Letokruhy mého žití - Svědectví o proměnách doby – Richter Karel (2022)

Karel Richter, a writer and native of Chlumec nad Cidlinou, shares memories of a joyful childhood in Eastern Bohemia, the painful life during the German occupation, and the establishment of new conditions after the communist coup in 1948 in his autobiography. He describes the everyday life of a university student in the 1950s, recalls his teachers, his first job, and his career as a researcher in the Czechoslovak army. Thanks to his profession, he had the opportunity to meet many former legionnaires, particularly members of the Czechoslovak foreign army during World War II – generals Karel Klapálek, Vilém Sacher, and others. Great attention is given to the events of 1968, conversations with Josef Smrkovský and other representatives of the Prague Spring, work on the memoirs of President Ludvík Svoboda, and experiences from the time when the author worked as a personal secretary to cosmonaut Vladimír Remek... The author's ambition is not only to recount his memories and experiences but to provide testimony about the transformations of a complex era, the rise and subsequent suppression of the free spirit of society, and last but not least, to convey previously unknown personal memories of prominent figures he encountered.