František Samec

* 1944

  • "There was a crowd of people standing in front of the hospital in Stříbro who had a canvas, this cloth banner about one meter high, and on it was written that they should go home, or something like that, like people would write in those days. Every time a Russian column was approaching, they would decide where they were going to place it. They made this barricade and the Russians had no choice but to go where they would direct them. Once they even sent them to a residential area where the road suddenly ended."

  • "Even ten years after 1968, a policeman came to me and said, 'Watch out, the 21st August is coming, we know about you.' They actually arrested me in 1969 when August 21 was coming. I just started working at the computing center. I'd been there less than two months, a complete rookie. Ant those two gentlemen came in wearing leather jackets. They said to me, 'Well, how about those leaflets?' I didn't distribute any leaflets, but as the son of a museum director, I figured it would be good to have them someday, so that maybe my children could read what we were doing in '68. So I collected them."

  • "Once a gentleman said to my father, 'The best thing would be to close the museum, it would save money.' And another memorable statement is when he wanted something from them, from the municipality, as this comrade told him, 'Comrade, there are more important things in this world than museums or culture.'"

  • "When they made a protocol with me, they asked me, 'Do you want us to take you back home?' I said, 'If you brought me here, then take me back.' 'Okay, then go sit in the car.' The young one [the State Security officer] went with me, and the old one stayed at the station. And the young one said to me, 'Would you like to work for us?' And I said, 'Well, I have this new job now and I like it.' 'Well, we also have computer centers.' I said, 'No, no, no, no.' So we were talking casually like that and suddenly he said, 'And pick better friends.'"

  • "Two gentlemen came and took me to the National Security Service office upstairs. There they interviewed me. You could see that they were totally unprepared. They didn't even know what to ask. Among the papers I had, for example, there was this one stating that there was not only Jan Palach, but also Jan Zajíc, who had self-immolated in some passage. That was not discussed much, but I had this paper regarding his case, how it all happened. And one of those State Security men, as he was going through the papers, said: 'How do you know Jan Zajíc?' You could see he had no idea what was it all about."

  • "We wrote an inscription on the town hall tower. I don't even remember what it said, probably that they should go home. The city council had to meet because of that – to decide if they would let us in, if they would give us the keys to the tower. So they let us in. The lady who was considered the gray eminence of the town hall was already waiting for us. We agreed that there would be a council meeting in the evening, and we would come in the morning after that, and either they would give us the keys or they wouldn't. So she was waiting for us, she gave us the keys. We painted the sign, which caused the tower to get a new coating in 14 days, which it needed a long time ago anyway."

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    Plzeň, 08.07.2021

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Memory needs to be preserved

František Samec in 1961
František Samec in 1961
zdroj: Archiv pamětníka

František Samec was born on August 1, 1944 in Pilsen. After the war, the family moved to nearby Stříbro, where the German-speaking inhabitants had to leave. His father Adolf Samec became the national administrator of the local museum, which he also founded. However, the communists of the local National Committee had little sympathy for culture. After years of hardship, his father decided to return to Pilsen. In the meantime, František Samec had graduated from high school and wanted to attend college. However, returning to Pilsen meant being separated from the place of his childhood. He therefore abandoned his studies and tried to return to Stříbro. After completing his compulsory military service, he finally succeeded. In 1968, he found a short-term job at the District National Committee in Tachov. In August of that year, he participated in demonstrations against the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops, and was involved in writing anti-occupation slogans on the tower of the town hall in Stříbro. He was interrogated by the State Security Service (StB) for hiding anti-occupation leaflets. Although he had no more conflicts with the regime, he had a bad reference record. Nevertheless, he managed to find a good job in the computer industry. In retirement, he devoted himself fully to his hobbies and, thanks to his father‘s legacy, became interested in the history of the city. Alone or in cooperation with his colleague MUDr. Karel Janda, he published several books about Stříbro. In 2019, he received a commemorative plaque from the town council for this activity. In 2021 he was still living in the place of his childhood - in Stříbro.