Prague from the Inside

Often tourists spend their time in new places as outsiders merely looking into a city or location. During my time in Prague, I had the privilege of seeing Prague “from the inside.” Whitney and I stayed with the Klepkovi family – a real, bona fide Czech family of two parents, six kids and three grandchildren. The Klepkovi house was loud, crazy, and the perfect place for two young women who were missing their own families to be.

November 14th-17th was the PERFECT weekend to be in Prague. The last day I was there was Tuesday, November 17th – which was the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism. We were also staying with the perfect family to help us celebrate this major holiday. The Klepkovi s were religious dissidents during the communist occupation. They held secret prayer and anti-communism meetings in their home. Vaclav Havel, who helped lead the revolution and later became the first president of Czechloslovakia, had often sat in their living room. The Klepkovis were able to tell us what life under communism was really like. Tomas, the Klepkovi patriarch, said that for the first twenty years of communism, people literally feared for their lives. Then, under the second twenty years, the communists switched tactics. They began to employ a form of psychological warfare in which people feared not for their phsycial person – but for their livelihoods and rights to happiness and a future. Most families lived in fear that one of their loved ones would be black listed or sent to a forced labor camp in the USSR. Tomas said he wasn’t sure which of the communist strong arm tactics was worse.

The Fall of Communsim in Prague occurred through the domino effect. First, Poland was liberated from communist occupation. Then, the Berlin Wall fell. Finally, on November 17th, 1989 revolution came to Prague, Bratislava and Vienna.

On Tuesday, November 17th, 2009, Whitney and I went to mass with the Klepkovis at the Prague Palace Cathedral. As you might expect, worship was standing room only. The current Bishop of Prague, who, 40 years ago had been a priest who was thrown into prison for practicing his religious beliefs during the 40 year communism reign, gave the homily. Together, we joined our Czech brothers and sisters in giving thanks for freedom. We prayed for nations in this world who suffer at the hands of dictators. Bread was broken, wine was poured, and we remembered the grace and freedom that God free offers all of us.
Sharing this worship of thanksgiving with the Czechs was by far the best and most meaningful part of my trip to Prague.

Here are some pictures of the Cathedral.












After mass, we went home and feasted. Whitney and I were treated to a traditional Czech meal. We joined the Klepkovis in toasting truth and freedom. Then, we listened and Tomas and his wife, Jana, shared with us what their lives were like under the communist regime.

I could not stay for all the festivities in Prague. (I had to teach the next day at school, so I left Tuesday afternoon.) Whitney was able to stay for the marches, the concerts and the fireworks! I was, however, able to walk through the square in front of the palace and read the “We Didn’t Give Up” displays that were set up. I think it is appropriate to close this blog with five quotes from the “We Didn’t Give Up” reflections of men and women who participated in the Velvet Revolution in Prague.

“If you ask me about November 1989, I say nothing. I remember that a lot of people were passing my shop on November 17, 1989, and that SNB servicemen and some soldiers stood in front of the sales counter. But whether it was a revolution or not, that I don’t know… What changed is that I can talk to you about the gulag that I experienced. Back then they banned me from doing so; they said it didn’t belong on my CV and that I should keep quiet about such things. So I did.”

“Names like Auschwitz or Treblinka are for every European a synonym for the millions of innocent victims of the Nazi regime. But how many of them – with the exception of the few survivors – know names such as Vorkutlag, Norillag, Uchticemlag, and the hundreds of other Soviet camps in the repressive Soviet GULAG system? Nonetheless, hundreds of thousands of Europeans, including Czechs, went through these camps, in which millions of people died between 1934 and 1960.”

“I was not surprised by November 1989. It was to be expected after the movements in Hungary and Poland. But I am quite disappointed by the way people regard freedom and democracy today. They think that in a democracy, everyone is allowed to do whatever they want. I see that among young people there is a diminishing interest in public affairs, and I feel sorry about that. And it’s not only me, but people around me as well. We believed it would be different.”

“After November 17th, 1989, me and my wife went to Wenceslas Square to join the demonstrations. It was very beautiful, touching and hopeful to see the communism regime break down. We only regretted that it was too late… I was sixty eight.”

“I thank God for November 17, 1989.”