WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:06.587 Today's February 9, 2015 were conducting an interview for the Arizona 00:00:06.620 --> 00:00:13.586 State University retirees Association video history project we're located 00:00:13.619 --> 00:00:20.576 today in the A. S. U. Community Services building, I'm john McIntosh. The 00:00:20.609 --> 00:00:26.806 technical support staff today include roger carter who's running our audio 00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:32.817 and cameras, dave shots, lee, who is the chairman of the S. U. R. A video 00:00:32.850 --> 00:00:39.006 history project and linda Vance coy, who's our producer Director, 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:42.107 Associate Director. 00:00:42.140 --> 00:00:46.787 So please introduce yourself and stating your name. And what was your 00:00:46.820 --> 00:00:52.707 position at A. S. U. My name is Vladimir Borough Bronski 00:00:52.740 --> 00:01:00.146 and my position lost position at A. S. U. Um in the so called collection 00:01:00.179 --> 00:01:05.467 development uh division or department I think at the end of the division 00:01:05.500 --> 00:01:12.527 before that I was involved in the mobile library preparations and planning 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:17.147 and with the architects that was kind of assigned by my boss. Where were 00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:21.266 you born? And I read your bio last night and that's a very interesting 00:01:21.299 --> 00:01:27.977 story as I mentioned earlier. Yes, I was born in a free check of Slovakia 00:01:28.010 --> 00:01:33.436 and I think 31 during the depression or recession, whatever it was, well 00:01:33.469 --> 00:01:41.227 in europe they call it crazy. So I believe economic crisis it hit here as 00:01:41.260 --> 00:01:47.027 well as everywhere. My dad was fortunate since he worked at the minister 00:01:47.060 --> 00:01:53.706 as an accountant so he didn't lose a job but a lot of people lost jobs. 00:01:53.739 --> 00:02:01.739 Many, many like almost it doesn't make any sense. Absolutely. And so I 00:02:02.069 --> 00:02:09.277 went through the vegetarians, my basic education still under Adolf Hitler 00:02:09.310 --> 00:02:14.876 would say. And I remember a lot from World War Two. So to make a long 00:02:14.909 --> 00:02:21.987 story short at the end of the war, was liberated by the Russian army, Red 00:02:22.020 --> 00:02:28.467 Army or soviet armies because not now, but we used the parliament and by 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:36.500 the western part of Czechoslovakia was liberated by the U. S. Army under 00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:44.047 General Patton George Patton pilsen or presenting tracks The name of the 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:49.807 famous beer. They ended up there and they wanted to go to Prague where was 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:54.696 an uprising against Germans on five May 1945 And they were not allowed 00:02:54.729 --> 00:02:57.906 with you. 1st 00:02:57.939 --> 00:03:04.707 U. S. Army was ready to go and then Eisenhower, General Eisenhower said, 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:10.207 no, no go George. The Russians don't want that because they didn't want 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:15.307 they wanted to liberate. You know, especially frog 00:03:15.340 --> 00:03:18.147 the first three years, almost three years, of course welcome are 00:03:18.180 --> 00:03:21.997 relatively democratic. Even though the communists had already key 00:03:22.030 --> 00:03:28.047 positions, they were preparing for a takeover. And unfortunately they did 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:34.707 steak over in 1948 February and 00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:36.786 In 00:03:36.819 --> 00:03:40.946 July 1948, I was arrested for the first time and just do the demonstrator. 00:03:40.979 --> 00:03:48.136 But they didn't have to uh, system organized yet. So we were actually 00:03:48.169 --> 00:03:53.117 punished. I got three days, but it was like disturbing the peace, you know 00:03:53.150 --> 00:03:59.006 , on the street. But then six months later they passed their own law which 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:01.906 was called, 00:04:01.939 --> 00:04:07.686 I don't remember exactly, it was against anti state, anti government 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:12.626 activities that was quite serious. So I managed to get back to school I 00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:18.517 attended the school, as I mentioned in my ball called Chico Slavic, not 00:04:18.550 --> 00:04:21.616 Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia 00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:26.676 Commercial Academy was a business background and it was some something 00:04:26.709 --> 00:04:31.697 like here community college. Then the first two years were like high 00:04:31.730 --> 00:04:36.877 school still in the second two years community college and you are 00:04:36.910 --> 00:04:40.906 prepared to be whatever economists, 00:04:40.939 --> 00:04:46.877 accountant, foreign trades and so on. But I got involved again through one 00:04:46.910 --> 00:04:49.906 of my friends unfortunately. 00:04:49.939 --> 00:04:53.846 Uh no, I wasn't regretting it. But if we were planning with another friend 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:58.236 that we will actually leave Czechoslovakia in the summer because when the 00:04:58.269 --> 00:05:02.647 communists took over, we couldn't really stand it. We were very much, you 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:06.957 know, young people opposed to that. But yeah, and we're holding the, you 00:05:06.990 --> 00:05:14.990 know, with a firm mhm grip the country and unfortunately, you know, we um 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:25.337 when they started this and I government student group, one guy was 00:05:25.370 --> 00:05:31.116 arrested and then it was down the line how it is usually especially among 00:05:31.149 --> 00:05:36.786 young people. And so one day they got to me also when I was in a class, I 00:05:36.819 --> 00:05:44.337 remember Russian and the secret police banging on the door, I came to the 00:05:44.370 --> 00:05:47.806 door and 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:54.116 call me and they took me to the headquarters where I was interrogated and 00:05:54.149 --> 00:06:00.356 everything. In fact, I now kind of enjoyed when I travel back, you know, 00:06:00.389 --> 00:06:04.726 I've been going through the archives and I found some of the protocol when 00:06:04.759 --> 00:06:10.267 I was but that was a more serious business. So all of us were involved in 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:14.806 this. Well a lot of people, well 00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:17.306 bye 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:24.556 14, 15 people spend Sometimes in in labor camps. The worst was about 14 00:06:24.589 --> 00:06:29.996 years and one of my schoolmates for seven years, they eventually got out 00:06:30.029 --> 00:06:34.397 sometimes earlier. But still the what's known as the communist countries, 00:06:34.430 --> 00:06:38.257 the labor which was not too far from the concentration camp they were 00:06:38.290 --> 00:06:43.007 working and the reigning in my mind's 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:47.616 But I managed to avoid it because I was arrested about two months before 00:06:47.649 --> 00:06:52.306 my 18th 18th 18th birthday. 00:06:52.339 --> 00:07:00.339 We're talking a lot about A. D. S. Now where I am now anyway. And uh so my 00:07:01.610 --> 00:07:05.226 lawyer was this and even though they told us, you know they couldn't do 00:07:05.259 --> 00:07:11.156 anything, everything was kind of a more or less decided. But we had a 00:07:11.189 --> 00:07:14.996 trial. That's who we had a four I think about three days or four days 00:07:15.029 --> 00:07:18.906 trial. And 00:07:18.939 --> 00:07:23.587 I was fortunate enough I got 10 months I think and I was supposed to do 00:07:23.620 --> 00:07:30.007 over the camp. But but then my lawyer appealed it on the basis that I was 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:37.846 juvenile still and they reduced it to have based on fine remember and I 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:43.837 didn't go to prison I would have gone to if I did something wrong but I 00:07:43.870 --> 00:07:50.796 didn't and I ended up working because it is my pita in a mine in a double 00:07:50.829 --> 00:07:56.087 mind, mine there's a minor and I spent about 3.5 years there million 00:07:56.120 --> 00:08:02.986 arrests surveys again First I was surprised because I had this mark on my 00:08:03.019 --> 00:08:07.457 background, you know what they call the caterer profile and they 00:08:07.490 --> 00:08:13.166 interrogated me and then they left me at the, I was in a combat unit in 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:19.507 near the german border actually. So you were drafted and I was drafted and 00:08:19.540 --> 00:08:25.366 first me and one former german soldier, it was also drafted because he was 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:30.056 a yugoslav citizen. But he was in that suit. Denton that determines took 00:08:30.089 --> 00:08:35.817 over first. So he had to serve in the wear marks. But he was about two 00:08:35.850 --> 00:08:39.717 years older or three years older than me. And so we had to probably more 00:08:39.750 --> 00:08:44.256 because he had to serve in World War II or three. And so we were two guys 00:08:44.289 --> 00:08:49.516 in that in that company didn't have any weapons. You know, we didn't have 00:08:49.549 --> 00:08:52.646 any white folks, nothing and the other guys were complaining and saying, 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:57.226 hey, you know it's, but I guess we were on some kind of a, they were 00:08:57.259 --> 00:09:02.616 testing us and I don't know whatever. And when we were trained to shoot, 00:09:02.649 --> 00:09:07.077 they have to give up there, you know, rifle also whenever we're shooting 00:09:07.110 --> 00:09:13.577 at that rifles at the beginning and then somehow about a month later and 00:09:13.610 --> 00:09:19.917 they said, oh yeah go and pick up your gun. So I pick up my submachine gun 00:09:19.950 --> 00:09:26.807 at that time and I was assigned as a shooter from the heavy machine gun. 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:32.907 So it was basically my training and then about a year later I was in the 00:09:32.940 --> 00:09:40.207 different maneuvers and and right here in the I guess the U. S. Marines 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:45.337 They trained for about three months or maybe more six months the basic 00:09:45.370 --> 00:09:51.646 training or the army right. But they are repeating it and I said I'm not 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:54.486 gonna go through this, make them out of business next year again. So 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:58.756 through some friends I managed to find a topic but actually have surgery 00:09:58.789 --> 00:10:05.707 on my shoulder and I find I found a job in the office. Mhm. Suddenly apart 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:10.346 six months before seven months before the end of my military service 00:10:10.379 --> 00:10:14.756 suddenly they woke up or something and they transferred me to what they 00:10:14.789 --> 00:10:22.789 call the black um hmm regiments to so called technical regiments and they 00:10:22.820 --> 00:10:28.827 were working again in the uranium mines and also architecture building new 00:10:28.860 --> 00:10:36.006 barracks and things like that and holding for the officers and also oh 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:43.506 working in the in the forest. And I was assigned to this forest group. 00:10:43.539 --> 00:10:51.136 But I was already at that time working and no my military service was you 00:10:51.169 --> 00:10:55.447 know I don't know if you are familiar with them. Check cord yes at that 00:10:55.480 --> 00:11:01.096 time when it's called Carlsbad everyone is called mary and bob. I was in 00:11:01.129 --> 00:11:05.837 Marion barber but then later I transferred to Carlos bod and was working 00:11:05.870 --> 00:11:12.976 in the office of these military establishments. Mhm And they said no you 00:11:13.009 --> 00:11:17.067 don't have to go. You know they didn't want me actually even you know to 00:11:17.100 --> 00:11:22.707 work in the forest. I have never worked in the forest in my life before. 00:11:22.740 --> 00:11:26.766 And so he said you can stay where you are. So I stayed and worked in the 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:32.947 office and eventually we were you know with the end at the end of the 00:11:32.980 --> 00:11:38.287 military service. Yeah I didn't want to go back to that mine so a friend 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:45.907 of mine again who whose brother I saved that he could complete his, 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:51.157 I was very grateful over the Oliver I didn't do it for and I think the 00:11:51.190 --> 00:11:55.207 service military service that after 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:58.207 anyway and 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:04.136 He helped me to find a job in a research institute that was 1955. 00:12:04.169 --> 00:12:10.526 And that was the beginning after Stalin died the kind of a liberalization 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:14.307 a little bit which ended up in Hungary which unfortunately as you know was 00:12:14.340 --> 00:12:18.526 suppressed by the Soviets. But at that time I already had a job at this 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:24.907 institute. So I immediately went to they had an institute 00:12:24.940 --> 00:12:30.776 who you call college that didn't wasn't under the Ministry of for 00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:35.106 Education so I could do that because I was not allowed to go to school 00:12:35.139 --> 00:12:37.207 today 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:44.807 Trial in 1949. And so I started immediately 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:48.687 that was a technical college type, there was a research institute for 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:55.236 mental origin was called. And in the meantime There was an amnesty in 1955 00:12:55.269 --> 00:13:01.807 , 10 years after the war. So most of us who were punished in 1949 applied 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:08.746 to finish our schools so that was granted that I'm not saying. And I 00:13:08.779 --> 00:13:14.276 finished commercial academy and immediately applied for entrance at the 00:13:14.309 --> 00:13:21.297 Technical University. Well one year after that Also I think 58 1958. And 00:13:21.330 --> 00:13:27.256 then came another kind of clam down in the communist countries in 00:13:27.289 --> 00:13:32.776 Czechoslovakia especially. And I was not allowed to go through to this 00:13:32.809 --> 00:13:39.407 college. So I worked at the research institute that was eventually. Mhm. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:45.646 Okay good. Appointed as a manager of his treatment laboratory heat 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:51.006 treatment of metals that is mostly iron metal still. 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.506 And then I 00:13:54.539 --> 00:14:01.657 58 59. Yes I tried again to not the technical college but Charles 00:14:01.690 --> 00:14:07.846 University and past the and forensic exam I was admitted I must admit you 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:13.427 know I was very lucky. I studied Charles University during those years 00:14:13.460 --> 00:14:19.746 that were kind of a Getting more and more liberal. So they established a 00:14:19.779 --> 00:14:22.506 program in 1959 00:14:22.539 --> 00:14:30.539 And I got into it in 1960 which was found. Um No it's mine. I have a copy 00:14:32.409 --> 00:14:39.197 of my diploma because sometimes people say you have a PhD I said no I have 00:14:39.230 --> 00:14:45.037 a PhD are and what is that? I said well it's a philosophy degree but it's 00:14:45.070 --> 00:14:52.896 not a PhD research being is like something we award here E. D. The 00:14:52.929 --> 00:14:55.746 education doctorate. 00:14:55.779 --> 00:15:02.707 Well I can leave it here with. Okay well we'll pick it up on the camera. 00:15:02.740 --> 00:15:09.106 So it's it's it's in latin. Of course it's in Prague yeah and it's a 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:14.756 philadelphia doctor is the infamous whatever you know. I don't know do you 00:15:14.789 --> 00:15:21.526 speak alright then a little bit information science and librarian ship and 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:29.559 it translates into english or check whatever I'll live in here. And 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:38.907 some aspects of my background, my studying channels or terrific 00:15:38.940 --> 00:15:43.557 because of these professors. Not only veritas of others in my technical I 00:15:43.590 --> 00:15:48.746 was studying technical like range you would call it in a simple language 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:56.779 in those days. Right? And but they had a good for instance catalog and and 00:15:56.929 --> 00:16:00.337 active physicians. What do you call in library school. But they didn't 00:16:00.370 --> 00:16:08.370 really teach much what we put lot of emphasis on here. Reference works 00:16:08.740 --> 00:16:16.740 from then on because we, most people I don't remember that much back. But 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:23.856 In 1968 it was so called Prague Spring in Lanka where the Russians 00:16:23.889 --> 00:16:29.646 eventually invaded and crushed it. But we left before the sprague Prague 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:35.177 Spring it started getting a little free or before we couldn't get 00:16:35.210 --> 00:16:41.996 passports to travel to the west. I had a passport for the East. Hungary so 00:16:42.029 --> 00:16:50.029 on. But of those business trips. And so we applied in 19 66 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:59.840 before that we were rejected. And several times actually we tried and 00:17:00.340 --> 00:17:04.197 1967 We got the passports and we got an invitation for Dutch friends who 00:17:04.230 --> 00:17:11.026 visited us before so we decided to that was our way out. Legal or illegal. 00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:15.967 Now you've changed from I to we there's a girl in here someplace. Well 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:24.000 yes, I got married. I So far skip my important part of my life. My wife we 00:17:25.250 --> 00:17:28.207 married 1960 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:35.387 one. Yes. And she got almost fired because of me because she worked for a 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:41.086 so called Foreign trade corporation. And they were very strict on my mike 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:46.907 cater profile was not very good even though I was already in college. 00:17:46.940 --> 00:17:52.736 So she said I think they will fire me. But then she became pregnant with 00:17:52.769 --> 00:17:58.006 our daughter who was born in Prague. And 00:17:58.039 --> 00:18:05.006 then it was kinda softer and softer. And we left, as I mentioned in 1967. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:11.006 That means me and my wife and our daughter who was about four then and 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:15.397 went to Holland and they were taking very good care of us because we 00:18:15.430 --> 00:18:21.097 helped their friends in Prague and they said, okay, well again visit you 00:18:21.130 --> 00:18:27.736 in Prague. But our intention wasn't going bad once we was, you know, once 00:18:27.769 --> 00:18:32.687 we were don't overdo it. Totalitarian world. Even though it was much 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:38.717 softer than we we had friends over here in phoenix Arizona that actually 00:18:38.750 --> 00:18:46.476 leads to how I got here. Yeah. So anyway, we asked we instead of ratings 00:18:46.509 --> 00:18:53.847 probably went to Germany applied for asylum when we refugee camp. I and 00:18:53.880 --> 00:18:59.806 after about a month we were interviewed or interrogated in my case I think 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:07.839 well, you know with the military services both by american U. S. Army and 00:19:10.130 --> 00:19:15.717 then uh in german also. And they found out that they probably knew more 00:19:15.750 --> 00:19:22.026 Also that I am Green wasn't I remember on the Communist Party that I had 00:19:22.059 --> 00:19:26.177 every colorful background and he said yes, you can apply for the 00:19:26.210 --> 00:19:28.210 citizenship.