Marie Jiráčková

* 1939

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Women are said to welcome men in white aprons because they will have nothing to do

Marie Jiráčková in 2022
Marie Jiráčková in 2022
photo: Post Bellum

Marie Jiráčková, born Boštíková, was born on April 19, 1939 in Mladočov near Litomyšl as the eldest of six siblings. Together with their parents Jan and Anastasia they lived on a ten-hectare farmstead. Jan Boštík was a distinctive figure of Mladočov, who worked in the municipal council and in a number of associations and wrote the book Mladočovské Jericho, in which he describes the events in Mladočov in the years 1950 - 1959 in connection to the violent collectivization of agriculture. Mladočov resisted the establishment of the unified agricultural cooperative (JZD) until 1959. After graduating from primary school in 1954 and after the birth of her youngest brother, Marie had to stay at home and help on the farm. However, she did not want to stay within the agriculture field, so in 1957 she started working at the Vertex factory. In 1966, she married in Doubravice and gradually gave birth to four children. Marie and her husband worked at a local collective farm. Marie describes the conditions at the collective farm and its changes from the 60s to the 80s of the 20th century. Since the Jiráček family was a religious family and since they were not part of the Communist Party, they were for instance not entitled to a holiday by the sea and the children were not allowed to study humanities at university.