In 1977, State Security offered him cooperation, which he refused
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Karel Schimmerling was born on September 29, 1950 in Brno. His father was a scientist at the Agricultural Research Institute and a member of the Communist Party. After 1968, he was expelled during party inspections, lost his position as director and was not allowed to publish under his own name. His mother graduated from a secondary medical school and, during her employment, studied philosophy. Both parents were Jewish, and many of their relatives were murdered during the war. Both also went through the ghetto at Terezín, and father through Auschwitz. Because they could not have any more children after the birth of their son Karl, they adopted a girl. Karel Schimmerling completed his primary school education in Brno. In 1966, the family moved to Prague, where Schimmerling applied to the Secondary Chemical School, but was not accepted. He therefore trained in electroplating and, while working, was able to graduate from this industrial school. His parents did not observe Jewish traditions, but the teenage Karel began to attend the synagogue and the local Jewish community in Prague during the religious holidays, where he gradually became involved in Jewish youth activities. They organized joint cultural and sporting events, trips, and attended lectures on various topics. At the beginning of normalization, the group was dispersed, many of the members went abroad. For many years State security kept a file on Karel Schimmerling under the name “member of the Zionist youth”. On several occasions he was invited to the Ministry of the Interior for explanatory interviews, for example after his trip to England in 1977 or after a trip to Moravia with friends from the former Jewish youth group. In 1977, State Security offered him cooperation, which he refused. Thereafter, he was prevented from further trips abroad and for a period of time State Security monitored his work and non-work contacts. After 1989, Karel Schimmerling became involved in the Prague Jewish community and later served as a member of the board of directors and supervisory board of the Terezín Initiative Institute.
