An aggressive young Polish man went at the Czech musicians with a hammer
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Manfred Hacker was born on 11 September 1938 in Slané, Kłodzko region, which was then in Germany. His grandparents came here from Bohemia at the beginning of the 20th century, and the family retained Czech citizenship. His mother’s relatives had to enlist in the Wehrmacht. In 1945, Kłodzko fell to Poland and the Hackers were lucky to escape the wild deportation organized by the Polish side. For many years the witness had to endure the aggressive behaviour of the Polish youths, for whom he remained a German. In 1947, a Czech school was founded in Lázně Chudoba, where Manfred Hacker also attended, and a Czech association was founded, of which his father became the chairman. When he was studying at the grammar school in Náchod, he had to report to the Polish customs every day, which made it impossible for him to live a normal life. Later, he wanted to move to Czechoslovakia and study at the military school in Žilina. The permission to move out took too long and the school removed him from the list of students. Because of the Polish authorities’ sluggishness, he had to resign from his studies. He then worked as a worker and locksmith in the Stavostroj company. Gradually he completed his education and worked in the sales department. With his wife Hana Hacker, née Machová, he brought up two sons. Despite persistent pressure, he refused to join the Communist Party. After 1989 he participated in the remedy of Czech-Polish-German relations in the Kłodzko region. He helped organize meetings of native Czechs from the Czech Corner and in 2022 he prepared a book about Slané in Kłodzko region for publication. In 2022 he was living in Nové Město nad Metují.
