“I spoke openly in the public, at the regional conferences and religious meetings. At that time I was already watched by the StB. The head of our department of the Czechoslovak (Hussite) Church Ouzký was nicknamed Ivana. When friar Houska lost the state permission to ecclesiastical activities, friar Voňka said that a good shepherd should be ready to die for his sheep. I said that I was sorry that a man didn’t have any protection against those rascals. The head of the department Ouzký told me to watch my language in the public and then he reported everything. But the main reason why I was watched and arrested by the state police was that I lost a lot of applications for religious classes, in the villages and in Heřmanův Městec.”
“The trial was held on 5th and 6th of May 1959. My parents came, but they didn’t let them in. The teacher Mr. Černý brought my wife, who was let in. The secretary of the Czechoslovak (Hussite) Church, Mr. Buchar, could also be present. The court sentenced me to eight months in prison for sedition and I was taken to Mírov, together with other prisoners.”
„My Credo? My credo is to believe in God, in Jesus Christ as our Savior, and to live according the teachings of the New Testament, as our Lord Jesus demands from us. That’s it.”
“I was taken to the interrogation custody to Pardubice. It was at three o’clock. My wife was informed that they are going to keep me there, so she came to Pardubice for keys to the parish. I had to take a shower even though I told them that I already had one. I got the prison clothes and they put me to a cell with three other men, Catholics. That was an interesting experience. Custody meant long interrogations that sometimes lasted for several hours, but also discussions with these Catholics, which was incredible. I also had a sermon in my prison clothes, so the word of God could be heard there. And the discussions were really wonderful.”
“I was born on 27th September 1928 in Lipí, which is a village about three kilometers from Náchod. My parents, Jindřich Hanuš and Anežka Hanušová, born as Lichá, were working as factory workers.”
Jindřich Hanuš was born on 27th September in 1928 in a small village Lipí in Náchod area. His parents Jindřich and Anežka, born Lichá, were factory workers. Both his parents devotedly believed in God, especially his mother. Jindřich Hanuš knew he would become priest in his very youth when he was 14 years old. He was ordained as a priest of the Czechoslovakian Hussite Church immediately after he graduated at Theological faculty in 1954. As the auxiliary priest he served in several religious communities. In 1956 he got married to Libuše Řepková, they have two daughters Libuše a Jindřiška. The State Security spied on him systematically from 1957 because of his preaching, his lecturing at theological conferences and his statements regarding the teaching of religion of children. In 1959 Hanuš was detained by the State Security for sedition and later sentenced to 8 months in prison. Most of the sentence he had been detained in Mírov prison where he actively pastorated inmates. His first daughter was born while he was still in prison. He was released after 8 months and started to work as a factory worker. Hanus had strived for returning of his state license for priesthood in which he finally succeeded in 1964. He had served as a priest in one small community of the Czechoslovakian Hussite Church again. The State Security repeatedly tried to gain him for collaboration. He refused even in spite of a promise made by the State Security he would became a bishop. Nowadays he lives with his wife in Mladá Boleslav. They have celebrated a golden marriage in 2006.
