Going home or to Siberia?

Through his uncle Václav Čermák, František Teplý became involved in the activities of an illegal resistance organization formed by the Christian-democratic party. In 1954, he was arrested and sentenced to 14 years in the labor camp Vojna for his involvement in the organization. In May 1960, he was released from the camp in the wake of an amnesty and taken to the Příbram train station. From there, the released prisoners were meant to be taken home. František Teplý was released at two o’clock in the morning, but he wouldn’t board the train to Prague because he simply didn’t believe in the regime. “I thought that they’d take us to a concentration camp as the Germans did. They could have also taken us to Siberia. So I got inside the train and jumped out right away through the door on the other side. I hid in the bushes and spent the night there.” The next morning, František crossed the tracks and mingled with the crowd in the town. It was hard for him to believe he was really free. From Příbram, he went to the nearby Svatá Hora. “I went to thank Virgin Mary for having survived. I took part in the first Holy Mass and went back into the town. I saw a bunch of kids going to school, and remember being amazed at the sight. I hadn’t seen people that small in six years.”