Freedom and democracy must be fought for all the time
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Josef Duchoň was born on 6 February 1933 in Želatovice to his mother, Olga, and father, František. His mother worked as an agricultural worker on a state farm. Dad drove as a taxi driver with a car with a wood-gas power source. Little Josef experienced the Second World War in the Přerov region. There, he experienced encounters with Hungarian refugees, the Gestapo, and also bombing. Not far from where he lived, the so-called massacre of the Swedish Chance took place. He graduated from high school in Hradec Králové, where he stayed after his studies to work. Here he met his future wife, whom he married in 1956. He spent August 1968 in France, where he and his family were visiting relatives. Since he refused to join the Communist Party, his son had trouble getting into high school. In November 1989, he became involved in anti-militia activities and was later elected to the Hradec Králové City Council. In 2011, he became secretary of the Masaryk Society in Hradec Králové. This society advocates the commemoration of democratic symbols and personalities such as Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Václav Havel. He lived in Hradec Králové in 2024.
