He was interrogated in the prison in Uherské Hradiště
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Josef Klečka was born in Uhřice in South Moravia on 22 November 1930. His father Josef worked as a factory worker and owned a small farm. After the war, he joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and became chairman of the national committee in Uhřice. His mother Emilie took care of the household. Young Klečka finished primary school and became a barber. However, he did not devote himself to his trade and became a worker at the Brno Chemical Works. At that time he completely fell into scouting and founded a Junák club in Uhřice. After February 1948 Klečka sensed that Junák would soon be banned by the communists. In the summer of 1949, he therefore founded an underground group of about twenty members, which they named “The Avengers”, and Klečka became its leader. They wanted to take revenge on the communists for the Junák and the various injustices (persecution of believers, tradesmen and private farmers) they had experienced in their neighbourhood. They distributed anti-regime leaflets and posters, disrupted communist meetings by switching off the electricity, and smashed Communist Party agitation boxes. On the eve of May 1, 1950, part of the group was caught distributing leaflets. Three days later, State Security tried to provoke Klečka into fleeing across the border. However, he did not fall for it, and on 4 May 1950 he was arrested at a cottage near Kyjov. He was interrogated in the prison in Uherské Hradiště, where he experienced beatings and several weeks of solitary confinement. The trial took place on 13 April 1951 in Brno. Only four of the accused stood trial, the other underage members of the group avoided the tribunal. Josef Klečka, as the leader, was sentenced to 5 years in prison, a fine and forfeiture of property for anti-state activities and illegal possession of weapons. Klečka served part of his sentence in the Rovnost mine in the Jáchymov region. He worked as a breaker and also drove a mine locomotive. He was then interned in the Svatopluk penal camp in the Hornoslavkov region, where he also mined uranium. Klečka was released on the basis of a presidential amnesty in May 1955, when the remainder of his sentence of 3 months and 9 days was remitted. Half a year after his release he had to start the obligatory military service. After returning to civilian life, he married and had two sons. He was not allowed to do any work other than as a labourer. He found a job in Holubice in a chemical factory. Later he found a job in Brno on the railway, where he worked for over twenty years as a worker until his retirement. In 1968 he joined the activities of K-231. After the fall of communism in 1989, Josef Klečka returned to scouting for a while and participated in its revival. He was honored as a participant in the anti-communist resistance. He died on January 7, 2020.
