Josef Michek

* 1942

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  • "It was March and I got my hands on a magazine. It used to be called National Committees and now it was called S91. I was reading through it, the individual articles, and on the second to last page there was a little photo - I don't know, four by eight centimetres - and the caption said: 'We will commemorate 598 years since the martyrdom of St. John of Nepomuk on 20 March.' I was looking at it and I said to myself, 'You idiot - it's going to be 600 in two years! That's the launching pad you have to use!' In 15 minutes, I was dictating to the secretary a letter of invitation to the World Pilgrimage of the Faithful on the occasion of the Sesquicentennial of the Martyrdom of St. John of Nepomuk. And I addressed it to the Holy Father John Paul II, Vatican City, Rome. I sent it to this address. I sent the same letter to 'Dear President Václav Havel, Prague Castle.' We knew the address. But we didn't know the address of the Holy Father. Both letters arrived. That's when... I don't know what to call it, awakened in me... and I just said, 'So now everything has to focus on this... and it has to start running!"

  • "The Russians came here on Wednesday, and on Friday the Nepomuk National Committee called a protest event at U Zeleného stromu [restaurant], which was attended by the first secretary of the district Communist Party. His name was Richard Vorel, I remember. Of course, the invasion of the troops was condemned. I spoke there. I had returned from Poland, where my wife had relatives, two days earlier. As we drove crossing the border, we didn't see any troops anywhere, so it was a big surprise for us. That's when I vowed not to shave until the invaders leave. The hall was amazed, they laughed and applauded, including Mr Vorel the chief secretary. So, the last time I shaved was in Poland on 17 or 18 August. So, for me, my beard here is really historic."

  • "I joined the Internal Guard [military police] [On] 1 August 1961. I don't know how I got there; it was nicknamed the 'purple Gestapo', but I just joined them. I got to Jaroměř after the induction in Zadní Chodov. That was strange because I actually witnessed Berlin, or the building of the Berlin Wall at that time. That was really a tough time: we had to sleep with our shoes and clothes on. Three years' worth of recruits were three until Christmas. Strangely enough, the guys who were there in their third year helped us, the new freshmen, more than they did 'their' freshmen who were our seniors. It was interesting in Jaroměř. The whole time I was there - except for about six months when I was transferred to the design in Pardubice - we guarded six barns. They told us: 'Look, guys, if saboteurs come and something happens, this has more power than the atomic bombs in Hiroshima or Nagasaki,' and that wasn't nice. Other than that, my military service memories are much like those of any other kid. It was tough because we had guard duty every third day. Every second day was a standby. Every now and then we'd get to go out. Jaroměř, or Josefov, was a purely military town. We even competed for girls."

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    Plzeň, 19.02.2025

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    duration: 02:54:30
    media recorded in project Příběhy regionu - PLZ REG ED
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I said I wouldn’t shave until the invaders left

Josef Michek with his insignia
Josef Michek with his insignia
photo: Witness's archive

Josef Michek was born in Nepomuk on 4 March 1942 to notarial typist Božena Michková, née Říhová, and road supervisor Josef Michek. His parents had a six-year-old daughter when he was born. At age three, he witnessed the liberation of Nepomuk by the US army on 7 May 1945. He completed a construction high school in Plzeň on 31 May 1960. He worked with Stavební izolace and then Škoda. He enlisted on 1 August 1961 and served with the MP in Jaroměř. Military service at the time of construction of the Berlin Wall and the Caribbean crisis was tough. He joined the district road management unit as a road supervisor in 1963. During a meeting of the National Committee at U zeleného stromu inn on 23 August 1968, he condemned the Warsaw Pact invasion and vowed not to shave until the troops left. Due to conflicts with the director of the road management unit, a Communist Party member, he switched jobs to Lesy ČR in Spálené Poříčí and became a manager in 1985. He served as the Mayor of Nepomuk for 12 years after 1990 and contributed greatly to the town’s development. He organised the World Pilgrimage of the Faithful on 15 May 1993 to mark the 600th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. John of Nepomuk. He and his wife Marie Michková, née Rendlová, raised two children. Josef Michek received the Personality of the City award on 29 January 2025. He was living in Nepomuk in 2025.