![]() ![]() I was very aware of what the world was like. So when it did happen in '89 it was such a shock to most people. You just grew up with it, and you knew there was no possibility of change. You became aware of the fact that there's only one party, and there's only one person to vote for. You were born into it, so it was just a way of life. As you grew up, when did you become aware of this idea that you were behind this Iron Curtain? I imagine democracy and systems of government are not something most 12-year-olds are readily understanding. It wasn't a massive change of how everyday life was, but it was a massive change in fundamental freedom and hope for the future. Everyday life didn't change that much, but fundamentally what changed was the hope of people to become a democracy, to have freedom of speech, to be able to travel abroad without being put in prison. What changed was the hope for the future. Was there something, on a day-to-day basis, that shifted under Russian rule? Was there something you became aware of that changed, something fundamental you could point to? After that, we were really careful about what we said, what we did. So our country, overnight, whatever hopes we had to become a democracy were squashed. Then my dad took me home on a motorcycle, and by then the roads were destroyed by tanks. Russian tanks are outside." So of course we went outside, yelled and screamed and threw rocks. My dad took me there on a motorcycle, and in the morning he called the house and said, "Don't go outside. Actually, I was 11 at the time, not quite yet 12, playing a tournament in Pilsen, a junior tournament. I didn't know any different.Īnd then at 12 years old, I was playing a tournament in the Czech Republic. And maybe that's why I always appreciated what we had, even though it wasn't much thanks to the communist system. And so it was still pretty vivid in everybody's memory. I grew up 11 years after the end of World War II. My grandmother would tell me stories from the war. My parents would tell me stories from the war. The only thing I would change is the system under which I lived. I was lucky enough because I had a really fantastic childhood that I wouldn't change anything about. Can you try to paint a picture a little bit for people, what it was like to live and grow up behind the Iron Curtain? I think for most of us, we would say our childhood is impressionable, but you've had a really interesting experience in terms of where you grew up.
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