European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse From police victim to police chief the fall and Rise of Jan Thoma by Randy Pruitt staff writer Jan Thoma thumbs through a file 1,250 pages thick. The cover is stamped . Inside is one Man s hell. It is Thomas personal hell. For 15 years the St Czechoslovakia s feared secret police tailed the Pilsen resident tracking his every move. The dossier bears this out in great detail. Times dates places Are neatly recorded like appointments on a businessman s Calendar. The shadowy figures who kept him on round the clock surveillance opened his mail regularly. They even poisoned his beloved alsatian dog so they could break in and Bug his House. A huge Leafy tree growing outside his Home was killed so a video camera could better Monitor his daily movements. They code named him 5 Thoma flips through the file some More each Page a painful Flashback. Recorded there is the time he spent with a famous Prague Singer the minutes and hours he was with a Well known playwright his meetings with leading dissidents and Ordinary citizens. Little is omitted. Spies were everywhere and they were his own countrymen. He shuts the file and smiles. Few have seen the files the communists kept on citizens after Warsaw pact tanks rolled into Prague in 1968. Thoma has seen his file. And hundreds of others. Thoma a Man harassed and imprisoned by communist authorities today is a director of the Agency that made his life miserable. Thoma 56, Heads the West Bohemia Region of the Federal Security and information service. Quot i was imprisoned for talking critically about our social system and social countries Quot he says. Quot they said i was starting to initiate some from the beginning Thoma made it Clear he was against the soviet occupation. His stance endeared him to the workers at the giant Skoda engineering firm in Pilsen where he was chairman of the Trade Union. In a Union publication he reprinted articles and speeches critical of the soviets. Before the invasion Thoma says he a amps Rondy Pruitt Jan Thoma a resident of Pilsen Czechoslovakia now runs the police Agency that once harassed and jailed him As a dissident. Thought socialism was Good for Mankind. Quot but Here it is done very badly and by the wrong people. In this country most of the people believed that to distribute wealth in equal terms was Good but nobody was thinking of How to make that he was fired in 1969. Shortly afterwards he was sentenced to one year in prison for his activities. Thoma says he was the first person to be sentenced for political reasons after the soviet invasion of 1968. Quot even at the time i was in prison our official propaganda said there wont be any political prisoners Quot he says. Thoma says authorities offered him probation if he would apologize and admit he was wrong. He refused. He had Good company in prison. He met the Man who would become minister of ecology and another who would be adviser to the minister of Justice. After his release Thoma found it impossible to find employment although there was plenty of work. Twenty three companies gave him the cold shoulder. Quot nobody would hire me because of my record Quot he says. Finally he applied for a Job hauling garbage. He was turned Down. After three months he was prosecuted again. Quot we had a Law stating that everybody must he explains. A person without a Job was a social parasite. The prosecutor understood Thomas predicament. When the prosecutor tried to find him seasonal work with a construction company the Foreman said he wanted Only full time workers. Quot he the Foreman said they would take me if he the prosecutor ordered him the prosecutor who had no such authority nonetheless issued the order Thoma says. Quot suddenly the prosecutor who looks after rules is violating them Quot Thoma says laughing. Thoma hauled Sand and cleaned up after the workers. Later he served an apprenticeship in steel fabricating. He worked for the firm nearly 19 years. Manual labor offered him one great advantage. Quot i was absolutely Independent Quot he says. Quot after i went Home my head was free for serious his dissident status gave him Access to literature in the czech underground political writings unavailable to Ordinary citizens. The secret police continued to watch him closely. Following the velvet revolution in 1989, Thoma was picked for his present Job his regional office is one of 10 in the country the system he said has some similarities to the Fri. Thoma says new government leaders thought his hellish experiences qualified him to be director of the special Security Section. He also says things Are very different now. Quot you can have any opinion you like now Quot he says. Thoma can now Tell of How he and his family survived during his imprisonment and joblessness. Workers at the Skoda factory where he was Trade Union chairman contributed to a secret fund. Quot i received almost the same salary As if i d been working Quot he says. The workers could have been imprisoned for helping him he notes. Thoma also Learned from his file that the secret police made an agreement with his construction firm that he could not travel. In addition Thoma discovered that Over the years he lost 170,000 crowns about $11,000 at the time by being denied special non repayable Quot Loans Quot available to other czech citizens. Looking Back he does t think the years were wasted. A my life was much More interesting Quot he says. Prison he adds was an excellent school. Quot on the other hand it was bad for my daughter wife Mother father friends everyone was affected a he says. Thoma says the information in his office files will be used to accurately record the history of the past 20 years. That does t mean anyone can see his file or that the identities of the betrayers and closet spies will be publicly revealed. Others might not be As forgiving As Thoma. The pervasiveness of the secret police is Best illustrated when Thoma pops a videocassette into a machine. A television screen comes to life and in 1968, two Prague protesters hold a bloody czech Flag in front of a burning soviet tank. Thoma is the unknowing Star. A digital display in one Corner shows the time 16 59. It is May 6, 1989 and the secret police Are filming As Thoma approaches the Square of peace in Pilsen. He carries a Wreath of Flowers. Using loudspeakers police order everyone to leave. Thoma boldly Steps Forward kneels lays the Wreath then walks away. A the tape does t show it but he is promptly arrested. He was fined 1,500 crowns $100about two weeks wages. The Flowers he says were Laid at the foot of a Monument honouring the american soldiers who had helped liberate Western Bohemia exactly 44 years earlier. Thoma s was the Lone Wreath on that anniversary. His wife murmurs something about the Fine and How their daughter needed a new coat that year. Thoma Only smiles. To him it was part of the Price of czech officer tries to right the wrongs col Miloslav Buben wants to Sot the record straight As Chan Man of the reconciliation Board of Western Bohemia he is trying to right the wings done to czech soldiers every time the soviets or then puppets muscled into czech text Oil czech soldiers Gutsy enough to question the Matei Terence paid a heavy Price for their Candor then military earner s ended that happened first in 1948 and again m 1968 a total of 1 1,500 czech soldiers Weie affected Buben who now lives in Pilsen is working with 1.000 men in a state endorsed attempt to restore the soldiers rank and make financial compensation. Quot their sad destiny has gone through my hands Quot Buben says Quot someday textbooks will be written detailing these lives Quot deep Down he knows there is no Way the czech government can atone for the past Buben can personally testify to that in 1968 he was a Pilot and lieutenant colonel whose command covered half the country he was in Karloy vary at a training exercise when soviet tanks began rolling toward Prague Buben was based in Pribram South of Prague he raced there passing russian tanks along the Way Quot when i came into the command nobody knew anything everything was a mess Quot he says Buben says he and others publicly objected to the occupation while some czech soldiers supported it within two months of the invasion the base seemed Back to Normal. Quot it looked Calm from the outside but inside the army had started to differentiate among the officers Quot he says Quot one of their most important Points was who agreed with the occupation and who for nearly three years Buben kept his rank but was reduced to handling paperwork. He was also forbidden to try in september 1971, he was thrown out of the military. Quot i was accused of not being Loyal to the communist party Quot tie says. Others were released from the military for the same Mason or Quot for not being dependable Quot he says. Buben 38 at the time worked As a waiter to support his Wile and two children. He went to 26 companies before finding permanent work at a textile firm. Today he sifts through old soldiers records taking satisfaction in his work. During world War ii some czechs fought with the British against the nazis he says others fought with the russians a after the coup in 1948, the czech leadership started to differentiate Between people who fought on the East front and on the West front. Most of them on the Western front were without any reason arrested and found guilty of spying Quot he says Quot within two weeks they were kicked out of their Homes Quot Buben said the men s families were sent to Border zones areas still in shambles from the War. Quot the men were imprisoned for nothing Quot he says. Buben believes his Job is very important. Quot we would like the pilots and soldiers to know that the people Are proud of them. This state and government Are in their debt we need to right and Correct the pilots courage Cost them their wings keeping pilots out of the sky can be like leaving fish out of water. Bad things happen. Col. Milos Synek a Pilot in the czech army saw that happen after Warsaw pact forces occupied his country on aug. 21, 1968 he and other czech pilots who defied soviet troops were grounded forever. Quot not being Able to Fly is the worst thing that can happen to a Pilot Quot Synek says. Many handle it. Some suffered nervous breakdowns. A few committed suicide. Others searched for civilian jobs for As Long As one year. The ones who found work became chauffeurs or operators of construction equipment a few became ditch diggers. Quot they suffered great shame Quot he recalls. It also was a tremendous waste. The czech government he says had spent 5 million czech crowns about $335,000 at the time to train each fighter Pilot. Synek says czech pilots reacted angrily when soviet tanks showed up on the outskirts of the Airfield in line about five Miles West of Pilsen. Synek was chief of staff of the base where two Mig-21 squadrons of about 100 pilots were stationed. Czech pilots and soldiers drove vehicles onto the runway to prevent soviet planes from Landing ant soviet slogans appeared on buildings. Synek a 42-year-old lieutenant colonel at the time says he was alone when he faced off with the soviets Synek s message to the Surprise visitors you re not Welcome Here. He made that Clear in an interview with a czech Ladio station that same Day. Only at the Point of a machine gun did he give the order to Clear the runway he recalls. Tensions tightened in the following Days czech pilots refused to share their food and water with the occupiers. Quot the soviets threatened to shoot our Headquarters building to pieces Quot he says. The czechs finally backed Down he says. Synek and others ordered to participate in negotiations removed their Caps and White red and Blue ribbons As a form of protest. Concessions were made but the czech pilots were firm on one Point. Quot they said they would Fly separately but never together with russian pilots Quot he says. Even some of the russian pilots were sympathetic he relates. They knew they were not wanted. They were even crying he says. Quot ten pilots in 14 Days were sent Back and new ones replaced throughout it All one thought kept crossing his mind i was afraid they would put me in prison Quot says Synek who As a child spent five months in a concentration Camp eight relatives had died in Auschwitz his jewish heritage had prevented him from being admitted to the czech military Academy. Still Synek had worked hard and earned promotions. He was proud of what he d achieved. Synek s membership in the communist party which he says was required for his military position was revoked in october 1970. Three months later he was banned from the Airfield. Before the the end of the year he was involuntarily discharged from the army and placed in the reserves. Through friends Synek found work As a Quality control officer at a car repair company. A i was Lucky a he says. Today Synek lives on a pension painful memories begin to surface when he thinks of his fellow pilots. Quot not Only were the officers damaged but whole families Quot he says. Quot their children were not allowed to go to the Synek who wishes his country had experienced Freedom 0 years ago when he was 55, says he still has much to look Forward to. He voices his future plans m one word. Live of Quot of says with a big smile Sas Rondy Pruitt Milos Synek was drummed out of the army. Sas Rondy Pruitt Miloslav Buben with his soldiers files. Page 14 abcs the stars and stripes monday november 25, 1991 the stars and stripes abcs Page 15
