The painting of burnt Ležáky was a memento that Dad kept in his closet until the end of the war
Aleš Oplíštil was born on 3 September 1933 in Dolní Holetín near Hlinsko into the family of František Oplíštil, the owner of a local pub. He had an older brother Zbyněk. The village of Dolní Holetín is located 5 km from the settlement of Ležáky, which the Nazis exterminated after the assassination of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich on 24 June 1942. During the war, the family of the witness hid a painting of Ležáky, which was secretly painted by the academic painter Jaroslav Hudec immediately after the burning of the settlement, risking his life in the process. During the communist regime, the family fell into disfavor due to their property and political views, and Aleš Oplíštil could not study. Only after a long time did he graduate from university by distance learning. In his narrative, the witness focused mainly on the war period and the story of the painting he donated to the museum in Hlinsko. Aleš Oplíštil died on 9 May 2023 at almost 90 years of age.
