Ing. Luděk Šácha

* 1931

  • “There’s one more interesting story I can tell you. Our warders in the Pankrác prison took us twice on an excursion to the so-called ‘sekyrárna’ or ‘axe room’. Our cell was next to this axe room as they set up a special juvenile compartment for us in the death cells bordering with the axe room. We were on a shared cell, the other cells were smaller accommodating up to four people. I saw the inscription ‘executed’ with the date scribbled to it. It was written on the doorjamb. Another writing I found there said: ‘I had to die because I was in love with a Communist’. I read this inscription over and over again.”

  • “It started like this: once when we were coming back from a commando, I saw an interesting girl from the truck. Later, I saw her again at one of our public performances with our band. She was there and I was eying at her. I asked her up for a dance and that’s how we met. Back then, I could barely dance – we only learned to dance later with my wife when we attended adult dancing courses led by a friend of mine who was a researcher. After we met at that concert, I would send her letters. I don’t even know who was delivering them, probably the boys from the stall or some of the warders. Once, it was my names day, I got a package from her with a cake. Her name was Zdena Jiskrová.”

  • “I was sentenced to fourteen months, so Beránek was almost right. When I spent almost twenty months in Zámrsk, the appellate review court changed the verdict to 18 months. Well, I served two months longer than I had to but nobody cared about things like that back then. The trial was on 22 – 23 June, 1949, in the Pankrác court building. I’ve got the indictment here. Ivan Mikuláštík was there, Zdeněk Duchoslav, Jaroslav Hnyk, Petr Glomb, Pavel Glomb, Jirka Velíšek, Láďa Zvelebil and Šrachta. They let them and Šrachta go home. So I was originally sentenced to fourteen months but the appellate court changed it to eighteen months. It didn’t affect me that much as I was pretty resistant to these things. I felt sorry for Pavel, however, as he was sentenced to four years and it struck him pretty hard.”

  • “I did my military service in the auxiliary technical battalions. We were soon transferred to Slovakia and I have a funny story that goes with it. Our journey started at the Masaryk train station in Prague. There were about 1200 of us and nobody had any idea where we were going. We drove all night and ended up in Komárno. We walked in through three huge entrance gates and were welcomed by battalion leader, Captain Hajno, who gave us the first pieces of information. Then a certain lieutenant-colonel – that was a high-ranking officer in our eyes – gave a speech telling us that if we did our job well, we could ‘return to normal society’. Then Captain Hajno finished it off by saying: ‘as it’s very hot here, your hair will be shaved completely’. This sent a murmur through the crowd. There was a guy with a machine gun on guard who shouted at us: ‘Comrades, comrades, don’t protest, comrade captain was in the USSR and has plenty of experience.”

  • “In 1947 I was an adventurous young boy and I ran away to Germany where I was caught by the French occupation authorities and sent to a Jugenheim for two months. The Jugendheim was actually a home for youngsters. The director of the Jugendheim told me to stay in Germany, that I would have it better there. He said: ‘Stalin is going to be in Czechoslovakia within two years’. I wouldn’t believe him. I came back home in October 1947 and soon afterwards, in February 1948, the Communists staged their coup.”

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    Veltěž-Zdiby, 19.03.2009

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    duration: 02:02:18
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
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“Wherever we came, we became the center of attention.”

Luděk Šácha
Luděk Šácha
photo: Archiv pamětníka

Luděk Šácha was born on 28 June 1931 in Prague. His father, Josef Šácha, worked as a sales agent for a drilling company, his mother Anna was in the household. Mr. Šácha’s brother Karel emigrated to Switzerland in 1969. Mr. Šácha went on to study at a French grammar school and thereafter at a language school. In 1947 then 16-year-old Mr. Šácha decided to flee to Germany. He packed his belongings and crossed the border near to Železná ruda. He then continued his journey by train through Germany in the direction of the Franco-German border. After three days, however, he was intercepted by the French occupation authorities in Germany and arrested. After a trial he was sent to a youth home (Jugendheim) in the city of Zell am Wiesenthal, where he spent two months. He was eventually returned to Czechoslovakia. After his return home, he attended a business college in Prague. After the Communists took over the power in Czechoslovakia in February 1948, together with some of his classmates he began plotting illegal activities against the new regime. The whole group of students was arrested on 10 March, 1949, during class. They were held in custody and their trial was held on 22 - 23 June 1949 in Prague. Because of his adolescent age, Mr. Šácha was tried as a juvenile offender and originally sentenced to 14 months in prison for treason. In the appellate procedure, he was finally sentenced to 18 months unconditionally. He served his term in the Institute for juvenile offenders in Zámrsk. He worked in a carpenter workshop. Although the regime in Zámrsk was strict, the warders behaved decently. After his release from the Institute in 1950, he started to work for the AVIA Čakovice works. In 1952 he was drafted to the army and served in a PTP (auxiliary technical battalions - note by the translator). He first worked in Komárno, then in Dubnice, Chotusice, Pardubice and Chrudim. He got married in 1955 with his girlfriend Zdenička which he met thanks to his engagement in the prison music band. He later worked as a car mechanic in Pardubice and after his family moved he started to work for the TESLA Nuclear Research Institute as an electronic appliances operator. He graduated from the Technical University and earned a degree in engineering. After 1989 he held the position of the mayor of Zdiby-Veltěž for three consecutive terms.