Pavel Prášek

* 1942

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We lost everything in Velká nad Velička. We even had to move the family tomb.

Pavel Prášek in 2014
Pavel Prášek in 2014
photo: ISTR

Pavel Prášek was born in Velká nad Veličkou on 13 June 1942 into a farmer’s family. His grandfather was the mayor of the village for twelve years during the First Republic. His mother took care of the household and helped with the farm, and his parents had two more sons and a daughter. Pavel Prášek completed primary school in Velká nad Veličkou and wanted to study at the grammar school but had to change his plans after February 1948. When a farming coop was founded in Velká nad Veličkou in the early 1950s, Pavel Prášek Sr. refused to join and farmed on his own. The family was labelled “kulaks” and their children’s unfit origin prohibited them from continuing studies. Pavel Prášek Jr was not even accepted to a vocational winemaking school, so he went to Ostrava in 1958 and trained as a bricklayer and carpenter. By then, his father was no longer allowed to farm and supported the family as a construction worker. He faced problems in the village because of his opinions and stubbornness. The local authorities recommended him to relocate to the Karlovy Vary region to a state farm in Budov near Žlutice where settlers from the country’s various border regions worked. He got a job there and found accommodation for his relatives after some time. The entire Prášek family moved from their native village to Western Bohemia. Later on, they moved to the South Moravian border land where the father worked as a pig feeder on the former Liechtenstein farm in Nový Dvůr by Lednice. The family stayed in the nearby village of Nejdek. Having completed his schooling, Pavel Prášek Jr. completed two years of military service in Litoměřice and then settled in Ostrava where he married. The Prášek family was robbed of all their possessions in Velká nad Veličkou. The abandoned and destroyed family house was demolished and replaced by a shop. Apart from cattle, fields and agricultural machinery, the Prášeks also lost a large apple orchard which was replaced by a factory. In the 1980s, they even had to relocate the family tomb from Velká nad Veličkou. After 1989, the Prášek family was rehabilitated and received partial compensation from the state for the damage caused by the communist regime.