Jan Hyliš

* 1954

  • “There was communism at the time, but we were young, we liked each other and it was also nice. We could eat and drink and breathe, but almost nothing else. There were limits. Near Jihlava we could see the road sign Vienna – 125 km, but that sign was not meant for us. We could only approach the fence and we were closed in like animals in a zoo. Animals have a good life in a zoo, the monkeys get bananas and so on. Material possessions are not everything. We wanted to discover the world and we could not.“

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    Havlíčkův Brod, 21.08.2019

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    duration: 46:37
    media recorded in project Stories of the 20th Century TV
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Decency and honest work make many things possible

Jan Hyliš in August 2019
Jan Hyliš in August 2019
photo: Post Bellum

Jan Hyliš was born in Havlíčkův Brod on July 2, 1954. His parents were teachers. After graduation from a local gymnasium he majored in civil engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague. After a year of military service he began work as a draftsman at the Havlíčkův Brod co-op Stavba where later he became the technical deputy director. He was neither active against the regime nor did he become member of the Communist Party. During the Velvet Revolution he became member of the Civic Forum as well as member of the Czechoslovak Socialist Party. Jan Hyliš was co-opted as first deputy chair of the local national committee. In the 1990 municipal elections he was voted in to the Havlíčkův Brod town council. After his public service he unsuccessfully pursued the idea of constructing a regional incineration plant. He founded a construction company and focused on project design. Many years later he became member of the Social Democrats and was again voted into the Havlíčkův Brod town council and in 2016 became the Regional board member for transportation and management of roads.