1969

“In 1969 they were beating me with such a long baton and saying: ´We will show you a real Young Boháček´s Suffering, now you’ll see what suffering is!´ These were already the staunch members. In 1968, policemen sided with the Czechs and they were anti-Russian, but within a year they (communists) carried out these purges, and when the first anniversary was celebrated, there were only these sons of bitches. These communist sons of bitches, traitors and the crew picked up from the streets, who supported it and who were doing the beating – beating me terribly, because they realized who I was, using such a long hose-like baton, white, about one metre long.” Interviewer: “And this was in 1969?” – “In 1969.” Interviewer: “And you were in Prague participating in that demonstration?” – “Which demonstration? I just happened to be passing by, there were tanks, roadblocks, and they were beating people. And if you didn’t protect your head, they slammed you. It was violent, it was actually no demonstration at all. Quite simply, Husák’s goons were beating people, and this scum, for they were scum – half of these guys were plain clothes policemen, they were not in uniforms. Among them were the Russians, also in plain clothes, beating the people and ´normalizing´ them.”

• an influential Czech actor and playwright
• born September 11, 1936 in Německý (Havlíčkův) Brod
• trained as a tool engineer, then studied high school in Teplice
• began his career as an actor in Šumperk
• through Klatovy and Pardubice he got to Prague
• in the 1960s acting in the Činoherní klub
• Charter 77 signatory
• acting in the “living-room theatre”
• after two years in Burgtheater (since 1979) forced to remain in Austria
• after 1989 alternately on Czech and German stages
• many roles in theatre and film