In 1948, it was said that the cage had fallen. And it was true.
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Zdenka Štolcová was born on 14 June 1932 in Čáslav. She lived her childhood during the Protectorate, experiencing not only air raids, but also transports of German soldiers and the departure of Jews, many of whom never returned. She remembers the end of the war thanks to the arrival of the Red Army, which set up a field kitchen in their house. After the war, she studied at grammar school. She saw February 1948 as a major turning point that affected her entire family. On New Year’s Eve 1952 she met Jarmil Štolc, whom she married in 1953. They moved to Pardubice, where they lived for five years in a single room of an assigned flat. They both worked as land surveyors. Her husband joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, but after August 1968 he was expelled from the party, which made it difficult for their daughter to study. The family considered emigrating but eventually decided to stay. Zdenka Štolcová experienced the Velvet Revolution with joy and hope for change. She retired in 2001 and was widowed three years later. She continued to take an interest in public affairs. In 2025 she lived in Pardubice.
