"When the Salesian Václav Filipec came back, he was actually a kind of deputy leader in Ostrava, and I went to school and he took advantage of the fact that... He couldn't even send mail, he couldn't even use the phone, everything had to be done in person. So he told me... it was a system: 'Tomorrow you are not going to school, you áre going to Liberec.' Or: 'You are going to the Slovak border.' And there was a secret inspector, Karel Tinka, Father Karel Tinka. So he was in charge. And I went all over the country as a kind of liaison. That was one thing. If they had found out, I would have gotten years in prison."
"I woke up at 3:30 because there was noise and a machine gun pointed at me. I was less than seventeen years old, so it was not good. Even the machine gunner went to the toilet with me and so on. They dragged girls from Místek and from everywhere and normally... there was mass wine because there used to be masses there. So they were drinking wine and talking very loudly and then simulating mouldy meat. They sprinkled the meat with flour and then it was in the weekly newspaper: 'Those rows of white meat. Our children have nothing to eat, and there they let the meat rot.' Then it was all in the weekly. Well, there were two representatives left. One economist and one educator... supposedly. They stayed and watched us and three policemen."
"So then I decided to stay with the Salesians. I liked it very much. Working with the youth and so on. And because especially the director and everybody else said I was a good fit for the vocation, they agreed. The director was Father Oldřich Med. That was two Meds. One was Jan, who went to India at the age of eighteen, and he was there, I think, until he was ninety-five. And Oldřich, who was two years older, and he just received me, and I owe a lot to him. He was a fantastic person. Well, and normally... because I was recommended [to the novitiate] - that was in Hodoňovice, not far from here. That's where I was caught up in that terrible April, when State Security and the militia raided the monasteries."
Miroslav Machálek was born on 23 December 1933 in Částkov near Uherský Brod into the family of František Machálek and his wife Anna, née Šústková. His father was a member of the People‘s Party, so he led his children to faith. Already at a young age Miroslav Machálek decided to follow the Salesian way of life and devote himself to work with youth. In 1946 he entered the private Salesian gymnasium in Fryšták. He then decided to enter the novitiate and take religious vows. In April 1950, he was caught in the novitiate in Hodoňovice by the so-called „Action K“. The leaders were interned and the young novices had to leave. Miroslav, however, took refuge with the Oratorians in Ostrava, where he continued his Salesian activity. Subsequently, he also became involved in illegal activities. He helped spread Christian literature and served as a liaison. After being expelled from the Mining College in 1957, he joined the mine where he focused on the safety of miners. He later worked at the Scientific Research Institute of Coal in Radvanice, where he worked for 25 years. Despite the obstacles, he did not abandon his faith, although his spiritual journey took a different direction. In the 1970s, he earned an engineering degree, but was expelled from Salesian life because of his alleged collaboration with State Security. After the revolution, it became clear that this was a mistake, and he became involved in the church again. He studied theology in Olomouc, led catechesis and participated in the construction of the spiritual complex in Hrabyně. In 2024 he was living with his wife in Ostrava-Hrabówka.
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!
