Petr Boháč

* 1964

  • “It was crazy improvisation and spontaneity. It was probably the second day, when someone gave me some paper with a text to read. Then students arrived there with some materials. There were no mobiles, there was nothing. Fortunately, we got some documents and meetings started to be filled with some content. There was always some document read, the anthem sung. And so the whole revolutionary process began in Kopřivnice.”

  • `The workers were banned from leaving the workplace. We didn't know where to place the strike. Whether to a factory or outside the area. In the end it was done so that one part, which was led by a colleague Bursa, was in the city in front of the municipality, the other part after quite demanding negotiations was managed to be placed in front of a foundry, there is a quite large area. Then there was a problem with the sound system because the factory banned us from using their equipment. In the end it turned out well and the sound was added. The strike took place. The area was full. I can't guess how many people were there. Maybe ten thousand.’

  • `The crucial moment of my political engagement happened during my military service when there were by-elections for the Louny district to the Federal Congress. The whole military unit came in, and the commander said, 'Comrades, you are all obliged to elect Major Šípek.' At that moment I told myself that I was not. I turned to the Executive Corporal who was there and asked him to get me a pen that I wanted to scratch out Major Šípek. Several hundred soldiers began to vote. It was not an election, but a comedy. I took the ballot paper, asked for a plent that lay in there somewhere, and I really scratched Šípek out and voted. Someone was taking pictures of me during that. Nothing happened for the next two hours. Then the politruk (a political officer) came and yelled, 'You have betrayed the party and the government.´

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    v Ostravě, 13.06.2019

    (audio)
    duration: 03:32:34
    media recorded in project Stories of the region - Central Moravia
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I wanted to vote freely. That is why I helped to overthrow the communist regime in 1989.

Petr Boháč / late 80's
Petr Boháč / late 80's
photo: archiv Petra Boháče

Petr Boháč was born on October 23, 1964 in Čeladná. He grew up in Vlčovice in the foothills of the Beskydy Mountains. He was trained to become an electrician. While he was in a basic military service, the elections to the Federal Assembly were held, he refused to vote for a candidate, whom their commander ordered them to vote for. After the war he worked in Tatra Kopřivnice. He signed the chartist petition Several Sentences. In November 1989 he was one of the most active organizers of the political revolution in Kopřivnice. After the overthrow of the Communist regime, he ran the personnel union in Tatra for five years. He was also a councilman or representative for Civic Forum and later for ODS in Kopřivnice. After leaving the car factory, he worked in the Technical Services of Kopřivnice and then in a private company.