“As for the weapon: my father gave it to the English to try it in 1941 and they had put it aside as useless. They knew already back then that the Germans were about to equip tanks with double-armour and that the weapon could not make it through. But my father continued with its development and managed to increase its penetration to nearly double the one of conventional weapons. He adapted it for light cannons and also for the most used rifles in England. When it had all been proven, he gave it to the English’s disposal again and this time they began to produce it. Part of the production took place in Sweden – that was too far north for the Germans to get there. The weapon worked and was used most importantly during the invasion. For this reason, it is still on display in a war museum in Ottawa where there is a whole room dedicated to my father.”
“Initially, commanders of the Soviet army which liberated us had been accommodated in our chateau. The state-appointed manager would apologize to them for not moving us out yet, saying it was soon on the agenda. And one of the commanders shouted at him: ‘While all of you hid in your homes, the Janeček’s helped us all. We got equipment and food from them in Slovakia. They naturally deserve to remain living here and to get a life-long support from their factory which you are obviously about to nationalize.’ They promised us what was a lot at that time, some five thousand. And they paid us twice. They had use move out only later, in 1947. This was because my mother supported the Soviet partisans in Slovakia. And above all Auschwitz. Through a doctor we were able to get in medicine. We had been sending support there for two years.”
“In 1934 Jawa participated in the 1000 miles race – twice the return journey from Prague to Bratislava, winning the second place. In 1935 we produced six beautiful automobiles; one of them is now refurbished in the National Technical Museum. And those automobiles not only won it, not only they got the Czechoslovak President’s prize for the best team but they also improved the 1934 record by almost two and a half hours. And that is something! However, two serious accidents have happened there, one of them ending with death and the other one with a two-year recovery of the racer Turek who had to undergo several head surgeries. And for this reason, my father and my grandfather decided never to use this victory for advertising purposes. And they never did. I would want to see today’s companies doing this. Back then, there was a sense of ethics.”
Karel Janeček was born in August 1927 in Náchod. His grandfather František Janeček was a businessman, an engineer and an inventor. In the 1920s František Janeček focused mostly on arms production while in the 1930s he became the producer of famous automobiles and motorcycles Jawa. His son František Karel continued in his footsteps and bought a chateau in Kvasiny. Further expansion of the company was interrupted by the WW II when the factories refocused on arms industry. František Karel Janeček immigrated to England and engaged in the improvement of arms and weapon systems. He decided to stay in England after the war. His son Karel initially wanted to follow the family tradition and left for England to be with his father and study engineering. However since he could have only started university two years later, he returned to Czechoslovakia in which the communists were just getting to power. Karel begun to study at Czech Technical University in Prague but because the secret police followed him as a person with improper family profile, he quit the school two years later and instead pursued his other talent, graduating from violin at Prague Conservatory. Then he returned to the technical school which he concluded in 1953. However, for political reasons, a degree was never issued to him. After that, Karel underwent a military service with the Auxilliary Technical Battalions. Upon return, he fully devoted himself to music. For a short period he worked as a concertmaster of the symphonic orchestra in Mariánské Lázně. He had spent a large part of his life as a music teacher. His engineering degree was issued to him only in 1991. He died on June 17, 2020.
Hrdinové 20. století odcházejí. Nesmíme zapomenout. Dokumentujeme a vyprávíme jejich příběhy. Záleží vám na odkazu minulých generací, na občanských postojích, demokracii a vzdělávání? Pomozte nám!
