Miloš Šuchma

* 1940

  • "I remember it very well. In 1951 I was eleven years old and 3 September 1951 was the first day of school. We arrived a day before from a cottage. At 4 a.m. some six secret policemen stormed our apartment. The caretaker let them in. They began banging the door so we had to open up sooner or later. My father was immediately arrested. My mother was also detained for a short while, and was interrogated. Then they released her. I had to stay in the apartment along with two policemen who slept over. One of them body searched me to make sure I wasn't hiding anything. Even when I went down to the store to get some milk, he followed me, carrying a gun."

  • "I had the idea of asking Karel Gott to make a charity concert for the Club of Committed Non-Party Members. I had an acquaintance who worked with him as a producer so we made the arrangements. The concert took place in the hall of the municipal library and it was sold out. The entry was something like ten crowns which got us about ten thousand - at that time, decent money. I then went to congratulate Gott afterwards, brought him flowers and wished him to win the Slavík contest which he did. I met him once again at the airport where he told me: 'Let me tell you, I don't like the communists. I used to work in ČKD and they kept harrassing me.' It was because he learned to sing and had activities out of work. So, at that time, he was pretty much on our side."

  • "I remember it very well. Suddenly, a sidecar drove into the yard with two male and one female Russian soldier. They were already pretty drunk. They stormed into our kitchen and asked for vodka. My aunt and uncle were a bit frightened but they brought them some plum brandy and food. One of the soldiers handed me a gun and told me to have a shot from it. In that very kitchen. The gun was bigger than my hand, I had never seen anything like that. I handed it back to him and he then riddled my aunt's ceiling. That was pretty terrifying. And because they were drunk, they said they wanted to stay overnight. So they put them in a shed which was located at the garden. Both men and the girl. I can imagine that had they not had the girl, they would have raped my aunt. It is well known that the Russians raped over a thousand women in Czechoslovakia, upon their advancement."

  • Full recordings
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    Praha, 25.05.2016

    (audio)
    duration: 02:06:08
    media recorded in project Stories of the 20th Century TV
  • 2

    Praha, 26.05.2016

    (audio)
    duration: 02:10:05
    media recorded in project Stories of the 20th Century TV
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I emigrated to avoid my father’s fate

Miloš's portrait from late 1950s
Miloš's portrait from late 1950s
photo: archiv pamětníka

Miloš Šuchma was born on 6 February 1940 in Prague. His father Miroslav Šuchma was trading gold. In September 1951 the secret police stormed their apartment in Vinohrady, Prague. Both his parents were taken away, Miloš was left home alone for two days under the watch of two policemen. All the family property was confiscated. His mother was released after two days but his father was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. He was tried in a staged trial against a group of jewellers with the communists trying to make an impreesion that they did business illegaly and robbed the state. The Šuchma family was then faced with communist persecution. Miloš was not admitted to a university and had to work in a blue-collar job. Luckily, at the beginning of 60s an IT center was buing established there which he was able to become part of and later even manage. He also made use of his IT know-how while doing military service. He became member of the Club of Committed Non-Party Members committee. In August 1968 he and his wife were travelling around Europe. Upon finding out about the Soviet military occupation, they opted for emigration. They moved to Canada where he found a prestigious job with the state airline. He also became active in the Czechoslovak Association in Canada. He helped the exiles, was in touch with Czechoslovak dissidents, and became a co-founder of the Západ (West) magazine. In 1987 he became the chairman of the Czechoslovak Association where he remains active to this day. He lives in Canada and in the Czech Republic.