Never stay aside
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Mr. Zdeněk Boháč was born on January 24, 1922 in Lomnice nad Lužnicí. Two years after his birth the family moved to the Strašnice neighborhood in Prague. The family strongly believed in the ideals of T.G Masaryk, including his grandfather who was mayor of Strašnice. Zdenek Bohač was a member of the Sokol organization that his grandfather founded in Strašnice. As a student, Mr. Bohač experienced the Nazi mobilization in 1938. During his student years he was meet with several people at the apartment of Russian legionar Mr. Ladislav Bechyně. The group’s intension was to become involved in the anti-Nazi resistance movement, which eventually became a reality. Their messanger was the son of a legionar Mr. Bechyně. There was a plan to meet on May 31, 1942 in Mr. Bechyně’s apartment, but after the assassination of Heydrich May 27, 1942 orders were given to the Czech police by the Gestapo to arrest anyone who appeared at the apartment. Zdeněk Boháč was with his friends in Pankrác prison and interrogated in the Pečkárna. With the help of Blaník, the police resistance organization, the group escaped virtually unscathed. At the time of the Prague uprising, Mr. Boháč joined the newly formed Student Legion which was tasked with the safeguarding of the academic buildings. Later he joined the Student Resistance Movement, under the organization of the Union of Czechoslovak youth. For his work Mr. Boháč was elected to the committee. He was assigned to the Czechoslovak Union of Youth where he worked in the secondary school department. However, he continued to work for the Resistance Committee. When a campaign to support the border region was organized, he volunteered. The purpose of this campaign was to ensure order during the transfer of Germans. In Karlovy Vary, he became an employee of the District Administrative Commission. After this work was accomplished, Mr. Boháč enrolled in medical school and at the same time became involved in political life. In 1948 he took part in the student march to the Castle of Prague. The march was brutally dispersed by police and many participants were arrested but Mr. Boháč and his companion managed to escape. Because of his political activities, he was banned from further university studies. However, as an anti-communist resistance fighter, he had very limited choice of employment. Eventually he was allowed to work as an X-ray technician as no one else was interested in this dangerous job. At work, he again proved to be an anti-regime rebel and was asked to leave. After his release from the radiology department at Bulovka, he found a position at the Research Institute of Fuels, thanks to Dr. Svoboda. From this job he moved to the Biological Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences . Dr. Boháč was the chairman of the Prague Academic Club 48 and provided a great service by assuring that the wrongs of the postwar period are not forgotten. He died on November 25, 2012.
