I only realised much later what great heroes my father and uncle were
Stáhnout obrázek
Jaroslav Opočenský was born in Litoměřice on 17 December 1949. His father Vladislav and uncle Bedřich were Volhynian Czechs from the village of Český Boratín. During World War II, they served with the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps under Ludvík Svoboda’s command and they relocated to Czechoslovakia after the war. His father settled in Chotiněves near Litoměřice. The witness lived a happy childhood there, even though in hindsight he understands that his parents’ lives at the time were affected by fear from the growing power of the communists. As a boy, he heard many stories from his father and uncle about the tough times they endured during wartime. The witness obtained gardener training at a vocational school and worked at a farming cooperative as a cattle feeder. The fact that farmers were compelled to join cooperatives – often forcibly – was something he did not initially perceive negatively; he believed that joining the co-ops made farmers’ work easier. He then made his living as a gardener and fruit grower. It was only after the revolution of November 1989 that the took more interest in history and realised how much communists had affected the lives of his parents and uncle. He became the chairman of the Local National Committee in Liběšice immediately after the Velvet Revolution. After that, he went on to work as a gardener in the UK for 14 years.
