By Jan Cymba
In an alternative dystopian future, where the world has never got out of the clutches
of communism, an old man returns to his hometown to sum up his life.
In an alternative dystopian future, where the world has never got out of the clutches
of communism, an old man returns to his hometown to sum up his life.
1.
The
old railway station seemed fresh, as the blue-white express appeared between
the rusty freight wagons. The train creaked awfully while braking. With great
effort, Josef opened the metal door and stepped cautiously to the cracked
platform surface. He walked slowly, which was natural due to his age, but he
also wanted to enjoy the view of the scenery ahead. After all, he was not in
Brno for sixty years.
The
city was cadaverous as the deepest night. On the street that he remembered as New
Gardens, there were few people hanging around, eyes tilted into the ground. The
ubiquitous silence was interrupted only by the characteristic jingle of trams,
which evoked pleasant nostalgia in Josef. Instead of taking a ride he went further
to explore the remains of the cathedral in Petrov, from which he could not look
away. The well-preserved tower of the Brno landmark boomed to the sky and
looked epically in contrast to some drab block of concrete that encircled it. That
pinnacle served as the reminder of the old world, which outlasted only in memories
of such witnesses as was Josef.
He
toured the city for two hours. Lapsed in the moment, he euphorically danced through
the ruins of Freedom Square, not thinking about the reasons for his presence in
Brno. Numerous places assembled him a mosaic of his childhood. Mr. Řericha's
confectionery, where he used to go for sweets after school or the ideological
library of socialist youth, where he became first acquainted with the teachings
of Marxism-Leninism and tasted the forbidden fruit by reading samizdats.
However, one spot had deeper meaning to him.
Huge
chemical storage was standing on the place where the Church of St. James once
grew, the alley leading to St. James‘ Square however looked credible to its
state decades ago. Josef opened the paper sheets he was carrying and pulled out
a yellowed postcard that portrayed the ambiance before him. He ran his eyes
from the image to the alley and back. He moved on, trying to orientate himself
in the space between the warehouse and opposite houses, whose entrances were
filled with construction rubble or nailed with wooden planks. After a while he
finally found his target. On the dingy wall of House No. 2 he recognized a
dusty metal plate and deciphered the inscription "Сердце Европы". His
heart flickered at first, but then withered away like a rose in frost and was pervaded
by ancient sadness.
He
calmed down and tried to concentrate. He gathered all his strength, yanked
twice and managed to detach a piece of wood from the entrance. He peaked
through the cranny and saw the dark space of a former student club. His stomach
tightened as he looked at it. It has been so many years. One glance filled his
head with many images of that old catastrophe.
2.
It
was March 1986. For the first time since the Khrushchev Thaw, the Soviet Union was
laced with relaxed mood. The helm was held by unusually young Gorbachev, who
was the first to draw attention to the backwardness of the Soviet empire, set
up a perestroika, and opened the Eastern Bloc to many reforms. The archaic ensemble
of socialist Czechoslovakia approached the changes in a lukewarm way, rather
than economically initially focusing socially to strengthen youth education
projects in which it saw tomorrow's future.
Sixteen-year-old
Josef Tomešek drove through his first year at grammar school playfully.
His interest in Marxism attracted the teaching staff and earned him place in the presidency of the newly formed youth organization of the Union of Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship. Within the first international activities twelve students from Ukraine and Uzbekistan arrived for an exchange visit. The aim of the project entitled "Heart of Europe" was to bring together different cultures and provide the exchange of experiences within the student leaders. However, no one returned from the originally three-month internship.
His interest in Marxism attracted the teaching staff and earned him place in the presidency of the newly formed youth organization of the Union of Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship. Within the first international activities twelve students from Ukraine and Uzbekistan arrived for an exchange visit. The aim of the project entitled "Heart of Europe" was to bring together different cultures and provide the exchange of experiences within the student leaders. However, no one returned from the originally three-month internship.
The
whole project had a strong ideological nature and even palpable promotion
of comradeship could not stop growing sympathies among the students, who were by that time throbbed with tumultuous adolescence and exposed to new areas of human cognizance.
of comradeship could not stop growing sympathies among the students, who were by that time throbbed with tumultuous adolescence and exposed to new areas of human cognizance.
Her
name was Anastasija. She arrived from Kharkiv, where she was the chairman of
the local organization. As a gifted health care student, she was valued by her
school and thus came to awareness of the Ukrainian authorities, who had already
deputed her to Minsk and Alma-Ata in the past. Josef spent a lot of time with
her, engaged in party talks. He was intrigued by her purposefulness and
complemented by her feminine elegance and unmistakable Slavic beauty.
He taught her Czech phrases, and in return she showed him the steps of hopak. With the advent of spring he began taking her for evening walks through the city. By that time he was already aware of his feelings for her. He kissed her for the first time in front of the Janáček Theater, where they clung together to elude from cold. She had a dilemma at first, because her socialist mission indirectly required emotional restraint, but it didn't take long for her heart to blossom into calf love. They went almost whole April like that, devoted to the club within school hours and delved in tender bliss during late afternoons. Usually they spent them in an empty clubhouse where they finally got to know each other as man and woman. Josef often found himself lost in the endless depth of Anastasija's dark gray eyes as they were lying there in the silent harmony. Neither of them admitted at the time that it should ever be over. Love seemed eternal to them as they noticed the time flow only when the day spilled over to the night and their paths temporarily split.
He taught her Czech phrases, and in return she showed him the steps of hopak. With the advent of spring he began taking her for evening walks through the city. By that time he was already aware of his feelings for her. He kissed her for the first time in front of the Janáček Theater, where they clung together to elude from cold. She had a dilemma at first, because her socialist mission indirectly required emotional restraint, but it didn't take long for her heart to blossom into calf love. They went almost whole April like that, devoted to the club within school hours and delved in tender bliss during late afternoons. Usually they spent them in an empty clubhouse where they finally got to know each other as man and woman. Josef often found himself lost in the endless depth of Anastasija's dark gray eyes as they were lying there in the silent harmony. Neither of them admitted at the time that it should ever be over. Love seemed eternal to them as they noticed the time flow only when the day spilled over to the night and their paths temporarily split.
On
April 29, the first reports of the Chernobyl accident came to the public.
Anastasija was strongly affected. In vain she tried to connect with her family
in Ukraine, but she was told that there was chaos in the country and a large
part of the infrastructure was disrupted. She couldn't come back for obvious
reasons. The Ukrainian part of the delegation became deeply introverted as they
experienced the whole event on completely different level. Nevertheless, Josef provided
support to his girlfriend.
Over
the time the situation escalated into deep crisis. Ukraine was convulsing in
anti-regime demonstrations, whose organizers put the blame on the weak Soviet
leadership. The rebellious mood graduated and moved further to Russia. Enemies
of the régime firstly dominated the Kursk and Belgorod regions and then, in a
bout of anti-government rage, they pulled on Moscow. Communist power did not
wait for long and stopped the poorly equipped protesters already in Voronezh, from
where the Soviet army moved to Ukraine. Opposition already seized much of the
military equipment and fought the Russian troops on the battlefield north of Luhansk.
Natives failed hard, which allowed the Russians to move on. At the end of May
they controlled entire East of Ukraine. Military continued their fights with
guerillas, fighting their way to west and up to the Belarusian border, where
the fatal battle, known as
"4 iyunya – poslednyaya bitva v istorii", took place. No one is likely to know who caused the second explosion of the Chernobyl power plant, but it was certain that its intensity far exceeded its predecessor. Chaos in the country did not allow intervention units to fully stabilize the situation, so all the undisposed nuclear material was dispersed into the wider area. Ukraine, Belarus and the southern part of Russia have been swept away from the earth almost overnight. Central Europe was hit by a powerful wave of fallout and Czechoslovakia found itself in crisis due to a lack of doctors. Anastasija was soon summoned to the medical ranks and treated affected individuals from dawn to dusk. They were mostly preventive examinations, but some required intensive care. Even Josef, who was outside at the peak of radioactive activity, did not escape the misfortune. After the brief examination, he was assessed as potentially dangerous and quickly transported to a remote sanatorium in the West Bohemia near Mariánské Lázně. He was told that he will stay there for a few weeks because of medical observation.
"4 iyunya – poslednyaya bitva v istorii", took place. No one is likely to know who caused the second explosion of the Chernobyl power plant, but it was certain that its intensity far exceeded its predecessor. Chaos in the country did not allow intervention units to fully stabilize the situation, so all the undisposed nuclear material was dispersed into the wider area. Ukraine, Belarus and the southern part of Russia have been swept away from the earth almost overnight. Central Europe was hit by a powerful wave of fallout and Czechoslovakia found itself in crisis due to a lack of doctors. Anastasija was soon summoned to the medical ranks and treated affected individuals from dawn to dusk. They were mostly preventive examinations, but some required intensive care. Even Josef, who was outside at the peak of radioactive activity, did not escape the misfortune. After the brief examination, he was assessed as potentially dangerous and quickly transported to a remote sanatorium in the West Bohemia near Mariánské Lázně. He was told that he will stay there for a few weeks because of medical observation.
But
the real consequences of the second explosion were yet to come. According to
measurements, air contamination has become increasingly serious and the
affected parts of Europe were near to collapse. Czechoslovakia was economically
depleted as the production in the country virtually stopped and people were
starving. International assistance from the West was offered too late. A state
of emergency was declared, but the government did not know what to do, as it lacked
the support of Moscow, which itself collected pieces of its former size.
If
Josef once read about anarchy, the social situation in the second half of 1986
was closest to his imaginations. Crisis was exploited by a group of radical
Federal Assembly deputies who revealed their true faces and performed a violent
putsch in July. Totalitarianism in the state was heavily tightened as the
national committees' autonomy at all levels was reduced, centralizing the
political power even more so that the people practically lost all relics of their
freedom. The new government has promised to establish order and populistically proclaimed
citizens' health security as highest priority. However, no new hospitals were built
or foreign medical missions organized. Patriots emphasized the position of
Czechoslovakia as "the heart of Europe that must heal itself". In
everyday reality it meant cruel treatment of the population, the violent
division of families and the transfer of their members to different areas of
the country, where individual groups of people were concentrated according to
the degree of harm caused by radiation. A ban on leaving whereabouts was
declared, only trips with state approval were allowed. Josef had never seen any
of his loved ones again. The Ministry of Health's strategy was austere and frightening
– to eradicate all undesirable people after the second Chernobyl explosion
within sixty years. Fixation on such a long period was naive, but the
government has secured a long-term power position. Politicians could act almost
arbitrarily and invoke the motto "the end justifies the means". Sixty
year long period was to expire on June 4, 2046 - the day after Josef‘s arrival
in Brno.
3.
He
stood in front of the House of Commons building, looking at the ruins of the
Red Church. He pulled out a letter from the paper folder, flew through it and
rested on the signature at the bottom. Shivers went down his spine. He did not
pay any attention to the fact that he was holding a summons for his own death. It
was from her.
"Mrs.
Avramenko?" He asked the doorman.
"Second
floor, then left," he muttered. Josef climbed the stairs and searched for
the right door. He was only a step away. He read the nametag once more. The
beginning letters of her name and surname were written in small caps. Double
Large A.
He
knocked and was invited to enter. He thought he might close his eyes. Now he
was sitting in front of a gray-haired woman, whose face was filled with countless
life events, as many as could happen in six decades. She was holding Josef's
documents and stared at him in amazement. Josef watched the tear that ran down
over Anastasija’s face.
"Grim
reaper got me too," he breathed after a moment of moving silence.
"I…
that's not true, is it," was all she could tell. Josef wanted to react,
but was interrupted by muffled door knock behind him. Probably a peer, he
thought.
"Many
people come here today," she said, realizing the horrible meaning of her
words. Josef ran through paper sheets, just to make sure he handed everything over.
Before he walked away, he looked at the babushka behind the desk.
"Evening,
Serdtse Yevropy?" He asked resignedly. Anastasija covered her mouth and
held back tears. Josef opened the door and looked into the broken eyes of a
bearded old man.
He was holding some documents in his hand.
He was holding some documents in his hand.
Josef
was delighted that he will not spend his last evening alone. He managed to
break through all the barricades and was now sitting on a dusty bench in the
middle of the club. He saw the approaching female silhouette at the entrance.
"I
said let's make a window here," he lamented as he walked around the room,
"I would have much more writing light." He ran his hand over the wet
wall and went back to sit.
"Office
sends the letters, you know. I'm not writing signature, I'm just the head
officer. I don't have an overview,” Anastasija said quietly. It was obvious she
desperately wanted to ask many questions, but didn't know which should be the
first.
“Otherwise,
I think that you ended up well, ” commented Josef on the background he had seen
earlier that day.
“There
was no possibility. I stayed here as a doctor, we were few. Then they needed to
lead the youngs, ”she explained. Even after so many years, she remained that
beautiful accent and muddy word order.
"But,
Pepa, how were you?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. The short
question was imbued with tremendous pain.
"What
would I say. They took me for a couple of weeks, but Prague went down and I was
kept in Bohemia. Compared to those who arrived later I was lucky, I already
knew it a bit there, ”he replied, knowing how much he was summing up in those
sentences.
“Then
I was put in a cobalt factory. Those swines found out that it wouldn't be that
easy with our liquidation. Who would have worked for you all those years, you punks!
They locked up up and left us there until we were able to breathe… and now they
can slaughter us. Sixty years ... you don't even know how many people commited suicide,
" he continued. Anastasija looked into his old eyes and leaned back
against him.
“I
didn't even know if you were alive. I'm so, so sorry, ”she sobbed.
“They
are not worth it. If they taught me one thing, it's not to cry over ruined
life. Millions would cry then. It won't matter tomorrow. No one took my inner
freedom, "he pointed to his chest. Old philosopher spoke.
“I
lost everything, you know. My family was gone even that day, "she said
sadly. She didn't believe it until she saw her dead parents on TV screen.
Josef
hugged her around her shoulders. A stripe of light from the setting sun entered
the room. Josef realized it was spring. He had almost forgotten about something
like the seasons during that long gray period. Now he had life before him. Nothing
from outside could steal from him what made him alive. He was sitting in the
very heart of Europe, where it all once began, and he felt love. Time was gone again.
He felt alive. It seemed like it would last forever.
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