I never believed the communists would leave
Download image
František Uhlíř was born on 8th January 1938 in České Budějovice into a family of tradesmen. He spent his childhood in Stráž nad Nežárkou, where he witnessed the dramatic events of the end of the Second World War. After the end of the war, the family moved to a house with a drugstore in the border town of Nový Bor. After the communist takeover in 1948, the family property was nationalized and the father’s drugstore closed down, and the family subsequently moved to relatives in České Budějovice. Although he was refused to study at secondary school because of his origins, he trained as a refrigeration mechanic. He stayed in the field all his life and later completed his education with a high school diploma. As an athlete, he first took up hockey, which he had the opportunity to play during his second year of military service. First, however, he served in the Border Guard in the village of Načetín in the Ore Mountains. Later, he excelled as a flat track racer. Although he was selected among the top riders, he had to end his sporting career due to lack of support. He worked all his life as a technician, for the longest time in a hospital in České Budějovice and later in an engineering company, from where he retired. He and his wife Jaroslava brought up their daughter Vanda, but lost their son Tomáš shortly after his birth. He experienced the political upheavals of the 20th century critically - he never joined the Communist Party and did not believe in its downfall. František Uhlíř remained active in his retirement, with a strong sense of justice and civic responsibility.
