The son of a kulak turned researcher at a high-security uranium operation
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Jaroslav Kropáček was born in Horní Chrášt’any on 7 April 1939. His parents had made their dream reality buying a farm with twenty hectares of land in Horní Chrášt’any in the 1930s and farming it successfully. World War II imposed rations on the farm, which were difficult to deliver, and the Nazis then seized the farm. The family moved to Protivín and rented another farm. The father ran two farms until the nationalisation. He lost the farm in Horní Chrášt’any to collectivisation and was forced to join the farming cooperative (JZD) in Protivín. He took a carter job to cover mandatory supplies but was still unable to meet the requirements, and so he gave up and joined the JZD. The witness initially worked as a leaching engineer at Silon, and in 1963 he joined the research department of the newly established MAPE Mydlovary plant, a closely guarded facility for chemical treatment of uranium ore. He recalls the peak of production in the 1960s, and the plant’s gradual decline, closure, and demolition after the Velvet Revolution. He relates some of the plant emergencies, personnel changes, and pressures during normalisation. He also wanted to become an airman but was not allowed to because of his background. When political liberation came, he could at least become a pilot in the military reserves. After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, he regained some properties, many in a state of disrepair. He tried to farm the forests, but eventually sold everything because it was too difficult. Jaroslav Kropáček lived in Protivín in 2025.
