Stanislav Došlý

* 1928

  • “It was strange. People went out in the streets, shouted some slogans but apart from that, nothing happened.” “What did you think at the time?” “I didn’t think it’s normal for the workers class to rule the country. Even though I am a worker myself, I definitely think that there are people who are more capable of organizing and planning and so on. Because, for example, a lot of my schoolmates said: ‘The foreman is an idiot.’ But they.”

  • “We slept on plank beds in a crowded cell and we wore our working clothes, we had no other clothes to change to. And about the sleeping. We were divided into three shifts, so when one of the shifts was working, the other was sleeping and so on.” “And did you get enough food.” “It was better at the beginning, but then the ’red ones’ came, the state police. When there were prison guards in charge it was better. Then it got worse. And then you needed to get good working results. If you fulfilled the plan you got full ration. if not, you got less. I transported the material from the miners and as such I could never reach the plan. So my rations were always smaller.”

  • “I got out of the train and there was the border patrol. I didn’t have the permission so I got the handcuffs and I was arrested.” “That was enough for the sentence?” “Yes, I did nothing else.” “So they arrested you near Železná Ruda…” “I was arrested one stop before. It was called Hojsova Stráž. It was enough that I got out of the train and didn’t have the permission. And the fact that I had a bag with things for the journey made it only worse. There was no discussion about it. They arrested me and that was it. And then the charge said that I was going to enter a foreign army and fight against the state and so on. I insisted that I only went for a trip,I didn’t admit that I was going to leave the country, but the charge didn’t change,”

  • “When the prisoner that worked with me escaped, I was interrogated, beaten and I lost hearing in one of my ears.” “How did it happen?” “He was pointing a gun at me and I kept on repeating that I didn’t know and then he hit me.” “How many times?” “Just once, but he struck me hard, right at the ear. And since then I one of my eardrums is damaged. I hurt like hell, but at that time we were happy that we live. I lost hearing for one ear and I am using a hearing aid for the other.”

  • “Nothing happened during the interrogation. Twice or three times an officer came and he asked me questions but I kept on repeating that I was just going for a trip and he said: ‘All right. It is your choice.’ And then I was called to the court.” “And where have you been?” “In Pilsen, at Bory.”

  • “What came to your mind when they pronounced the sentence?” “To put it plain, it really scared the hell out of me. I wanted to say something but they wouldn’t let me. I wanted to say that it’s not true what the charge said. But the judge, I forgot his name, wouldn’t let me.” “He spoke louder than you?” “He said that I did horrible things like plotting against the government and the regime.”

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    Litoměřice, 29.03.2008

    (audio)
    duration: 54:56
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
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Everybody should behave properly and should not listen to people who are dishonest and could once create another “Victorious February “. I value all tradesmen and businessmen because they have to work very hard to prosper.

Dosly_1954_detail.jpg (historic)
Stanislav Došlý
photo: foto: Lukáš Krákora

Stanislav Došlý was born on May 8, 1928 in Martiněves near Roudnice nad Labem. His father was a railroad construction worker, and his mother stayed at home to raise Stanislav and his two brothers. His family often moved, from Martiněves to Břežánky, and in 1938 to Želenice u Slaného, where Stanislav attended basic school. After the War, the family moved for the last time, to Děčín. Stanislav finished his apprentice studies and worked as a carpenter until 1950. Then he tried to cross the border, was arrested by the border patrol, interrogated and after three months of custody, sentenced to 21 months in prison. He served the whole sentence in the Jáchymov labor camp. After the release, he served the two-year army service and the compulsory six months in rolling mills. Then he went through several occupations, he was twice married and has two sons from the first marriage. He now lives with his second wife in assited living in Litoměřice.