They had their methods

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In October 1953, Bohumil Robeš was imprisoned for his membership in the resistance organization SODAN and taken to the secret state police prison on Příčná Street in Brno. The prison cell was located in the basement, and Bohumil Robeš remembers how he could get a glimpse of at least a part of the outside world through the fencing on his window. “Coincidentally, I had been employed in Radost (Joy), which was a children's puppet theater. Through the windows, even though they were covered with wiring, I could see the kids walking home from school or to the theater. This was a sort of a relief for me, and it helped me very much to keep up my spirit. After some time, you harden up in your own way.” Bohumil Robeš was subjected a number of interrogations in prison. “I was in love with a student girl, but we hadn't even kissed. Once the STB interrogator started talking about my mother in a very rude way. He could see from my expression that this was very sensitive for me. Therefore he started to speak badly about that girl as well. He said that if I could only see what a bitch she was. I was emotionally very much attached to that girl, and this was very hard for me to take. I hardened up. I've never forgiven those men for talking badly about my mom and my girlfriend.” The humiliation wasn’t enough, and the interrogators still didn’t manage to get Bohumil Robeš to speak. Therefore they explored other methods to make him speak. “One of them would punch me with his fist in the forehead. But besides that, they didn’t use physical force on me. I was interrogated when I was asleep. I think they must have used some drugs on me. I know for sure that they asked me questions while I was asleep on my prison cell.” As Bohumil Robeš wouldn’t yield to the Communists, he had to spend thirteen and a half years in their prisons.”

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Bohumil Robeš

Bohumil Robeš was born in 1930 in Holubice. Since his youth, he's been immensely interested in literature and theater and already early on, he became a member of a number of amateur ensembles of various community theaters. Due to a poor cadre profile assessment, he wasn't admitted to the Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) in Prague. Shortly afterwards, he was arrested for his connections to the resistance group SODAN (The Boy-Scout Organization for Democracy and Independence) and sentenced to five years in prison. He went through various prison camps located at uranium mines in Jáchymov or "Vojna" in Příbram, where he took part in the so-called "noodle rebellion". As a political prisoner in Leopoldov, he refused to work, although it was mandatory for all prisoners. For his refusal, he was punished by frequent and protracted stays in the so-called "correction". Even while in prison, he continued to openly speak out against oppression, humiliation, and injustice. As a result, his prison term was extended twice in Leopoldov. As Mr. Robeš was not to be broken by the reprisals, he was sent to a psychiatric clinic. He was finally released from prison in 1967, after having spent thirteen and a half years in prison. During the short period of the late 1960s and the early 1970s, when he worked as a warehouseman, he was able to devote himself to journalism and published numerous articles in magazines, interviews for the Brno Broadcast, and he even became the member of a theater advisory board. However, the advent of the so-called "Normalization" brought an end to his engagement in the cultural sphere. After 1989, he became a member of the municipal council of Holubice, wrote three books and took an active part in public life, not only in his native village.

Brno, věznice KV StB

Available in: English | Česky

Od roku 1948 do dubna 1951 v budově sídlilo krajské velitelství StB. Od roku 1948 se v ní nacházela také věznice StB, která měla kapacitu devětadvacet vězňů na pětadvacet cel. V listopadu 1952 byla zrušena a do června 1954 nahrazena vyšetřovací vazbou. Cely byly ve sklepních místnostech a během existence věznice jimi prošly desítky politických vězňů. Dnes se v budově nachází policejní oddělení služby pro zbraně a policejní materiál. Na památku je na budově umístěna deska s nápisem: Politickým vězňům v letech 1948–1989.