earned the nickname Sir. In 2007 he was at the birth of a clinic for homeless people in Olomouc. For his lifelong merits in Scouting, he was named an honorary member of the Svojsík Troop and was awarded the Order of the Silver Wolf. In 2022 he lived in Olomouc.