I didn’t hear him shout anything, says witness to Jan Palach’s self-immolation
Jaroslav Adámek was born on 4 October 1953 in Jaroměř into a railway family. Daddy Jaroslav Adámek worked as a stoker and engine driver and mother Marie, née Kalenská, was a conductor. He had an older sister. Daddy was interrogated and beaten for three days in 1953 by State Security (StB), who wanted to accuse him of espionage. In Jaroměř, he completed primary and municipal school and then trained as a mechanic of motor rail vehicles. Becoming a train driver was his dream, which he fulfilled. During the August 1968 occupation, he wrote signs around the town and with a friend made a straw dummy sending the occupying soldiers home. That’s why he was not accepted to secondary technical school, even though he passed the entrance exam. On 16 January 1969, while visiting Prague, he accidentally witnessed the self-immolation of Jan Palach, even covering his body with his own jacket. Only in hindsight did he learn that it was not an accident but a desperate anti-occupation protest. The experience marked him deeply. In the 1970s, he planned to emigrate to Canada, which didn´t happen. In the 1980s, he used to take parcels of materials for the Chartists by train. He refused an offer to join the Communist Party. In 1989 he demonstrated in Prague and participated in the preparation of the protests in Jaroměř. He was a co-founder of the Civic Forum in Jaroměř. After the revolution, he ran his business and travelled. In 2021 he was living in Jaroměř.