Selected text
In 1968 I had a huge amount of work. I couldn't even leave work, I was so busy. The director of Hydrostav, whom I worked for at the time, was on vacation in Yugoslavia. He was constantly phoning and giving orders: "Don't even go home, if need be, stay there, because everything has to hustle along!" We finally met our objectives, and everything was going well; we didn't have any problems. We were working like mad. Back then I was working in Komarno on the construction of a dam and levee. We commuted there every week, and stayed in a dormitory. In the morning there'd be a mess there, as a whole bunch of guys would be going off to work. I lived with the head of the technical department and with the main personnel manager, Porubsky. In the morning he ran out and was yelling: "Get up! Russians! Occupation! [18]" I thought to myself: "Have they gone nuts?" I shot back: "I'm sleeping, I don't start work till nine." Everyone else left, but I came in at nine, as if nothing was happening.
That night we were working on an underground wall, which made history as the first of its kind in the whole of Czechoslovakia. We saw the Russians crossing underwater in tanks, under the Komarno bridge. At 4:00 p.m. one foreman ran over and said: "Listen, hurry up and come have a look, there's all sorts of things going on here, tanks are going along the top, they're ripping up rails on the railway bridge, and three are driving in the water. "How do you know?" "I saw them!" He drove by our yard and kept going. I said to him: "Don't worry about it." One of my colleagues, a former classmate, who I'd brought over to Komarno, told me: "On Wednesday we're going home [to Bratislava], get ready, we'll take you too." We took a company car along the levee all the way to Bratislava. No one stopped us. Bratislava was full of Russians.
The ministry had bought the license for underground wall technology from Soletance, a French company. There were two suppliers in Czechoslovakia. One was Vodni Stavby Praha, and the second was Hydrostav. At that time I'd already worked my way up to being head of technical supervision. I was in this position for 17 years. I was in Paris a few times too. They selected me as the liaison officer between Soletance and Hydrostav. That was in 1966. I was in Paris about five times, and then also in Montreaux, because that's where their research facility was. Montreaux is about 50 km south of Paris.
The director of Soletance was named Professor Hafen. He was coming here often back then. Once he was here when there was that famous hockey tournament between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, when Golonka [Golonka, Jozef (b. 1938): former Slovak hockey player and coach. One of the best forwards that played for the national team of the former Czechoslovakia – Editor's note] was beating the ice with his stick. The professor and his assistants were living at the Hotel Devin [Hotel Devin: a traditional four-star hotel located in the center of Bratislava – Editor's note]. The professor says to me: "Isn't there a TV somewhere here, where we could watch the game in peace?" I answered him: "Only at my place." "Can't we go to your place?" "Sure we can, c'mon, I've got my car here." At that time I had a brand-new Skoda. I'd bought it in 1967. I drove him home to our place. We watched the hockey game and they returned to the hotel. The next day our head director called me, that he'd heard that the Frenchmen had been at my place, and how did I dare to do that. I told him, we were watching the hockey game, I put a bottle of gin on the table, and wanted to make coffee too, but they didn't want anything at all. They didn't touch a single thing.
There were of course great differences between life in Czechoslovakia and in France. You can't even compare the two. Life there was calm, perfect. I spent some time in southern France too. First I was in Avignon. There we were looking at large marine structures, by La Ciotat. They were building garages for submarines. There were huge numbers of American soldiers there. We saw all of southern France, because we had a car at our disposal. I went on these trips mainly with Czechs, from Prague. We got along well.
Besides France, I was also in Russia. Twice I was the guest of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. There was this one Jew there, Viktor Danushevski. He was from Lithuania; today he teaches in Philadelphia. His mother-in-law, Olga Davidovna Lipschitz, was the head of the German department at Lomonosov University in Moscow. I used to like going to her place very much. At Christmas I'd even send her presents. She was one superb professor. I've even got one of her dictionaries with a dedication from her.
That night we were working on an underground wall, which made history as the first of its kind in the whole of Czechoslovakia. We saw the Russians crossing underwater in tanks, under the Komarno bridge. At 4:00 p.m. one foreman ran over and said: "Listen, hurry up and come have a look, there's all sorts of things going on here, tanks are going along the top, they're ripping up rails on the railway bridge, and three are driving in the water. "How do you know?" "I saw them!" He drove by our yard and kept going. I said to him: "Don't worry about it." One of my colleagues, a former classmate, who I'd brought over to Komarno, told me: "On Wednesday we're going home [to Bratislava], get ready, we'll take you too." We took a company car along the levee all the way to Bratislava. No one stopped us. Bratislava was full of Russians.
The ministry had bought the license for underground wall technology from Soletance, a French company. There were two suppliers in Czechoslovakia. One was Vodni Stavby Praha, and the second was Hydrostav. At that time I'd already worked my way up to being head of technical supervision. I was in this position for 17 years. I was in Paris a few times too. They selected me as the liaison officer between Soletance and Hydrostav. That was in 1966. I was in Paris about five times, and then also in Montreaux, because that's where their research facility was. Montreaux is about 50 km south of Paris.
The director of Soletance was named Professor Hafen. He was coming here often back then. Once he was here when there was that famous hockey tournament between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, when Golonka [Golonka, Jozef (b. 1938): former Slovak hockey player and coach. One of the best forwards that played for the national team of the former Czechoslovakia – Editor's note] was beating the ice with his stick. The professor and his assistants were living at the Hotel Devin [Hotel Devin: a traditional four-star hotel located in the center of Bratislava – Editor's note]. The professor says to me: "Isn't there a TV somewhere here, where we could watch the game in peace?" I answered him: "Only at my place." "Can't we go to your place?" "Sure we can, c'mon, I've got my car here." At that time I had a brand-new Skoda. I'd bought it in 1967. I drove him home to our place. We watched the hockey game and they returned to the hotel. The next day our head director called me, that he'd heard that the Frenchmen had been at my place, and how did I dare to do that. I told him, we were watching the hockey game, I put a bottle of gin on the table, and wanted to make coffee too, but they didn't want anything at all. They didn't touch a single thing.
There were of course great differences between life in Czechoslovakia and in France. You can't even compare the two. Life there was calm, perfect. I spent some time in southern France too. First I was in Avignon. There we were looking at large marine structures, by La Ciotat. They were building garages for submarines. There were huge numbers of American soldiers there. We saw all of southern France, because we had a car at our disposal. I went on these trips mainly with Czechs, from Prague. We got along well.
Besides France, I was also in Russia. Twice I was the guest of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. There was this one Jew there, Viktor Danushevski. He was from Lithuania; today he teaches in Philadelphia. His mother-in-law, Olga Davidovna Lipschitz, was the head of the German department at Lomonosov University in Moscow. I used to like going to her place very much. At Christmas I'd even send her presents. She was one superb professor. I've even got one of her dictionaries with a dedication from her.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Ladislav Urban