“I will say a sentence that has certainly come from mouth of many people. It is overplayed, but true. That the struggle for freedom is a daily struggle. Freedom needs to be greatly appreciated and defended. Defending it by behaving honestly, honoring each other and not being envious. And we would wish the best we can imagine for this country.”
“I went home for the flag, I think I am a patriot. It hung over my bed. So, I took it off. With the flag under my jacket, I set out before four, accompanied by three colleagues from surgery. I was afraid I wouldn't even get the square that they might want to detain me. I reached the square. There were more people than usual. So I thought it was going right. When I turned back, I saw people coming out from the Domažlice arcade. They were not visible, and suddenly a crowd of people followed me. So we arrived at the absolute center of Domažlice at our leaning tower. There I stood on a bench and started chanting, "Freedom, freedom." The three hundred, four hundred people immediately caught on. That first day only I spoke. I told them what I witnessed in Prague. I read them statements from us the medical staff of Domažlice hospital, I have read them some statements – of Prague actors and schools and requirements of the Civic Forum.”
“Even during my studies I had a huge problem with the lack of freedom. I tried to express it differently. For example I wore the original American jacket M 65 with an American patch. Despite the opposition of state power the laying of wreaths by the US Embassy reestablished in Domažlice in 1985. People thanked the Americans. Of course it was filmed by the StB. I was there too, of course, because I heard it in the Voice of America, when exactly according to the timetable they will be in Sušice, in Domažlice. So, I went there. By chance, I was the last one who went to shake hands and thank the Ambassador. And de facto all people left, so we went for a walk around Domažlice Square. I spoke English, so we talked. It was all filmed by the StB. So a simple handshake gave us an interview with the US ambassador.”
“My father, at the time thirty-one, at the peak of his power, understood it as a big injustice as my mother did. He took off a red star from the school and then he and his colleague Milan Borovička walked around Domažlice and painted the inscriptions "Idite domoj" (“go home”) and so on. We as children had daily contact with Russian soldiers who had headquarters next to our school canteen, which was in the Domažlice monastery. We stood there by the railing, where GAZes were going to headquarters. We encouraged ourselves and spit on them. The Russians settled over Domažlice in the so-called Týnské háje. That is the forest north of Domažlice, there is a perfect view of the city from there. It was in range. From that forest, the gun points of tanks and cannons were visible. Of course, this does not assuage anyone. If we went to our grandmother in Horšovský Týn, we had to pass through the groves where the gate was. There was a red star and a portrait of Lenin on the gate. There were soldiers with machine guns. They searched our car. When they found nothing, they let us in. Until we arrived after five kilometers to the so-called Blížejov crossing. There was again such a foothold - a barrier, an armored personnel carrier with a heavy machine gun aimed at us – a checking number two. Even though I was seven at the time, I was very much aware of the presence of Soviet troops.”
Hynek Faschingbauer was born on April 20, 1961 in Klatovy to teachers Libuše and Pavel Faschingbauer. The family lived in the birthplace of the legendary Chodsko rebel Jan Sladký Kozina in Újezd, and in 1965 they moved to Domažlice. In 1968-70 Hynek was a member of the Scout club, and the August occupation in 1968 became a turning point for him. Due to the family´s disagreement with the occupation, they transferred the father Paul Faschingbauer from his position as a teacher in Domažlice to the village school in Blížejov, but he was fired from there and continued to work in a melioration cooperative. Despite excellent school grades and membership in Pionýr Hynek in 1976 was not accepted to Domažlice grammar school. It was only thanks to his mother’s acquaintances that he got to the grammar school in Tachov. In 1980, the witness was not accepted to study medicine in Pilsen, so he began working as an autopsy technician. In the end, he was able to study medicine thanks to the intercession of a teammate from the tennis club in Mariánské Lázně, a doctor who was said to have treated the deputy minister of education. After graduating, he joined the internal hospital in Domažlice in 1987. During the war he changed for the anaesteziological- resuscitation department in Domažlice. On October 28, 1988 he took part in illegal anti-regime demonstrations in Prague on the 70th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia, and was also present at other protests in Prague and Pilsen. In 1989 he signed a petition called Several sentences, which he distributed in Domažlice. After the intervention on Národní třída in Prague on November 17, 1989, he became the driving force of events in Domažlice, where he convened his first demonstration on November 22 and became a founding member of the local Civic Forum two days later. Hynek resigned from his political career, but his father Pavel became vice-chairman of the District National Committee (ONV), later he was appointed the head of the District Office in Domažlice. In 1993, Hynek Faschingbauer left the hospital and opened the Pod věží pharmacy in Domažlice.
The psychologist Stanislav Volák, later Minister of Social Affairs of the Czech Republic in 1997-98, speaks to the people gathered on the square in Domažlice in November 1989.
The psychologist Stanislav Volák, later Minister of Social Affairs of the Czech Republic in 1997-98, speaks to the people gathered on the square in Domažlice in November 1989.
