I was 15 during during the Velvet revolution in Prague in November 1989, when the Czech people finally decided they had enough
of communism and it was time for change. They were not the only ones and it was a collective action of all the old communist states, starting with the fall of the Berlin War. Living under the communist regime was certainly not fun. Communist leaders lived in luxury while the rest of the population did not enjoy any of these privileges. Already children were affected; you were reminded by your parents not to mention anything that was said at thome against the communists. You were obliged to join the young communist organisations - pioneer, learn their oaths. Without being a member of such organisations you would not be admitted to university. My own mother could not go to a university of her choice; she wanted to be a teacher but the secret agents wanted her to spy on somebody there and she did not want to get involved so went to study science instead. So if you were not a member you would not have a chance to progress in your professional career. Communist society was a taboo society, you could not discuss anything openly, sex was a taboo. When children asked their parents how they came to exist they would receive very strange answers such as the stork brought you and so on. You could not freely practise your religion; that had to be done in secret. People in big cities could practise more because of anonymity, but in smaller towns it was only the old people who visited church, because everyone knew everybody. You never knew if the person next to you in church was a spy.
There was no competition, prices were the same everywhere, and the packaging materials of products did not look attractive at all. Walking through a western style supermarket looked like paradise compared to the communist shops.
Today the majority of the people in the Czech Republic are very happy for their new freedom especially the young. But there are also those who complain and think of the old advantages of the communist system, such as no unemployment, free healthcare and so on. And maybe the discipline was the only thing which I thought was good. I would never go back to such a regime because I could not even write about it and share my views.