I simply cannot forget the day of the liberation
Jiří Jeřábek was born September 22, 1935 in Prague. As a young boy he witnessed the Prague Uprising and he still vividly remembers the events of May 1945. His family lived in the Prague-Pankrác neighbourhood at that time. Barricades were built there and part of the Red Army soldiers set up their camp nearby after the war. Jiří studied secondary technical school of chemical engineering and he began working in the company Barvy a laky (Paints and Varnishes). While working there he also became a member of the Communist Party. During the Prague Spring in 1968 he participated in the reform youth committee and he took part in transformation of the Czechoslovak Youth Union (ČSM) to the newly established Socialist Youth Union (SSM). Jiří was expelled from the Party after the occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, but thanks to his friend he managed to find a good job in the trade company Imex. At present he lives in a retirement home in the Chodov neighbourhood in Prague.