Jana Dvorská

„How old were we? I was twenty-nine, doctor Veselovský is five years older than me. We were more or less twenty-five to thirty-five. They probably thought of us as being the young and cheeky ones who dare too much. The president of the National Committee had been awaiting us, as well as the so-called experts, who kept telling us how ecology had been done well – all that because we came with a petition and wanted to improve the environment. And they told us that the environment was great, how many sunny days there had been and what were the air concentrations. Well, it was over in fifteen minutes. The debate was absolutely pointless which was evident right from the beginning, but it hadn’t dawned on us. The president of the National Committee then started yelling at us about all that communists had done for us and how we would be lost without them…”

„I couldn’t go right at 4 p.m., so I told myself I would wait until they had gone around. On the first day we had set out from the fountain, walked around the city and then it had ended somewhere there. So, I told myself that I would wait until they had gone around and would join them in front of our house. I had a perfect view from there. So, I went there but the situation had changed. A reinforcement had come, so they wanted to end it. When people had gone to the station, they let them through and closed the way with armed men and dogs. There were dogs and policemen down there, then people trapped in the street and up there were policemen and a water cannon. And I had lived on the square, so I walked from above, wanting to join the people going from down below and I saw the whole situation. I didn’t know what to do. I saw students of our gymnasium standing in the front row. The first thing I thought of was to negotiate with the policemen to let the cordon free. I felt like in a dream, not in reality. But surprisingly enough they talked with me and said they would let the cordon go. But that I must tell them to disperse.”

„Later, when I had seen posters for the ecological demonstration, my friend and I decided to go there. I wasn’t expecting a great turnout, that it could be something similar to the events in Prague, that someone could actually lead it. I actually thought no one would come. And so, we went and joined the November 11 procession and we walked through Teplice with satisfaction and excitement. We held hands and shouted: ‘We want clear air; we want healthy children!’ And we had a good time at the demonstration from about 4 p.m. to 5 or 6 p.m. I had a good feeling that maybe something could actually start happening. But we didn’t believe at all in a regime change. Rather that something might improve there, in Teplice.”