Boris Šlechta

* 1937

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  • "Then I started going on these trips where we presented 'our truth' to people in towns. I was in a huge hall I don't remember where. It was a cinema and it was just packed, people were sitting on the stairs. They sent me there and said it was dangerous because there were terrible contradictions, but they said I would talk them down. It was packed, you could feel the tension, and suddenly these people started arguing: 'You communist whore, you took my business!' And another one: 'What, and you stole!' It was just the noise of two camps shouting and screaming at each other, and I thought, 'Great, the police will rus in any moment. Christ, I'm responsible for keeping the peace.' So I whistled loudly like a highwayman. It was dead quiet in an instant. I said, 'We learned that well, all right. Let's roll up our sleeves.' The whole auditorium started giggling and the tension was gone."

  • "For me, it actually started by knowing that Soviet troops were concentrated on the border. We were in Germany at the time, and all the newspapers there were saying an invasion was imminent. I saw maps showing the first, second, and third fronts. Unfortunately, I didn't take the newspapers, but when I came back later I said it would happen. When we crossed the border, I had some things for my children and the customs officer came and said, show it to me, do. I asked him, 'Are the Russians already here or why are you harassing me like this?' He said, 'Oh please, Comrade Dubček won't allow it.' I said, 'Yeah, but Comrade Brezhnev will.' Colleague Máťa Kopecký excused me, saying I was just a strange person. I was right. Everybody said they wouldn't come, and I said they would, it was clear. We have to get ready to keep our mouths shut again. When they came, my wife came home from work - her coworker's dad worked at the airport - and she said it was terrible. She was almost crying, and they were already here. Rigth after that, you could hear the planes flying low - flying really, really low and making that bang. Windows shook; actually one of my windows broke and they didn't compensate it because Czech planes weren't in the air and 'there were no Soviet planes'. It made me sick. I spent the initial hours on the toilet, gushing from both ends, vomiting and all. I was sick. My wife washed me. It was terrible; I was mainly worried about the children. I was scared somebody would push the button and it would go off."

  • "People found a little car with a guy like K. H. Frank in it. He was a Sonderdienst officer with his wife. They dragged him out and started beating him like crazy, even with iron bars. I was watching this as I was walking past a pharmacy, which was just at the bend in the main road that goes to the square, and blood was gushing out of them. Someone had thrown a blanket over their backs, and the blanket was completely soaked with blood. I immediately started to turn pale and almost fainted. My brother was this normal, tough kid. He said, 'Dude, what are you doing?' I asked what happened next. He told me, 'They were suffering, so a policeman on horseback shot them with a submachine gun by the cemetery wall and they found peace.' I don't know if it's true, but that's what my brother said. I witnessed it and it was absolutely horrible for me."

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    Hradec Králové, 29.09.2023

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    duration: 02:39:17
    media recorded in project Příběhy regionu - HRK REG ED
  • 2

    Hradec Králové, 11.10.2023

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    duration: 02:30:48
    media recorded in project Příběhy regionu - HRK REG ED
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I have cultivated what is called freedom

Boris Šlechta, Prague, 1970s
Boris Šlechta, Prague, 1970s
photo: Witness's archive

Boris Šlechta was born in Pardubice on 25 April 1937. He spent his childhood mostly in Chrudim, growing up with elder half-brother Theodor. His father Theodor Šlechta was a WWI veteran and his mother Věra Šlechtová, née Helceletová was a housewife and actively involved in social life. Boris completed the Higher School of Art Industry in Prague, known as the School of Fine Arts at the time, in 1956. He then worked briefly as designer at KOH-I-NOOR and also as a technician (set designer) at the Mladá Boleslav theatre where he also got his first small roles in professional theatre. From 1961 to 1991, he was a puppeteer and designer at the DRAK puppet theatre in Hradec Králové. He was subsequently on staff at the Klicpera Theatre in Hradec Králové from 1992 to 1997. From 1999 to 2001 he worked at the East Bohemian Theatre in Pardubice. He worked with Czech Radio for more than 20 years, performing in radio productions and hosting his own shows. In 2014, he edited his father’s memories of the World War I for a book publication under the title Alone in the World on Fire. Boris Šlechta was also a freelance artist, painting, drawing, illustrating books and writing poetry. He appeared in minor roles in several film and television productions and also dabbled in dubbing. He lived in Hradec Králové in 2023.