At the Faculty of Architecture of VUT, a commemorative plaque was unveiled for a former student

Brno - On Thursday, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the Faculty of Architecture of VUT in Brno for former student Pavel Švanda, whose body was found at the bottom of the Macocha Abyss in October 1981. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he became involved in activities against the communist regime. His death was never definitively investigated, but his former friends and relatives believe that the State Security (StB) had a hand in it, as they showed interest in him.

The author of the memorial plaque is Jan Šebánek, and Roman Antl, who studied at the faculty in the second half of the 1980s, contributed to it. He learned about the story only from the internet. Eight years ago, Adam Drda, the creator of the Czech Radio series Stories of the 20th Century, detailed the story.

In addition to studying architecture, Švanda also wrote prose, poetry, engaged in philosophy, and associated with both Catholic and Protestant youth. He also became involved in the activities of Charter 77. Shortly before his death, he traveled to Italy, although people with a profile similar to his could not expect to travel to the West. He visited his great-uncle and priest Tomáš Špidlík there. He could have emigrated, but he returned home. After his death, police told his then-fiancée not to spread rumors about "suicide," as the case was turned over to the StB for state protection and because Švanda had previously been abroad.

The police returned to the case only in 1990 after the fall of the communist regime; until then, the theory of suicide prevailed. However, after four years of reopening the case, it was closed again due to lack of evidence. Thus, the last moments of his life will remain unresolved.

However, after years, Švanda's fiancée recalled several discrepancies in the investigation dossier. She rejected the suicide theory also because she believed Švanda was a deeply religious and balanced person who had a perspective on life.