Bohumil Pelc

"The director there was one Jiří Netolický. He was an ultra-communist and mentally disturbed [person], that was known. It was known from the many histories of his life. But that didn't stop him from being the punching fist of the working class that ruled the high school. Right at the beginning of his studies he introduced himself with a speech, speaking in the Ostrava way: 'The students, the party, this is my blood, this is my heart. I can feel my heart beating for the Party. Students, if your heart is not beating for the Party, you cannot, you will not study.' We watched it, we had fun with it, but it wasn't that much fun. Because he, like many psychopaths, was serious. That's how he proceeded. I was in my third year, fourth year, because I was good at teaching, I was going to college. But he told me, the whole class, that he wouldn't give me a recommendation. Because he had a cousin over there, he had parents over there, so nothing."

"What a change of atmosphere, what a change of enthusiasm, in all, in all layers. Even my father, as an anti-communist, was elected chairman of the trade union at the mine. As a non-communist. Even at the lower levels the situation was changing. We were excited. May Day wasn't organized, people went out in support of Dubček, Svoboda... Voluntarily! We were [excited], I was thirteen years old. Until August 21st came! There was a main column in Dubí, which went to Prague. For three days there were tanks, for three days we didn't sleep. But the noise was enormous. We looked at it terrified, we didn't know what was going to happen. The fact that they took our representatives to Russia was known, but it wasn't particularly discussed because the situation was uncertain. People were enthusiastic, they supported the ideas of January, there were words like that. But it was not everywhere. My friend's father shot himself out of disappointment that these ideas would be suppressed. He knew that."