Františka Lafuntálová

* 1927

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We scratched out a living as we could

Františka Lafuntálová, 1940s
Františka Lafuntálová, 1940s
photo: Archiv pamětnice

Františka Lafuntálová, née Skořepová, was born on 1 January 1927 in Kosov near Jihlava. Her parents, Marie (b. 1905) and Václav (b. 1898), first worked in a factory in Malý Beranov and later got employed on a farm in Kosov. In order to get a job during the war, her father declared his German nationality, for which he was later imprisoned and the whole family was reportedly threatened with expulsion to Germany after the war. Františka graduated from primary school in Kosovo and around 1943 she entered an apprenticeship in Jihlava. She trained as a saleswoman and continued to work as a saleswoman until her retirement in the 1980s. In 1948 she married Josef Lafuntál (born 1919). According to her own account, her life was virtually unaffected by the socio-political changes after 1948, 1968 or 1989. However, she often emphasizes in her narrative the poverty and deprivation during the war and the First Republic years. At the time of the interview (2021), Františka Lafuntálová lived in a home for the elderly in Šanov, South Moravia.