v
V I
Premysl Dvorak
THE ART OF LIVING IN A SUBJUGATED COUNTRY
The article repn'nted below was smuggled out ofCzechoslovakia earlier
this year by one of the underground groups which together form a loose
movement known as Czechoslovak Socialist Opposition (CSO)
,
The author
correctly states that there is no opposition party in Czechoslovakia or even the
possibzlity ofprotestingpublicly against the wide-spreadinjustices, but-per–
haps because ofthat-many people have decided to resort to what the regime
labels "tllegal means" of opposing the government's policies and keeping
alive the hope ofreston'ng freedom andsocialism. Opposition groups vary in
tactics, strategy, andpolitics. They range from intellectualgroups to workers '
collectives, from pro-Dubcek Communist reformists and groups which the
Westerners would label as left-wing social democrats to van'ous shades ofthe
East European New Left. But, despite their differences, they are united by
their opposition to the present power-hungry regime and by their desire to
help create a country whosepresent andfuture wtllbe decided by the majon'ty
ofits inhabitants andby them alone. That is why they are prepared to cooper–
ate with each other under the umbrella heading of CSO .
Many people wouldagree with Premysl Dvorak that to help hundreds of
thousands ofCzechs and Slovaks who are the everyday target of nonjudicial
persecution, only one way, at present, exists: publicity for theirplight; pub–
licity which would embarrass the Czechoslovak Communist Party inside the
worldCommunist movement. For many West European Communist Parties,
attempting to assert their independence andstn'ving for mass support in their
own countnes, Czechoslovakpuppet, neo-Stalinist, repressive rulers are a sore
point they wish would go away.
-Michael David
When the Czech student leader, Jiri Muller, returned from a student
holiday brigade abroad in the summer of 1968 , friends back home in Czech–
oslovakia asked him why he had returned
to
an occupied country, one from
which many people were emigrating. J iri thought for a moment , smiled, and
