Mikuláš Huba

* 1954

  • „Kľúčové bolo, že sa pod to [pod záchranu starých bratislavských cintorínov – pozn. ed.] popísal aj Vlado Mináč, vtedy nespochybniteľná autorita aj v komunistických kruhoch a predseda Matice Slovenskej. Toho presvedčil Vlado Bednár, náš kamarát a súpútnik, ktorý s ním veľmi dobre vychádzal. Za povstania boli s Mináčovým otcom spolubojovníci, ale tých dôvodov bolo viac. Mináč sa hlboko zamyslel a po fľaši vodky to podpísal. A to bolo úplne kľúčové, lebo keď všetci tí ďalší súdruhovia a pokakaní umelci zistili, že to aj Mináč podpísal, tak boli ochotní to podpísať aj oni, ale výborné bolo, že hovorili: ,A kde sa ten Vladko Mináč podpísal?‘ ,Tu, na tento hárok, ale až celkom na spodku, tu máte nový hárok.‘ A oni, že: ,Nie, my by sme sa len tuto pod Vladka...‘ Takže tam natesnili, takými milimetrovými písmenami, asi štyria národní umelci na úplne spodný okraj toho papiera svoj podpis.“

  • “We joined the Slovak Union of Land Protectors (SZOPK), which already had such extended statutes that it was not only about nature protection, but also about the landscape, and we always took these cottages as part of the country. We also chose those ones that had the surroundings preserved, so we created the Section for the protection of folk architecture and its background, and from that moment we could officially negotiate with the authorities. We started to create a sort of shadow structure. We began to issue various passes, expert’s reports and some certificates so that they’d take us seriously. Although we were not quite part of any organization before, we created a shadow one. Three years later, in 1981, this resulted in the establishment of the Organization no. 6, which later became a great legend and was the driving force behind the Bratislava/nahlas publication.”

  • „Dozvedeli sme sa v roku 1981, že sa majú zlikvidovať štyri historické bratislavské cintoríny, na ktorých sa už vtedy nepochovávalo, ale boli to úžasné oázy zelene, krásnych náhrobkov a takej tej autentickej atmosféry. Najväčší bol Ondrejský cintorín, ktorý bol katolícky. Potom evanjelický pri Kozej bráne, ešte jeden malý krásny katolícky na Podhradí – Mikulášsky, a vedľa neho menší židovský ortodoxný cintorín. Tieto štyri boli vytipované. Tie motívy vtedajšieho vedenia Bratislavy mohli byť rôzne, jeden taký zrozumiteľný bol, že tam boli pochovaní prevažne Nemci a Maďari, keďže obyvateľstvo Bratislavy bolo do prvej svetovej vojny prevažne nemecké a maďarské. A pri návšteve tých cintorínov bolo hneď jasné, že tá Bratislava voľakedy nebola slovenská. Druhý dôvod bol ideologický, že tam boli pochovaní v prvom rade bohatí ľudia, lebo tí chudobní by si tie náhrobky nemohli dovoliť. A ďalší dôvod, na ktorý sme vtedy ani nemysleli, ale možno bol najdôležitejší, že tí ľudia, ktorí na to mali dosah, by mali možnosť si rozkradnúť tie vzácne mramorové náhrobky, nechať ich narezať na menšie, použiteľné na nové hroby a na tom zarobiť obrovské peniaze. Ale na to sme my, naivky, ani nemysleli, hoci toto možno bol ten najväčší dôvod, prečo toto celé vzniklo."

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    Bratislava, 22.01.2019

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    Bratislava, 26.01.2019

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I said in November 1989 that it was fantastic that we would regain freedom once again, but I want to warn people against one kind of freedom, namely the freedom of looting

Mikuláš Huba was born on March 24, 1953 in Bratislava. He studied geography at the Faculty of Science at Comenius University. Since 1969, first alongside his father, the head of the Institute of Phytopathology of the Academy of Sciences, he bought up and restored wooden cottages in remote and abandoned areas of Slovakia. Later on, friends and acquaintances joined him, thus creating areas such as Podšíp, Brízgalky, Vlkolínec and many others. Together they profiled as centres of independent thinking in normalization, with important dissidents finding their refuge there. In the 1970s, they joined the official Union of Nature and Landscape Protectors (SZOPK). The legendary conservation Organization number six (ZO 6) was created alongside it, headed by Mikuláš Huba. Its activities later resulted in the establishment of Bratislava Aloud. Huba opposed a number of socialist regime projects, such as the construction of Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros waterworks, the demolition of historical cemeteries in the centre of Bratislava, and initiated the creation of the Danube Region National Park. He was successful in many cases and made a difference. After the 1989 revolution, he was a Member of the National Council for two years and the chairman of the Environment and Landscape Protection Committee. He succeeded in enshrining in the Constitution of the new state that its economy would be market-based, but environmentally and socially oriented.