I can´t imagine life without work in the fields. As long as I am able to climb into my tractor without anybody´s help, I would like to do it
Jan Broj is the eldest son of Stanislav Broj, a former deputy of the Czechoslovak People’s Party in the National Congress during 1946-1948. His father, a farmer from the Rokycany region, was executed in 1950 for alleged organization of a revolt in the Plzeň-Bory prison. Jan was only sixteen when his father was arrested and executed two years later. In 1952-1954, Jan served in the PTP, the hard labour unarmed technical squads (nicknamed “black barons”) as part of his military service. At that time in 1953 he was also witness to civil unrest in Plzeň following the new currency reform. Till 1957 he worked with his brother on the family farm in Volduchy, afterwards circumstances and the advancing collectivization forced them to join the JZD (Unified Agricultural Units). A year later he moved to Březová in the Hořovice region, where he has been living till today. After 1989, Jan began to work as an independent farmer again, became actively involved in politics, and was on the Czechoslovak People’s Party’s ballot to the parliament. In 1990-1992, he served as an advisor in agricultural affairs to president Václav Havel. Jan Broj passed away on October, the 15th, 2015.