Eva Sedlářová

"We went to St. Stephen's Church in Munich every Sunday. I have very fond memories of it and I still get that feeling when I walk into a church. Because once you enter a faith, you can't escape it. It's something extra that you have as something that comforts you. Something that gives him a purpose for his own actions and living. I've always stood in the pew at Karel's right hand and I see it as I do today. Before he entered the temple, he was terribly cheerful. And he would make up jokes. And he was always making rhymes. And he was always laughing or teasing people. But when he walked into the church and the mass started, he would bow his head slightly and he was humble. I remember how beautiful it was. How the man suddenly quieted down and was humble himself. But he could evoke this quality even when he was out of church. Outside of mass. When he was with someone he was arguing with. Or wanted to be right. He could humbly admit he was wrong. That's where Karel was unique, and he was above all helpful."

"I remember when there was an earthquake in Munich and the apartment was on the fifth floor. And Rozina [Jadrná] was incredibly funny. Everything started shaking and we froze... and there was big Karel [Jadrný], little Karel [Kryl], Rozina and I... And Rozina shouted, 'Everybody in the middle of the room!' Which is absolute bullshit. On the contrary... Then it passed, nothing happened and we were laughing because we imagined it would fall and we were in the middle of the room. Rozina was just spontaneous. She knew my parents, and she called my father at three o'clock at night and asked if the cow could get drunk. My father went to bed at eight o'clock and Rozina called him at three o'clock... And Karel Kryl, when he wanted to make her a little bit angry, called her the croaking siren of imperialism. She was hated by the communists. So when Karel wanted to make her angry, he called her the croaking siren of imperialism."