Rolando Saumell

* 1963

Cuba, Emigrant, Illegal border crossing, Svědci lokálních událostí z éry komunismu
17. 11. - 29. 12. 1989 - The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
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    Memories of Dana Nemcova

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    duration: 01:24
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    "She was so sweet, she gave us food and she smoked a lot. [laughs] We sat in the kitchen, she gave us dinner, we talked too. We talked, she wanted to talk to [wife] Sara, but Sara didn't speak Czech. Czech is a language that, when you know it, is simple, when you don't know it, it's terrible. Because I learned, ‘)", one whole evening I learned just how to say "ř" properly. [laughs] But Miriam [Prokopova] helped me, even in that factory. So that was life, beautiful life. "

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    Poverty in Cuba in 2020

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    duration: 00:33
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    "It's terrible there now. They don't have toothpaste, they don't have a toothbrush, they don't have food, they don't have medicine. They have no aspirin, they have nothing. You can't imagine that. They don't have shampoo. They have nothing. "

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    Upon arrival in Czechoslovakia, our passports were confiscated

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    "We did not have a passport, citizenship, nothing. When the Cubans came to work, they took our passports at the airport [in Czechoslovakia]. They made such a small Czech citizenship card, without a photo. Just a name, a number. Maybe I still have it somewhere, I don't know. [laughs] It was stated which group in Svit I would belong to. They gave us such a small paper, a card that didn't have a picture. So if the cop stopped you, you would show him this. "

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    Miami, 28.09.2020

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    duration: 02:03:42
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They lost houses, lost lives and were forced to start again

Rolando Saumell (1980s)
Rolando Saumell (1980s)
photo: Archiv pamětníka
photo: Archiv pamětníka
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Rolando Saumell was born on June 22, 1963 in Havana. The father worked as a doctor, the mother took care of the household. Rolando spent the first seventeen years of his life in Cuba, after which he decided to go to work in the then friendly Czechoslovakia. Initially, he worked in a working-class position at the Svit factory in Zlín, the nationalized Baťa plant. After learning the Czech language, he started working as an interpreter for the Cuban embassy. He lived in Czechoslovakia with his Cuban wife Sara, and in 1988 their son Lumír was born. After the Velvet Revolution, Cuba tended - under Fidel Castro - to withdraw Cuban workers from Czechoslovakia back to their original homeland. Rolando and his family wanted to avoid this, so they emigrated illegally to Austria and after a few more months to the USA. In 2020, Rolando Saumell lived in Florida.

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Photos (5)
  • Rolando Saumell (1980s)
    Rolando Saumell (1980s)
    photo: Archiv pamětníka
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  • Rolando Saumell at home with Dana Němcová
    Rolando Saumell at home with Dana Němcová
    photo: Archiv pamětníka
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  • Rolando Saumell with son Lumír at Dana Němcová
    Rolando Saumell with son Lumír at Dana Němcová
    photo: Archiv pamětníka
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  • Rolando Saumell with son Lumír at Dana Němcová
    Rolando Saumell with son Lumír at Dana Němcová
    photo: Archiv pamětníka
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  • Rolando Saumell in 2020, current photograph
    Rolando Saumell in 2020, current photograph
    photo: Post Bellum
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