I was never easy for me

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Roland Berauer was born on March 4, 1935 in Pec pod Sněžkou into a German family. During the Second World War he lived with his brother and father in Josefov near Jaroměř. Part of the family was affected by the post-war deportation of the German inhabitants. Roland spent two years in a Salesian orphanage. His father ended up in Soviet captivity after the war, from where he returned after several years. The family moved several times after that until they settled in Kersk in Central Bohemia. Roland trained as a miner and then worked for five years in the mine in Kladno. During that time he also met Bohumil Hrabal. He subsequently assembled scaffolding and continued in this profession until his retirement. He was involved in the construction of the broad gauge railway in Košice, the construction of a hospital in Mongolia, the repair of St. Vitus Cathedral, the construction of the highway and the filming of Amadeus. He devoted his whole life to photography, in 1968 he worked in the editorial office of the magazine Scout Junák. He documented the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968 and the funeral of Jan Palach. Roland Berauer died on January 14, 2025.