Vladimír Hyhlík
* 1925 †︎ 2011
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“Well, we were armed, but we always just passed the weapon on between us. We were keeping watch at the entrance, with our eyes open. If they’d be some cars driving up suddenly and if there’d be a few too many uniforms milling about, we’d have to give notice somehow. So that’s how we safeguarded it.“
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“When we started scrounging for equipment for the troop later on in the autumn of 1944, mostly for uniforms or at least the remnants of uniforms, to give it some sort of form, then I for instance got a pair of boots from him, the half-high ones they used to wear then. I was unhappy with them unfortunately, because they were a size too small and I had my big toe bent like this, and then when I signed up for the revolution, I could only bear it until midnight, and that was a bit of luck, because then we ambushed the Wehrmacht in the Podbaba malt house. There were some two platoons of them, maybe three, maybe they were a company. The Wehrmacht weren’t doing anything, they were lying down peaceful-like, and because we had uniforms, they surrendered to us, otherwise if we had come in plain dress, they wouldn’t have surrendered.”
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“You see when someone brought someone new in, there was always the fear he might be an informer, so they would have to check on that. So they immediately sent out (members) from another group or another squad or platoon. Because toward the end even our second company had five platoons, but not at that time, so they sent someone from another platoon to check up on him. That took two three months until they found out that he’s reliable. They watched him so closely that they knew exactly what he was doing. In that way it was possible to keep up the aspect of certainty that he is reliable.”
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Full recordings
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Praha, 13.02.2011
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Democracy is a lovely thing, but you have to know how to live in it.
Vladimír Hyhlík was born on the 12th of August 1925 in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. His parents were Czechs. His father worked at the financial directorate in Slovakia, his mother cared for the family home. Vladimír grew up together with his elder brother Josef, who later became one of the top representatives of the Intelligence Brigade. They both started studying grammar school in Slovakia, but they graduated in Prague, where they moved to after the declaration of an independent Slovak state toward the end of March 1939. Vladimír started with grammar school, but in 1941 he switched to a graphic arts school, to study photography. However, the Nazis closed the school down in 1943 and Vladimír was drafted into forced labour at a factory in Smíchov (Prague). At that time, he joined in the resistance activities of the Intelligence Brigade, which he got in touch with through his elder brother. From the end of 1944, he was in command of a whole troop, which he led in intelligence assignments and in training. He helped safeguard the meeting of the Czech National Council and the broadcast from radio tower Anna in the spring of 1945. He took part in combat in Radlice, Smíchov and Petřín Hill during the Prague Revolt. After liberation, he was dispatched to the border region together with the other members of the IB, specifically to Nejdek. After his return he continued his studies at the graphic arts school, finding employment at a photometric institute, later in cultural heritage care. Vladimír Hyhlík died on August 27, 2011.