Ing. Maxmilián Sperling

* 1924

  • „At the end of was, the one shooting was at a window, at the Wenceslas square and at the same one people beat him to death… You say a revolution, a German was bad, not every time people were taking revenge on others, who had nothing in common. What was sad, was the fact, that some gangsters managed to ran away...“

  • „Before there were tape recorders and, let´s say, there was a meeting and training… How did you know there was a secret police present? Quite simple – magnetic tapes were small and only lasted about an hour and a half. And always after an hour someone stood up and went to the toilet… So you could say, oh well, that is likely to be the secret police...“

  • „As someone steps on you, many people start nodding… Many people began nodding to keep their jobs. The same were the first of May marches. Even those, who didn´t give a damn normally, had to line up and march. I had many friends, who said they didn´t see any reason to go. And my girl-friend said: ,And I will go...‘ He didn´t get to uni and she did, and even became a director...“

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    ZŠ Strossmayerovo náměstí, Praha 7, 29.04.2015

    (audio)
    duration: 01:51:46
    media recorded in project The Stories of Our Neigbours
Full recordings are available only for logged users.

Wisdom is not taught at school, you need to achieve it by tradition or experience

Mr Sperling´s actual photo
Mr Sperling´s actual photo

Maxmilián Sperling was born in 1924 in Prague. His father was an army lieutenant and mum stayed at home. In his childhood he devoted himself to scouting. In 1942 he finished studying a secondary engineering school in Prague and began working as a fire-fighter and a technical officer. After the end of was he studied the Military academy in Hranice na Moravě and then as a soldier. In 1950s he had to leave and taught driver’s license applicants as a driving school tutor. In 1990 already in retirement age he entered into work employment with an Austrian company, where he stayed until 2005. Currently he lives in Prague 7.