Excerpt from Greenwich Meridian Memoir
By Emma Palova
Note: This is an excerpt from the chapter about the Velvet Revolution 1989 in my memoir.
Emma’s book signing in Grand Ledge on Dec. 14
I will be signing my books during the Deck the Halls event in Grand Ledge on Dec. 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at First United Methodist Church located at 411 Harrison St. Stop by to pick up your copy signed by Emma and inscribed to you.
I could feel history unfold under my fingers as I wrote in my blue diary every day of the critical 10 days that shook up the country. I firmly believe that the reporter in me was born at that time–during the revolution that I witnessed and millions of others.
I participated in the manifestations in my hometown Gottwaldov, now Zlin. My friend Zuzana watched our son Jake who was still in a stroller. It was cold and breezy on the Main Square filled with thousands of people. A tribune was set up and speakers took turns to fire up the crowds. We finally realized that we were living a lie all these years–a shameless lie.
On Sunday, Nov. 26, a feeling of unity and love for the country spread around in circles as people flew the Czech flag from their windows. Previous, forced patriotism during official holidays, when we had to hang both the Czech and the Soviet flags, never worked. On that Sunday, the communists declared that the people were wiser than the party.
“We need to seek the solution peacefully without the use of force.”
Approximately 500,000 people showed their support for the Citizens’ Forum on Letna. Havel spoke from the tribune at the Prague Sparta Stadium stating that the dialogue between the government and the public had begun.
“The Citizens’ Forum wants to be a bridge from the totalitarian regime to democracy and plurality, which will ensure free elections. We want the truth, humanity and freedom. From now on, we will all participate in governing this country, and thus we are all responsible for its destiny.”
Dubcek reminded the public that the party tried to reform under the socialism with human face ideology 21 years ago in the Prague Spring reformist movement.
“The armies of five states suppressed this movement,” he said. “For 20 years we have lived in humiliating conditions.”
The prosecutor general issued a statement that the police actions on Nov. 17 were brutal and inappropriate. Thousands held a minute of silence for all the victims of the totalitarian regime of the previous years. A human chain from Letna to the Prague Castle was formed.
In Bratislava, the committee against force, stressed again the necessity of cancelling the leadership role of the Communist Party as set out in the constitution and to create a platform for free elections.
At this pivotal point, the night between Nov. 26 and Nov. 27, the media from all over the world flocked to the press conference of the Central Committee of the Communist Party at the Intercontinental Hotel in Prague. Major changes took place in the new government that no longer kept the communist officials of the past.
On the day of the General Strike, Monday, Nov. 27, the wave of citizen activity crested after a week of protests and manifestations. Across the country, people stood at major squares, sporting tricolor ribbons, waving flags and ringing their keys to symbolize the end of the Stalinist model of socialism.
I took the train to Prague to join thousands on Wenceslas Square. I still thought I was dreaming and that I was going to wake up after a long dark night. I had to pinch myself to feel the pain to make sure this was happening. But I could hear it happening around me, in me, everywhere. My heart was beating fast, as I had to fight the crowds and overcome the old claustrophobia. That day I saw Havel in person.
The General Strike from noon until 2 p.m. was a political referendum that did not hurt the economy. Approximately half of the population joined in the manifestations around the country. Only minimum percentage were not allowed to participate in the strike; others made up for the lost time at work. The referendum joined all members of the society representing its demographics: students, factory workers, farmers, artists, athletes and scientists determined to change the course of history for this small country in Central Europe.
The people had spoken and the demands of the Citizens’ Forum were being met. The state department of culture released all films and books from the special “safe” for prohibited material.
The rest of the political prisoners would be released, as one of the major demands of the Citizens’ Forum. The university students were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their courage and bravery during the 10 days from the onset of the Velvet Revolution on Friday Nov. 17, 1989.
The article about the leadership role of the Communist Party would be dissolved from the constitution. New laws allowing for freedom of speech, gathering, and press were in the works.
A new Democratic Forum of the Communists was formed denouncing the 1968 invasion of armies of five states from the Warsaw Treaty. The reporters, who were against the invasion, were reinstated in the Association of Reporters.
In Brno, the Committee of Religious Activists, showed support for the demands of the Citizens’ Forum.
Vaclav Havel received the German Book Prize at the National Theater.
On Tuesday, Nov. 28, Havel and prime minister Ladislav Adamec stated in a meeting that a new Federal Government will be formed by Dec. 3, 1989.
The demands of the Citizens’ Forum never called for a total collapse of socialism.
“We want to show that we are still here to continue to build socialism,” Karel Urbanek of the Central Committee of the Communist Party said.
However, the State Health Department (Sanopz) was closed.
On Wednesday, Nov. 29, the Czech Parliament finally dissolved the article about the leading role of the Communist Party and the Marxism-Leninism monopoly on education.
It was a major victory since this article firmly anchored the dictatorship of the Communist Party and its ideology in the society. Under the old socialist regime, I had to take final exams from Marxism-Leninism in order to graduate from the Technical University in Brno in 1986. We had mandatory classes in Marxism-Leninism all four years of our engineering studies.
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