20 years ago I was not in Berlin, but in Prague

Thanks to my Czech student friends involved in the movement, I found myself badged in no time and an intervention, later, in the crowded amphitheater of the medical university, in the genre "Is there a French-speaking doctor in the room?", I found myself in the company of my improvised interpreter, charming to boot... And off we went, the two of us, to discover this fantastic Prague which was still hesitating between the fear of ending up in prison the next day and the joy to savor this newfound freedom.

The first notable stop was the next day at the Laterna Magica, one of the theaters of the Czech capital, requisitioned by the intellectuals and leaders of the civic forum, a sort of agora and permanent intellectual agitation. That evening, history was at the rendezvous. A man from the end of the stage came to present a small piece of paper to one of the interlocutors seated at the table, the latter read it, passed it a little taken aback to his neighbour, same scenario, this one turned pale, passed it on to the next and so on to arrive - if I remember correctly Vaclav Havel who marked a time - the room had understood that there was an extraordinary grain of sand. As a good playwright, he then took a breath, and announced the news in a few words: "the political bureau of the CP resigned". No need to understand Czech to understand that we had passed a milestone. Then nothing, a silence, a breath in the crowded room, and thunderous applause (including journalists), hugs. And relief ...

The regime had committed the irreparable part of a dictatorship: giving in to the streets. It must be said that the day before, the party's chief ideologist had been summoned to Moscow for a "friendly visit". And no doubt a severe winding up of suspenders to explain to him that times had changed and that the barbed wire was now cut. From now on, there was no longer any doubt, in Prague as in Berlin a few days earlier and Budapest three months before, the velvet had triumphed over the sword. Gone were the years of whispering, distrust of neighbors in cafes or colleges, red star uniforms, political control over the media, universities, factories... The tide of history had turned. ! To read: small paper for KissFM on the atmosphere of the time - written on the edge of a table, and recorded under the table, to preserve noise...).

Also read the full report: (1989) Soft Revolution in Czechoslovakia

(photo credit: © NGV - student demonstration in Prague)