Pavel Fátor

* 1967

  • "Yes. They were trying to infiltrate. One of those attempts was when a man appeared at our place, saying that he knows that we have few cars at our disposal and that he is therefore leaving his car at our disposal for the duration of the revolution, and he gave us a fabulous Zhiguli. Well, we started using it, but the people who started using it found that wherever they went, the same car kept appearing behind them and that there must have been some kind of tracking device. And I have the feeling that someone then parked it improperly, that they probably damaged the front axle on the curb or something like that."

  • "However, that morning, when we gathered in front of the school to say that they were going to the demonstration, an article appeared in Rudé právo (Red Justice newspaper) saying that the comrades from the Soviet Union simply decided to deploy SS-20 missiles in our country in response to the deployment of American missiles. And now, of course, the management of those schools got nervous that they might interpret the demonstration as a protest against the Soviet rockets. However, the demonstration somehow took place, and after it he invited us... our kind of... apparently a school cop... he invited us to his office as ideologically educational executives of all classes, and he urged us to closely monitor the reactions of our fellow students and any inappropriate reactions, possibly any attempts to signature actions against Soviet missiles, to report, as ideological referents. I've always been pretty rowdy, so I took the SSM (Socialist Youth Union) card out of my pocket and threw it on his desk, maybe even at him, and I said - if I can say it on this show, as it was - 'fuck you!', and I walked away."

  • “I ran into a bit of trouble about halfway through the vacation, before the start of freshman year, I received a letter saying that I had been selected to participate in the training of the Czechoslovak Socialist Youth Union officials. And of course, when I saw the letter, I knew it was going to ruin more than a week of my summer vacation, so of course, I said I didn't give a damn about it, but my dad told me, 'Don't be silly, if they've chosen you like that, then you'd better go there, you're not fully admitted in that school yet.' So I went there, I guess it was... It was called Na Rezku. It was some kind of training centre for comrades from the Socialist Youth Union. And there, we learned how to hold meetings for more than a week. Awesome, I have a holding of meetings certificate, not many people do! How resolutions are formed and the like.”

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    Hradec Králové, 07.01.2020

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    duration: 02:46:04
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That regime was just stupid, says a student leader from 1989

Pavel Fátor in 2020
Pavel Fátor in 2020
photo: Memory of Nations studio

Pavel Fátor was born on March 23, 1967, in Hradec Králové and remained connected to Eastern Bohemia all his life. He grew up in a left-leaning family and came into conflict with the communist regime from his student age thanks to his education in critical thinking and resistance to stupidity. At the gymnasium, he met future colleagues from the student strike committee. After being pressured to report on his classmates, he withdrew from Czechoslovak Socialist Youth Union and had problems with college admission. During his studies, he associated with the non-conformist environment of the Bouda wine bar. After November 17, 1989, he became one of the organizers of the student strike at the faculties in Králové Hradec Králové.