Parents´ lives were shortened by years of psychological suffering and injustice under communist regime
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Josef Horký was born on November 15, 1939 on a family farm in Lhota pod Libčany near Hradec Králové. After the communist coup in February 1948, the witness’s father, Josef Horký Sr., faced pressure to join the newly established collective farm (JZD). In 1949, they were forced to sell their agricultural machinery. In 1952, Josef Horký’s father was sentenced to five months in prison for failing to deliver agricultural contributions. Shortly after his return home, a forced lease was put on their property and the Horký family had to hand their farm over to the collective farm. Soon, Josef Horký Sr. went to prison for six months again, this time for sedition against the republic. The sentence also included additional penalties - loss of civil rights and a life-time ban of residence in the Hradec Králové district. The judgement meant the confiscation of movable and immovable family agricultural property. The family was evicted to a state farm in Ratibořice in the Náchod region. After ten years of work at the state farm, the witness went over to the collective farm in Josefov, where he worked as a truck driver. Their former farm in Lhota pod Libčany fell into disrepair while being used by collective farms and was later demolished. In its place a kindergarten, post office and health center were built. After 1989, the family recovered only the land as a result of restitution proceedings.
