Thank the Lord for all his gifts
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Marie Vondrášková, née Martanová, was born on 8 March, 1937. She comes from Dolany in South Bohemian Pošumaví. She finished studying business academy and worked in repurchasing and then her whole life as a secretary of the business academy in Vimperk. Her story begins in the moment, when Zdeněk Vondrášek, born on 31 July, 1927 was released during amnesty in 1960 after eleven years of prison. He was imprisoned for transferring across borders in 1948-1949 to former Western Germany. Zdeněk Vondrášek was imprisoned in several institutions: 1949-1950 in Prachatice, Pankrác, Bory, 1950-1951 Ilava, 1952-1953 Leopoldov and 1953-1960 in Bytíz. He met Marie Martanová at a village fair in Čkyně after wedding in 1961 and they lived together for forty-one years in a happy and fulfilled marriage with four children. Despite husband´s past and outspoken faith and going to church all children studied high school. Zdeněk Vondrášek has never regretted the transferring, but he never discussed this life chapter with his wife nor family much, neither his prison experience. When he returned back home from jail, he felt that people shunned him, but that´s changed after he met the witness and after the wedding. After 1989 he was even elected to the local council and suggested to run for a major. That he refused. He died in 2001, Marie Vondrášková has been living in Čkyně until today.
