Sergey Chernichkin: “Besides the restaurant business, I can’t do anything, it was useful to me in the Czech Republic. Dobrenky Sergey Ivanovich

Candidate historical sciences(2006), Associate Professor of the Department of Regional History and Local Lore of the Historical and Archival Institute of the Russian State University for the Humanities.

Area of ​​scientific interests and scope of scientific activity:

Specialist in the field of historical local history, the history of museums and libraries in Russia, church local history, history and culture of the Russian North.

Scientific and pedagogical activity:

At the Russian State University for the Humanities since 2001. He has lectured on Historical Regional Studies, Museums and Libraries, Museums of Moscow and the Moscow Region, Reserve Museums of Russia, History and Culture of the Russian North.

Main publications:

• City church and parish chronicle of the Peter and Paul Church in Simbirsk // Source study and local history in the culture of Russia. Collection for the 50th anniversary of Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt's service to the Institute of History and Archives. - M., 2000. S. 282-285.
• Church and parish chronicles of the Nikolsky district of the Vologda province of the second half of XIX-beginning of the XX century // Nikolskaya antiquity: Historical and ethnographic essays / Ed. ed. S. A. Tikhomirov. - Vologda, 2000. S. 356-382.
• A. I. Musin-Pushkin and Church Chronicle of the late XVIII - early XIX V. // 200 years of the first edition of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign": Materials of anniversary readings on the history and culture of ancient and new Russia. August 27-29, 2000 Yaroslavl-Rybinsk. - Yaroslavl, 2001. S. 330-333.
• Church local history 2nd floor. XIX-beginning 20th century as a phenomenon of provincial culture // Open Cultures: Proceedings of the All-Russian Scientific Conference. Ulyanovsk, May 23-25, 2002 / Ed. ed., comp. V. A. Gurkin. - Ulyanovsk, 2002. S. 94-97.
• City church chronicles historical source: To the formulation of the problem // Cities of European Russia of the late XV - first half of the XIX century: Materials of the international scientific conference April 25-28, 2002, Tver-Kashin-Kalyazin: At 2 o'clock - Tver, 2002. Part 1. S. 132-136.
• Reflection of historical local lore and regional history in Russian historiography of the end XX-early XXI centuries // Regional studies. (Local history and local communities). Issue. 2: Collection / Comp. and ed. A.A. Shablin. - Ryazan, 2004. S. 19-28.
• Church and parish chronicles of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. as a source for local history // Local history in Russia: History. Current state. Prospects for development: Materials of the All-Russian seminar of local historians "Love for small homeland- a source of love for the Fatherland ": Zaraysk, January 30, 2004 / Ed. ed. S.O. Schmidt. M., 2004. S. 112-118.
• Church and parish chronicles of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries in the regional archives of Russia (On the example of State Archive Vologda region and the State Archive of the Ulyanovsk Region) // Archives of the Russian Orthodox Church: ways from the past to the present / M., 2005. (Tr. IAI; v. 36) S. 369-375.
• Church and parish chronicles mid-nineteenth- the beginning of the 20th century in Russian provincial historiography // V.O. Klyuchevsky and the problems of Russian provincial culture and historiography: materials of scientific. conf. (Penza, June 25-26, 2001): in 2 books. / Rev. ed. S.O. Schmidt. - M., 2005. Book. II. pp. 40-44.
• Church and parish chronicles of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. as a source on the history of the Moscow region // History and culture of the Moscow region: problems of study and teaching: Sat. materials of the Second Regional Scientific and Practical Conference (Kolomna, May 19, 2005). - Kolomna, 2005. - S. 69-71.

My path to the Euro, to the semi-final Russia - Spain, was intricate and not straightforward. I got to Vienna via Prague and Bratislava. In Prague, I had 5 hours in the city before transferring to another plane. I used this time for a walking tour through the historical center of Prague.

Several photos from Prague and also from Karlovy Vary were taken during my previous trip to Prague last September.

The main attraction of Prague is Charles Bridge across the Vltava River, built back in the days of knights and their beautiful ladies. It is decorated with 30 statues. In the top photo, he is second from us. And this is a non-tourist view of the bridge:

On both sides, the bridge is closed by watchtowers, which are also the gates to the city:

View from the tower to the "Old Place":

There are a lot of artists, swindlers and artists on the bridge:

Famous Prague rooftops:

The main square of Prague is the Old Town Square. On the one hand, it is decorated with the Tyn Church:

And with another Old Town Hall with the famous astronomical clock:

Another famous square is Wenceslas. In fact, this is not really a square, but rather a long, wide boulevard. During the festivities, traffic is blocked and the square is filled with people.

Monument to Kafka, who lived and worked in Prague:

The Czechs suffered greatly mentally from the "Soviet occupation" and are very afraid of the return of the communists. main museum Prague - Museum of Communism:

Previously, on the site of this metronome there was a huge monument to Stalin. Now the metronome is ticking and reminiscent of the communist past:

Houses in Prague used to have no numbers. Instead, each house had its own name. This house still retains its nameplate:

The local police are afraid of street hooligans, so the entrance to the police station is equipped with a concierge and a combination lock:

Monuments in Prague are very peculiar:

Since I started talking about the Czech Republic, it is impossible not to mention Karlovy Vary. This is a resort town famous for its hydropathic baths. The city is built in a hollow and all the houses climb up rather steep slopes. A small stream flows below.

Karlovy Vary has 12 healing water springs:

Sergey Chernichkin

The story of Sergey Chernichkin, who renovated an old Czech brewery and recently opened a restaurant in the center of Prague, is good example for those who cannot decide on courageous deeds and who cease to believe in their own strength. Talking with Sergey, you begin to think that nothing is impossible.

With Russian experience - to a Czech brewer

Ten years ago Sergei Chernichkin came to Prague with his wife Zlata. Behind him was a serious experience in the restaurant business in Yekaterinburg. “Besides working in a restaurant, I can’t do anything,” says Sergey, smiling. For ten years of living in the Czech Republic, it turned out that this work includes not only the ability to find win-win options, but also work with the restoration of real architectural monuments, which few locals will undertake.

By moving to Prague, Sergei Chernichkin was prompted by a case. One day, a Czech who worked at the Czech Embassy came to his restaurant in Yekaterinburg. Over time, the acquaintance grew stronger, and Sergei, who already knew the Czech Republic from the stories of his friend, decided to go to Prague as a tourist. Both Prague and the country as a whole made a unique impression on the Chernichkin family. Young people, having returned home, without thinking twice, got together and after some time arrived in Prague. Experience in the restaurant business came in handy here. True, many things had to be rebuilt taking into account the Czech mentality. But the demands on the staff, the culture of service, the quality of the cuisine (now Czech) and the observance of hygiene standards, laid down during the years of work in Russia, could no longer be exterminated.

Initially, Sergey's plans were to open something in Germany. Then at least 15 more options were considered. But a brewery in the town of Kynšperk nad Ohří turned out to be a tempting place to realize the dream. The local brewer became a victim of political and economic troubles in the country in the second half of the last century. The old owners left the country, in socialist times the brewer was nationalized, and beer was no longer brewed in it already in 1951. The equipment was transported to Cheb and Karlovy Vary.

The once famous and glorious brewer fell into decline, which, in fact, was in the interests of large producers of the national Czech drink, who did not even have to buy it in order to ... close it later. That was the way they dealt with small competitors in the 1990s, Sergei says.

The second life of the Kinshpersky estate

And suddenly, in 2011, they remembered the abandoned brewery in the town of Kinshperk, started talking, and began to write. This happened due to the fact that the complex was acquired by the company "Absolut Active", owned by Russian entrepreneurs Denis Sabitov and Sergey Chernichkin. According to Sergei Chernichkin, this was exactly what he was looking for. Before that, I had to go around at least 15 abandoned breweries. The city with a population of five and a half thousand people is located on the border with Germany and not far from Karlovy Vary, from where tourists travel in large buses.

Taking into account all these nuances, the restoration of the complex began. Today, in addition to beer production, Kynšperský dvorec has a restaurant with 180 seats, a summer terrace with 120 seats and a banquet hall, the building is being restored into a hotel, a fitness center with SPA treatments and beer baths. Excursions are conducted, Kinshpersky beer and souvenirs are sold.

“It is important for us that the brewer has traditions that originated more than 400 years ago,” says Sergey. – We not only found in the archives documents signed in 1595 by Rudolf II for permission to brew beer, a copy today can be seen in the restaurant by each of our guests, but many interesting facts. We have seven types of beer, one of them is made according to an old recipe. We have an experimental 50 liter brewer. We try, we introduce something, we refuse something, depending on whether we like it or not.”

In addition to the “tens”, “twelve”, semi-dark and dark, already loved by the guests, seasonal honey beer is brewed, the recipe of which was brought by the former owners of the brewer. They learned about the opening of their plant from the German media and wanted to see the people who managed to give a second life to an abandoned and forgotten complex.

It happened a year and a half ago, when Peter Friderik Haas arrived in Kinsperk (the surname is translated from German as “hare”). When he saw what work had been done, he was surprised and very pleased not only with the scale, but also with the fact that the new owners treated the history of the brewer with respect. After all, it is thanks to this family that in the second half 19th century the brewer was living the heyday.

On the walls of the restaurant there are portraits of the former owners, old photographs connected with the past of the whole family. In addition, Peter Haas was pleased to learn that a book about the history of the Kinsper brewer is being planned. And he really liked the Hare beer.

Everything is around beer and local traditions

“For all the time of my life in the Czech Republic, I realized that there is no bad beer here,” Sergey Chernichkin believes. – We had to do our own thing, revive traditions, using the experience of local specialists. Miroslav Broz, a beer brewer with extensive experience, works at our brewery. He worked in Karlovy Vary until the brewery there was closed in 2000.”

In Kinsperk, the population watched with curiosity as the dilapidated brewery was reborn right before their eyes. The opening restaurant hired a local chef, an excellent specialist who knows his business and is ready not only to monitor the quality of traditional Czech dishes, but also to develop new recipes: since they have already begun to brew beer, you can try and start raw materials in the experiment. Beer ice cream has become a hit with both adults and children this summer. It is prepared every morning according to its own recipe, the process takes about two hours. Draniki and bread are made using malt and barley. But the drink "pivovitsa" is already becoming very popular, despite its high price. One liter of this drink, which tastes like whiskey with a hint of malt, is obtained by distilling fifteen liters of beer. It is clear that they will not do this in large quantities, but as a local "know-how" everyone can try it. Everything that is included in the beer production - malt, hops, yeast - is also used in the kitchen.

In Kinsperk, they decided to use beer for health as well. For the soon-to-be-opened fitness center with spa treatments and beer baths, Karlovy Vary doctors are already developing beer-based treatment packages.

When developing a lemonade recipe for children, they nevertheless moved away from beer, but instead they made lemonade based on natural syrups, the shelf life is short because of this, but the taste is excellent. The only problem that I had to face unexpectedly was the production of kvass. It has not yet been possible to make real kvass in the Czech Republic, because there are no ... raw materials here. But no one is going to retreat, they will have to bring raw materials from the homeland of kvass by next summer.

"At the Hare" in the center of Prague

In April of this year, Sergey Chernichkin opened the restaurant "U Zaytsa" (U Zajice) in the Old Town in Prague. “We originally had the idea to sell our own beer through a chain of our own restaurants,” Sergey recalls. We were looking for a suitable location in the city center. The main condition is at least 500 square meters. And then, when we saw this empty building on Michalska Street, which once housed a music club, we realized that it suits us.”

Suitable means you need to work. Repair and restoration work lasted only one month. Why delay when the season is approaching? The restaurant was opened in a building that is an architectural monument of the XIII century with all the ensuing consequences. Repairs were possible only in permitted places, medieval stones were supposed to remain inviolable.

The work was carried out under the control of the Inspectorate for the Protection of Ancient Monuments, albeit at an accelerated, but careful pace. For Sergei Chernichkin, unwittingly, Czech history has become a subject of study, and today it is already a permanent hobby. Now he himself works with interest in archives and libraries with documents. He proudly tells that the restaurant "At the Hare" is located in the building with concert hall, in which Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov played at one time.

The restaurant "At the Hare" and now there are concerts different groups, meetings, fashion shows. From Friday to Sunday, a whole program for people has been prepared here. different ages and interests.

What is the most valuable

The beer of the restored brewer has already taken its place on the market in three seasons. The locals in Kynsperk are becoming regulars, a testament to the quality of the beer and cuisine. Despite the competition between the two major brewers, the locals show interest in "their" beer, sell it in their bars and even take pride in the fact that this beer is a local product.

A lot of attention is paid to the staff - not only at the plant, but also in the kitchen and in the restaurant. We need people who will cook for tourists and for regular guests on the principle: if you like it, then tomorrow will come. Chef Yaroslav Dolezhal is guided by this rule. So the chef in the Prague restaurant was chosen - Miroslav Shinkirzh. Chefs keep order and process in the kitchen.

The staff was selected carefully so that everything worked as one single mechanism. Now this is relevant again, since Sergey Chernichkin is looking for premises for another restaurant, where they will pour Zayats beer and cook delicious food. It will be in one of the residential areas of Prague. Where? This is still a work in progress.

We Russians are different from Europeans. We are a different civilization. And it becomes noticeable in everything. Including how we…occupy.

The entry of troops of the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact into Czechoslovakia in 1968 is an absolutely justified operation. We did not allow chaos in a friendly country and the destruction of our defensive belt. This is the first. Secondly, the same thing happened in Czechoslovakia (with a slight correction) as in Ukraine in 2014.-m. And thirdly, order and security in Czechoslovakia were provided not only Soviet troops, but also the military contingents of some countries of the Warsaw Pact. Including the troops of the GDR.
How did the Germans and Russians behave? What was the difference?

About this material that was sent to me by a reader of the resource website Victor Dmitrievich Bychkov. These are the stories of one direct participant in these events. He continues the theme that was opened by my story about the book I read by Yuri Galushko "Czechoslovakia-68. View of a Soviet officer from the past to the future.

Regarding Czechoslovakia and the events of 1968 that took place there.

These are my youthful memories. In 1968 I was in the 8th grade. And I remember well how we acutely experienced the events taking place there with our friends, how we felt sorry for the deceived Czechs, and were ready at any moment to move there to help. Already at the beginning of winter, somewhere in December, the elder brother of my comrade, Anikin Vladimir, returned from the army, who participated in the events that took place in Czechoslovakia.
At first, he said almost nothing, but gradually we started talking to him. was going to small company young men, they were mostly close friends of the one who returned from the army, I sometimes got there as a friend of my younger brother. There was home-made light wine, but the main thing is that we all eagerly listened to the stories of an eyewitness who had already been abroad, and even participated in such historical events. He asked not to tell anyone from his stories. However, I remember very well what he said then.

So the first thing is how he got there. He served urgently in Ukraine, at a military airfield, in some kind of airfield service. They were mainly involved in airfield security and simple things like maintaining the runway in proper order, fixing aircraft under the guidance of technicians, etc. One evening they were alerted, personal weapons, helmets, ammunition, etc. , loaded into transporters, and they flew. The soldiers noticed that in addition to ammunition and weapons, quite a lot of ammunition and other things were loaded on board. They didn’t know where they were flying, everyone thought that these were exercises.

They flew for a long time. As soon as they sat down, they quickly started unloading. The fact that this is already abroad was not understood immediately, only after dawn.

Paratroopers with their equipment were unloaded from other planes, who quickly left, and the soldiers of the narrator's unit behind the airfield near the forest and the stream pitched tents, equipping a tent city. There was a small town not far from the airfield, to which they sent armed patrols with officers. On the opposite side of the airfield there was a small air terminal and several other low airfield buildings. In the morning, the airfield employees came and looked with surprise at the soldiers, planes, etc. Need to say,
that our planes flew in quite often, they brought mainly paratroopers with equipment and other things, who quickly left.

The brought ammunition was stored right next to the runway. There were also tents in which our army airfield authorities, a communications center, etc. were located. Everything was mine.
By the middle of the day, the first signs of rejection and unfriendliness of the local population began to appear. The youth especially tried.
They shouted curses, showed all sorts of obscene gestures.
Towards evening, two motorcyclists drove onto the runway, rushing along runway, drove up to the planes, threw stones and bottles into the air intakes, windows of the aircraft cabins, etc. .. The soldiers were ordered to force them out of the strip without using weapons and force. This was done with difficulty.
Another problem is water. At first, water was collected for the kitchen and other household needs from a fairly clean stream, but soon this could not be done, because. the local population began to go and deliberately shit in the stream upstream, throw sewage, dead dogs, etc. there. Trips to the town for water were also unsuccessful - if they started to draw water somewhere, it quickly ended. Moved to another place and there the same picture. The water was turned off very quickly and in a coordinated manner. In general, water was already going to be transported by aircraft. It was also tight with firewood for the kitchen - they mostly drowned in broken boxes of cartridges, and zinc with cartridges was stacked. Airport employees did not let soldiers into the airport, use the toilet, etc. , and the soldiers had to run into the bushes on the other side of the lanes, which caused laughter from local residents and airport employees. They tried to dig a hole for a toilet for military personnel, but from the airport someone came the local chief and did not allow this to be done. Say, you can’t dig anything and that’s it. It was difficult to patrol the area around, and the town. The local population very quickly became impudent in expressing their hostility, especially the youth. They threw stones, sticks, shouted. But there was a strict order: weapons and physical strength do not apply, endure everything, show friendliness.

The situation was heating up, and this, of course, would eventually lead to bad consequences. Our soldiers would run out of patience.
Moreover, many patrols were sent and there were not enough officers for all, and often two soldiers walked without an officer. On the second day, two patrol soldiers disappeared altogether and were never found. Everyone understood that they were most likely killed and buried somewhere.

And then the Germans showed up. And the situation began to change radically. By the afternoon of the third day, a column of the German army arrived. As Volodya, who was on patrol and was just in the center of this town on the square, said, it was like in a movie about the Great Patriotic War. First motorcyclists with machine guns, then a column. Ahead and behind armored personnel carriers with machine gunners at the ready. In the center of the column is a senior officer in a car, accompanied by other officers. The column entered the square, parts of it dispersed along the streets near the square. A senior officer and his entourage got out of the car.
The elder looked around the area and the surroundings, consulted the map. Then he indicates where the headquarters will be, next to the future headquarters - a house for himself. Immediately he gives a command to his officers, showing where the units will be placed. Before that, the soldiers were sitting in cars, there was no movement, everyone was waiting. As soon as the commands were received, the work began to boil. The soldiers quickly vacated houses for headquarters and for housing for a senior officer, the rest were also engaged in accommodation under the guidance of their commanders. How were they liberated at home? It's very simple - they expelled local residents from there.

A respectable man was quickly brought to the elder, presumably the local mayor, and some other representative personalities. The eldest of the Germans briefly explained to them, or rather indicated what should be done. Since there was no smell of discussion, the local authorities did not even think of objecting, but only dragged on in front of the Germans. Moreover, the Germans all spoke German to the locals, without bothering to translate, and they understood them perfectly. The Germans behaved in a very businesslike way.
A German officer approached our patrols, saluted, and asked in Russian who they were and where their unit was located. He explained that they needed to contact the leadership of our unit. The soldiers answered, after which the officer saluted and went to report to the elder. The senior officer, accompanied by motorcyclists with machine guns, went to the location of our unit. The soldiers do not know what the senior officers were talking about, but, apparently, our commander complained about the water situation. Somewhere in the evening, two or three hours later, such a picture was visible. The Czechs quickly pulled the water supply to the location of the unit, metal pipes were laid directly on the ground or slightly dug. They also made wiring for several cranes, where they were indicated, they worked very quickly. Since then pure water was always in abundance. In addition, the Czechs began to regularly bring chopped ready-made firewood in the required quantity, i.e. and this problem was also quickly resolved.

By evening, events took place at the airfield that radically changed the attitude of the locals towards our presence. The fact is that it was possible to call at the airfield from different sides, it was not fenced. Only on one side, in the direction from the airport to the city, there was a fence.And that one is from cattle, because there was pasture. And that same local youth used it. They flew in on motorcycles, threw bottles, stones and other things at the planes, laughed at the soldiers who tried to force them out of the runways. They threw the same thing at the soldiers, and they received injuries and bruises, but they could not do anything. And on the evening of the third day after the appearance of the Germans, I drove into the lanes a car, on which four youths rushed around the runway, drove up to the planes, etc. .. The order to force them out did not give anything. However, this time the hooligans went far - they hit two soldiers with a car, seriously injuring them. The Czech airfield staff watched with laughter what was happening, with great joy meeting every successful feint of the youths and especially their run over the soldiers. And soldiers with weapons could not do anything with these youths - after all, they were not allowed to shoot.

But then, unfortunately for these youths, a German patrol drove up to the airfield on two motorcycles with machine guns. The Germans quickly understood everything. The youths, seeing the German patrol, rushed to flee along the outer lane. Behind them, or rather along a parallel strip, one motorcycle rushed. Having driven away, so that it was impossible to catch someone random, the machine gunner knocked out the car with one burst. He immediately shot two fellows sitting in the front seats. The car stopped. Two sitting behind jumped out and rushed to run.
The machine gunner fired two short bursts along the ground to the left and right of the runners. One stopped, raised his hands and walked back, the second continued to run away, trying to dodge. This caused the machine gunner to laugh, and he cut him off with a short burst, then walked from the machine gun over the already lying one with two more bursts. The second, standing with raised hands, the German beckoned to him shouting "com, com." He went like a drunk, sobbing loudly. Our officer sent soldiers, and they pulled out of the burning car two dead people who were sitting in front. Walking with raised hands and sobbing youth, the German showed where to go.
Having brought him closer to the airport, he put him on his knees, hands behind his head and stood nearby with a machine gun at the ready. The youth sobbed loudly all the time and asked for something. But the German did not pay any attention to this.
From the second patrol motorcycle they reported on what was happening to their superiors. The Czech airport staff no longer laughed and silently watched what was happening. Soon a car arrived with a German officer and two soldiers. The officer got out of the car, listened to the report of the senior patrolman, turned around and went to the nearest downed our soldier, lying on the landing strip in blood, in the place where he was shot down. He was already being treated, bandaged, put on splints, and he was moaning loudly. The officer approached, looked, saluted our officer who approached and said, pointing at the soldiers’ machine guns: “you need to shoot.” He obviously did not understand why weapons were not used in such an obvious situation. He turned and walked towards the kneeling youth. As he approached, he unfastened his holster on the move. Approaching about three meters, he shot him in the forehead, after which he calmly put the pistol back and gave a command to his soldiers.
His soldiers ran to the airport and hid there. It soon became clear why. They literally kicked everyone who was there to the site in front of the airport. When an officer approached there, the soldiers were already driving the last ones out.
On the side and behind the officer, one of the patrol motorcycles with a machine gun drove up, and the machine gunner held the whole crowd at gunpoint, silently and very cautiously looking at the officer and the machine gunner. It also seemed to us that now they would put down from a machine gun those standing in front of them. But the officer said short speech in German, which those rounded up in front of him sullenly accepted. He probably told them who's boss
and how to behave.

After that, they ran very quickly to the airport, and everything began to stir. A fire engine rushed in, putting out the tanned car, and then dragged it from the landing. Soon a tow truck took her away. Then three local policemen arrived, with whom the German officer also short conversation. The junior policemen loaded the corpses into a truck and left, while the senior policeman was taken with him by a German officer. In general, the Germans acted with such absolute confidence in their rightness and the correctness of what they were doing that all the locals involuntarily obeyed them implicitly.

After all that had happened, no one from the locals had ever come close to the airfield, except for those who worked there. In addition, an excavator arrived two hours later, and an elderly excavator asked where the Russians should dig. So the side roads and paths leading to the airport were blocked, after which a large pit was dug for a soldier's toilet, which the Czechs had not allowed to do before. Now none of the locals objected. I must also say that after that our soldiers and officers were allowed to freely enter the airport and generally everywhere. At the same time, they tried ... as if not to notice. Attempts to somehow misbehave at the airport, etc. was also no more.

And one more consequence. The next day, a team of Czech carpenters arrived and, under the leadership of a German non-commissioned officer, quickly built a rather high and solid tower on the road leading from the town to the airport. Convenient staircase, roof, double walls on the tower itself, overlapping boards, sandbags between the walls - protection from bullets.
Mounts for machine guns, a powerful searchlight on the turret. Convenient, everything is visible and everything is shot through. A barrier was also installed there and next to it a booth made of boards with glass windows, which was very convenient, especially in bad weather. Our soldiers hardly used the tower, but it was visible far away and had a very disciplining effect on the locals. Such a classic German tower.

About a week later, a group of young people, 20-30 people, came to the airfield from the grazing side, with posters “Russians go home”, with a loudspeaker into which they shouted all sorts of calls to “get out the invaders”. We approached from the side, from the side of the airport, but not very close to the runway, and did not approach the tents. The duty officer at the checkpoint sent a soldier to the tower to see if there were many of them, if there was anyone else behind them, in general, to look around.
So, as soon as the protesters saw that the soldier began to climb the tower, they immediately ran away, leaving part of the posters on the spot. Maybe they thought they were going to shoot.

Another episode I remember, which Volodya Anikin told about. With the arrival of the Germans, the situation changed dramatically. The local population was very respectful of the Germans and German patrols, fulfilled their slightest requirements. In general, it never occurred to the Czechs that one could argue or disagree with the Germans. Especially if you treat them with disrespect. And the German patrols spared no cartridges. No one dared to throw a stone at them or pour mud over them, etc. In response - instantaneous fire to kill, indiscriminately why this happened. Therefore, our patrols tried to get a German soldier in the company or even go along with the German patrol. The Germans treated this favorably. They clearly enjoyed the role of law enforcement officers.
And then one day a patrol, in which Volodya and a Russian sergeant, senior patrol, were sent to patrol the streets on the outskirts of the town. Going there, they made a detour and passed through the streets where the Germans lodged. There, near one of the houses, German soldiers were clustered, cackling merrily.
It must be said that the German soldiers, despite their discipline, had many more freedoms than our soldiers. They had more free time, they could go somewhere on their own time, etc.

Approaching our German colleagues, ours tried to somehow communicate, say or understand something. The Germans knew that Russian soldiers were often offended
local, and they were clearly flattered by the role of some sort of protector. At the very least, the German soldiers immediately realized that our soldiers had to patrol the outskirts on foot and wanted to have a German in the company for cover. I must say that the Germans usually patrolled on two motorcycles with sidecars with machine guns. Machine gunners were always at the ready...
One young soldier volunteered with ours, who immediately ran away and reported this to his non-commissioned officer, who, smiling knowingly, released the soldier. And here they are, three of them, trying to communicate. The German knows some Russian words, a lot of gestures of facial expressions, all three are fun and interesting. They are already walking along the very outskirts, along the suburbs, where everything already looks more like summer cottages. On the left is a solid fence, and then a mesh one. The German turned to a solid fence and began to relieve himself. (In general, German soldiers did not hesitate to celebrate their needs, especially small ones, almost everywhere in the city). Well, Volodya and the sergeant went a little further ahead, where the mesh fence already began. Here, from behind the fence, from the bushes, a stone flies and hits the back of our sergeant. Our patrols did not pay attention to such stones, and getting a stone on the back was a common thing. But now the German sees it, the Russian soldiers are already catching up. And the one who threw, did not see the German because of the solid fence. The reaction of a soldier of the GDR is instantaneous - he rips off the machine gun and releases the entire horn from the belt like a fan through the bushes.
Volodya says that we are standing dumbfounded with the sergeant. The German reloads his machine gun and is about to shoot some more. Volodya said that, without agreeing with the sergeant, they ran up to the German and took the machine gun from him. He resignedly gave it away, but fervently said something to them and pointed to the bushes from where the stone had flown. He clearly did not understand why the Russians did not shoot and behave so strangely.

Behind the bushes are some summer buildings, such as a plywood gazebo or something else.
From there, crying is heard. The German shows with the passion of a hunter that, they say, where the game is sitting, and it must now be punished. And our soldiers are dragging an ally away. He tries to explain something, but he is taken away and quickly. And only when the German calmed down, and moved far enough away, did ours give the German a machine gun. It was wild for us, said Volodya Anikin, to shoot at locality. And besides, giving out two horns of live ammunition, we were strictly warned that it was impossible to shoot under any circumstances. Die, but don't shoot. Why then give live ammunition, why send it somewhere? And the Germans, apparently, did not report for cartridges, and therefore they were not spared.

And some more observations of Vladimir Anikin:

“The Germans ate in restaurants that were turned into soldiers' canteens for lunchtime. The Czechs brought fresh vegetables, fruits, fresh meat, greens, etc. for them. .. Our patrols saw it well. Whether the Germans paid for this we did not know, but they ate much better against us. We are mostly porridge and stew.
Soup borsch - also with stew. There was no variety or variety. But here's what we've learned to do. There, they had quite a lot of deer and roe deer roaming through the fields and forests, which were little afraid of people. Once they saw how a German truck stopped and an officer sitting in the cab, taking a machine gun from a soldier, shot a deer, which the German soldiers dragged into the back and left. An example has been provided.
We asked from German soldiers cartridges and shot deer. They quickly butchered, took away the meat. The machine gun from which they shot was quickly cleaned. If they asked who failed, they said that the Germans. What will you take from the Germans? They do what they want. Of course, many of the officers guessed, or maybe they knew, that we were shooting, but such welding and such explanations suited everyone. So we ate venison.
Another reason why it was beneficial to be friends with the Germans is that they went to any pubs, where a separate table was always immediately provided for them, even if the pub was overcrowded. They ordered beer, and the beer there was very good, and after drinking, they left without paying. We didn’t have Czech money, but the Germans may have had it, but they didn’t pay. And why - in front of them the Czechs already bent.

About the German organization of business. Again, our patrols, which stuck out in the center of the city, saw that every morning the local mayor was stretched out waiting for a senior German officer in front of his house. He went to his headquarters in the morning. Sometimes he gave instructions to this mayor, sometimes he led him and someone else to his headquarters. Those. there was a clear vertical of power, and everyone knew what he had to do. First, everything that the Germans need, and then mind your own business. Therefore, in Prague, of course, it was necessary to let the Germans in first. Firstly,
the Czechs would not strongly oppose and provoke them. And if someone had twitched, the Germans would have explained with great pleasure that this was not necessary, it would be worse for themselves.
For a police mission, the Germans are perfect. They know how to occupy and what to do with the occupied. Our army is not ready for this. Fight, yes. Win - yes. And to occupy and bend the occupied is not for us. So if the Germans were the first to be allowed into Prague, this would only strengthen the friendship of the peoples. Everyone would be fine. And the Czechs would be happy to remember now the Germans in Prague and their "European Ordnung".

In November it became very cold in the tents. Soldiers caught cold. A senior German came with his officer, who spoke Russian well,
and, talking with our commander, he said that it was impossible to live in tents. If he wants everyone to live together and be always at hand, he must take a local school. When our commander began to say that where the children would study, the German replied that let the local authorities deal with the problem of teaching local children, this is their business, and he must take care of his soldiers. This is all our signalman, who was present there, told. But our people still continued to live in tents, many were sick.”

At the end of November, Volodya was transferred to the Union and, in speed, was fired into the reserve. He already served for several months, but he understood that the situation was very difficult, he pulled the strap resignedly.
Volodya also told what the "soldier's" radio brought. But I convey only what he saw personally, with his own eyes. But what the "soldier's" radio brought in largely coincided with what he personally saw. The Czechs treat our soldiers badly, there are many provocations, sometimes with grave consequences for our soldiers, with injuries and even death. And the nobility of our soldiers only made them laugh. And the Czechs fear and respect the Germans. Although for the Germans they are second rate.
The German occupation is familiar to them, understandable, etc. And no matter how anyone bent and raped them, the “Russians” are still to blame for everything.
In 1970 I finished school and left to study. I haven't seen Vladimir since then and I don't know where he is. Almost half a century has passed, and much has changed in our lives. If he is alive - good health to him, but if he has already left - rest in peace. Surely you can find other participants in these events. Their memories would help to complete the picture of what was happening then in Czechoslovakia. A film would be good and truthful to shoot about it. Now, after all, few people remember these events.

Viktor Dmitrievich Bychkov