Zdeněk Boháč

* 1922  †︎ 2012

  • During the time I was there, I dealt virtually with the whole contemporary government, with all the then ministers except Gottwald and Sramek. There was even one minister of Nat Soc., with whom I have dealt several times. Once I was on the street and a Tatraplán car stopped (these were the cars that they were using at the time) and [someone]said, "Where are you going, we'll take you with us, please ...". Indeed, I was with them for many hours - negotiating. I was also taken to the Castle, "in the interest of youth" by the Secretary of the President. I remember the moment when I got there... [There was] the Western Army colonel, who was already there before I got there, and they called me before him. This offended him terribly, it was really obvious.

  • Day eight of the May radio broadcast message: "Students, come to Klementinum, we will create a Student Legion and you will watch the academic buildings". Since the public transportation did not work I walked from Strašnice to Klementinum. On the way, I met two Vlasov soldiers – the Vlasov army rescued Prague – They were walking down the deserted street watching windows because fanatical German snipers were lurking from windows shooting at people in order to have revenge by murdering as many Czech people as possible. They [Vlasov soldiers] were walking around and looking at the windows. When they caught sight of someone they opened fire. And so I came to the Klementinum where a group of students had gathered. Many had come from the concentration camp of Sachsenhausen. They were the students who had been arrested and taken to the concentration camp.

  • So just before, a shot sounded on Nerudovka street. We heard it but could not tell exactly where the shot had been fired from. Somewhere near where the Masaryk Memorial stands today, somewhere in that direction. Then I heard a woman's voice cry out: „A colleague has been shot ". We were told to retreat but as we did [policemen] from down the street started beating us. Some ran fast, but at the same time another regiment of police ran from Pohořelec and began to make arrests. I was there with a friend, and I told to him: „Man, don't be silly! We mustn´t run! They will arrest us too! " So we stood on the sidewalk and [the police] drove around us, not paying us any attention because we were standing on the sidewalk. As a result we were not arrested. We went away quietly.

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    Byt sběrače KK, 03.05.2012

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Never stay aside

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Zdeněk Boháč
photo: Foto zpracovatel KK

  Mr. Zdeněk Boháč was born on January 24, 1922 in Lomnice nad Lužnicí. Two years after his birth the family moved to the Strašnice neighborhood in Prague. The family strongly believed in the ideals of T.G Masaryk, including his grandfather who was mayor of Strašnice. Zdenek Bohač was a member of the Sokol organization that his grandfather founded in Strašnice. As a student, Mr. Bohač experienced the Nazi mobilization in 1938. During his student years he was meet with several people at the apartment of Russian legionar Mr. Ladislav Bechyně. The group’s intension was to become involved in the anti-Nazi resistance movement, which eventually became a reality. Their messanger was the son of a legionar Mr. Bechyně. There was a plan to meet on May 31, 1942 in Mr. Bechyně’s apartment, but after the assassination of Heydrich May 27, 1942 orders were given to the Czech police by the Gestapo to arrest anyone who appeared at the apartment. Zdeněk Boháč was with his friends in Pankrác prison and interrogated in the Pečkárna. With the help of Blaník, the police resistance organization, the group escaped virtually unscathed. At the time of the Prague uprising, Mr. Boháč joined the newly formed Student Legion which was tasked with the safeguarding of the academic buildings. Later he joined the Student Resistance Movement, under the organization of the Union of Czechoslovak youth. For his work Mr. Boháč was elected to the committee. He was assigned to the Czechoslovak Union of Youth where he worked in the secondary school department. However, he continued to work for the Resistance Committee. When a campaign to support the border region was organized, he volunteered. The purpose of this campaign was to ensure order during the transfer of Germans. In Karlovy Vary, he became an employee of the District Administrative Commission. After this work was accomplished, Mr. Boháč enrolled in medical school and at the same time became involved in political life. In 1948 he took part in the student march to the Castle of Prague. The march was brutally dispersed by police and many participants were arrested but Mr. Boháč and his companion managed to escape. Because of his political activities, he was banned from further university studies. However, as an anti-communist resistance fighter, he had very limited choice of employment. Eventually he was allowed  to work as an X-ray technician as no one else was interested in this dangerous job. At work, he again proved to be an anti-regime rebel and was asked to leave. After his release from the radiology department at Bulovka, he found a position at the Research Institute of Fuels, thanks to Dr. Svoboda. From this job he moved to the Biological Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences . Dr. Boháč was the chairman of the Prague Academic Club 48 and provided a great service by assuring that the wrongs of the postwar period are not forgotten. He died on November 25, 2012.