This is a diary of a visit to the Slovak Eastern part of the former Czechoslovakia in August The diary starts with the train journey from Vienna to Bratislava, by which route I had entered the country. It is an almost exact printed version of what was originally handwritten at the time. Like most British people I was not adequately aware of the distinct Slovak national identity within the former Czechoslovakia and sometimes used the word "Czech" in the diary when in fact the people or things were in all likelihood Slovak.
Similarly, some of the Soviet Army personnel described as "Russian" may in fact have been non-Russian Soviet citizens. In a few places I had got a day or date wrong or made other minor errors, or some words had been obscured by later damage to the paper. Corrections or Clarifications are offered in square brackets. The demolition of housing near to the Castle may have been not for the primary purpose of improving people's housing conditions but also or instead for other more questionable objectives.
The entry for the evening of 21st. August refers to the roof of the hotel but my later recollection is that I did not go on to the roof but viewed the demonstration from my room. The bridge over the Danube referred to was a fairly low -level metal bridge which carried railway, roadway and footway and not the more modern, high-level road bridge. I do not think that this prominent latter feature had then been built.
My later recollection is that the small leaflet in fact definitely was handed by an apparently high-ranking Russian soldier to the Slovak man on the far side of the Danube. Although not actually said in the Diary I distinctly remember the contrast in atmosphere between Wednesday 21st. August, when there was an uncertain, seemingly fluid situation, and Friday 23rd.
By this time there was a quieter, tenser and more menacing atmosphere with Slovak people no longer talking to Soviet soldiers, who were by then standing guard with submachine guns at key points etc. The Slovak population were thronging the pavements but only using them to get from A to B in a quiet and businesslike manner. I did not have a camera and did not have any knowledge of the Slovak or Russian language. Tuesday Arrived at Bratislava shortly before midnight.
