PhDr. Jan Mohr

* 1950

  • "The studies started in October 1989. When I got the student´s index, it said: 'Marxism-Leninism, Docent Tepper.' The man was from the forecasting institute, and I must say that his lectures in October and November were quite interesting. He was such a Klaus type of economist, so he began to explain something completely different to us than we were used to from political economy and from what we had to hear back then at the university. Suddenly November 17 broke and I was commuting to Prague, so I was in touch. Even regarding the museum side, I was at a session in the U Kamenného zvonu house. Not for the first one, but for the second one I was already there representing the museum. So, I could take the information that was in Prague to the museum in Liberec so that we would know what and how. So, after the 1990s it started to develop into a broader meeting, and then a direction was born that ended with the founding of the Association of Museums and Galleries. It actually started in that U kamenného zvonu house. That situation manifested itself in the museum sphere. And also, regarding professor Tepper, in December they came to us from the art history department and said: 'Look, it looks like Marxism-Leninism is over. Would you still like to continue the lectures? We have a proposal here that you could have lectures on Christian iconography.' And we said: 'That's excellent, perfect. But we would listen to the docent one more time.' Subsequently, there were reports from the Federal Assembly, where Václav Klaus stood and gave a lecture in this spirit to the deputies of the time. So, we had it a little earlier than this person. So, I have November 17th recorded in the student´s index by the fact that it says: 'Marxism-Leninism,' that is crossed out, and below is: 'Christian iconography.' That is, I think, more than symbolic."

  • "At that time, the director stood up in front of the people and said that no event like this would happen, the museum would not join it in any way, she would take care of it. And no flag will be hanged. At that moment the driver got up and said: 'It's already hanging there.' That was a like stirring in the hornet's nest and there was immediately a great commotion, after which the door opened and the head of the husband of the director peeked in. He was a truck driver and was the chairman of the party branch in ČSAD Liberec. So, she strode towards the door, he was telling her something... and the transformation of a person was unbelievable. A totally broken person crept back, ended the whole meeting and left. Then we found out that he had come to tell her that he had just been removed from the position of chairman of the party organization."

  • "They actually drove under my windows. At night. This is such an interesting incident. About a fortnight ago I was woken up by a terrible noise, so I ran out to see if the Russians had already come here. Combine harvesters were driving below the windows on the road. It was a long line of harvesters going somewhere to harvest. And when the tanks started rumbling around midnight on the twenty-first, I woke up and thought to myself: 'Oh yeah, the combine harvesters are coming again.' And in the morning dad came and said: 'The Russians are here!' So, we were looking at it from the window and suddenly, my dad pulled me quickly. At that moment the shooting started. I then looked to see that about twenty centimeters from the window there was a shot through the plaster. There may have been centimeters missing and I didn't have to be. And the house down there was completely messed up. They weren't shooting at anyone, they were shooting around each other. They were scared when the shooting was heard, so they shot in all directions."

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    Liberec, 03.02.2022

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They were shooting in all directions. Inches away and I could have died.

Jan Mohr in 2021
Jan Mohr in 2021
photo: Post Bellum

Jan Mohr was born on December 26, 1950 in Liberec. His parents were totally deployed during World War II. After the war, they both moved to Liberec, where they met and later got married. Jan Mohr studied artistic blacksmithing and locksmithing at the secondary school of arts and crafts in Turnov. At the age of eighteen, he witnessed the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia. During normalization, he studied art history and history in Brno. However, due to the low number of accepted students, he had to enter the zero year and worked as a construction worker. In 1975, he returned to his native Liberec, first working at the Regional Gallery, later applying for the position of art historian at the North Bohemian Museum. Here, during his work, he came across the boundaries of the then regime several times. During the Velvet Revolution, he and the museum team participated in demonstrations in Liberec and experienced the immediate withdrawal of the museum director. Even after the regime change, he continued to work as an art historian at the North Bohemian Museum. In 2022, Jan Mohr still lived in Liberec.