Report_Issue 1/2009 - Jubiläum/ 20 Jahre Mauerfall

Full in
the
world,
full in faith
Svatopluk Karasek, who was born in Prague in 1942, was a Protestant pastor before he joined the wild
Underground movement in the early 1970s and started to preach rock. He was forbidden to practice his
profession, imprisoned and subsequently he emigrated to Switzerland. He has lived again in Prague for
some time now and since 2004 has been the human rights commissioner of the Czech government.
— Sebastian Fasthuber talks to Svatopluk Karasek —
Sebastian Fasthuber: Let's go back a couple of decades. In the Czechoslovakia
of the 1970s Underground meant something far more radical
than in the West. Longhaired people and rockers were persecuted by the
police and could only live the way they wanted in secret. How do you look
back on this period?
Svatopluk Karasek: Perhaps I should explain Underground in contrast
to the present. Present day life creates lifeless situations. Today you can
have everything and don't even have to leave your house to get it. Everything
works better but somehow or other life seems flat. Something alive,
something authentic occurs only rarely. With the Underground things
were different. Young people sensed the oppression of Communism and
looked for something that would allow them to live fully. Underground
was art without fees, just for pure joy. Everybody did something or other
and we performed after each other on small stages, in the great outdoors
or in barns. Professors who were no longer allowed to teach gave lectures
from forbidden books. It was a time that was intensely alive.
That all sounds very idyllic. But you were constantly on the run and in
1976 you were even imprisoned for a few months.
Yes I was locked up for eight months. What made it bearable was the solidarity.
In the 1950s people were also regularly imprisoned. But at that
time nobody showed any interest in them. In our case people defended
themselves for the first time. Václav Havel played an important role, other
artists and the Church also helped. Ultimately it was the involvement
of these people that led to me and a number of other detainees being
released from remand in 1976. Charta 77 developed out of this solidarity
in January 1977. I was one of the first to sign it. The disadvantage of the
Charta was that afterwards we were paid constant visits by the secret police.
I was imprisoned on remand eleven further times. I was persecuted
for three years and my family suffered intensely.
Underground rocker and pastor, that seems like something of a contradiction.
But religiousness was a kind of protest in Czechoslovakia at that
time, wasn't it?
Exactly. The communist regime wanted to exterminate the Church and
religious belief. We were an opposition movement. I studied theology
and took it very seriously, as I am deeply religious. But on the other hand
I never lost contact with those of my friends who do not share my faith. I
remain in the world, full in the world, full in faith.
After the collapse of Communism you went straight back to your native
country?
I had to, even though it was hard for my family. We Underground people
had believed that this system was installed for all time. That it would end
sometime was inconceivable to us. Suddenly we had the chance to build
up something new.
What has remained of this feeling of building up something new?
I think that in the Czech Republic today we have a completely normal development.
We should reflect more often on the freedoms we enjoy. Many
people take them far too much for granted. I still rejoice when I can sing
and preach. However, it must be said that in earlier times most people did
not feel their lack of freedom. Perhaps a few hundred people were actively
involved in the Underground. But you see what can develop and how much
can be changed when you commit yourself completely to something.
Sebastian Fasthuber works as a freelance music and literature critic.
The full interview appeared in “Report” in August 2006 (online).
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