Waiting for the Collapse

During the war, Ignác Bilík went through several Nazi prisons and after his arrest in 1951, he got to know the communist ones as well. Among the numerous communist prisons he went through was Mírov, where the following story took place.: “Once, the door of our prison cell swung open and guards who came for inspection, (the so called ‘filcunk’), entered. They screamed ‘Attention!’ and all the twelve men in the prison cell had to spring to attention. So we all did. With the exception of Chaplain Felix Davídek, who was the leader of our group. Instead of springing to attention, he continued to look out of the window, which offered a beautiful view. The chief guard got angry and screamed: ‘Davídek, what are you doing there?’ But he said nothing and just kept looking out of the window. So the chief guard came closer and screamed again: ‘Convicted Davídek, what are you doing there?’ And the chaplain answered: ‘I am waiting for it to collapse!’ They did not know what to do about it, so they reported it and he was given 28 days in a dungeon. I asked him why he was taking chances and he answered: ‘At least I will get a chance to rest there.’ In the dungeon one did not have to make those nets or strings or envelopes.”