People had the right to beat us for not defending them, says paratrooper about the occupation
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Karel Kulhavý was born on 30 October 1947 in Zdoňov. His father ran the post office in Josefov, where his mother also worked. He had an older sister Milena. After elementary school he became a master adjuster in the textile factory Lina in Josefov. At the apprenticeship he started tramping, got the nickname Čochtan and co-founded a tramp settlement in Josefov. In 1966 he went to the compulsory military service and joined the paratroopers in Prostějov. In 1967 he experienced the alert and preparation for the departure to the Golan Heights as part of the Six-Day War. During the August 1968 occupation, he saw the shot-up facades of houses and shop windows after the frenzied shooting of Soviet soldiers. He was ordered to seal weapons, ammunition and transmitters. In the autumn of 1968, he went into civilian life, got married and eventually had a daughter and a son. He began working for military repair shops. A local military counterintelligence officer opened a file on him, marked him as an agent. In Josefov, he led a hiking group and organized scout-style camps. Since childhood he was interested in the underground passages and the fortress in Josefov. At the end of the seventies, he repaired the fortress in Dolík (Ravelin XVII) with his friends. In 1980 he co-founded the Josefov Military History Club. In 1986, he and his friends staged a re-enactment of the Battle of Chlum, the official commemoration was attended by the Austrian attaché. The State Security filmed the event and interrogated him afterwards. In 1989, he was present at the founding of the Civic Forum in Jaroměř, pasting posters of the Civic Forum. In 2022 he lived in Josefov.
