Our Antonio has passed away
“You must use effort, regret, pain, and humility to accumulate and protect the light inside you. It is the sense of all your work. This world does not expect anything else. If you are not light, you do not give anything”. These are the words of our Tonko, who was a very part of our festival since 2010, and it was since then that he held the final appearance− the ecumenical Mass. We had long been trying to have a mass at the end of the festival, but there always were some obstacles up until Tonko−a lover and advocate of freedom− appeared and said “I do not have to ask anyone, I will come and do it”.
07. January 2016
Thus, along with Daniel Pastirčák and Anka Polcková, they prepared the best conclusion of Pohoda that can be offered. And so it continued until last year, when Tonko did not come to the festival himself, but sent a video message and helped to celebrate the mass despite his illness. Tonko is an example of how to fulfil own recommendations the very best way possible−he was (and is) a light; he brought light into dark places, not just symbolically but literally as well: he spent several years in the darkness of uranium mines. Just because he wanted to live and study freely, he was punished by the then regime as a criminal. This experience did not break him; on the contrary, he helped illuminate the lives of people he met in the hardships.
He is a man who flew where many of us cannot see, yet he stood on the ground and did not stop bringing light to those most needy, those at the bottom. Just remember his help to homeless people in his re-socialization centre Resoty. He was alone on the edge, when people of his kin, despite−or because of? −the enormous power of his light could not accept him. If you read his comments before 1989 and after, you will find a kind of symbolism in them: he proudly stood for faith and love during a regime that punished and prohibited his view of the world. The pride was also a risk for him and a rigid delimitation against totalitarianism. After the liberation, when this world view began to show spectacularly, he began with harsh criticism, which returned like a boomerang, but he did not relent. On the contrary, he continued to proudly his light, fearless to comment on touchy topics. We will miss Tonko, but we are sure that we will continue to feel his gracious strength. This sad article will conclude with another of his quotes: “I wish you the gift to enjoy. Despite everything. We still have lots of reasons”. One of those reasons was and is our dear Tonko Srholec and his life story, which now continues in heaven. Thank you for everything.