Alena Ševčíková

* 1938

  • "Well, then, as I said, I came to Prague, it was actually in the year 1962, so it all looked nice, yes, such nice music was played, then Semafor theatre started here, and I don't know, well. so we lived not very richly, because we were still in debt, because we had to borrow money for the apartment to put together the deposit at all, but overall it was quite nice. But then it turned around. I can tell you that then another experience, I get goosebumps still, when I remember it, it was in August 1968, because a colleague called me at about half past four in the morning, if we know they're going to occupy us. Well, we didn't know anything, and now we lived in Petřiny at that time, so we went up to the window, yes, and now we've seen the Antons, those horrible planes, by which that transported the tanks here. Well, now it was just horrible to see it over Petříny, because Ruzyně is not too far from there, so it all flew, so we both cried two, because it was such helplessness and such an injustice, yeah. One really felt it was wrong. And then it started, the tanks were also on the Petřiny, mainly there, yes, around the institute, but then the tram tracks were just freshly repaired there, so they went along the tracks, so the tracks suffered quite a damage as well. Well, that's... quite like... that's when we were quite scared."

  • "And right in the year 45, somehow in June, because the living conditions there weren't twice as good there [an apartment in Prague's Kobylisy], so my father took advantage of the fact that they were agitating at that time to occupy or settle the border, so he he signed up and was transferred to Rumburk, which is, I do not know if you know, all the way up in the north in Šluknov; at that time it was the district town of Rumburk. And there, because a lot of Germans lived there, and Beneš's decrees started to apply, so they were ready to be deported, but at the time when we came there, they were still there, but they no longer lived in their houses or apartments, but they were gathered in a kind of camps. They had to wear white ribbons to differentiate themselves, so there were a lot of flats left, a lot of houses that were available to the people who came. So either they returned there because they had lived there before, or they came there with the idea that they simply thought that somehow they would have a better opportunity to find a job and improve their social conditions, including better housing. . Well, it just wasn't easy, because there was someone who just signed up and stayed there and wanted to live there, then I think it was called the National Renewal Fund, and a contract was written with those people. And according to the property they acquired there, they had to repay it for twenty years."

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    Praha, 02.12.2019

    (audio)
    duration: 50:13
    media recorded in project The Stories of Our Neigbours
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It is important to feel good about yourself

Alena Ševčíková (en)
Alena Ševčíková (en)
photo: žákovský tým PNS

Alena Ševčíková was born on February 11, 1938 in Kladno. His father worked as a police officer, and due to his job, the family often moved. They lived in Kladno, Kadan and since 1942 in Prague. Their apartment was located near the shooting range in Kobylisy, which also served as an execution site during the war, and frequent shootings were etched in Alena’s memory. In June 1945, the family moved to Rumburk. Alena graduated from the Business Academy. After graduating, she joined the District National Committee in Rumburk as an accountant. Alena returned to Prague with her husband in 1962 and has lived here until today. She has worked all her life for the state administration as an accountant, for the last twenty years for the City of Prague. She enjoyed her work, she was an enthusiastic promoter of the introduction of new technologies in accounting data processing. She experienced a complete feeling of helplessness, hardship and fear during the occupation of our country by the Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968. Since 1969 she has lived in England, accompanying her husband on a scientific internship in Lancaster. They did not consider emigrating for family reasons. She welcomed the changes brought about by 1989, but did not take part in the November demonstrations.