Ladislav Snopko

“I remember one unbelievable event when a man came to me and said that he was going to buy some furniture with his wife but they lost twelve thousand crowns, so he asked me what to do. Milan and Jano passed the hat and they managed to collect about one hundred and eighty thousand crowns, which were usually delivered to us in plastic bags. Finally, we had a plastic bag full of money and we didn’t know what to do with it, so we called the post office and asked them to send a sack to us so as to put the money there. They did it, we put the money in and the sack travelled around, people passed it around until it got to the post. A week later, we were sitting in the Public against Violence, handling other issues, when a clerk from the post office phoned us, ‘Excuse me, can you tell me what we should do with that sack with one hundred and eighty thousand crowns? Obviously, you have forgotten about it.’ And we replied, ‘Oh, we really have done so.’ So we decided to buy an ambulance or something. You know, it took such a hectic ad hoc form. I remember the general strike, which we proclaimed. We informed the citizens of Slovakia about the oncoming general strike and we also sent this message to the government and to the party. It took place, although we didn’t suspect people would come to the square because we didn’t call the meeting. Then, they phoned us that there were fifty thousand people in the square and we had to do something. So I went there along with Fedor Gál. Moreover, I ‘requisitioned’ a butcher knife. You know, butchers, who wore the typical checked clothes, sat there in a big Avia car. I said, ‘Come on, let’s go to the square!’ So we went to the square, we walked pass the former Soviet Book, at present it is the Trinity, when I suddenly realized that I needed to do something, that people were expecting something. I jumped on the deck of that butchers’ car, grabbed the Czechoslovak flag from somebody’s hands and started to wave it. I went down and as I was still waving it, I brushed against something. I looked up and I saw the trolley wires. And there were two types of flags back then. One had a wooden handle and another had an aluminium handle. I was fortunate that coincidentally I had a flag with wooden handle, because if I had had an aluminium one, I would have been the only victim of the Velvet Revolution.”

“My best friend Ján Langoš didn’t found the Nation’s Memory Institute as an institute of punishment. He founded it as an institute of memory, truth and grasp of that truth and as a good Christian he did it in accordance with the basic Christian principles, that if people commit some evil, they have to become aware of it and do penitence. It is a good step towards forgiveness. And we didn’t do it. Our society refuses to do penitence.”

“It was no coincidence that the Public against Violence was established in Umelecká beseda (Art Discussion Group), actually in the exhibition hall of the Municipal Committee of the Slovak Visual Artists. It wasn’t any coincidence; it was a consequence of the fact that visual artists were legitimately the main collective stream of freedom in Slovakia. It was no coincidence that our supportive offices were in the Slovak Union of the Nature and Landscape Conservation, it really wasn’t. And it also wasn’t coincidence that on the basis of the Public against Violence, many dramatists and theatre artists joined us in the finale. It is obvious that actors have a sense of theatricality of the situation and can define the finale, so they joined us in due time. Sometimes it seems that they were responsible for the revolution; however, the dutiful work behind it was on the shoulders of the environmentalists and visual artists and solitaries who were on the edge of society for the whole 1970s and 1980s. And situation of students was similar. Of course, young people are usually means of changes because they are young, eager for change, but actually they weren’t the core of the change back then. The core was represented by people, dissidents from the background, people who lived in a certain way for the whole twenty years.”

“The abolition of the leading role of the party. I remember that in Prague there were some speculations that it would come sometime in March 1990 after the negotiations with Adamec and his government and the like. We sat on the Public against Violence and my friends called me from the High Tatras, Gabo Ondrovič was a mayor there for two terms, and they asked us if we were crazy because the Mountain Rescue Service was prepared to trounce the communists. They said they would go on foot to Bratislava and though only ten would set out, a million would come to Bratislava to throw everything out. So we called to Prague and told them that Slovakia was prepared to annul the leading role of the party. Then, we announced our intention to annul the leading position of the party at the meeting. Vlado Ondruš, I think Ľubo Feldek, and Peter Kresánek went to Prague for negotiations, and you know, at that time I was at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts with Fedor Gál and when we were leaving it at about five in the morning, I unthinkingly grabbed Pravda and Smena newspapers. We went to Milan Kňažko’s home, where we were preparing the evening meeting and we were seeing them out as they were about to leave for Prague, when I suddenly noticed Jano Budaj reading newspapers. He said, ‘Guys, they have accepted it.’ The headlines of both newspapers informed that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia didn’t object to deletion of the leading role of the party. So they went to Prague with information that this problem had already been solved in Slovakia. I say, in this case the dynamism was much greater in Slovakia. When Václav Havel was in Bratislava at the National Theatre for the first time, then the Federal Assembly announced after their session that they decided to abolish the leading role of the party. It was a consequence of the pressure from the Public against Violence movement, the pressure which went from below. I think that the first period of the revolutionary enthusiasm in Slovakia ended on December 10, 1989. It was the stage of a real revolution and then, the stage of building structures came.”

“I think we have to acknowledge the director of the Slovak Television Hlinický who understood that the change, which suddenly came, was a crucial change and opened the television for the Public against Violence. It was a sort of methodical centre, the Studio Dialogue and live broadcasts from the meetings held in the SNP Square were certain methodical centres, where the citizens of Slovakia could sit and see the way of thinking of the Public against Violence and their way of solving problems in the SNP Square. Then people did the same in the squares of their cities, therefore everything went so quickly and properly.”

“The fall of the communist regime. You know, I am still thinking about one thing when I evaluate the events of November 1989, I mean the Velvet Revolution. I still speculate whether the November events were the culmination of the previous period or the beginning of the new one. As the culmination of totalitarianism, it was a demonstration of a peaceful energy of wise, cultured people used against totalitarianism. It displayed the good as good and evil as evil and everybody understood it. From this perspective I think that November was paradoxically the culmination, the happy ending of that era, of that fairytale on normalisation. November was organised by people whose youth was in 1960s. Either we in Bratislava, the whole Coordination Centre of the Public against Violence, or Václav Havel and Pithart and all those who were responsible for November in the Czech Republic, all of them were people who more or less belong to the generation of the 1960s. I mean to the generation of people who believed in certain ideals, who only needed to change ideology into ideals. The revolution lasted and it probably definitely ended with elections in 1992 when the normal, everyday, pragmatic life began just like in other democratic countries where the populists became known as contemplative and quiet people and despite the fact that the situation sometimes seemed a bit charged, it always was a progress which we had in our hands, because after all also Mečiar’s hands were ours, weren’t they?”

“De facto, we formulated the program of the Public against Violence on the basis of the principles of the democratic society. We wrote twelve main points there, out of which almost all have already been accomplished, except for the separation of the Church and the state. And those media appearances, either in the SNP square or in the Studio Dialogue, inspired the whole Slovakia. Of course, we used to travel around Slovakia, for example we went by train to Košice and the like. The identity of Slovakia took the form of the Public against Violence and we expected, I had to admit, that we were a bit naive, that the society, which had already been sick of that policy, would transform and start working in accord with the civil order. Therefore, we didn’t intend to change the small Public against Violence movements, which were being established not only in other cities, but also in factories, into some political cells. Therefore, we were not interested to take high political positions, as I have already said, only two members of the Coordination Committee of the Public against Violence had a seat in the Slovak government led by Milan Čič because we understood that the system had to be administered by somebody who knew how to do it, so we just controlled it and paradoxically we lead the least important ministries. Ondruš was the Deputy Prime Minister for the Environment and I was the Minister of Culture.”

“I think we still consider culture to be a sort of luxury, not to be a part of what us, Homo sapiens, sets apart from the animal species because there is no other difference between us. We have the same hunger, we breathe in the same way, we have to drink equally, we love or rather reproduce on the same principles, and the only thing differentiating us is the culture. However, we can’t understand it, but the Czechs, Polish, and Hungarians can. In these countries attending theatrical performances, concerts, exhibitions, and reading books belong to proprieties. It hasn’t been common in our country yet, and until it won’t be spontaneous, we won’t be equal. Actually, we can do ‘compulsory exercises’, we can even have the biggest production of cars in the world or jet aircrafts or some rockets, but since we won’t have the mentioned, we won’t be happy, nationally happy. It is a waste of words when some nationalists talk about our peculiarity and the like, it really is. We are not and I consider it to be one of the things, which haven’t been solved yet. I firmly believe that the Slovak population will reach this point; I believe that people will start to trust in themselves, in their own culture and their history because it hasn’t happened yet.”

“In some way citizens of Bohemia and Slovakia remained absolutely defenceless towards the impacts, which we set off in the favour of revolution, but later, in the meantime they were being used by someone who wanted to divide Czechoslovakia, and of course, by commercials and marketing. And today I think the marketing is so far and so immensely dominant in the minds of people, that it’s necessary to do something with it. It’s sad to see massive influencing of people who want to have better life even though they are just fine now. Slovaks are well, comparing to others; even comparing to Slovaks before the year 1989 they are much better nowadays. From the spiritual point of view, that massaging towards values only of material character makes from people vulnerable puppets. They are unsure, unstable, thinking that the sense of life is in possessing something; that is the present classical reasoning. As a director of Cultural Facilities in Petržalka (Bratislava), since 1996 until 2006, I used to organize so-called anti-drug forums, which were public forums of discussion about addictions. However, it was not only about material addictions as alcohol, drugs, pills, but also about non material addictions as was gambling, sex, violence, healthy lifestyle, etc. Here I realized that an addict makes much greater effort to gain the object of his addiction than a man who is hungry and wants to eat. So when we watch how the commercials work today, they are programming people to be addicted to desires for new cars, e.g.; when you watch TV series, they are composed in a way that when one episode ends, you want to immediately see another one. Once I walked in Poprad by Kaufland. Opposite to me walked a man who pushed a cart full of stuff and suddenly he recognized me and began to tell me off about how we ended up, that life was much better during the socialism. I was shocked and of course, people started to gather around. I looked at him and asked: ‘Excuse me, but did you have such a full shopping cart? Back then you even didn’t know things like that existed. And look how many people are here today, tens and hundreds, having their carts as full as you.’ Well, he was quite decent, he turned red and apologized. But you know the problem is we talk about poverty, but it is not true poverty, it’s envy. I envy my neighbour has a Mercedes and I have only old Škoda. The thing is that the inward values are completely corrupted. It is connected with education, which doesn’t provide the basic value systems in certain hierarchy. There is a great film in the cinemas now All My Children (Všetky moje deti) about a priest Marián Kuffa. This is where I see the hope, in such men and women it dwells.”

“The idea was that after freeing the customs, Bratislava citizens would walk to the other side of Danube, opposite to Devín Castle, to the Hainburg side of the river, and they would greet the Hainburg’s mayor. The second group of Bratislava citizens would be at Devín Castle. There would be a boat sailing on Danube, where the loudspeaker system would be installed, loud enough to be heard on both sides of the river. On the boat there would be Karel Kryl playing to both Slovakia as well as Austria. This idea seemed to me the best way how to appeal to both riversides as Kryl worked in emigration in Free Europe, whereas he still stayed in Czechoslovakia and Slovakia present in his songs. Both groups on the riversides and people at Devín Castle would have microphones connected by transmitters with the loudspeaker system on the boat, where would be Kryl, and everything they would say would be heard on both sides. It would be such a first bridge of understanding. Even though the realization wasn’t easy, enthusiasm of people was immense. At first, when it was announced, there was a great shock in official spheres. However, as soon as it spread out among Bratislava citizens, everyone awaited December 10, 1989. More times Martin Bútora and I went to negotiate to the Border Guard’s Headquarters, which was on the way to Devín next to a quarry. We could feel how they gradually receded at the headquarters and then we only solved the operating issues. So the main problem of carrying out the event or not was solved from our side. Of course, we, the inexperienced enthusiastic revolutionaries, didn’t realize the fact that we interfered in competences of our Border Guard, but at the same time we also were about to open borders into foreign state which was during the past 40 years considered to be a war enemy. Without visa and elementary diplomatic actions. The period in which we lived was so amazingly, even though hectically, but positively oriented, that after dealing with our Austrian partners, including the mayor of Hainburg, they agreed on everything. Otherwise there were risks of problems not only from our Border Guard, but also from the side of Austrian customs guard.”

“Today many people reproach us for the revolution was not aggressive, but gentle. I don’t feel guilty at all, because what has been happening in the society now, 25 years after our Gentle Revolution, is not caused by its good or bad presentation. Reasons for this are our bad traits, bad traits of naughty people. We weren’t brought up to functioning in democracy. Maybe our only mistake was that we thought, as Martin Bútora used to say, that it was enough just to uncurse people from the communist evil and this way they’d become good, as people are good by their nature. But it’s not like that. Weak people don’t have a chance to be good, very easily they get to ways of effortless solutions and temptations. The only mistake we have truly made was that we didn’t realize that solving of the back then situation dwelt only in education. We neglected attitude towards schooling, education, and towards the whole learning system of upcoming generations. We left it to the market mechanism, which is normally able to provide successful consume functioning of the society, but absolutely fails to ensure intellectual society’s functioning. When I turn back to November 1989, to all what happened in Bratislava since November 16, 1989 up to the first free elections, that was the only initial situation, to which we may return as to a credible one. It would be enough just to go back to that point and follow up with the humanity, decency and tolerance.”

“On that chilly day, December 10, 1989, this event occurred. People were walking through the customs, customs officers then just waved their hands. It was no more contact with needed stamps, visa or so. Then we stood on an improvised tribune on the Danube riverside with microphones; there were Milan Kňažko, Ján Budaj, Martin Bútora and I, and over a little boat we appealed to our people who were at Devín Castle. There were about ten thousand people at Devín Castle, Peter Dvorský sang there. And in the morning a Slovak mountain climber, the first Czechoslovak who was on Mount Everest, Zolo Demjan, hoisted a very long Czechoslovak flag, which his wife made during the night. That strip of Czechoslovak tricolour shined from the castle. Within the preparations an artist Daniel Brunovský made a huge heart from the rest of Iron Curtain’s wire. Then it was standing on the riverside where we carried out this project. Even before Austria and West Germany signed the contract with Czechoslovakia about breaking the Iron Curtain, we de facto broke it in this great way. Brunovský’s heart was later washed away by a massive flood, but he made its replica that is now placed on our riverside of Danube, under Devín Castle. Austrian customs officers tried to count that number of people crossing the border back and forth on December 10, and they said that by the number of hundred thousand they gave it up. They simply knew there were more than hundred thousand people. It was amazing how these people walked to Austria and returned back. The magic of Gentle November was so powerful that nothing what could violate good relations, which we longed for, happened.”