Three winners will receive a copy of the book “Fallen Walls – voices from the cells that held Mandela and Havel” compiled by South African and Czech historians, Jan K Coetzee, Lynda Gilfillan and Otakar Hulec, with a foreword written by Václav Havel. The book brings personal stories of six individuals from South Africa and Czechoslovakia who were targets of severe forms of political violence and faced long-term imprisonment for their political convictions. 

Answer the following questions to enter into competition:

1. When did the Communist Party seize power in Czechoslovakia?
2. What is the nickname of the period of political liberalization and reforms in Czechoslovakia that was halted by the military invasion by the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries?
3. What expression of Russian origin is used for a dissident activity across the Soviet bloc when individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader (i.e. for self-published and self-distributed literature)?
4. What is the title of the famous novel written by Milan Kundera, later made into a movie, describing political and intellectual life in Czechoslovakia in the Communist era?
5. What was the original profession of Václav Havel, the first democratically elected President of Czechoslovakia after 41 years? 

Please send your answers marked as “Velvet Quiz” to pretoria@embassy.mzv.cz by Tuesday 25 November, 2014.    

The winners will be drawn of correct responses on Wednesday 26 November, 2014 and will receive a book.

Background information

The Velvet Revolution started on Friday 17 November 1989. It was triggered with the brutal police intervention against the peaceful students march on the occasion of the International Students Day. The reaction of the Czechoslovak citizens actually caught the government by surprise. Already during the weekend the theatres went on strike, followed by university students on Monday. The Civic Forum was created with the involvement of many prominent dissidents, including Václav Havel. The number of people taking part in the demonstrations and requiring freedom increased every day. In a week hundreds of thousands were protesting in the whole country. As a reaction, the regime decided to release political prisoners. The Civic Forum, led by Václav Havel, managed to launch negotiations on transfer of power, which led to the formation of the interim government on 10 December 1989 and to the election of Václav Havel as President on 29 December 1989. These events opened the way for the first democratic elections since 1946. The Czech Republic recognizes 17 November as the Day of Struggle for Democracy and Freedom.