Ing. Miloslav Brouček

* 1935

  • "By the time they made me into a "respectable father", it was up to the party and the government to say that I had a problem being a Christian. So I went to investigate if there was any danger to the party and the government." - "And can you clarify the word 'investigate?" - "They called me at a meeting where the communists themselves were and asked me how it is possible that a university-educated person thinks so badly. I said the reasons that I grew up in that environment and that I do not see major contradictions, I just see a contradiction in teaching that the Communists hate it. "

  • "Within the church, there were some people who considered communism to be number one enemy. And they probably said a theory like that, I'm simplifying it: Communism is from evil, if there is no communism, it will be good in the world. And unfortunately I couldn't identify with these people, because the cause of human misery is man's arbitrariness, a penchant for evil, and this can be seen in every regime, so I said that there are also good people among the communists, whom many Christians may not even touch, and I said this to Brother Ehrlich, preacher, and then I got a letter from my brother-in-law that I was a member of the Communist Party, and what a bastard I was, and that's what I told him, and I said to these guys in the church, you're here to preach Christianity to the people, and this is a struggle with sin and human corruption, and every nod in favor of human society is positive. But it is not possible to solve this matter for you."

  • "Suddenly, from a neighboring barracks from the Zobačs (I spent a part of my childhood with them) ... so there was a group of partisans, and it was ten o'clock in the morning. They went out and suddenly I heard, 'Sasha, don't shoot!' I looked out of the window and they were already lying there on the way. If you look at the road here, you can see it. And here are the two [German soldiers]: 'Partyzan, Partyzan!' And after a while the news came that they had notified the German side, I didn't know how, and that Vecov would be burned down as Lidice.People started to panick, they moved duvets to the forest, let animals out, and we, children, were of course also terrified. "

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    Věcov, 14.07.2020

    (audio)
    duration: 01:27:45
    media recorded in project Stories of 20th Century
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Everywhere, they treated as as pest, which was humiliating

Miloslav Brouček (1935), historical photography
Miloslav Brouček (1935), historical photography
photo: archiv pamětníka

Miloslav Brouček was born on March 1, 1935 in Bratislava, where his father worked as a lawyer. With the proclamation of an independent Slovak state in 1939, the family moved to Bohemia, first to Hradec Králové and then to Pardubice. They often commuted to Věcov to the family farm where Miloslav’s grandmother came from. At the end of the war, Miloslav witnessed the village being threatened with alleged burning by the Nazi army. He grew up in a Christian family and after moving to Olomouc, an important milestone in his life was the acquaintance with his future wife Bohuška, with whom they met in the church. After 1960, they moved together to Věcov, where their daughter was soon born, whom they named Naděje. He lived through the years of communism as an active Christian-protestant in his own way, and the political profiling hindered his professional growth. From 1971 he worked in the company AGRA Přelouč, where the opportunity arose to work as a deputy. He refused the position, saying that in time he would be fired because he is a Christian. He was offered to join the Communist Party a total of six times and refused each time. Miloslav Brouček retired in the mid-1990s. He still devotes himself to designing and beekeeping. At the time of filming, they lived with their wife in Věcov (2020).