Sentenced to 18 years in Jaroslav Prudík’s group trial

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Jaroslav Krásný was born in Moravské Budějovice on 14 January 1927. Following primary school, he went to grammar school in Moravské Budějovice for three years and then to business school in Třebíč for two years. He then worked as an accounting trainee in his father’s accounting and revision office. From his youth he was an active member of the local Scout and Sokol where he later served as a member of the trainer team. After World War II, he joined the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party and was a member until 1948. Shortly after February 1948, he attempted his first anti-regime actions on his own, damaging communist notice boards in his hometown, writing anti-communist slogans on the walls in the town centre, etc. In late May 1949, he received leaflets from his Sokol friend Jan Horák inciting to run free election under UN auspices, which opponents of the communist regime sent to the US Embassy in Prague. Jaroslav Krásný helped disseminate them. At that time, he joined an illegal resistance group in Moravské Budějovice, headed by another friend of his, Jaroslav Prudík. He acted as a liaison between Prudík and another resistance group in Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou. The anti-regime activities of both groups did not last long. Jaroslav Krásný was arrested together with other members of the Budějovice group on 27 September 1949. He was questioned in the StB interrogation room in Hluboká Street in Jihlava, and imprisoned in the Jihlava prison until his trial. He attempted to escape with two other fellow prisoners but was caught after a few hours. The trial of the 22-member group, Jaroslav Prudík and co., was held in mid-March 1950 in Moravské Budějovice, and Jaroslav Krásný was sentenced to 18 years in prison for treason by the State Court on 18 March 1950. He was first held at Na Borech Prison in Plzeň and in the Jáchymov region from 1951. A few months later, he was transferred from the Central Camp to the Vojna camp near Příbram. Six months later, he was transferred to Camp XII near Slavkov, and from 1953 on he was in Camp Rovnost in the Jáchymov region. He was not released until the presidential amnesty in May 1960. He had to enlist for one year of military service as early as January 1961. After release, he worked blue collar jobs - in a brickyard, a quarry, a glassworks, and finally settled in Žďár nad Sázavou. He worked at the local machine shops until retirement. After the collapse of the communist regime, he received an award as a participant in the anti-communist resistance. Jaroslav Krásný died in May 2018.