Jiří Hatina

* 1938

  • "As a child, I don't know how old I was, maybe twelve years old. At that time, cooperatives, collective farms, were founded, and this will probably be discussed further. At that time, one landowner, here, a farmer, simply asked my mother if I could ride a harvest carriage on such a decorated car, an allegorical vehicle, wearing a traditional costume. It was a national costume and so on. And I didn't even know what was going on at the time, nor did my parents. But at that time there was such a drastic suppression of the peasants, somewhere in the north of Bohemia, where they protested against the establishment of collective farms. And I represented a farmer riding in that wagon, and I resisted such a scumbag who seemed to beat me, and so on. And there was the "Well-known case from Nechranice must never happen again" on the carriage. Well, that was exactly where they suppressed the uprising, such, I would say mini farmers' uprising. Well, it dragged on why I say it, because it dragged on with me during the whole period of my studies, that it was noted in cadre materials. Especially my dad, who was in trouble. He was not very healthy at that time, because he had experienced the First World War, and then he was in Subcarpathian Russia. And he was simply strongly advised to retire, otherwise he would be fired."

  • "Well, as far as I'm concerned. So I was probably a little lucky. I simply also applied for admission, or my parents applied for my admission to an eleven-year high school. And again an assembly met here in the village, a commission that decided whether or not to go to study. Well, now there was supposed to be such a big silence, a long one, he didn't know, no one wanted to comment on it. Well, and then one of them stood up, it was a real hard-core communist, as they say, who said, 'If he has the brains do it, then let him study.' Well, that was enough. Because no one at the time dared to oppose such a prominent party member. That's how I got to the eleven-year high school."

  • "I also remember when they liquidated the guerrilla cover here in the forest above the village. It was in 1944. There were four Soviet prisoners and other people here from the area. They were supported by the locals, especially from Osek as well. Well, eleven of them were executed. So it's such an experience. I remember going with my mom then, we carried a roll, my aunt's pig was being killed. And we went around the pub here and they went upstairs, in short, in a procession of exhilaration about how well it all worked out. Well, and the one Gestapo officer came to my mom and said, he saw the pig rolling board she was carrying. He said, 'I'll come to the feast this afternoon.' Oh no, that would be quite easy these days. But at the time, for a pig that was killed illegally, so-called without permission, there were really very harsh punishments."

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    Újezd, 25.01.2020

    (audio)
    duration: 59:44
    media recorded in project The Stories of Our Neigbours
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Because of the wedding, they said I wouldn’t be allowed to teach any more

Jiří Hatina (en)
Jiří Hatina (en)
photo: archiv pamětníka

Jiří Hatina was born on August 3, 1947 in Újezd near Hořovice. As a child, he unknowingly damaged his “personnel profile” by taking part in a peasant ride referring to the pre-February protests of farmers in Nechranice. In addition, his aunt, a teacher of religion and a supporter of the People’s Party, was sentenced and imprisoned for two years after the communist coup. Jiří studied mathematics and physics for secondary schools and taught at the secondary school in Hořovice for 49 years. His career was also hindered by a church marriage to the farmer’s daughter.